11:25, Wednesday, November 9th, 2010
Kate Reeds nervously pulled at her clothes as she walked over to the table where Percy Jackson and his friends sat.
As she approached, they all turned to look at her, and she had to swallow to keep herself calm.
"Uh, hi," she said nervously.
"Uh, hi." Annabeth Chase, the girlfriend of Percy Jackson, and the scariest person Kate had ever seen said, her grey eyes drilling holes into her.
"I just wanted to say, um," Kate rubbed the back of her neck, "I'm sorry." she blurted.
"For what?" Percy asked.
Sydney Lise, a girl in Kates math class, smiled at her. "Here sit down and tell us, okay?" Kate obliged.
She told them about her encounter with Lilith Van Wes. She told them that she had no idea what Lilith was planning to do, so she had given up the information.
And she told them how bad she felt now, seeing what had been done. Piper McLean had been hounded for months, and Jason Grace had recently been revealed to be the missing son of Beryl Grace.
All because Kate had given Lilith some seemingly harmless information.
She should have known, should have understood. Piper and Jason were public figures now, and had lost their private life because of her. Kate had grown used to being the reason people's secrets were revealed. And she had felt guilt at first, but she had grown good at suppressing it.
But this was different. This wasn't a small secret of someone, this was private information that could ruin someone's private life. And it was all her fault.
Kate didn't realise she was crying until she felt a warm hand take hers.
She looked up to see Piper smiling at her, her multi-coloured eyes gleaming like stars. "It's okay Kate. It's okay. I'm not mad, honest. You didn't know what would happen, and honestly, it's that witch Liliths fault."
Kate smiled at her. "I'm still sorry."
"Don't be," Jason said. "I mean I don't like being associated with my mom, but honestly the only thing they know about me is that I'm her son. They don't know who my friends are, or gods forbid, where I live. You haven't ruined anything Kate. I mean I can't go get McDonald's without some stupid Pap finding me, but maybe that will convince me to go less."
Kate had to laugh.
There was still a bit of tension, but that was kinda expected. Kate was a fairly popular person, and she had never really interacted with anyone she was sitting with.
There was one boy, named Damien Mills, who Kate found herself liking a lot. His black hair had died an electric blue at the tips, and his skin, which was a light brown, was dotted with freckles.
He was twirling drumsticks around, suggesting to Kate that he played the drums. At some point in the conversation, Kate learned that not only did he play the drums, but he also played the guitar, he sang, played the piano, and was a part of a small band.
He seemed to glance at her a lot, and strangely enough, she found herself doing the exact same thing.