Thanks for the amazing reviews. And sorry if it's disappointing but the idea for this story did not came from Twilight. :)) Enjoy!
Chapter 2: When he overheard
Jason was playing with Piper's silver necklace while waiting for the third period to end. The morning passed quickly for him because, for once, he was absorbed in his own thoughts.
There was something about that particular girl. Why was she able to affect him so much? He hadn't met a single person whose mind was silent before. Was something wrong with her head? Was something wrong with his? Okay, that one was stupid. But maybe that was it, he was finally going completely insane.
Every single idea in his head was crazier than the previous one but Jason just couldn't stop thinking. In the end, he decided to learn something about Piper first before jumping to conclusions. Which brought another question: why hadn't he seen her before? Was he that oblivious to the other world?
''Mr. Grace, could you please answer question 37?'' his math teacher asked him suddenly, bringing him back to reality.
He immediately looked at his textbook pretending to read and briefly scanned the teacher's thoughts. Usually, he wouldn't do it, he hated invading people's private space but he made an exception for school work.
He quickly found what he needed.
''It's 23.5.'' he announce then.
The grumpy teacher left him alone while thinking about his cold coffee and how hungry he was. Thank god, the bell finally rang. Jason slipped out of the room first and headed towards the cafeteria. He sat on his usual table and waited for Leo to come. They were alone on that table, claimed to be the school weirdos but Jason was glad for that. He used to have a lot of friends back in San Francisco. He used to play sports. He used to be easygoing and enjoying his life. Not any more. Now he was enjoying the loneliness, it helped him cope with the situation.
His attention was focused on the entrance once Piper came in. He tried not to stare at her while gathering as much information as he could from only her appearance. She was definitely beautiful; there was no doubt in that. Her hair was mid-waist long, chocolate brown with small braids in it. She had high cheekbones, big bright eyes and full pink lips which led to the thought that she had exotic origins. She looked different from the others.
Piper got her meal (a simple salad) and sat on a large table. Jason noticed that after a couple of seconds Thalia and her best friend Annabeth along with her boyfriend Percy sat there too and started talking lightly. Percy Jackson was actually Thalia and Jason's cousin but Jason didn't know about him before coming to New York. What a shock, right.
Thalia noticed him and waved, motioning for him to join them but he smiled a little and shook his head.
''You know, I'm still wondering why do you hang out with me when Thalia Grace is your sister. You can own the school man!'' Leo commented while sitting next to him.
Jason glared at his best friend. They had this argument before and he was in no mood to talk about this right now. Leo smiled triumphantly and started devouring his food. His best friend turned back to his sister's table. Piper seemed distracted and anxious. Her hand was on her neck like playing with a necklace that wasn't there. Suddenly, Jason stood up.
''I'm coming back in a minute.'' He said to Leo and headed towards the table.
He could hear a few curious thoughts while he walked but tried to ignore them and look casual. He walked straight to Piper and removed his ear buds.
''Hey, I think this is yours.'' He announced while showing her the silver chain.
Her eyes turned towards him and he noticed that they changed color: from brown to green to blue. When she spotted the chain in his palm they became wide and their color turned to dark blue. She stood up from her seat swiftly, her gaze shifting from Jason to the silver feather and back again.
''Where did you find it? I thought I had lost it for good!'' she exclaimed then, her whole face brightening. It didn't escape him that he still couldn't hear her thoughts.
Jason extended his hand and dropped the necklace in her open palm, resisting the urge to touch her again. She noticed that and raised an eyebrow, curiosity written on her face, but didn't say a thing.
''I found it in the hallway after you slapped Dylan. It must have unclasped or something.'' Jason shrugged.
''Thanks, it really means a lot to me.'' She said while gripping it tighter, and sent him a dazzling smile. ''I'm Piper by the way.'' She continued and extended her hand for him to shake.
Jason froze. He wasn't sure if it was a good idea to do this. He shouldn't test his chances. What if he could hear her after that? Did he really want to reveal this mistery?
But most of the students around were staring at them so he gulped and decided to man up. He extended his hand and looked in her kaleidoscope eyes. He thought that he saw something in them but all just vanished when their skin touched.
The same calmness but more strong engulfed him in a comfortable silence. He felt so relieved that he smiled without even thinking; the first genuine smile in months. He felt normal again, almost as the accident hadn't happened.
A little late he realized that he was supposed to introduce himself too. His cheeks turned pinkish and he heard his sister chuckle. Jason decided to ignore her and focused on Piper instead.
''My name is Jason.''
''Thalia's brother?'' Piper asked with a glint in her eyes.
''Yeah, why?''
''Oh, nothing just…you don't look much alike.''
''I guess so.'' He shrugged again feeling a little uncomfortable.
''Hey little bro, why don't you join us?'' the said sister interrupted them with a mischievous grin. Her thoughts showed him that she thought Piper and he could get along well. What? Since when did Thalia thought like a…girl?
''Maybe some other time. Leo is waiting for me.'' He pointed to his friend who was watching the conversation with a devious smile. Oh boy.
