Edit: There is something wrong with the Doc. Manager and other things of FF that have been driving me crazy, so I can't put that line break between the end of the beginning A/N. and the chapter title. Oh well. And sorry for the wait. Like I said, FF crazy.

A/N. How do you guys like the BCC cover? It was made by Epiphany on Toast/obsessioninhumanform on deviantArt. :D Make sure you give her compliments because she's supermegafoxyawesomehot! I just added the frame and the words and stuff... Yes, Curlscat, I am obsessed with that bubble effect if you haven't noticed already. :3

Silly me! I forgot to say congratulations to E.M.B. for being the 100th Reviewer and yellow.r0se for being the 111th! Since E.M.B. is an anon, though, you'll have to settle for a shout-out. :) But thank you so much for your review. It was so thoughtful and sweet -thank you. And yellow.r0se: Like I did for FTFT, ask me four spoiler questions and I'll answer them. Also, I got my Twitter years ago, haha. I just never knew you had one. :) Congrats to you two again!

Oh, and the LAST QotD, not the one about siblings (though I will get to that one, today, too): Airene Archerway. Because Silena is beast. And she died a hero like Briar. And you also gave a really thoughtful answer. :) Not sure who my favorite PJO character is, though. My favorite god, though, is Apollo. :D He reminds me of playful Puck.

Now, the other QotD: I say Curlscat and killer bunnies because I'm in a good mood, so I want more than one winner. ;D But all of your answers were awesome! I especially like the ones that said even though they're annoying, you'd keep them. I'd say so, too.

But, all of you, WOW! +120 reviews and only seven chapters! *happy dance* Thank you so much. We can try and get to 1,000 reviews like we did for FTFT if you guys want. (You don't need to, but that'd be awesome! ^^) That was really cool, by the way. I still get butterflies in my stomach when I think about it. :)

I thought this was funny. I was looking back at some old stories, and I found my review to I Just Have This Strange Feeling by Junebug...something. :) It made me smile: 9/29/09 ch14: Hey junebug!im Lara D,you don't know me cause i wasn't signed up for this yet ,but know i am you can see more about me in my profile,i always read every new a tip:if you want alot of reviewers,then you have to let antonymous people update really sooner!

:D I love how my reviews don't look like that anymore...right?

Enjoy!

Chapter 7: Smack

Monday afternoon I trudged up to the P.E. alone. Ariana went home early because she wasn't feeling well. That meant I had to deal with Sage by myself. With a sigh, I shoved open the gym door, earning a cry of pain from whoever I hit with it. I stared in disbelief as Jackson backed away from the door, rubbing his head.

"Watch it," he snapped, frowning at me.

"Sorry!" I apologized quickly. "But it's not my fault you were in front of the door."

He rolled his eyes. "Yeah, but most people don't open doors like they're trying to break them down."

I flushed in embarrassment. "I-I wasn't—"

"Daphne!"

I turned my head just in time to see Anna throwing herself at me. Caught off guard, I stumbled backwards as she collided with me. I groaned as my back hit the edge of the gym door that was still open. Anna immediately pulled away from me.

"Sorry!" she apologized, bowing her head. "I just got, um, excited when I saw you…" She glanced at Jackson with a curious look on her face for a brief second before turning back to me. "Look at the far corner of the room. I'm sure you'll like what you see. Everyone else does."

Following her pointed finger, my eyes traveled to the far right corner of the room. I blinked in surprise when I realized I was looking at Mr. Firay and Sage standing together, talking. They were quite a sight too; nearly all the girls were staring at them. I couldn't blame them though— they were the two best-looking teachers here. And they were both in dating range.

"What are Sage and Mr. Firay doing together?" I asked myself, furrowing my eyebrows at them.

Anna nudged me in the ribs. "Sage?"

"Err… Mr. Ross."

She grinned at me. "You wouldn't happen to be the girlfriend you claimed Mr. Ross had, would you?"

I shook my head vehemently. "No! No, I'm definitely not dating him. He's just my…family friend."

"Besides, Daphne is interested in someone else."

My eyes snapped to Jackson, who was smirking. I watched him warily, feeling my heart rate increase. How could he know? Was he really that perceptive? "No I'm not…"

He shrugged. "Well soon you'll be."

"With who?"

"Me," he responded smugly.

A frown flitted onto my face. Well, that wasn't what I expected. "I don't even know you. I… I'm going to talk to Wendell." With that, I hurried away from the twins and towards Wendell, who was climbing the rock wall that lined the far side of the gym.

