Any characters that can be recognized belongs to Rick Riordan. Anything else belongs me and Sparkling-Iris. Please, don't publish it without our permision.

"I was a flight risk, with a fear of fallin' wonderin' why we bother with love if it never lasts"

Taylor Swift

Ours

My New Partner

By: Ary Hyuga

Beta: Sparkling-Iris

Reyna's POV

I just couldn't take my gaze away from the dancer. I loved the way she moved, with grace and elegance. Honestly I felt extremely jealous.

"This is worse than I thought." My new partner commented. I rolled my eyes in slight irritation.

"Can you please keep your mouth shut?" I whispered, "There're people in this room who really want to enjoy the show right now without your little remarks."

"How can you possibly enjoy this?" He asked me incredulously.

I decided to ignore him; he would never appreciate the art of ballet. He'd never been like that and never would be, but I didn't really mind that much. Ballet was generally seen more as a girl thing anyways.

Half of hour later, we were walking through one of Georgetown's parks to Leo Valdez's car.

'Who is Leo Valdez?' You might ask…Well he was my new partner for this English report.

Why 'new'? Well, because my best friend Hazel Levesque, who used to be my partner, now had a boyfriend who was working with her. And a popular one, too.

Hazel's boyfriend was none other than the famous defense of Camp Half-Blood, shortened to CHB, High school's football team, Frank Zhang.

So now, poor little Reyna Bellona, aka "I" had to do all my English homework with Frank's former partner, the famous runner of our high school's football team, Leo Valdez. Not that I was complaining.

Didn't that sound like torture? Well…not for me. Being with Leo wasn't even CLOSE to torture. But I'm not a social kind of girl, so changing this little detail-who I hung out with or worked with-was a little bit awkward for me.

"So…do you want me to make the report?" He asked me. I looked at him and shook my head.

"Of course not, you didn't even watch the show properly!" I retorted.

"So…does that mean you'll make it? By yourself?" I glanced at Leo as we were walking, seeing him raise his eyebrows slightly.

"Of course" I replied. He just nodded and didn't argue with it. We kept on walking in silence until we arrived at his car, an old blue Camaro.

He, being such a gentleman, opened the door for me to get in to the old and-I had to admit-smelly car.

"So, where do you want me to take you?" he asked, once he had closed the door and sat in to the car behind the wheel.

"To my house." I answered abruptly, suddenly feeling awkward with this guy. He laughed a little bit, instantly making me feel a bit better.

"Yeah, of course." Leo stated as though it was obvious. "But where exactly is your house?" He asked and I blinked dumbly, feeling like an idiot for thinking he would take me somewhere else.

Without wasting any more time, I gave him my address and he started to drive.

"So…" He said. I looked at him expectantly.

"'So' what?"

"You don't have a lot of friends, do you?" He completed his question and I rolled my eyes at his blunt comment.

"I'll take that like a 'no'." I sighed.

"Ok, then… Reyna right?" I nodded in confirmation.

"Fine, then Reyna, starting now," I looked over to see him grinning, "I'm going to be your best friend, 'k? Now you have another friend." I laughed at the ridiculous way he said that. You didn't become people's friends just by saying so!

"Sure." I answered, sarcastically.

"Great. So I don't know that much about you, though…tell me your favorite movie." He started suddenly. His eyes flitted to mine for a split second before returning to the road, making me blush, but I didn't answer his question when I noticed that my house was coming up.

"Oh, uh Leo?" I interjected. "I'm sorry, stop here." I said.

"On the corner?" He asked.

"Yeah."

"Well, can I walk you to your front door?"

"I don't need you to." I answered.

"Somebody could hurt you between here and the door." Leo persisted. "You never know."

I rolled my eyes. Yeah, right.

"Well, if that happened," I said getting out of the car when it came to a stop at said corner near my house. "You'll have a guilty conscience for the rest of your life. So too bad."

I went to shut the car door.

"See you tomorrow?" He asked me before the door closed.

"Yeah. At English class."

