Ack! Sorry for the late post. I've been studying abroad and I am actually posting this from Finland! Beautiful country :). Anyways, please enjoy the chapter. Sorry if it's kind of crappy (can't say I'm a big fan of this chapter myself), but trying to steer the story. And of course, all the characters belong to Uncle Rick!

Chapter 4:

'I've never felt that way with anyone,' the note said.

Piper and Hazel were in their fourth period class, AP French. They had been fluent in the famed language of love since both their moms knew how to speak it, so to them, this class was extremely easy. Piper had wanted to wait until fifth period lunch to tell Hazel the details about Jason, but Hazel insisted that she would die of impatience before then.

So for the last twenty minutes, Piper and Hazel had been secretly passing each other notes, careful not to let their teacher see.

Hazel got hold of the note and Piper watched from the corner of her eye has her friend's eyes widened. Hazel looked at Piper and a telepathic conversation ensued. It was obvious Hazel had not expected Piper to feel this way about some guy after a kiss. In fact, Piper was shocked herself. But there was no denying the tingly sensation she felt ever since her kiss with Jason. She knew for a fact that she never felt that way with Dylan. With her ex-boyfriend, it always seemed more rushed or lustful. It never felt as… magical and sincere as it did with Jason.

Hazel scribbled something on the paper and after a minute of looking at their teacher, she discreetly passed the note back to Piper.

'Do you like him? It's only been one week since you met for him Olympus' sakes!'

The Cherokee senior sighed inwardly. She knew it sounded ludicrous even though Piper was a romantic at heart. It was in her nature to believe in love and all that gushy stuff. For one thing, her parents' own love story of how they met and got married was like something out of a movie. She loved hearing that story as a kid before her mother tucked her into bed. But love at first sight? Having strong feelings for someone that she technically barely knew? She thought that she couldn't be that lucky or couldn't believe things like that even existed in real life.

Yet, here she was, her last year in high school, and already feelings bits of cloud nine.

Thinking about Jason made Piper's heart beat uncontrollably. How they were practically alone in the hallway, no one but them, kissing him… Remember we're just pretending to date, she kept telling herself. This is to teach Dylan a lesson. She didn't want to be in another real relationship—she shouldn't be in another relationship. But…

Writing back, Piper jotted down, 'I might have a crush on him. But that's it.' She passed the note back to Hazel and not a moment after she read the note, Piper heard a snort. Hazel knew Piper was half-bullshitting herself.

The teacher, Ms. Khione, looked at the two students and narrowed her eyes. From then on, Hazel and Piper kept it cool and stopped passing notes. Ms. Khione was known for giving some of the worst detentions.

When the lunch bell finally rang, Piper and Hazel rushed out of the classroom.

They were making their way through the Apollo plaza and to their usual hangout spot by the oak tree with nothing to say. Piper could feel her friend's eyes on her but she didn't dare be the first to speak—not when she had jumbled up feelings towards Jason.

"Piper… Seriously, do you like this guy? And I'm not talking about just crushing," Hazel asked, breaking the silence.

Piper shook her head no, but Hazel pulled on her arm and brought her aside next to the girl's bathroom. All around them, students were meeting each other, some of them claiming tables in the plaza and some of them trying to hurry to the food line in an attempt to get the warmest food. Other students were chatting near their lockers and some groups of friends settled themselves down on the grass. Piper saw familiar people like the Stoll brothers about to make a prank on Mr. D, the teacher for cooking class. She also saw another friend of hers, Silena Beauregard in her cheerleader captain's uniform, lounging by a tree with Frank's wrestling teammate, Charles Beckendorf. They were looking at each other longingly, as if they were the only two people in the world. It made Piper's heart melt every time she saw them. There was Clovis, sleeping on the grass as usual, with his stocky arm draped over his eyes to block out the beautiful sunlight. And also Clarisse la Rue, hanging by some of her beefy-looking friends; no doubt on the lookout for lunch money from Malcolm, the typical high school nerd. It was obvious that Piper tried to avoid the subject of Jason from Hazel, but she knew she had to answer. When Hazel grew serious, she could be scarier than Annabeth.

Hazel waited patiently for Piper's answer.

"I… I really don't know Hazel," Piper finally responded, rubbing her face in her hands. "It's weird for me too. I didn't expect to feel this way towards him and honestly, I'm trying not to."

Hazel pursed her lips and looked at her friend carefully. "Maybe… Maybe you don't need to."

