Frank
Frank Zhang didn't think he was troubled per se. Damaged might've been a better word. Traumatized maybe? Nope. To strong. Scarred? Yeah, scarred.
His mother died in Afghanistan when he was little which left him permanently scared of war. His grandmother died in a house fire a little later which left him permanently scared of fire. In his anger, he might have broken a few things. Vandalized a couple of buildings. Fought a couple of racist kids at school.
His dad wasn't in the picture that much. He had left when he was little and Frank had only met him twice. Once at his mom's funeral, once at his grandma's funeral. Everyone called him Mars even though Frank was certain that wasn't his name. He was very macho and clearly a manly man. Way different from Frank.
Instead of trying to work things out about Frank's behavior, send him to therapy and whatnot, he just shipped him off to Chiron's Boarding School for Troubled Teens without a second thought. Frank wasn't at all looking forward to it. But today was the first day and he had nowhere else to go. So gripping his trunk as tightly as possible, Frank climbed out of the taxi and walked up to the looming mansion.
It was literally seconds after he'd stepped out when a muscular girl with a red bandanna slammed into him. "Watch where you're going!" She said in a husky voice. Frank nodded and said some apologies. She ran up to a blonde-haired boy. "Hey, Lee! Fletcher! Ready to be pulverized in dodgeball?"
"Yeah, yeah, whatever Clarisse. Chris is over there in case you want to talk to him," said the boy teasingly.
Clarisse punched him in the shoulder "Shut up!" She hissed. She then walked over to a boy with brown hair and tapped him on his shoulder. The boy turned around and kissed Clarisse. She just laughed and the two walked inside.
"Will c'mon!" said Lee Fletcher. Another blonde hair boy ran up to Lee and they raced each other through the door.
Frank watched as streams of kids walked in. Some looked threatening, like a girl from Puerto Rico who looked so intimidating Frank wanted to bow before her, some looked like goofballs, like a pair of boys who were putting shaving cream on this one girl's suitcase, some looked downright pleasant, like a blue-eyed girl who was braiding another girls hair. There was a blonde-haired guy with a scar down his right eye who looked scary despite his pleasant smile.
Scar guy walked into the school when two other blonde-haired kids, younger than scar guy, walked outside and started greeting the students. Frank walked by and the blonde-haired boy shoved a brochure in his hands. "Welcome to C.B.S.T.T, boys dorm is top floor right side, pick any room but no more than four to a room!"
Frank nodded and walked inside. The elevator was packed so Frank took the stairs on the right side. It wasn't the school of hardened criminals that Frank had expected. Instead of kids fighting in the hallways or strict uniforms, he saw kids chatting on the steps. Playing tag. Easting food. Acting like normal teens.
A girl flirted with a guy while leaning against the railing. Some kids were playing cards. The stairs seemed to be sort of like a meeting place.
The elevators were fought over but in a joking way. Frank watched in awe as a seventeen-year-old dude who looked like a biker comforted a crying thirteen-year-old who was sobbing about his mom. That would have never happened at his public school. Maybe this place did actually help kids.
A man rolled up in a wheelchair and a goth looking girl yelled, "Uncle Chiron!" She slid down the banister to him and started talking to him in an easy way. Frank could only assume that was Principal Chiron.
"Thalia, we don't slide on the banisters. Remember Derek?" said Principal Chiron.
"I'll be much more careful than Derek. He had hardly any sense," said the goth girl. Thalia was her name.
Chiron stifled a laugh. "Now Thalia. Don't be rude."
"You know it's true Uncle!"
Frank made his way up the stairs. A girl was giving a guy a noogie, but it seemed good-natured. Hopefully. It did bring Frank out of his daze. However nice this place may look, these kids broke the law. They were there for a reason. Despite how unfounded Frank's was.
He started running up the stairs when he tripped over a girl's knees. She had been sitting with her back to the stairs texting when Frank tripped over her.
"Oh gosh!" She said. "Oh my goodness I am so sorry! Stars above I really shouldn't be sitting down in the middle of the stairs! So so so sorry!"