I closed the door behind me.

When I got to my front door I looked at the corner to find the nice surprise of an old blue Camaro still parked there, Leo obviously making sure I made it to my house okay since I forbid him to walk me to the door. He waited until I looked back at him before driving off.

Well, Leo Valdez sure was quite the gentleman.

~oOo~

"Will you ever forgive me?" Hazel said. That must have been the thousandth time she said that.

"I've told you, I'm not angry at all." I said…again.

"So he was nice?" she asked me. I just shrugged.

"I guess."

"But he took you home." She stated.

"Yeah."

"To the corner?" she asked. I nodded, she knew me well. I wouldn't have let him go right up to the door.

Just at that moment we arrived at the English classroom, she left me to go and sit next to Frank, leaving me alone.

I went to my usual seat, realizing that my new partner wasn't there yet.

"What a surprise." I thought to myself. "Late. Of course."

"Good Morning Class" Mrs. Lupa said as he entered the classroom.

"So, did you enjoy the show yesterday?" The class made a weird sound that was supposed to mean a "yes", but some people were groaning in distaste. If Leo was here, he'd be, too.

"Yeah, sure you did" Mrs. Lupa said with sarcasm, not fully believing the class. "Well, it's time to see how much you learned from it. We're going to do an oral exam for each partner and that's how I'll be marking you." She said strictly.

Nobody made a sound because… well, Mrs. Lupa was a little bit aggressive sometimes.

"Any volunteers?" She asked, and like always I raised my hand.

"What a surprise Miss Bellona. Where's your teammate?" She asked me. Mentally I cursed Leo for being late.

"I don't know, Mrs. Lupa."

"So sad, I'm sorry Miss Bellona, but you know the rules. Because your teammate's delay, you will have to wait till the end of class." I took a very deep breath and nodded in defeat. Fine.

Another team started with their exam, finishing quickly, then being free to go home or do as they pleased.

And this was the last class day before summer vacations so…

Damn Leo Valdez for his lack of punctuality! If he had been here sooner, we could have finished the exam and left already!

I didn't know how much time passed before the door finally opened and a black hair boy entered the room and went to sit down. Mrs. Lupa nodded to him briefly, acknowledging his late arrival.

He was wearing denim pants and a black shirt, his hair was dripping with what looked like sweat and his cheeks were flushed as though he'd been doing some kind of physical activity recently.

"What happened to you?" I snapped, my voice tinged with exasperation. "Why are you late?"

"Sorry, I had to go to my football practice."

"Well, thanks to you now we'll have to stay until the end." I breathed out in irritation and Leo nodded sheepishly.

"Oh right, you and Hazel are always the first on leaving. That's a disappointment, I'm always the last one." He said with fake discontent. I rolled my eyes and looked by the window. I watched Hazel and Frank walking away from the school and sighed, feeling unbearably jealous at their leaving early.

"Oh l'amour…" Leo said wistfully. I gave him a weird look.

"What?"

"You're watching Frank and Hazel, they seem so cute together, don't they?" I spat and laughed at his answer.

"What?" He said, meeting my eyes. He raised his eyebrows at me and I just shook my head, waving my hand dismissively.

"I want to go move on from here, not to be in love." I explained. He gave me a confused look.

"You don't want to be in love?" He asked.

"Nope."

"Really?"

"I've had enough of relationships." I replied smoothly.

He widened his eyes in surprise, but before he could say something, Mrs. Lupa called us.

"So Mr. Valdez" She said "You need at least a 'B-'to pass my course."

I looked at Leo; he just smiled. How could he be so happy? He was about to fail the English course since he didn't pay attention to the show we saw yesterday!

"Yep" He said.

"Well, obviously Miss Bellona had made the report." She said "Excellent job, may I say." She let her eyes scan over the page.

"Thanks."

"So, Mr. Valdez, tell me about the last night's show"

Leo smiled confidently.

Mrs. Lupa asked him a lot of details about Coppélia, the ballet show that we had seen; the ballet that the exam was mainly on.