"What?"

"I mean, what if Jason likes you back? The way you talk about him and how he acts around you, it kind of sounds like the real thing."

"You know we're just pretending."

"That's what I'm saying. You guys say you're pretending, but it already sounds like you guys are dating and really like each other."

Piper waved her hand dismissively. "That's ridiculous. It's only been one week—of KNOWING him."

"I'm not so sure," she countered. "When Jas—" Hazel's eyes widened. "Oh crap."

Hazel grabbed Piper's arm and they rushed inside the girl's bathroom. Piper looked at Hazel confusingly. "What was that for?"

"I saw Dylan with Drew and they were walking in our direction," Hazel said, but then the two girls became quiet. Outside the door, they heard Drew talking to someone, her voice getting louder and clearer as it neared the bathroom.

Piper and Hazel dashed inside the two vacant stalls and stayed silent. A couple seconds later, they heard the bathroom door burst open and three girls chattering to each other. Piper could already smell the strong floral perfume emitting from Drew, even though the stall door was in between them and the fact that they were in a bathroom (a school bathroom at that). Through the tiny crack, Piper could see the three girls standing in front of the mirror putting their makeup on. The two other girls, Kelli and Tammi, were putting on the brightest pink lipstick Piper had ever seen. They ran their fingers through their glossy blonde and brunette hair, trying to muss it up to make it look natural. Drew, a beautiful Asian girl with black raven hair and a slim frame, was in the middle putting on powder and then dark red lipstick that went well with her own outfit and brought out the light brown color of her eyes. All three girls were in their Goode High cheerleading uniforms, with Drew having the co-captain's emblem on her purple and white blouse. Unlike other cheerleading uniforms, Drew's skirt was way shorter than the rest.

"Did you see Silena with that Beckendorf kid? Talk about super gross! He's poor and he always works in that car shop!" Tammi exclaimed as she put on eyeliner.

"I told her to dump that boy a long time ago, but no, she said she was in love. Oh please," Kelli clucked with obvious distaste saturating her voice.

Drew chuckled darkly. "Now girls. We're proper ladies remember? And as Silena's friend, it's our duty to make her see her mistake."

"What were you thinking Drew?" Kelli asked.

"Isn't it obvious? We just tell Silena that we saw Beckendorf with someone else! Maybe that Gwendolyn girl in our art class. Sometimes I see her in the car shop with him."

Kelli and Tammi had the audacity to laugh. "Or vice versa! As long as they split!"

"Exactly. Silena would be totally crushed, but she's our friend and our captain," Drew said the last few words sarcastically. "We'll hook her up with someone that's worth her time and actually make this team look good. Like Dylan's friend Octavian. Sure he's not that good-looking, but he's potential. He's filthy rich since his great-grandfather is the owner of a huge solar power company. That's enough to offset any looks… at least until she can soak up as much presents as she can. That's what any girl should do. Honestly, how dare Silena just really fall in love with that punk and make our cheerleading squad look bad? Doesn't she remember the code? The rite of passage?"

Piper furrowed her brow in confusion, wondering what they were talking about.

"We match ourselves with the hottest guys in the school. And then break their hearts!" Kelli smirked viciously.

"Ah yes," Drew smiled as if she was reminiscing over her own twisted memories. "That's how our lovely Tammi got in. Who was that boy again? Bobby… whatever."

"Don't ask me. I don't remember his name. Don't care either," Tammi replied breezily. "All I remember was that he begged to take me back. So pathetic."

Piper physically recoiled from their words and felt her blood boil. She could not seriously believe what she was hearing. She remained quiet when Tammi continued, "Why don't we hook Silena up with that weird Nico kid?"

The bathroom got quiet for a moment. Then the three girls burst into a fit of laughter. "Oh-please-ha-ha!" Kelli mumbled through breaths.

"That would be so hilarious! Silena with that emo-loser Nico? I think Silena almost deserves him. Her relationship with Beckendorf is an embarrassment to us all."

In the next stall, Piper could practically feel death and absolute hatred radiating from Hazel. Piper prayed to the gods that Hazel could keep her cool—even though she wanted to slam the door open and sock them in their perfect, flawless faces herself. Nico was Hazel's little brother and although he was kind of solitary with his goth-like appearance screaming at people to leave him alone, he was actually a pretty cool person when you were lucky to know him. Drew and those idiots were just being bullies.