"Hey Daphne," he greeted, dropping down to the floor as I grew closer.

"Hi," I responded, smiling at him. "Do you know why Matt is here?"

Wendell shot me a warning look. "Mr. Firay, Daphne."

I made a face. "Fudgesticks."

"Daphne," Wendell started, lowering his voice. "I know you're all in love with Firay and everything, but you're still a student here. If anyone catches you—"

"I know. I could be expelled," I interjected, holding up my hand. "I'm very aware of the consequences, Wendell." Very, very, very aware.

He half-smiled at me. "I'm not trying to be a Debby downer."

"I know. It's just— Ah!" I cried out in surprise as something heavy toppled into my back, nearly knocking me off my feet for the second time in ten minutes. I turned my head to see a familiar brunette grinning at me. "Sage? What are you doing?"

"Saying hi to my best friend!"

"Get off!" I demanded, shoving him away from me. "Sage. You. Are. A. Teacher. You can't do things like that!"

He pursed his lips at me. "Why are you so touchy about that?"

I gave him a flat look.

He grinned sheepishly. "Right… Well— Don't hurt me!" Sage said, flinching as Mr. Firay stepped next to him.

"I won't," Mr. Firay responded moodily. "I'd get in trouble if I did."

Sage looked relieved. "That's good."

"During school at least. After school it's fine."

"Great…"

Mr. Firay switched his gaze to me for a split-second. Just as he looked away I dropped my eyes, feeling blood rush to my face. I hadn't seen him face-to-face since my mom had walked in on us— during home ec he had been at a teacher conference. My head snapped back up when I heard a girly voice greet him. Reina, a junior in this class, was surrounding him with a flock of her friends.

"Are you helping out with gym class today?" Reina prodded, smiling widely at him.

Mr. Firay shook his head, returning her friendly gesture. "No, I'm afraid not. I was just relaying something to Mr. Ross."

It felt weird hearing Mr. Firay call Sage "Mr. Ross." It made me want to laugh… I paused for a second. Was that how Mr. Firay felt when I called him "Mr. Firay" all the time? A new blush forced its way onto my face. That was beyond awkward.

"Actually, Mr. Firay, I could use the help," Sage responded in a teasing tone. "You don't have a class right now anyway, right?"

Mr. Firay kept his tone light and polite. "But I do have papers to correct."

"You can do those later, can't you?"

"I have plans."

Sage crossed his arms. "But all these fine ladies want you to stay and play."

"Yeah!" Reina and her friend, Rachel, chorused.

Mr. Firay narrowed his eyes the slightest bit at Sage. "I'm sorry ladies, but I am really busy."

"Hmm… Without you around, I'll just have to pick on you-know-who more," Sage commented thoughtfully, slyly turning his body in my direction.

I shot him another warning look. If he said anything I would murder him.

"Mr. Ross," Mr. Firay said firmly.

"Mr. Firay," Sage responded considerably more tauntingly.

Reina and her friends continued to smile at the pair of men pleasantly, obviously not catching the hostility behind their words. Wendell, on the other hand, did, and was trying not to laugh. I could tell Mr. Firay was losing his patience with Sage. Part of me thought it would be funny for him to blow up in front of everyone, but the other part hoped Sage would lay off. After all, Mr. Firay still had his reputation to uphold.

"Well if you really can't stay, you can leave," Sage finally said in resignation. "Guess I'll find someone else to come down with me into the locker room to gather the equipment. Where we'll be alone, with no one around. Come on, Daphne."

I blanked at him. "What?"

"I can go," Mr. Firay cut in, shooting Sage a dirty look. "Let's go."

Sage smirked in triumph, leading Mr. Firay back to the boy's locker room.

Wendell burst out laughing, ducking his head. "I think I'm actually going to like Mr. Ross," he commented after he was done.

"I think Mr. Firay might kill himself before the year is over," I muttered, rolling my eyes at Wendell. "Sage has an uncanny ability to…" I trailed off when my eyes met a pair of piercing blue-grey ones.

Jackson was smiling at me in a knowing way again. Like he knew my deepest secrets. Like he could read my every thought. Like he knew Mr. Firay and I were secretly dating. Chills went down my spine. Whoever this kid was, he was incredibly unnerving. I definitely had to be careful around him.

A few minutes later, Sage and Mr. Firay reappeared, both carrying a large sack of volleyballs. My heart dropped at the sight of them. Sage really wasn't kidding when he said we'd be playing that. Sage shot Mr. Firay a dirty look as he set his bag down in the center of the gymnasium. Mr. Firay returned it with a smug smirk. It made me wonder what exactly happened down there.