Frank sat up and took a good look at her. Her brown eyes were full of concern and she was playing with one of her black curls nervously. She looked so nervous that he wasn't even mad. She looked about a year younger than him, he was fifteen, and her eyes were doing the puppy-dog thing.
"It's fine. I shouldn't have been running up the stairs." He slung his backpack over his shoulder. "I'm Frank Zhang."
"Hazel," she said. "Hazel Levesque. Again, really sorry."
"Again, it's fine," Frank said. He stood up. "See you around sometime?"
"See you around!" Hazel said with a grin.
Frank walked up the stairs. They were huge. This place was five stories at least. Once he reached the top, he went to the boy's dorm and looked around. There were so many dorms. Enough to fit at least one hundred boys.
He walked into a random room. There were two bunk beds. Both top bunks had been claimed and so had one bottom bunk. Frank put his stuff on the other bunk. He then looked at all of the other kid's luggage.
For some reason, the other bottom bunk was all set up. It looked pretty lived in. Frank had no clue why but was pretty sure he would find out soon. He looked at the top two bunks. One trunk said "Jackson" on the top and the other trunk said, "Freaking Foster Kid!" on one sticker, "All Da Ladies Luv Leo" on another sticker. His suitcase looked really weird. It was huge and made of metal instead of leather.
Frank walked outside into the boy's common room and looked around. Some of them were on their phones but a lot of them were just talking to each other. A large door led to somewhere and Frank walked in.
Inside was a mix of boys and girls so Frank assumed that it was the main common room. It was ginormous and Frank had no doubt it could easily fit all of the boys and girls at the school.
Frank didn't really want to interact with anyone, so he just sat down in a random chair. He looked around and tried to make sense of everything. From the looks of it, the youngest was thirteen and the oldest were actual adults.
A white cat walked into the room and a girl picked it up and held it close. Some other kids started petting it and it seemed perfectly at ease.
A boy took out a guitar and said "Hey old-timers! Let's teach the newbies the anthem, shall we?"
Everyone cheered and the boy started strumming the tune to "Party in the USA." A lot of people started singing
"I got to Long Island Sound
With the police breathing down my neck.
Welcome to a place for troubled kids.
Am I gonna fit in?
Walked in the door
Here I am for the first time.
Saw a guy with a scar down his right eye!" The scar dude laughed at that line. He must have been here a while to be added to the song.
"This is all so messed up!
Glad that I didn't dress up!
My tummy's turning and I'm feeling kinda homesick.
To much pressure and I'm nervous.
Then Silena takes out her radio," the girl with the cat smiled.
"And the Whitney song is on!
And the Whitney song is on!
And the Whitney song is on!"
Frank laughed a little as they reached the chorus. These guys were such dorks. It was a wonder that any of them had gotten in trouble at all.
Piper
Piper tried to keep her head low. She didn't want anyone to recognize her. After pulling her red hoodie over her head, she walked into the school. Jason had run off next to the door to help another blonde girl, Piper assumed she was Annabeth, to pass out brochures to the new students.
Jason gave her a brochure and grinned. "Seeing as you are so new and extremely lost, why don't I walk you to the girl's dorm?"
Piper laughed. "Oh thank heavens, for it is true. I am hopelessly lost."
"Well then I should accompany you," a different voice said.
Piper whirled around and there stood a sixteen-year-old guy with dark hair and brown eyes. Sure, he was handsome but his smile was unnerving. His teeth were so white that it looked unnatural.
"Dylan," Jason said warily. "What do you want?"
"To help," Dylan said. "This girl said she was lost, and I want to help." He put his arm around Piper and steered her towards the door. She shot a look at Jason who shrugged and mouthed, "I don't know."
Piper lifted Dylan's arm off of her shoulders. "Please don't."
"Why? So you can go back to your boyfriend Grace?"
"He's not my boyfriend. Then again, neither are you." Piper walked over to one of the stairs and started walking. Dylan stormed off angrily. A girl with cinnamon-colored hair and almond eyes laughed and smiled. "Thanks for telling Dylan off. He's a jerk and an awful boyfriend."
"You have some experience?" Piper asked.