"At least I snagged a hunk like Dylan Miller. He is my new target after all," Drew added smugly.

"Wasn't he dating that Piper McLean girl though?" Tammi asked.

Piper's heart skipped a beat, and she moved closer to the stall crack to listen more carefully.

Drew just shrugged her shoulders while she was braiding her hair into mermaid braids. Tammi was leaning against the sink at this point while Kelli was redoing her mascara. Does it take this long to put on makeup, Piper wondered. But she focused back on the Asian girl before her.

Drew said, "Yeah he was. I don't know why. I've had class with her before and all she does is stay silent in the back of the classroom with that weird hood on. She's so hideous with her chopped up hair that manages to peek out. Seriously, ever heard of a hair stylist? Plus, the clothes she wears? Nauseating and undeniably cheap! She's like a Dumpster Queen!"

The two other cheerleaders snickered with their leader. Piper automatically felt her face flaming and she clenched her fists, remembering feelings she didn't have since Malibu.

"Thank gods Dylan is smart," Kelli said. "Of course he'd pick you over Dumpster Face."

Drew nodded her head, agreeing whole heartedly with Kelli. "Don't get me wrong. I had to give a little… incentive. He wasn't prepared to kiss me at his house that day but he gave way soon enough after I showed him what he would be missing out on. I don't even know what he saw in Piper. She's probably poor as hell and plus, Dylan told me I'm so much more beautiful than Dumpster Queen when we finally hit it off. I knew that of course, but still. Easy."

Ugh, I'm not a Dumpster Queen! Piper bristled with anger. But she felt her cheeks flood with more color due to embarrassment, much to her dismay.

"No one would ever get with Piper. She's a nobody. But anyways, enough about that girl. Honestly, who I really wanna date is someone like Will Solace. Or Jason Grace," Drew said dreamily.

Kelli squealed. "OH MY GODS! He is SO hot!"

"He's as cute as Percy Jackson!" Tammi said. "Too bad he's taken though…"

Piper could tell the blonde wanted to add more, but even those three girls didn't have the balls to go against Annabeth. Hades, she wouldn't either.

"I heard that Jason and Reyna just broke up! You can make your move Drew! He would totally fall for you," Kelli said excitedly like the perfect minion she was.

Drew smiled prettily to herself in the mirror. "Yeah. Well, I'll stick with Dylan for a little while. I heard he wants to buy me this beautiful necklace so I'll wait until then. It's not like Jason Grace is going anywhere either."

The bathroom door suddenly opened and Piper could hear Clarisse's sneer voice. "Bathroom's taken prissies, and I don't want your stinking perfume suffocating me. Get out."

The three cheerleaders just rolled their eyes and after a few moments, they exited the bathroom. Clarisse went inside the stall next to Hazel, which gave them the opportunity to flee.

When Piper and Hazel ran out of the bathroom, the glare from the sun made Piper squint. She had no idea how long she had been inside the stall, but it seemed like forever. Without a word to each other, Piper and Hazel walked hastily to the Nike plaza. No doubt everyone was waiting for them.

While walking, Piper tried to process what she just heard in the bathroom. She couldn't believe Drew could be such a bitch. She never encountered Drew and only had class with her a couple times. Never did they say hi to each other. Despite that, Piper just figured she was a nice person. Obviously that was far from the truth. What Drew said about her best friend's brother was just plain awful. Piper had been the angriest when the group of cheerleading nitwits were dissing Nico. She just wanted to march out the stall and slap her across the face… But then she'd probably get detention or suspended and that would only make Drew haughtier… And the fact that she knew Dylan was taken but went after him anyways and encouraged him to cheat on her? Didn't that violate the rules of feminism somewhere?

Next to her, Hazel, who had been eerily quiet this entire time, stopped mid-track and slapped her hand against the wall. "Those girls," she growled, "won't get away with this."

There was sworn retribution shining in Hazel's eyes and Piper knew that one way or another, Drew, Tammi, and Kelli would get what was coming to them. If there was one thing to be terrified about Hazel, she kept grudges when things got very personal. "Hey, about what Drew and them said about your brother? You know that's not true. Your brother is so awesome."

"I know," Hazel said. "But still, no one talks about Nico that way, even though he is weird. And of course, what she did to YOU Piper. I just can't believe she could stoop so low!"

