Jason collapsed on the chair in the student council office during break, flat out exhausted. "What's wrong?" Reyna asked as she entered, immediately setting down her book bag on the polished oak table and starting some paperwork. That was Reyna, dutiful and hardworking.

She could sense his mood from the moment she saw him, which probably came from years of being best friends. Even though he was just sitting on a chair, she could tell from the little things about his posture that something was wrong. To anyone else, he probably looked just the same as always- calm and confident- which was exactly the image he tried to portray.

She, on the other hand, seemed perfectly composed, with not a strand of hair out of place in her braid. "Surely there can't be much to deal with on the first day."

"You're so lucky you're not in my Honours English class, Rey."

"And I would appreciate it if you could explain further," Reyna said, never taking her eyes off her papers. "I'm sat next to the new girl in English. Piper. And I have a graded project with her." He waited for her reaction, maybe some sympathy, but her face was blank. "So? Annabeth took her on the school tour this morning, and she said she was really nice. Pretty, even," she added.

"Oh yeah, she's pretty and all," Jason said in exasperation, not noticing how Reyna's jaw seemed to tighten. "But she's the girl from the coffee shop yesterday."

"Oh." Comprehension dawned on her face. "Is she giving you any trouble?"

"Not really, apart from the fact that if I have to sit with her for ten more seconds, I will literally want to eviscerate myself." Reyna gave him a disapproving look. "Manners, Jason Grace." Jason sighed. "Tell me more," she added.

Jason got up and started pacing the office. "She thinks she's so smart, throwing her vocabulary around and outsmarting teachers. She insulted my work in class today. And rudely too-"

"Those aren't valid points, Jason," Reyna interrupted him, looking quite amused. "It seems to me that you're just sore about something that she did better than you." Jason gaped at her. "Reyna! Are you taking her side?"

"Recount to me everything that's happened. Not from a biased viewpoint. Facts." Reyna slide towards him on the swivel chair and crossed her legs. "And do stop pacing, you're giving me a headache."

Reyna burst out laughing as soon as Jason finished recounting his tale. She seemed to turn into a whole different person when she laughed, which wasn't very often. "I would very much like to meet her. Looks like you've finally found someone who can outtalk you."

With Reyna still laughing softly, Jason mumbled "traitor" under his breath and huffed.

…

At around five that day, Thalia was there to pick him up. He would've driven back, but his car was still at the auto repair shop. Jason got onto the back of her motorcycle gingerly as he strapped on a helmet. "Relax, little bro. You've ridden on the back of a motorcycle before, haven't you? And you're still alive!" She slapped his bag as she swung herself on and revved the motorcycle to life. They were soon cruising along the streets of the suburban neighbourhood, with its trim houses and neatly pruned trees. The rain had stopped at some point in the day, and there was no hint of a cloud in the sky. It was also unbearably hot, and he could feel sweat beginning to form on his back.

"Is Father back?"

Even without looking at her face, Jason could sense Thalia's mood darken. "He's out with Hera. They have some business meeting to attend. They said to join them for dinner at the Hilton though."

"Oh." Their father, Zeus Grace, and their stepmother rarely called them to dine with them besides their 'monthly family dinner', which Jason and Thalia dreaded. Other than that, their contact with Zeus and Hera were limited to the rare occasions they returned home from their business trips. They had just returned from one that afternoon, and were due to take another trip the following morning. To be honest, Jason and Thalia were perfectly fine with this arrangement. It gave them free reign and this freedom would last on the condition that they bring back outstanding results. Jason managed this, but Thalia just barely scraped by. They had come very close, on many occasions, to getting a nanny.

They screeched to a stop in front of their terrace a few minutes later, and Jason jumped off as soon as the motorcycle stopped moving, his knees turned to jelly. Ever since his mother died drunk driving in that car accident, he had a fear of being in a vehicle he wasn't driving, especially if it was a car. Jason had been five when that happened, but he'd been in the back seat of that car. He supposed that the fact that his earliest memory had been that of his mother losing control of the car on the icy road and spinning into a ditch had translated into the fear of losing control.

Thalia snapped her fingers in front of him. "You okay little bro?"

Jason nodded quickly, snapping out of it as he grabbed his backpack and hurried up the steps to the front door. The next-door neighbor, Drew, was sunbathing on her lawn, and she winked in what was probably intended to be a sultry manner at him. "Hey Jason. Congratulations! I heard you got elected the president of the student council!"

Jason, who had one hand gripped around the handle of the door, tried to think of a way to escape the situation, before he got stuck talking to her for two hours, because he was too nice to openly turn her down. "Err- yeah. Thanks. I gotta go now- student council stuff." Then he fled indoors, hearing Thalia's laughter echoing after him.

He checked his email after showering, making sure to draw his curtains beforehand. Drew had been known to watch him from her kitchen window, which she'd done on multiple occasions. He saw that their English teacher had sent out the task sheet for the assignment for Honors English class. He scanned it briefly, noting the key components. Create a poster from scratch on the importance of a current societal issue, along with a 5000-word write up on the issue.

