Okay, chapter two! Again, this is really short (shorter than the first one, tbh), but I absolutely promise that ch 3 will be longer. It's been a while since I did the fanfic thing, guys.

Thanks to the people who followed/favorited/reviewed, I'm really glad you like it. X3 (To RisingStar313: I find it ironic that you asked about Leo and Piper, and this chapter was already written.)

Disclaimer: I seriously don't own this. I don't want money. Please don't sue - I'll lose and then I'll have nothing.

Chapter Two: Best Friends

"Hey Pipes," Leo Valdez said, settling into a desk next to his best friend. She didn't respond, staring across the room at Jason Grace, who had his head bent over his notebook. Leo rolled his eyes, leaning back with his hands behind his head.

"If you're going to have a crush on Grace, the least you could do is make it less obvious," he said, jolting her from her revelry. Piper jumped, her face turning bright red.

"I don't know what you mean," she stuttered. Leo chuckled, rolling his brown eyes. He leaned himself back, balancing himself on the back legs of the chair. A smirk worked its way onto his face, well aware that it got on Piper's nerves when he did that. He had gotten many a lecture about the dangers of leaning his chair back through the months. Piper frowned at him, pushing him forwards so he landed back onto the ground with a thunk.

"Hey!" he yelped, "I coulda bit my tongue off!"

"It'd be an improvement," Piper assured him, a smirk settling onto her face. Leo stuck his tongue out at her playfully, and crossed his arms on his desk, tapping his fingers in a disjointed pattern. (Which earned him a glare from Annabeth. That girl needed to relax.)

"You should be nicer to me, McLean," he said, looking at her seriously. "They're moving me to Level Three soon." Piper, who had resumed her staring at Jason, whipped around to face him, startled.

"What?" she screeched, "Why?" Leo smiled wanly, sending a look at his hands, which were now fiddling with the hem of his shirt. Piper covered them with her hands, stopping his nervous movement for the moment.

"Apparently they've finally figured out how much damage fire can do," he said. Piper looked close to tears at the thought of her best friend moving up two levels and leaving her alone. He turned one of his hands up to grasp hers, giving it a reassuring squeeze. "Hey, don't cry, Beauty Queen. I'll still be here, you know. We'll still eat together. Nothing can keep the Super-Sized McShizzle away."

Piper cracked a tiny smile at his joke, though her kaleidoscope eyes gave away how upset she was. "You're just a repair boy," she teased, "Don't get too full of yourself."

Leo smiled at her, then tugged his hands away and began to add a braid to the back of her hair, both to distract himself and make her look away from her. He didn't want Piper to know how upset he was about leaving her – he also didn't want her to know that Jason was moving up with him, but that was a different matter entirely. A matter called jealousy.

Since arriving at OTF six months previously, Leo and Piper had been practically inseparable. They had met on a plane to Vermont, both terrified of the unknown that had lay before them. Piper had been sent to OTF after her father's secretary figured out that she wasn't just stealing things – she was influencing people to give her them just by speaking. Leo, on the other hand, had been sent off by his aunt after she caught him playing with fire – fire that he had magically created. To be forced away from his best and, if he was being honest, only friend was like having his heart ripped out. And the fact that she seemed to care a lot more about a guy she had never talked to than she did about her best friend hurt almost as bad.

He turned back to his own desk and cast his eyes downwards obediently when the teacher came in. Their teacher, a man who rarely spoke named Argus, began passing out worksheets and History textbooks. When he reached Leo, he handed him a thicker piece of paper than everyone else, which was undoubtedly made fireproof by someone in the facility's lab.

Briefly, Leo wondered if there was anyone else in OTF that had his ability to make flames from his body, or if the scientists had to print out special copies of everything just for him. He hoped for the latter, just to cause them more hassle.

He began to work on his worksheet, writing notes to Piper in the corner of his paper all throughout class. When they were done with their History assignments, it was time for math, and after that, English. Leo kept his mouth shut, regardless of how difficult it was at times, knowing the consequences of talking when not permitted.

The room was silent as the hours ticked by. Not even the new kid, a bulky Asian guy who had come in with Jason and Annabeth, said a word - and he hadn't even had his first punishment yet.