"All right!" Sage started, clapping his hands together. "Let's split off into groups of six!"

Wendell gripped onto my arm immediately. "Come on, let's ask Anna," he urged, dragging me towards the twins.

"Wendell," I protested, trying to stop him. "I kind of wanted to go with Tina and Daniel—"

"They can join us too," Wendell responded in a distracted voice. "Let's just get Anna before she decided to join a different team."

As it turns out, Anna apparently wanted to join our team anyway. She bounded over, looking extremely ecstatic. "Can I join your team?" she inquired coming to a dead stop about a foot away from Wendell.

"Of course," he responded immediately, a goofy grin crossing his face.

Forcing myself not to roll my eyes at his puppy-love behavior, I turned my attention to Jackson, who was still trudging his way towards us. I silently prayed someone else would ask him to join his or her team before he made it over to us. Unfortunately, fate wasn't on my side at all. Jackson merged into our group, and a few seconds later two juniors I didn't know joined as well, filling out our six.

"Once you have your six, we'll start out practicing basic movements," Sage called, gaining everyone's attention. "Split into pairs of two for now."

I didn't even have a chance to speak before Wendell asked Anna to be his partner. That left me with Jackson, seeing as the juniors were obviously going to be together. Once again, he smirked as he came to stand next to me.

"Are you okay?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. "You look anxious."

"I-I'm okay," I responded, quickly adverting my eyes. His gaze was far too intimate for my liking.

Sage started passing out volleyballs to all the pairs. He tossed Jackson our ball, sending me a grin as he passed. I turned away from him, towards Mr. Firay, who was watching us with a frown. When our gazes met, he flashed me a small smile before looking away. I felt a smile of my own growing on my face and I faced Jackson again, feeling refreshed. That is, until I caught the stare Jackson was giving me. My smile dropped at his impish expression.

"Let's start practicing serves. Don't make them too hard, because your partner will only be a few feet in front of you. Mr. Firay and I will demonstrate," Sage announced, holding the volleyball in his left hand. "Just make a fist… and swing!" He swung his fist up, landing a hard blow to the volleyball.

A sigh left my lips. Even though I didn't expect Sage to be a good gym teacher, I thought he'd at least be an okay one. This was just… sad. Mr. Firay abruptly brought his hands up in a block, hitting the volleyball back to Sage with ease. Sage caught the ball, looking pleased.

"So does everyone get it?"

No one was evil enough to tell Sage they didn't learn anything by his example. Lucky for him, volleyball was a sport required in the regular gym class. Even if some of us sucked at it, we knew how to play.

"Ready, Daphne?"

Begrudgingly I faced Jackson, nodding my head. "Serve at will."

He nodded, giving me a light serve. I caught the ball easily and set it up to serve it back to him. Surprisingly enough, my serve went straight to his outstretched hands. Impressed, I grinned to myself, looking to see if anyone else had seen it. My happiness dampened the tiniest bit when I realized both Mr. Firay and Sage were preoccupied helping someone serve. The girls they were helping probably didn't even need the help. They just wanted an excuse to be close with them and— no, I thought firmly to myself. No jealous thoughts.

"Coming at you," Jackson warned before hitting the volleyball to me.

This time when I served it back, it went sailing over his head. He raised an eyebrow and I felt my face flush. "Sorry," I apologized as he jogged backwards to grab the ball.

"Don't worry about it, I'll serve from here," he responded, hitting the ball to me.

Throwing myself forward, I just barely managed to catch it with the tips of my fingers. Jackson jogged back to me, chuckling. I scowled at him, holding the volleyball tightly in my hands. What was so funny?

"You going to serve?" he demanded, ignoring my disapproving look. "Any day now."

After letting out an angry huff of air, I served the ball back to him. He had to throw himself forward in order to catch it. Smiling in a satisfied way, I waited to catch his volley back. An awkward silence passed us now. I waited for Sage to say we were finished, but he never did.

"So," I started, trying to begin a conversation. "Where did you um, move from…?"

"France."

My eyes widened. "Really?"

"No, I came from Narnia."

I pursed my lips at him. "Why don't you have an accent?"

"Well, my sister and I moved here…a long time ago," he paused, "..and, so we sort of lost it."

"That's cool," I said. "Though, it must be a strange change, huh? With the different languages and cultures."

Jackson shrugged. "Not really."

"Oh…"

More silence.

"So, um, you have good taste in music."