He decided that the task of finding out Piper's phone number was too tedious, so he clicked on the drop down box and found her email instead.

To: justpiper

From: jasongrace0107

Subject: English Assignment

Dear Piper

I believe you have received the email regarding our assignment. Would you like to split up the workload in this manner- I will do the write up, and you can do the poster? As for the topic- would you like to discuss this tomorrow? Please reply as soon as possible.

Jason

He reread the email again, and decided to do away with the 'dear'. Should he put a 'regards' in the end? Or was it too formal? Should he put a 'sincerely' instead? Why was he so fixated on this anyway? He'd spent less time reviewing an email sent to more important organisations. He clicked send.

Come seven in the evening, Jason stood at the front doors of the private room his father had booked at the Hilton Hotel. His neck itched. The tie was too tight. Thalia had deigned to put on clean jeans for the occasion, but that was about as far as she would go. She was still wearing her Fall Out Boy shirt and her bomber jacket, and her hair was still sticking up in all directions.

One of his father's assistants listened intently to a small walkie-talkie and nodded at Jason. Jason took a deep breath and knocked on the door. He shouldn't feel this nervous about meeting his father and stepmother, but then again, who wouldn't feel nervous meeting the head of a giant business empire and whose every whim controlled your future?

"Enter." The gravelly voice of Zeus echoed from the room as Jason and Thalia entered the room. Their footsteps were silent on the carpeted floor as Zeus nodded at them. Hera's regal face was a mask as she stared impassively at them. She was wearing a brilliant green and purple dress, which Jason privately thought made her look like a peacock.

"Sit," he instructed the two of them as the waiters began to pour red wine (the finest quality, of course) into Zeus and Hera's glasses. Thalia ordered a Coke, much to the open disapproval of the two adults. Jason sipped at his sparkling water, waiting for Zeus to say something.

"It has come to our attention that the two of you have reached a very important stage in each of your lives. Thalia," he turned to her. Thalia, who had absolutely no fear, stared right back at him. Jason wondered how she did it. "You are studying Women's Studies at the University of California, Davis, right?" The slight undertone to his voice indicated exactly what he thought of the university and the course she'd chosen to major in.

"Yeah." Thalia raised her chin defiantly, as if daring him to continue. "Have you thought of what you'd like to pursue in the future?"

"Woman's rights activist."

Zeus nearly spit out his wine. Hera handed him a napkin, glancing coldly at Thalia. "You want to become a woman's rights activist."

"I think I made that clear enough the first time." Thalia's tone was icy. Zeus heaved a sigh. "We'll talk about this later. Jason," he turned to the younger boy. "You'll be entering university next year."

"Yes, Father." Jason twisted his fingers nervously in his lap. "Have you thought of what university you would like to go to?"

"Not really." "Well with your grades," he glanced pointedly at Thalia, who promptly ignored him, "you could make it to Berkeley. How does that sound? Maybe Economics or Political Science."

"I guess." Jason didn't really know what to say. "Good, good," Zeus signalled to one of the waiters to start serving dinner. Jason poked around at his fish, which suddenly looked very unappetising. "I also want the both of you to start thinking about marriage."

Both Jason and Thalia choked. Even Hera looked apprehensive. "They're just children, dear. They're too young." "Fine," Zeus said mutinously. "But you've got to start building up a public profile. Especially Jason. I'd like to hand my businesses over to you one day. Start building up good relationships beforehand and then you won't have to worry about finding a wife later on, so you can focus on your studies and work. Having a good support early on is important."

Jason and Thalia had to make a considerable amount of effort not to snort and state the obvious- he clearly hadn't establish a 'good support' early on. Jason and Thalia were the evidences of it. Hera was looking like someone had stuck something rotten under her nose, which was the expression she assumed every time someone brought up the subject of Beryl. After all, it wasn't very flattering when your husband cheats on you twice with another woman.

Thalia interrupted his train of thoughts with an abrupt declaration. "I don't want to get married anytime soon."

Zeus did spit out his wine this time, staining the tablecloth purple-red. "My only daughter-" He started coughing. Thalia sat there, her spine erect and her gaze so steely it could have matched Zeus' own. He regained his composure. "You're young, Thalia. You never know what might happen if you meet the right man. You'll change your mind soon enough."

Thalia was about to open her mouth to say more, but was halted by a warning glance from Hera, and also by the vein throbbing in Zeus' temple. Jason didn't dare to move a muscle. He could literally feel the tension in the air like electricity. It felt as if there were livewires scattered around the room, and one wrong move could get you fried. The dinner was finished with no more comment.

Zeus and Hera stood from the table at around nine, and declared that they would stay at the hotel that night as they had a flight to catch early the next morning. They left the room, and it felt as if a weight had been lifted off their chests, at least until the next month.

Jason and Thalia released a collective breath of relief.

hey! sorry for the slight delay I just read The Amazing Book Is Not On Fire and the first book in the Magnus Chase series so I'm suffering from a post-really-good-book-now-I-have-nothing-to-read syndrome where I just lie on the floor and stare at my books. oh well I'm just going to casually reread the entire Heroes of Olympus series and tear my heart out in the process