Disclaimer: I don't own PJO or HoO
A/N:
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- S.
I sat there with my mouth open, gaping like a fish at the guy in front of me. The whole class was busy with their own work, and Jenny had decided to busily organise the implements on the lab bench.
"Thalia? Anyone up there in your head of air?" Nico frowned, leaning forward to wave a ringed finger in front of my frozen face.
"Hi." I said, eyes still wide and staring. My cousin sure had sprouted. Last time I saw him he was still a small boy who loved Mytho Magic Cards.
And now... Boom.
The guy in front of me had an expression like he was going to face-palm. Freckles dashed across his scrunched up nose, mirroring my own, and his brown eyes looked questioningly at me.
"Zeus!" I cursed at him, smacking his shoulder forcefully, eliciting an "OOF!" from him. "Don't scare me like that and don't stick your pocket knife into dead animals! Show some respect for the dead, Death Boy!"
Nico rolled his eyes, pressing his silver skull ring into the palm of his other hand. "Well isn't it nice to see you, too, cuz. Except now, you've completed the transformation. I think you've become my mum."
I shook my head and grinned, noticing Jenny watching our conversation, her eyes flicking from me to Nico.
"Reunited." She stated, turning her attention back to the now mutilated frog. I glanced down at the frog, poor thing, it's legs were forcefully splayed, pinned to the cork board by tall pins.
Nico ruffled Jenny's hair affectionately. "Yep. But you don't have to be jealous; she's my cousin, Bunny."
Jenny rolled her eyes. "I'm not jealous," she protested, and then snapped, "and don't call me Bunny!"
Science went well from then. Nico, Jenny and I talked through the lesson and the frog lay somewhat forgotten during the midst of the conversation.
I found out that Jenny was the second smartest girl in the grade, and took an interest in sports. She was quite a feisty character and I could see why out of this class my cousin decided to sit next to her.
Break time came and after grabbing some food from the canteen - an apple and a chocolate milk carton - I made my way to Barnacle Brain's table.
The seating arrangements were... Interesting. Percy had placed himself at the head of the table, Nico and Bianca preferring to sit on the side with Jenny opposite. Silena and I sat on the other side.
"Why does Fish Head get to sit there?" I pointed the core of my apple in the general direction of Percy, who sat tall and smug.
"Because I'm awesome?" Percy immediately supplied, taking a large bite of his chicken burger.
"No." Jenny cut in and Percy shot her a mock sad face. Jenny gave a devilish smirk at us before continuing. "You see that blonde girl over there?" She nodded in the direction of where a honey blonde girl sat with Katie, the girl in my maths class, and... Luke Castellan. "Percy has a massive crush on her," Jenny finished bluntly.
There was a loud clatter and when I turned around, Percy had chocolate milk spilled on his tray.
"T-that's... I-I-" he spluttered, his green eyes finally narrowed on the pink haired Jenny, who smiled sweetly back at him.
"Ah, ah, ah!" She raised one finger. "Annabeth is looking."
Percy was quick to react. He sat back in his chair with a nonchalant expression, pretending to be engaged in a serious discussion with Nico. I snorted. Coral Head.
Annabeth, the girl of Percy's fantasies, was indeed looking at our table. But not at Percy, no. She was looking at me and in a deep conversation with Castellan. My stomach felt uneasy as I watched them, but I was called back to the table by Bianca snapping her fingers in front of me.
"Soccer trials are tomorrow after school. Are you going to come?" She asked, and Jenny and Silena nodded.
"Of course." I grinned. "Anyone who I should be looking out for in the girls' team?"
Silena and Jenny shared a look. Jenny then leaned forwards. "There's this girl and her name is Drew. She's got the hots for your brother, Jason." Jenny swivelled in her chair and pointed with her thumb out the window. I spotted the blonde head of my brother sitting with a Latino boy. Three girls were with them, two that I recognised instantly as Kellie and Tammi. The other was a stunning brunette. Drew.
"Yeah, that one there," Jenny nodded. "She's a soccer girl, too. Been team captain of the team for two years."
"She's a bitch." Bianca contributed, her warm brown eyes were searing hot as she glared at the girl.
I knew Bianca to be a sweet girl, so I guessed that whatever Drew had done to her, it was bad.
"I'll keep an eye out for her then," I said, and Nico nodded approvingly.
-!-
Silena went home before me today. I decided to stay back to exercise in the school gym with Jason. So after my regular exercise routine consisting of push-ups, crunches, bench presses and a run on the treadmill, I had a good sheen of sweat covering my body.
It was around 6pm by the time I said goodbye to my brother and arrived back at the apartment.
I hummed as I opened my door and flicked the switch on, dumping my bag on the counter in the kitchen. I opened the fridge and peered inside - empty. Huh, I needed to shop. Seems like it would be take out for tonight.
I pulled my Doc Martens off, coming to stand at the bathroom mirror. My freckles were getting bigger, I swear. When did they look that big? Why did they have to- CRASH.