"So do you," he responded, a small grin now appearing on his face. "You don't pin me as the type to listen to the kind of music I do."

Now it was my turn to shrug. "You don't judge a book by its cover."

"But everyone still does anyway."

"True," I responded, letting out a small laugh. "I'm guilty of that."

Jackson's eyes twinkled mischievously. "I bet you're guiltier than that."

I blanked at his words. What did he mean by that? Nervousness crept over me. Just who was this kid? "What do you mean?" I demanded when I finally found my face again.

"Oh nothing," he replied nonchalantly. "Slip of the tongue."

"You…"

He cocked his head to the side innocently. "Me?"

Gritting my teeth, I turned away from him. He really irritated me. Even more so than the girls hitting on Mr. Firay. My eyes drifted to my boyfriend as I thought that, seeing him laughing at something one of the juniors said to him. I felt a pang of jealously immediately. Because we were dating, Mr. Firay paid extra careful not to talk to me any more than he talked to the other students. Even though he talked to me much less than everyone else. But it was something I had to live with. I had to just suck up my jealousy.

Without warning, something hard smacked into the side of my head. Unable to stop myself, I shouted out in pain, squeezing my eyes shot. There was the sound of a volleyball dropping to the ground as I dropped to one of my knees, holding the side of my burning face. I groaned it pain as I moved my jaw, trying to make the ache go away.

"Daphne, are you okay?"

I opened my eyes to see Jackson squatting by me, not looking the slightest bit worried. He put a hand up to my cheek, touching it gently. I jerked my head away, watching him with a heedful eye. He mouthed something to me that I didn't quite catch. My ears perked up when I heard the sound of Mr. Firay calling my name, but I didn't turn my head, giving Jackson a questioning look. He rolled his eyes, giving me another complacent look before mouthing the line to me again.

I know your secret.

It felt like I had been smacked -no. It felt like a freight train had mowed me down. Jackson pulled away from me, looking extremely pleased. I stared after him, panic coursing through my veins. What did he mean by that? He knew my secret? There was no way he could know about Mr. Firay and myself! It was impossible!

"Daphne, are you okay?" Mr. Firay appeared by my side now, giving me a concerned look. However, his jaw was clenched.

Our gazes met and I felt my mouth go dry. Now wasn't the time for him to be so close to me. "I'm fine," I mumbled, pushing myself off the ground.

"Maybe you should go to the nurse just in case."

"I'm okay."

"Daphne."

I blinked at his suddenly angry tone. What was wrong? "Um, okay. I guess I'll go to the nurse."

"I'll escort you, just to be safe."

Ah. So that was his reason.

Sage jogged over to his side, trying his best not to smirk. "You okay, Daphne?"

"I'm taking her to the nurse," Mr. Firay interjected before I could reply. "You can manage without me for a few seconds, right?"

"Yeah," Sage responded with a frown. "Are you okay, Daphne?"

"I'm fine."

"You sure?"

"I'm sure," I stated, offering him a small smile. "I'm just going to the nurse to be safe."

Sage nodded. "Okay. Careful."

Mr. Firay began to pull me in the direction of the gymnasium exit. I kept my head straight ahead, doing my best to avoid Jackson's gaze. For the first time since the gang had been locked up I was scared. No, that wasn't the appropriate word. I was intimidated… unnerved.

"That little ass," Mr. Firay growled as soon as we stepped out into the hall. He stopped in the little alcove over the gymnasium door. "He did that on purpose!"

I looked up at Mr. Firay in surprise. "What do you mean?"

"He served that ball while you weren't paying attention on purpose. I watched him do it. With that stupid smirk on his face…"

He did that on purpose? My heart sunk in my chest. What was he up to? Did he want something from me? Why would he do that on purpose?

A soft hand on my cheek pulled me from my thoughts. Mr. Firay gave me a bothered look. "Are you really okay?"

Smiling, I put my hand on top of his. "I'm okay."

"Be careful around Jackson… I don't trust him," Mr. Firay, moving his hand away from my face, but taking my hand with his.

"I don't trust him either," I murmured, sighing.

Mr. Firay caught my eye and for a moment we stared at each other. An overwhelming urge to kiss him washed over me, but I quickly forced it away. We were in school. People were all around us and could walk by any second. He seemed to be having the same thoughts, for he quickly let go of my hand. I blushed, taking a step back away from him.

"Do we really need to go to the nurse?"

Mr. Firay shook his head, chuckling. "No. But we can take a walk and say we stopped there."

"Sounds like a plan," I responded, finding a new smile. "Shall we go, Mr. Firay?"