He answered with all the comments that I'd been saying yesterday.

Maybe I should've been angry about that, I mean, he was stealing my ideas!

But I was surprised. He actually had been listening; he really was paying attention to me. Even when I thought he just was ignoring me the whole time. With Leo, everything was a surprise.

"It's lucky for you that Miss Bellona is your partner, Mr. Valdez" Mrs. Lupa said. Leo put a big smile on his face and beamed.

"Thanks." He said proudly.

I sighed. "That wasn't a compliment, you know." I pointed out. Leo's smile faltered a bit in mock hurt, but he didn't mind at all.

"Oh." Was the only thing he said. I swear I saw a little smile on the poker face of Mrs. Lupa.

"Miss Bellona, I think it's pretty clear that you get an A, obviously. Mr. Valdez... B-"

Leo's smile only grew bigger.

"Thanks Mrs. Lupa. See you next year" I said She gave me a little smile.

"Enjoy your summer Reyna, you deserve it" I returned the smile, happy that we were finally done with exams and school.

I grabbed my backpack and started to walk to the exit after leaving the classroom.

"Reyna!" Somebody yelled suddenly. I was walking down the school's corridor, poised at the doors that lead outside. "Reyna, wait!" I turned to look behind me just to see Leo Valdez running to meet me.

"Hey." I said when he was closer.

"I approve of this whole thing." He declared, grinning from ear to ear. His good mood was infectious.

"Yeah, no kidding." I answered, not hiding the smile that graced my features.

"And it's all because of you, so thanks!"

"You're welcome, I guess"

"May I take you home?" Leo suddenly said. I bit my lip at the sudden change of topic.

"Uh, no thanks I can walk."

"Come one, I promise I'll take you home safely." He whined with a mocking smile on his face and I rolled my eyes.

I kept on walking, not answering his question and passed through the school doors and I was surprised when I realized that he didn't followed me.

Coming outside, I looked around just to find the precious park that was next to my school. There were some moms and their kids playing, enjoying the beautiful first day of summer and the beautiful warm weather.

The heat of the sun caressed my skin while the summer breeze played with the stray brown tresses of hair that were not tied up in my perfect braid, seeming to mutiny against the other hair that was obediently resisting the wind. I stood there, watching idly as the strands of hair rebelled and seemingly fought against the breeze.

I was so lost in my thinking that I didn't noticed the blue Camaro on the street, just next to me.

"Really, can I take you home?" I turned to see the car and I rolled my eyes as Leo got out of the car to talk to me. I started to walk away, but he followed me.

"What the hell are you doing Valdez?" I asked, annoyed. His persistent behavior was starting to bug me. I'd already said 'no'.

"It's my way of trying to say 'Thank you'." He answered, with that stupid, yet charming smile on his face.

"Well, you're welcome." I replied abruptly. "Now, can you just leave me alone? I don't need a ride back. It's okay."

"Nope, let's go get ice cream" Leo said playfully.

"Ice Cream? How old do you thing I am? A 4 year-old girl?" He laughed at that.

"Ok, will you let me take you to the ballet show tonight, then?" he asked. I stopped walking

"What?"

"Let me take you to see the ballet tonight" he said. I was shocked, tonight they'll be playing Swan Lake, my favorite performance. Was he really offering to take me?

"Wait, then I'll end up going by myself." I pointed out. He shook his head as though I was being ridiculous.

"Of course not! I'll go with you!" Leo immediately corrected me. Thinking about it, I would've preferred going by myself. Leo didn't like ballets.

"Ugh, fine then, take me home." I relented, changing the topic back. Leo's face brightened and he gave me a huge smile. I sighed.

"Can I walk you to your front door?"

"Nope. Never in my life." I answered while he started to drive. We had just gotten into the car. The engine purred quietly and soothingly.

"Why not?" Leo countered.

"That's none of your business." I retorted.

"Now I'm your best friend," Leo persisted. "Everything you do is my business."