"I'm just observant," the girl said. "A girl was crying in the bathroom last year and sobbing about how he cheated on her."
"You've been here a while?" Piper sat on the steps next to her.
"Just a year," the girl said. "I'm fifteen. My name is Calypso."
"Piper. I'm fifteen too and it's nice to meet you."
"Likewise. Welcome to Uncle Chiron's home for charity cases whom he doesn't want to see sent to Juvie. C.B.S.T.T. for short."
Piper laughed. "That's really what this place is? I legit thought it was the closest thing to Juvie."
Calypso nodded. "It's treated like a reform school but it's really just a place for kids who went down the wrong path, are doing illegal things for the right reasons, or kids who are unfairly blamed. A lot of the non-white kids here were just charged because of racist police officers and judges."
"Awesome. We love racism it's the best," Piper said sarcastically. She knew all about that. People always asked what tribe she was from, not in a good way, and did she know how to do the rain dance and who was the chief right now and did she have a cool name like River Eagle. It was the worst.
"Essentially, you're going to find a lot of daddy issues, mommy issues, boyfriend issues, girlfriend issues, homeless kids, orphans, foster kids, and a lot of sad stuff. However bad you think you have it, there are fifteen other kids here who have it way worse. Don't ask for sympathy, be sympathetic."
"Wow. You are smart for a fifteen-year-old."
"I'm only fifteen but my mind is older!" Calypso sang.
Piper shook her head. "Excuse me what?"
Calypso shrugged. "Ignore me. It's a Hamiltrash thing."
"I will pretend I know what that is."
Both of the girls laughed.
"Hey, um, do you want to room together? My roommates last year aren't here and seeing as you're new..." Calypso fidgeted with the bottom of her pink jacket.
"Sure that sounds great!" Piper said. "I'm relieved to know someone. Should we go claim a room now?"
Calypso nodded and Piper grabbed her suitcase. The two of them walked upstairs swapping dumb childhood stories. Once they got to the rooms, they picked one out that already had two occupants which made four people. It was kind of perfect for them.
Piper went on the top bunk of one of the bunk beds and Calypso went on the bottom bunk of the other one. Calypso's eyes widened when she looked at a perfectly made bed. "Oh, we're in Annabeth's room. That's cool. She's really nice. She helped me get to school."
"Do you know her well?"
"Not well, but I've heard she's awesome. She's been at this school since she was seven, along with Jason. Chiron and Ms. Lupa are like their parents. Luke and Thalia's too. And Reyna's. Actually, a lot of kids treat them like their parents."
An African-American girl with curly brown hair walked into the room and looked up at the two of them. "Yes! I don't have to find other bunkmates!" She climbed up to the top of Calypso's bunkbed and sat down. "I'm Hazel Levesque."
"Piper McLean."
"Calypso, I would prefer to keep the last name a secret."
"Shady but ok," Hazel said with a laugh.
Piper laughed too but was interrupted by the door being opened with a creek. A tall, athletic-looking girl with her blonde ponytail in a New York Yankees cap stood in the door. Her gray eyes scanned the group like a lion studying its prey.
Annabeth
It wasn't hard for Annabeth to figure people out. From the moment she walked in the door she could tell that the African American girl was extremely scared, probably because of rough home life. The girl with kaleidoscope eyes came from a wealthy family (nice sneakers) but rejected it (choppy hair). And then there was Calypso. Annabeth knew all about Calypso. She was one of Chiron's "special cases." Nothing else to be said about that.
"Hi," Annabeth said. "I'm Annabeth Chase. Who are you guys?"
The kaleidoscope girl waved. "I'm Piper."
"Hazel Levesque."
"Calypso."
"Nice to meet you guys." Annabeth sat on her bed. Bottom left. The way it had been for years. This was her room. Thalia used to always be above her. Sadly, Thalia was 18 now. She, Luke, Reyna, and some other old-timers would either leave the school or become teachers there. They had rooms on the same floor Chiron and Ms. Lupa did so Thalia wouldn't be roommates with her anymore.