"We shall, Ms. Grimm."

I made a face at him and he laughed again, gently pushing my shoulder. "Just walk."

A/N. Dun dun dunn. Sorry there was no talk of what happened with Sabrina and Puck. I was to include it at the beginning of this chapter, but I'm leaving for Orlando (again) tomorrow, so I wanted to post this how it was.

Anyone remember that riddle I put in FTFT, about Wendell's girlfriend? "Everytime it's been sung, it has given this girl bruises and many injuries." I think I'll have that as the QotW…but I won't give away the answer. So, the QotW is: Who will Wendell end up with? Hee hee. And also, your answer…be careful with the name that you put as your answer. As we all know, there are people who give themselves 's all I'm saying. *zips and locks lips and hides the key*

FINALLY. Review replies to the "Guests":

Chapter 1:

E.M.B.: Your review made my day, really. Thank you so much! I'm glad I've been an inspiration to you because, wow, that makes me feel happy! Keep writing because you'll always get better at it. Thank you for taking the time to review. :)

Chapter 4:

killer bunnies: IT was great. :) I love going to CA. Especially to see my other families. I don't really care about going sightseeing; I like vacations because I get to be around people that I love a lot more than usual. The MOVIE WAS EPICAL. What's funny is that Sage isn't bisexual. :) He's awesome. Hahah, :D ExACTLY. Shame on you, Daphne! ;D Nico, Nico, Nico, Nico! Ahh. Love that kid.

Autumn: Not sure if I replied back to you on FB, but I'm going to anyways, here. That's okay. :D Lol, how ironic: I was just eating Frosted Flakes for breakfast. It was AMAZING. Seriously. Go watch it. Ditzy, yes. LOL, close. ;D

PenguinLoverGurl: Fine. *vaporizes you with chocolate strawberries instead* HAHAHAH. That's okay, haha, I wasn't really mad. :D Sounds like many things happened to you. :D Aw, that's not cool at all. Inter-connecting-webs sounds like a smarty pants word. :D Aw. NOOO. Go back in time so you can go to your soccer camp agian! Oh, but that's cool. :) NMW IS AMAZING. Lol, I love Mort! Hahaha, you should watch the whole thing. BRAVE. Gosh, love that movie. Annabeth is aaammmaazziinnngg.

Chapter 5:

Prometheus Girl: ...Next level? Um, question: How many months does it take to get to the next level? I think MSeed and Daphne have only been dating for a month, but your suggestion is noted, don't worry. :) Really, thanks so much! You're awesome. :) I can't update every day, though, because that's a lot of work right there. Thanks again!

Airene Archerway NLI: I think you did review...I dunno, lol. HAPPY BIRTHDAY AGAIIN! Hahha, Phineas and Ferb is great. Oh, thanks. :) Hahah, that's awesome. :) That's okay. Wait, are you in high school? Because that would make sense if you were learning that in high school. :) I think I'm good in listening to Filipino, not speaking, haha. Oh, Gym, how we loathe you so...though, I am good at volleyball. :) No, no, this review length was absolutely Pucktastic. :D

killer bunnies: Lol, I won't. But what are you going to do after the story's over? Hahah, I love Matt, too. :D Lol, I'm glad you liked it. :D Well, we'll never know... True dat. Henry might even kick MSeed out. Lol, I'm glad your day got better. :) Yup. No one chose Percy. Crazy, right? :D

Chapter 6:

PenguinLoverGurl: Lololol. Actually, it says your name is "Anonymous", not "Guest" in my email, ahah. I'm so glad someone finally commented on the Bustin Jieber thing. :D Well, you and Curlscat were the only ones to comment, lol. Thanks! :D Lol: :c) Correct. :D OMG OMG OMG HAHAHAH! I LOVE THAT VIDEO. But it should be "Filipinos" :( Love it, though!

killer bunnies: I do that. :D Not the aunt/uncle part (though, I do have a five year old nephew who's a model). Yup. I have an aunt who's younger than my brother, and he's seven. Lol, me too. It looks like Puck is the one having the baby because his emotions are so wild, haha. I love that name. :D Awesome choice! I only have two siblings. :) Thanks!

emowriter: Hahaha, I'm so glad you liked it! Lol, I liked that part, too. Aw, that makes me happy! Thanks for your anon. reviews!

...That's all. :D I even got through most of the signed in ones. :) Feelin' accomplished! Next update: next week. I'm going to try and actually update on time this time. :)

Hope you guys have a great Fourth of July weekend!

~Lara