"Beauty Queen!" Leo's voice called out to her as she shoved her books into her locker.
He'd taken to calling her that since the day before, when he invited her to the lunch table he sat at with his friends. It was a pleasant change from sitting alone at a table near the trashcans, which was what usually happened on first days, when no one knew you and you either skipped lunch altogether or braced the stares in the cafeteria. At any rate, she was glad that she'd offered Leo that ride.
He was attempting to swagger down the hallway, failing miserably as he tripped halfway. "Hey," she smiled as she tried to keep the books in the shelves of her locker from falling out. It wasn't an easy task, given that the metal grid shelves in the school lockers were flimsy and couldn't support much weight. The books kept toppling out of place. "Help me out here, will you?"
Leo gave her a lopsided grin. "That I can fix." He pulled out what looked like modified versions of pliers and screwdrivers and began fiddling around with it. Barely thirty seconds later, he patted the shelf proudly. "All done."
Piper gingerly placed her books on it and was amazed that they stayed upright. "Cool, right? I changed the wire arrangement for it."
"Do you run a mechanical shop or something?" Piper made it as a lighthearted comment, but Leo nodded. "Part time at Hephaestus' Repair. My momma used to work with me there." Piper noted the phrase 'used to'. She smacked his arm gently. "I'd like to check it out. I've got a few things that need repairing."
"Thanks. You know, when people find out I work part time at a repair garage, they don't usually stay to find out more." Piper felt an inexplicable surge of sadness for this thin Latino boy. People weren't as willing to tease a physically disabled person, but the small things that made one person's life so different from others were so easy to ostracise. Funny how it was only the obvious things, which couldn't be ignored, that were sympathised by others, not those hid behind facades or not immediately visible.
"What do you have today?" Piper peeked at Leo's schedule. A crowd of tall jocks crowded past noisily, shoving at each other and yelling. Piper found them unbearably immature. It was no wonder that movies always portrayed teenage boys as generally rowdy. It was a stereotype, but then again there was a reason why stereotypes were stereotypes in the first place.
"We have Calculus together after lunch!" she observed. "Yay. Calculus. My favourite subject," Leo intoned sarcastically.
Piper reached her Honours English class and bid him farewell before entering the classroom and bumping headfirst into a toned chest. She also noticed that the cologne the person had on was very pleasant, not too heady. She blushed red and was stammering out an apology when she looked up into the person's face and abruptly stopped. Why did it always have to be him.
"Piper."
"Jason." She pushed past him as he exited the classroom, thumping down onto her chair. Of course Jason was early for the first period class, and his stationary was already set neatly along the sides of the desk. Piper had to restrain the urge to push the neatly stacked pens off the edge of the desk.
At the second half of the lesson, the teacher, who had apparently gotten too tired to teach, instructed them to carry out a pair discussion on their project as she leaned back into the chair at the teacher's table and knocked back a huge mug of coffee. Jason turned to Piper, his eyebrows furrowed. "Could you try to be more proactive on group work?"
Piper barely looked up from the five pointed stars she was doodling on her worksheet. "Not like you've done anything either."
"I have!" he exclaimed. "I sent you an email about the work divide."
Piper burst out laughing. Jason seemed affronted. "Okay, if you're not going to take this project seriously-"
"My God," Piper raised an eyebrow at him. "You still use that ancient thing? How quaint."
"How else do I contact people for school-related issues?" Piper looked at him incredulously. "Ever heard of texting, Grandpa?"
Jason seemed to ignore the fact that she'd just insulted him. "It's informal. Also, girls always take it the wrong way when I ask them for their numbers for projects. And they keep texting me even after the project ends."
Piper shook her head at him. "Well, if you want to contact me quickly, text me. I almost never check my email." Jason seemed to consider this for a moment. "And I won't even have a reason to text you after this project ends anyway." "Alright." He wrote his number on the corner of her worksheet in his careful handwriting. She was about to do the same on his when he stopped her.
"What?" she asked as he felt around in his bag before retrieving a small leather-bound book. Piper started to laugh helplessly again.
"Really, Jason? A contact book?"
…
"And then I had to fill in my name, house and phone number and even my freaking date of birth," Piper was still wiping away tears of laughter as she recalled this incident to Lacy and Katie, who frequently occupied the table she sat at.
"Presenting our student body's president," Katie laughed to reveal pearly white teeth. Leo sat down on the bench next to her. "'Sup, ladies. Guess what Uncle Leo heard in the corridors?"
Lacy, who always loved a good gossip, leaned forward eagerly. "Apparently, Tristan McLean moved into our neighbourhood recently!"
Piper's stomach dropped. If anyone found out who she was, all those awful stereotypes would start rolling in. She doubted she would have any real friends after that, just like the time in Wyoming when the entire school found out she was Tristan McLean's daughter, and all her friends drew back immediately, as they felt the strain between the social classes ("How are we supposed to compare to that?") and the other girls becoming jealous and some even doing petty things out of spite. All in all, she did not have a good year. This was precisely the reason why she never told anyone her last name.
"Ooh!" Lacy intertwined her fingers. "Tristan McLean is literally one of my favourite movie stars, period. He just looks so good…" she drifted off as she caught sight of Piper's nauseous expression. "You okay?"
"Err- yeah. Just kind of weird since he's middle aged and stuff?"