"So you're Annabeth. Calypso tells me you've been here since you were seven. It's nice to have a veteran in our midst," Piper said. She had a nice voice, Annabeth noted. Smooth and warm like honey or cream.
"More like a keen observer, but I gratefully accept the title of veteran," Annabeth said with a laugh. "So how old are you guys?"
"I'm fourteen," Hazel said.
"I'm fifteen," Piper said.
"Fifteen too," Calypso said.
"And I'm sixteen. So I guess that makes me the room mom," said Annabeth.
"Room mom?" Hazel asked.
"It's a tradition here. The oldest girl in the room is the room mom, the oldest boy in the room is the room dad. They basically make sure that no one dies," Calypso said enthusiastically. "Usually the most mature and sensible but sometimes not. My room mom last year was so irresponsible, we had to remind her about things."
"Do I know her?" Annabeth asked.
"Probably. Drew Tanaka?"
"Yep. I know her. She's a piece of work," Annabeth said with a laugh.
"I can't wait to meet her!" Piper said sarcastically. Hazel got a text message and grinned. She texted the person back.
"Who are you texting?" Annabeth asked.
"Just Sammy," Hazel said with a blush in her cheeks.
"Oooh! A boy!" Piper said in a sing-song voice.
"Are you guys dating?" Calypso asked.
"Not really..." Hazel said.
"That is so adorable!" Annabeth said.
Hazel blushed again and sank lower against the wall. A small smile was on her face as she kept texting Sammy. Annabeth had never met Sammy, but she could tell Hazel had feelings for him. They clearly had a long history.
"I'm going to the co-ed common room. Anyone want to come?" Annabeth asked.
"I'm coming," Calypso said. Piper jumped off of the top bunk. "I'm coming too."
"I might catch up with you guys later," Hazel said. The three of them nodded and walked out of their room, out of the girl's common room, and into the co-ed common room. Annabeth saw Luke and Thalia horsing around in a corner. Silena was petting the school cat, Dionysus, and Reyna was napping in the windowsill.
She heard some familiar sounds. Katie's shrill voice telling about how she was going to kill Travis. Luke's sarcastic laughter. Gwen's scolding tone. Everything was as it should be.
That is until a scrawny boy wearing suspenders and a toolbelt crashed into the wooden table right next to Calypso.
Calypso had been leaning against a table, minding her own business when the boy crashed into her. Simultaneously slamming her against the wall and breaking the table. Calypso shrieked as the boy groaned. He stood up and dusted himself off. He took one look at the table and Calypso and cursed.
"Gosh dang it, I am so sorry!" the boy said. He held out his hand to help Calypso up. Calypso took it and stood up. She glared at him and pulled her braid over her shoulder. The boy's eyes widened in fear and awe. Annabeth and Piper watched eagerly.
"You just broke a table!" Calypso said angrily. The boy tossed a metal sphere into the air and some helicopter blades appeared. The boy caught it. "I was trying to catch this. If it escaped, I have no way of getting it back."
"You have no sense of consequences!"
"Sorry to tell you, Sunshine, but that's kind of my whole thing."
Calypso huffed and jabbed a finger at his chest. "Don't call me sunshine."
"What am I suppose to call you then?"
"Calypso."
"Call me Leo."
Calypso rolled her eyes. "Fix the table and maybe I will." Calypso turned back to Annabeth and Piper. Annabeth started to laugh a little and Piper grinned. The three of them walked away from Leo who had pulled a screwdriver and some screws out of his toolbelt. He started fixing the table.
"That was one of the funniest things ever," Piper said.
"I think he bruised my knees," Calypso said.
"I think you bruised his pride," Annabeth replied with a laugh. She could tell that Leo was a little afraid but also very admiring of Calypso. He kept sneaking glances at her from the table.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Jason and Percy run-up to her. "Annabeth, did Leo just break a table?" Jason asked.
"Yeah," Annabeth said.
Jason laughed. "He's been in this school for approximately thirteen minutes. Wow."
"He's one of our roommates," Percy explained. "There's another kid too, but we haven't met him yet."
"Piper and Calypso here are my roommates. Hazel's back in the room."