I shot up straight and frowned. It didn't sound like it came from inside. I walked quickly to the door and yanked it open. Almost immediately a heavy lump collapsed on me, and I grabbed the thing's shoulders to stop it from hitting the floor.
Wavy blonde hair swept into my face and I blew it out of the way. "What are you doing?" I asked, staring at the man in my arms.
"Hnn." He grunted softly. Then he let out a groan, and I felt a sharp jolt of concern run through me. Though I thoroughly disliked him, I was worried about his current state.
"Come, let's get you into your room." I tugged him up and across the hall. I tried to prop him upright but he kept falling, like he was unable to stand independently. "Key, key." I muttered, starting to pat down his body. It wasn't like I was feeling him, but he had the energy to send me a saucy look, and I immediately glared back.
Finding his key in his pocket, I held open the door with one foot and dragged him in, dumping him unceremoniously on the couch. His apartment was the same as mine, just more decorated with the red posters of Manchester United and the blues of Chelsea. On one side of the room banners were hung on the wall and gold and silver trophies lined the shelves proudly.
After depositing Castellan on the couch, I was like a magnet attracted to the fridge. I poured some cold water for Blondie and checked out the ingredients in the fridge. Enough to make some sauce for pasta.
"What did you do?" I asked as I neared him. I came around to his side and helped prop him up with a pillow, holding the glass to his lips.
"Trained... Too hard." He muttered. "I feel half dead now."
"Idiot. It was your fault, then." I said, standing up and he watched me with his ocean blues.
"Don't go." He suddenly said and I looked at him curiously. Why was he suddenly so bipolar? Being so cold then warm, just like the ocean.
"I'm not leaving. I'm going to get something to eat." I nodded, then added, "For tax," and walked away quickly to the kitchen, pulling the mince meat and sauce out.
I cooked quickly. The meat did not take long to brown, and the sauce was already heated up when the pasta finished cooking. I piled the pasta onto plates and poured the tomato sauce on top, walking over to sit next to Castellan.
"Thanks." He said as he took the plate from me and dug in. I watched his expression to see whether he liked it. "This is good!" He said, eyes wide and a smile on his face.
"You're either being nice because you want something, or you're delusional." I replied, scooting further away from him, wary.
"I'm being genuine. Honest." He said, giving me a grin, and my eyes locked onto his lips before flicking up to his eyes. They were clear, not cloudy like that of a delusional person.
"Whatever you say, Castellan."
"Don't call me that. Call me Luke."
"Mmkay." I was too tired and full to argue. I collected our plates and stacked them in the dishwasher, coming back to sit on the sofa.
An awkward silence collected over us then. Luke cleared his throat and focused on his trophy wall. "Do you uh... Play soccer?"
I rolled my eyes and turned around, stretching my feet across the couch, being careful not to touch him. "Yes. I got a scholarship for it to come to Goode."
Luke was silent for a moment, and cautiously, he reached around and hooked his arms under my feet, dropping them on his lap. There was a pause, as if he were waiting to see if I'd grant him permission to do that. I rose an eyebrow but didn't comment, allowing my legs to rest there. But they were tense. What was he doing? He was planning something, wasn't he?
"I should watch you play then." His voice dropped low, lower than his usual range which was quite deep. Luke gazed at me, his lashes dipping low. A lopsided grin was on his face, and I didn't know why, but I felt my heart start thumping hard.
"Hmm." I murmured. Whether it was in agreement or not, I wasn't too sure myself.
We stopped talking for a bit and I snuck the occasional glance at him. When I told Silena the other day that I wasn't attracted to him, I may have lied. Just a little bit.
He was FIT. You could tell with just a glance that he worked out. And underneath that shirt? Just what would his abs look like?
Oh Thalia. I mentally smacked myself. Cut it out, cut it-
Smoke. I shook myself out of my daydream and sat up. Luke stared at me. "Is it just me or does it smell like-"
"Smoke." I continued and finished for him.
Almost on cue, the smoke alarms went off and so did the sprinklers. Could my day get any worse?
-!-
"It's 9 o'clock at night!"
"Yes, I know, and I'm so sorry."
"This is expensive carpet, and this! This is wood!"
This is where I found myself at 9pm at night. I was standing in the middle of Luke's soaking wet apartment with an utterly confused and upset Aphrodite, the landlord.
"I can pay for it," I butted in. "It's fine. It was my fau-"
"No." Luke glowered at me, his arms across his chest. "It was my fault, Mrs Beauregard. With my girlfriend over, I didn't pay attention to the stove. It's alright, I'll pay with my insurance."
Aphrodite looked doubtfully around the apartment. "Okay," she finally agreed. "I'll get the contractors to come in and fix this. It will probably take a few months. In the mean time though, you will need a place to stay."
Luke nodded. "That's the easy part. I'll just stay with my girlfriend."
Aphrodite and Luke both turned to look at me and I froze like a deer in headlights. Oh Hades no!