"You are NOT my best friend" I corrected. "So it's NOT any of your business."

"Yeah, I am." He said, I rolled my eyes.

"Stop here." I said when we got to the corner that he'd dropped me off at yesterday.

"Someday I'll figure out why you won't let me take you to your front door" He said while I got out of the car.

"See you here, at 5pm. Here, at the corner so we can go to the ballet." I'd finally decided that I was going. "If you park right in front of my house I swear I'll kill you." I threatened. Leo rolled his eyes as though I was being crazy, but still nodded.

I walked home and just before to get inside, I turned to look at the corner of the street just in time for seeing an old Camaro driving away.

~oOo~

"I must admit that this one was so much better." Leo said once we had exited the theater after the ballet. I smiled because of his comment.

"It's my favorite one." I said.

"I totally can see why." That made me smile. I was totally content that Leo wasn't seeing the ballet in the same way that I was, but it was sweet that he really tried to understand the show.

"So, we're on summer vacations…" He said. I looked at him.

"Yeah. I know." I said, albeit less cheerfully.

"Why aren't you excited?"

"Because summer just means being alone at my house all the day" I said without thinking, and the moment the words left my lips, I had to ask myself why I'd even said that to him.

"But this summer's going to be different" He said.

"Because…?"

"It's your first summer with the amazing Leo Valdez" I couldn't help laughing of him, feeling marginally better. But still…

"Yeah it'll be so funny with you around." I said. I looked at him and he got that brilliant smile on his face again. I was starting to like Leo-'like' as in 'friendship', obviously.

"Anyway, I'll be busy so I won't see you until Sunday." I stated. Then I got an idea.

"In fact," I said, thinking carefully, "I'll go with my mom to visit a cousin so I won't be back until Monday…"

"Didn't you just say that you would be alone at your house…all…day?" He said. His voice trailed off as I gave him a menacing stare.

"Ok, ok, I won't say anything." He said defensively, raising up his hands like he was giving up.

Just then, we arrived in to the parking lot and went to find the old Camaro.

"Since when you've a car?" I asked him, now realizing that I had no idea where it came from.

"Since the day I got my license." He stated as though it was obvious.

"Did you parents give it to you?"

"No," He shook his head. "It was Beckendorf's"

Beckendorf was his old brother, I knew him because Hyllia was obsess with Beckendorf arms. She said that he was such a dumbass, but she still loved his muscles either way.

"So he gave it to you?" We got into the car by now.

"Nah, he brought another car and sold me this one."

"And…where exactly did you get the money?" I asked raising an eyebrow.

"What are you? The police?" He asked at all my questions and relentless interrogation.

"Fine, I'll stay quiet until I get home if I'm being annoying." I said when he turned on the car and started driving through the town to my house again.

"I worked in a mechanical workshop." Leo finally answered.

"Doing what?" I asked, crossing my legs on the seat.

He replied in a slightly blunt tone. "Repairing cars, what else would I do?"

"Sweep, clean, take the trash away… think of something else?" I answered and he just laughed good-naturedly.

"Very funny." He said, and I smiled slightly.

We rolled up to my usual drop off/pick up spot. "Here we are, at the corner of your street, weird girl" He said, I shook my head in mild amusement at the last comment.

"Thanks repair boy" I said getting out of the car. I looked at him before closing the door.

"Thanks Leo, I really wanted to see that show."

"Anytime." he said "See you on…Monday then?"

I shrugged." I don't know. My schedule's so busy." I joked.

"Try to make space in it for me." I smiled and start to walking back home, waving good-bye to him briefly. I turned around before I entered the house to see that blue Camaro, which I was starting to get used to, drive away.

Well...maybe you should know that the only short thing in this story...was the preface :P

Hope you like it!

Thanks for all the follows! I swear I'll not get angry if you let me a review *u*

Gabsters & Sam... I love you!

Ps: I have the power of Hades so I'll bring to life alot of people! Muajajaja...

With love! Ary ;)