Jason waved. "Hi again, Piper. Did everything work out with Dylan?"
"Yep. Got him off my back in less than five seconds," Piper said.
"It was really funny," Calypso said.
"The fact that I smashed into the table or the fact that you told me off?" A voice asked.
Everyone turned around to see Leo grinning like a madman.
Leo
Leo knew he was a flirt. And he also knew that his flirting was usually unsuccessful. But here was a group of girls, who were kind of pretty, that Percy and Jason knew, kind of, and Leo knew he couldn't waste this opportunity.
He already knew that the blonde girl, Jason had called her Annabeth, was scary and off-limits. She had a fierceness around her that scared him to death. The girl with the eagle feather in her hair also kind of scared him, and Jason clearly liked her so he left that alone.
So that left the girl with the cinnamon-colored hair and bright pink ski jacket. Calypso was her name. From what Leo knew about her, she was really cute when she was angry. Her button nose would wrinkle and her cheeks would turn pink with fury and she jabbed fingers at people's chests. She was about as short as Leo so the height difference wouldn't be an issue.
So he went up to them and interrupted their conversation.
"Leo!" Percy said happily.
Jason gave him a fist bump. "Sup dude."
Leo had met these two when they walked into the room. They all got to know each other and had become friends. Percy and Leo were a lot like each other, ADHD, and Jason served as their rule follower best friend that they dragged into trouble.
"Hi Leo," Annabeth said. "Fix the table already?"
"It was kind of easy. Luckily I didn't snap any wood in half. Just took the legs off of the tabletop. After that, I just had to replace the screws." Leo ran his fingers through his curly black hair and sighed. "Well Calypso, I fixed the table. Anything else milady?"
Calypso smirked. "Not at the moment young squire."
Leo bowed. "All right then milady."
"If Leo is a squire, can I be a princess?" Piper asked.
"Only if I get to stay the Countess," Calypso said.
"Move out of the way ladies we all know I'm a queen!" said another voice.
They all turned around to see a goth girl staring back at them. "Thalia!" Annabeth squealed. She gave her a big hug. "I haven't seen you since I got back from bringing Percy to school! You avoiding me or something?"
Thalia and Annabeth separated and Jason gave Thalia a high-five. "Hi, sis."
"You guys are related?" Percy asked.
"Yes, but Thalia's the only one who deserves to be here," Jason said. Thalia slapped him in the arm. "Shut up!"
Leo laughed. He had to admit, Thalia was kind of hot. But then a guy with a scar down his right eye walked up to them and stood right next to Thalia. Leo didn't know if he was her boyfriend, and he didn't want to find out.
"Luke!" Annabeth said happily.
"What, no hug for me?" asked Luke with a grin. Both Percy and Jason glared at him at the same time.
"Luke, we can't protect Annabeth from all of the guys in love with her if your one of them!" Jason said. Annabeth blushed and Luke put his hands in the air.
"Hey, hey, hey. It was a joke."
"Annabeth has tons of guys in love with her?" Percy asked inquisitively. Annabeth blushed deeper red.
Leo put his hands together in a scheming motion. "Do tell!"
"Oh gosh," Piper said. "You're embarrassing the poor girl."
"I do not have tons of guys in love with me!" Annabeth protested.
Thalia laughed. "Oh really? Let's see there's Dylan, Kyle, Rodney, and Weasly."
Luke grinned. "And then Harry, Oliver, and Jason for a hot second."
"I was seven!" Jason protested. "You guys asked me if I loved Annabeth and I said yes! But as a sister! Freaking dang it Luke why are you like this?"
Annabeth grinned. "Aw, I love you too Jason! But purely in a sisterly manner."
Leo pretended to wipe his eyes. "So many emotions! This is the purest and most wholesome thing ever!"
Jason sighed. "I have only known you for fifteen minutes, Leo. And yet I still want to punch you."
"Not the first time I've heard that," Leo said with a laugh.
They were about to continue their conversation when a woman in a gray business suit rolled a man in a wheelchair into the common room. "Uncle Chiron!" Thalia, Luke, Jason, Annabeth, and many others yelled at the same time.