''Valdez? Oh great.'' another girl from their year, Calypso, grumbled while poking her food angrily with her fork.
Jason almost chuckled out loud when he caught her thoughts. Looks like Leo had an admirer...sort of.
''Tomorrow.'' He said to Thalia, pretending that he hadn't heard Calypso's comment.
''Thanks again Jason. And for the Dylan thing.'' Piper smiled at him earning back his attention. He sent her back a quick tight smile and headed back to where Leo was sitting.
''Nice one!'' Leo clapped him on the back and Jason winced under the upcoming information.
He didn't answer, just slipped back in his seat and glanced quickly at Piper again. Their eyes met just for a second before they both averted their gaze with a slight blush.
''She is so into you!'' Leo smirked again.
''Yeah right, keep dreaming.'' Jason muttered while staring at his sandwich.
''Trust me, she couldn't take her eyes off of you.''
Jason just shook his head at the ridiculousness of the idea. Piper Mclean was so out of his league. Hm, Mclean…why did that sound so familiar to him?
''What do you know about her?'' he asked then.
Leo's face scrunched in concentration.
''She came here last year from Los Angeles. Her mother was Aphrodite.''
Jason's mind immediately clicked. ''The fashion designer? Tristan Mclean's wife who died two years ago?''
''The same. It was all over the news.''
Jason remembered hearing about it but that was like in another world. A world where these things happened only to the other people, not to those who he knew.
''Do you know what happened?'' he asked trying to sound casual but didn't quite manage to.
''Well, Aphrodite, Tristan and Piper were heading back home after a party or something late in the evening. Tristan was driving when they entered a thick fog. He didn't notice the turn in the path and the car fell in the ocean. Tristan got out but Aphrodite didn't make it. According to rumors Piper hadn't been breathing when she was pulled out. She barely survived.'' Leo finished darkly.
Jason stared at his friend with amazement.
''Where the heck have you learned all these things?''
''I watched a video okay! Besides I like the guy in that movie for Greece.'' Leo defended himself. 'Yeah, kill me for being curious towards the new girl.'
Jason decided to ignore Leo's thoughts right now. ''For Sparta but yeah, the movie was good.''
''Anyway, when Piper came here she was like a zombie. She didn't talk much, avoided people in general.''
Jason sighed; he knew exactly what was it like to loose a parent, a mother to be exact. It was tough even without his…complications.
''I guess being famous isn't that good.''
''Yeah. Anyway, she's different now. She started opening up to people, hanging out in your sister's crew. And I assume you noticed how boys follow her like lost puppies, just like Dylan.'' Leo finished his story with a mischievous smile and nodded towards Piper.
''You like her!'' Jason stated amused but another emotion boiled deeper in him. An emotion that was causing his eyebrows to scrunch and was making him ticked off. He decied to ignore it.
Leo was constantly falling for girls that he obviously couldn't get. Like a cold-hearted bitch called Khione. And let's not forget about his major crush over Thalia. There were a lot more but Jason didn't have the time to think about all of them right now.
''Nah, she isn't my type. Besides, I'm not stealing your girl bro, you're my best friend! Bro code is on!''
Jason just shook his head and returned to his lunch. Once in a while, he was stealing glances at Piper but tried not to be noticed. She seemed pretty engaged in a conversation with a girl with long frizzy red hair. However, when he looked at her one more time he found out that she was looking at him too. When their eyes met she blushed and immediately looked away but Jason could swear that she was smiling.
His curiosity got the best of him and he decided to cheat a little. He scrunched his eyebrows and concentrated on her friend's thougts.
'Piper is practically drooling over him. Good catch I guess, he's not so bad but still...can't she choose someone normal?'
Out loud she just smiled at Piper and said:
''Just admit it girl, you like him.''
''Rachel, really, how many times I have to tell you that it's not what you think.'' Piper sighed exasperatedly.
'Yeah right, I can't see the blush on you cheeks or the sideway glances sent his way. Suuuure.' ''Riiight, keep repeating that and even you may believe it.''
''It's just that…he seems so…I don't know how to describe it.'' Jason saw through Rachel's thoughts how Piper averted her gaze while her fingers played with the feather on the long silver chain. ''The thing is, I can understand how he feels and I remember when I was so sad and...''
Jason put his ear buds again and tried to replace the girls' voices by Green day. His mood immediately darkened. Of course she would pity him. What did he expect really? He was the weak boy who was mourning over the lost of his mother. He was getting these stupid looks everywhere. People thought that they knew what it's like. And then came the sad eyes, the tearful ''I'm sorry for your loss.'' and ''I know it's difficult but everything will be okay.''. Heck, he had been through this and he hated being the weak one. He hoped that she could really understand...guess not.
''Hey bro, are you okay?'' Leo asked with concern. From his thoughts Jason could see his own frowning face.
''Yeah, it's nothing.'' He grumbled, deciding to not look at their table again. ''Nothing new.''