"Meh," Lacy batted her comments away. "It's the looks that count. Have you seen that jawline? And don't get me started on his cheekbones. He has a daughter, you know," she added. "She must be so pretty." Piper upset her bottle of juice over her sandwich.
"Piper, are you sure you're alright?" Katie looked at her in concern. Piper's head was bent over her ruined lunch as she quickly mopped up the spilt juice with her napkins. "You seem very out of sorts today." Piper struggled to find an excuse. "Must be the flu," Leo put in. "It's spreading around our school. Piper was grateful for this comment and seized upon her chance. "Yeah. Maybe I'll take some pills when I get home."
"Drama at ten o' clock," Lacy suddenly whispered. "No, don't look now! Leo, that's so obvious." Leo's neck had shot up at her comment and he lowered it slowly, looking embarrassed. Out of the corner of her eye, Piper saw a slim Asian girl in ringlets with both hands on Jason's shoulders, whispering something in his ear. Jason looked unaffected, but Piper caught sight of Reyna's murderous glares at the girl. "Who's that?"
"Drew Tanaka. Resident queen bee of Jupiter High- at least, she would be if her GPA matched her looks," Lacy sniffed. "She gives everyone on the cheerleading squad a bad rep."
"Reyna sure doesn't look happy," Piper noted. "Of course not. It's quite obvious to everyone that she's had a crush on Jason for like, forever," Katie smiled. "Kind of cute, actually, but Jason is the most obtuse person on earth."
Jason was politely declining whatever Drew was offering, though Drew seemed to take it as 'playing-hard-to-get', and continued smiling and batting her eyelashes at him. Her eyes were coated with so much eye shadow that every time she blinked, her lashes seemed to throw off little sparks of pink glitter. "Gross," Piper returned to her juice. "How can anyone like Jason Grace?"
Three pairs of eyes stared at her incredulously. "You too, Leo?"
"I mean- there's no reason for people not to like him," Leo said defensively. "Good hair, good looks, good grades, charming personality-" "Jason Grace does not have a charming personality," Piper interrupted. "He's rude, blunt, academically driven to a fault, jumps to conclusions too quickly and is about as interesting as a doorknob.
"How would you know that? You've only just moved here," Lacy jumped to Jason's defence. "I'm partnered with him for a project in English class. Also, he made quite the impression on me when he spilt coffee on my jacket last weekend. He wasn't- pardon the pun- gracious about that," Piper smiled grimly.
"Really?" Katie's eyebrows flew skyward. "Jason is really well-liked here precisely because he's gracious and kind, not to mention down-to-earth. He's the most approachable member of the student council this year. Can't say the same for Reyna," she shuddered. "I'm terrified of her. Don't know how Drew can still continue flirting with Jason with that glare on her."
"If you ask me, Reyna is the only one who has half a chance of getting with him," Lacy mused. "They've apparently known each other since they were little."
"Hasn't he dated anyone his whole life?" Leo laughed. "Yeah he has. He never stays with them for more than a month. Interestingly enough, it's always the girl who breaks it off. They always say that he doesn't take them seriously enough."
"Told you he has a bad personality," Piper mumbled. Lacy shook his head. "Not that he has a bad personality. I think they just don't click, or maybe the relationship wasn't going smoothly." "Does he expect them to be flawless or something?" Piper asked sarcastically. "His expectations are too high."
"Ladies," Leo interrupted. "Look, I'd love to continue talking about 'Amazing Grace', but we literally have two minutes to the bell." As they were leaving the cafeteria, Piper glanced back at Jason's table, where Drew had finally left, and Reyna spread her folders on the table and was in earnest discussion with Jason, Annabeth and some other student council members. She wondered if anything in Jason's life was ever less than perfect.
…
Piper was waiting for Jane to pick her up at the school's foyer, where there were comfy sofas scattered around. It was around three and the crowd of students moving out of the school had thinned considerably. She was in a slightly bad mood that day- her Calculus teacher had returned a quiz they did the day before. She was apparently slightly rusty in Math after a long holiday, which was reflected in the large red F on her paper. It wouldn't have been that bad, except that the teacher then proceeded to read out the grades of every single member of the class, from top to bottom. Needless to say, she wasn't enjoying a very good reputation.
Her phone buzzed on the couch next to her. It was a text message from Jason. Can we choose a topic for the English project? I'd like to get started on it ASAP.
She rolled her eyes. Why was academics so emphasised on in this school? In nearly every other school she'd been to, the worse your grades, the better your reputation. She vaguely recalled her father saying something about how this was a prestigious school, as everyone who got in either had to be rich or talented in a specific area.
She texted back a reply. Sure. You got any ideas?
Her phone buzzed again a few minutes later, but she saw Jane's car pull up the driveway. She bounded towards the car and she opened the door and felt her jaw drop.
"Dad!" she shut the car door and hugged him in the privacy of the tinted windows. He hugged her back, but gently disengaged her a few moments later. His face was serious and a little strained. He suddenly looked very much his age. Had he always had those lines on his face?
"What's wrong?" Piper asked warily.
"Pipes," her father began. "What do you know about your mother?"
I had no idea what to name this chapter so I just went aha "AMAZING GRACE"! as always, tell me what you think of it in the reviews, I'd love to hear feedback! Constructive criticism is welcome :) you can also ask me any questions you have pertaining to the story in the reviews, and I'll try to answer them!