Piper looked away, trying to fight the urge to seek the crazy co-captain of the cheerleading team and call her out. If Piper had to be honest with herself though, what Drew said kind of hit home for Piper—how ugly she was or that no one cared about her. That was the same thing that Dylan told her when he dumped her sorry ass. She kept a hood on for a reason. Like Malibu, it was to give her some sort of protection or shield from people like Dylan and Drew. Her secret fear was that she would be judged or made fun of because of what her parents were—and of course, that failed miserably anyways. Even starting a new life somewhere else, she still managed to make a few enemies. She was still getting attention; bad attention.

"Hey," Hazel said, catching Piper's attention. "Don't listen to what she said. You didn't even have to try to get Dylan. But Drew had no principles. She's wrong about you."

"It's okay, and thanks for trying to cheer me up. But hey, it's already been… fifteen minutes and I bet Annabeth and them are waiting for us. Let's go." Piper and Hazel jogged to the plaza and immediately they saw their friends plus Jason and Leo sitting on the table underneath the oak tree. All of them had their lunch out, with the boys munching happily on their meals.

"Where were you guys?" Frank said as Hazel arrived. He grabbed her hand and softly caressed it, making Hazel feel better.

"Oh just had to go to the bathroom," she replied nonchalantly.

"For fifteen minutes?" Percy asked, raising an eyebrow.

Beside Percy, his girlfriend examined Piper and Hazel. Right off the bat, Annabeth knew that something happened and that she would be informed later on when she sensed her friends' hesitation. "Yeah. Women right?" Annabeth said, trying to change the subject.

The guys just grumbled in agreement. Piper and Hazel sat down with Hazel getting comfortable next to Frank and Piper sitting in between Jason and his quirky friend Leo. Piper asked Frank, "Have you guys introduced yourselves yet? Hazel, this is Jason and that's Leo."

Hazel smiled. "Hi, nice to meet you guys." Jason and Leo reciprocated her greeting.

"Yeah, we just met each other now. So… you guys are dating now?" Frank asked, pointing at Jason and Piper with his plastic fork.

Piper looked at Hazel, who just shrugged her shoulders. "Wow, he doesn't know yet? I figured you would've told him."

"Well, this whole weekend, Frank and I didn't really get a chance to talk one on one. His grandma from Canada came to visit and so we spent a lot of time with her. Such a nice lady," Hazel explained.

"Yeah, if you like getting yelled at 6 in the morning for not doing practice drills," Frank grunted. Hazel only patted her boyfriend's shoulder soothingly.

Leo chortled. "Your grandma makes you do practice drills in the morning? What is she, a military sergeant or something?"

Frank just stared at Leo with a deadpanned look. "Oh…" was all Leo could say.

"Running three miles was actually kind of fun!" Hazel laughed. "But anyways, enough about Frank's grandma. We ALL don't really know the details between you and Jason so spill the beans Pipes!"

"What's there to say? Dylan dumped me and so Jason, the kind and generous fellow that he is, decided to dedicate some of his time to be my 'boyfriend' so that Dylan could see that I'm not waiting around for him like some pathetic pansy. He'd be so pissed off at that," Piper chirped.

Frank chuckled. "You really think Dylan's going to care that you're dating someone else? He has his own little… groupie now or whatever with those cheerleaders."

Piper and Hazel stole a quick glance at each other with the subtle mention of Drew.

"Definitely," Leo answered Frank. "Dylan's a self-centered jerk. 'I'm Dylan. I'm so cool. I want to date myself, but I don't know how! You want to date me instead? You're so lucky!'" Leo said with the goofiest face and a horrible monk-voice of Dylan.

Everyone around the table burst into laughter at Leo's dumb impersonation. "Pretty spot on, I should say," Hazel said, still chuckling a little.

"Leo's right though," Annabeth added. "I'm pretty good at reading people—"

"That's an understatement," Percy mumbled while popping a blueberry in his mouth.

Annabeth glared at Percy, but Percy, being used to Annabeth's intimidating looks (well, almost used to it), stood his ground with an innocent look on his face. Piper couldn't help but laugh at their relationship dynamics. He was perfect for Annabeth in the sense that he could tame her even if only by a little bit.

"ANYWAYS, as I was saying before Seaweed Brain interrupted me, I only met Dylan a couple of times and frankly, he's very narcissistic and only cares about his own reputation."

"So it makes sense that a typical reaction from Dylan would be to get really mad and jealous… and probably come after Piper so he could try to win her back and show everyone that he can get any girl he wants," Jason deduced.

"Mm-hmm, except if he even tries to go thirty feet near me, I'll tell him to back off or else I'd unleash a can of whoop ass on him… or I could sick Annabeth and Hazel on him; both works," Piper grinned.

"You could send us too," Frank said while Percy smirked.

"And the Valdezinator. I'd just find any reason to beat him up."

"And especially me," Jason said putting his arm around Piper protectively. "I wouldn't let anything happen to you."

Piper blushed at the way he said it. "Thanks Jason."

He smiled gently and turned around to talk to Leo. Piper took the opportunity to study him yet again. Nice blonde hair, gorgeous electric blue eyes, and… was that a scar on his lip? Huh, I have to ask him about that later. Thinking about Jason and the way he was already so sincere and sweet to her, it made Piper secretly wonder for a moment that when all this pretending was over… she could see herself actually dating Jason for real. He was the ideal boyfriend: nice, handsome, smart, polite. Above all, he was a caring and good-hearted person. It didn't even take long for him to already be friends with her own, she thought as she watched Jason and Leo talk to Percy and Frank about the upcoming basketball season.

And what was that comment that Hazel said earlier? That she should just go ahead and try to date him anyways. Was Hazel crazy, or was she on to something here?

Well, she could definitely imagine being Jason's real girlfriend, but the thing was, she didn't think that she should be in a relationship. Yeah she was getting revenge on Dylan, but she figured that she would remain single when the whole ordeal was over, or at least, that's what she told herself before she proposed her plan to Jason. She still had a lot to learn when it came to relationships—and some personal growing up to do—and she didn't want to take out her own insecurities on the next unfortunate guy that came her way. She had a lot of bad memories, some of them traumatic from her old school, and she couldn't add her problems to him.

Plus… Piper was surprised to hear that Jason and a girl named Reyna recently broke up. He didn't mention her before, which was odd. Whatever it was, it was none of her business, and the more she dwelled on this girl, the more her relationship with him became real.

It was probably best to just go separate ways after Plan-Make-Dylan-Look-Like-A-Complete-Idiot was done.

Straying away from those thoughts, all around her, Piper studied the pleasant atmosphere around her group of friends that were sitting around the table. Annabeth was now scolding Percy for putting a red shirt in his whites, Hazel and Leo were talking about their fortunes from the cookies that Frank brought with him for lunch today, and Frank and Jason were idly chatting about WWE and how stupid it is compared to real wrestling. Piper was amazed and delighted to find that the two extra people at their usual table today fit right in with her friends. At the same time, she was grateful that her own friends had taken in the duo with such open arms. The atmosphere was so comfortable, that she almost believed that this happened on a daily basis.

"What do you mean I look like a Latino's elf?" Leo exclaimed, interrupting Piper's thoughts.

Hazel tried stifling a laugh, but everyone just looked at the two of them since they were suddenly interested in Leo's outburst.

"You know what… she's actually kind of right," Jason said.

"Yes… your ears are kind of pointy, and your eyes are kind of slanted as if you're plotting something diabolical… and then there's that mischievous smirk that you always have that makes it seem like you just did something naughty," Annabeth said as she analyzed Leo.

"Oh… you know I can do some naughty stuff," Leo purred to Annabeth. He was silenced by one of her signature stink eyes, to which Percy laughed heartily.

Piper smiled. "But you do look like an elf."

Leo smacked his head against the table. "But elves aren't good-looking," he mumbled, his face still squished against the metal table.

Everyone tried hiding their laughs, but Leo kept talking. "Yeah, yeah, make fun of me. That's why I'll probably put spiders in all of your lockers tomorrow as revenge."

Annabeth choked on the water she was drinking, her eyes widening and her muscles locking. Leo looked at her in shock, and Percy told him, "She's absolutely terrified of spiders."

"Oh. Then I'll make sure to put double the amount," Leo winked.

Annabeth looked like she was about to punch him when he put his arms up defensively and said, "Kidding, kidding! No one's getting spiders in their lockers tomorrow… Although I probably can't promise next week—OUCH!" He earned a solid smack in the arm from Annabeth, and he scrambled to promise that he would never, ever put spiders in her locker—yes, he promised on the the River Styx.

Just then, the lunch bell rang and the group gathered their things to go back to class. "Ready?" Jason asked as he held out his hands for his 'girlfriend.'

Taking it, Piper smiled. "Yeah. I am." Together, they walked to their next respective classes, hand-in-hand.