AN: OMGS HOUSE OF HADES IS LIKE THE BEST THING EVER LIKE YAYAYAYAYAY!

Hello there. I am Jonathan Oakman. Now, before you go look at the title of the chapter and be like, 'Oh he got the orange ring, he's greedy,' Just hear me out, okay? I swear, I'm not greedy. At least, not greedier than the average person. I hope.

Chapter 3: Orange

I groan as my alarm clock rang out. I reach out to hit it, but miss. Several times. Finally I just get up and go to get ready for the day. The first thing I do is call Roy, but of course, he doesn't pick up. I call Alex, and then Alex, but both lines are busy. They're probably calling each other. Those two just need to go out already. Finally, reluctantly, I go to call Silena.

Pause. Alex has the best ideas ever, doesn't he? I bet you can see my sarcasm through the page, can't you? Anyways, let's get one thing straight here. I don't hate Silena. On the contrary, I've had a crush on her since the seventh grade. However, she is, like, in love with Roy, which is kinda depressing, since he's my best friend. But, I know for a fact Roy has a thing for Alex (the girl), which, again, is kinda depressing since it's so obvious that she and Alex like each other. Basically, our whole friendship consists of a bunch of really weird love, um, triangles isn't the right word, love, uh, shapes. Yeah. Love shapes. With lots of lines. And corners.

"Johnny?" Silena asks when she answers the phone. "Hey Silena." I greet her. "Have you heard from Roy?" She asks me. "I was about to ask you that." I tell her, smiling sheepishly even though I know she can't see me.

"Um, can I ask you something?" Silena stutters nervously. I suck in a breath, my hopes defying my will as they raise higher and higher. What if she loves me? What if she loves me? Ran through my head, over and over. "Anything," I tell her, silently cursing at how breathless I sound. She doesn't seem to take notice of it.

"Are Roy and-and Alexis, um, uh, together?" She asks me. "Of course not. Have you seen the Alex looks at Alex?" I ask her. "Have you seen the way Roy looks at Alex?" She asks. I can imagine her with a hand on her hip and an exasperated expression on her face. "So, he likes her. Get over it. I know he doesn't stand a chance with her, you know he doesn't stand a chance with her. Stop focusing on Alex, who doesn't like him, and start beating up the spirits of the 20 million girls at school who do like him." I tell Silena.

I am known for my pep talks. I have been known to make people laugh, and get them pumped up for something, or even to accidentally cause them to hate my guts with one of said infamous pep talks. But never has one of my pep talks been received with a girl hanging up on me. Nice going Oakman.

I live practically right next door to Alex, but he never takes the bus, so I'm going it alone, as usual. Or at least, I was going it alone. "Johnny! Hey! Over here!" An overly perky voice greets me at the bus station. Oh shit. It's Samantha the Teenage Bitch.

Okay, so, I'm sure that you've heard about Samantha and are asking yourself what the flipping deal is with her. Basically, she and Alex dated last year (which I think almost drove Alexis insane) and then one night when our grade was on a trip in Manhattan (Clarion County is just outside New York) Samantha was discovered, by me, may I add, making out with some randomer in an alley outside of our hotel. Alex broke it off and she's been trying to get him back ever since. She and Alexis are also kind of mortal enemies, for obvious reasons.

"So, seen Alex lately?" She asks me, twirling a lock of hair around her finger. "Not since yesterday. Why are you looking for her?" I ask, grinning to myself. Samantha sighs in exasperation and puts a hand on her hip. See, it's cute when Silena does that but Samantha just looks weird.

"I meant, Alex Jordan." She tells me. She doesn't have a sense of humor, so she won't get my jokes. Whoops, guess I forgot. "However, speaking of Alexis, are she and Alex a thing?" She asks me. "No," I tell her, but decide to bug her a bit. "Well, not yet."

"Um, what do you mean not yet?" Samantha asks me, alarm clear in her features. "Well," I glance around, as if expecting someone to overhear us even though we're the only two waiting for the bus. Then I lean a bit closer to her and tell her in a low voice. "I heard that Alex plans on asking Alex out." I tell her, not bothering to decide which Alex is which.

The bus comes right at that moment, and I hop on, flash my card, realize that I need to charge it as I'm out of trips, and scamper to the back of the bus, putting a crowd in between me and Samantha. Score another round for the King of Jokes.

I hide out on the bus until I know that Samantha got off, then met Alex at our usual meeting place. "Heard from Roy?" I ask when I see him. "No, but Alex got a call." He tells me. "Yes! Finally, some news!" I cheer. "Silena will be pleased." He remarks, grinning slyly. He knows I like Silena and will take any opportunity to bug me about it.

Just then, we see Silena getting off her bus. "Silena!" Alex calls, waving to the blonde. "Alex! Johnny! Any news?" She asks us. "Quite a lot, actually." Alexis has come up behind us. I notice Alex staring and roll my eyes. "Hey Alex, Alex said that you heard from-"

"Roy!" Silena screeches, and launches herself at the tall ginger. A sharp pain erupts in my chest, but I push it away. "Where've you been man?" I ask. "Places." The red-head replies tightly. "What happened to you? Are you okay?" I ask.

Roy turns on me, rage and depression clear in his stony gaze. "I'm not okay, John! My mom was fucking shot. The bullet didn't hit her heart but it came pretty damn close. She's in the hospital and there's a good chance that she's not going to make it. My bastard of a father has the nerve to say that if she dies, he'll take me in. He's the one who fucking shot her in the first place! No, I'm not okay. And if she dies, nothing ever will be ever again." As he rants, my friends voice gets progressively quieter, until he's practically whispering.

We stare in shocked silence. Even Alex, who already knew what happened, couldn't have expected such an outburst. "Roy. I-" "Save it." Roy snarls at Silena. I'm overwhelmed by a sense of protectiveness for the small blonde, and step forward slightly. Roy turns his head and glances at me. Underneath the anger I can see a bit of smugness. I grin inwardly. Roy, the real Roy, is still in there somewhere, and I can save him. I know I can. I have to.

I spend the rest of the day attempting to bring Roy out of his depressed stupor. I make jokes, pull pranks, tease Samantha, I even buy him a piece of cheesecake at lunch. Nothing works.

"Alex!" I find her at the end of the day. "I need your help to fix Roy." I whisper, then tell her my plan. "You really think that'll work?" She asks me. I nod eagerly. "Come on. It's just one kiss."

She glances at Roy, who's sitting on a bench staring at the ground. "Alright." She says uneasily. "If you think it'll help Roy." Alex goes and sits down next to Roy and I scamper away, hiding behind a tree to watch my plan unfold.

"Hey." Roy looks up at Alex's words. "Hi." He replies weakly. "You do know that, whatever happens, we'd never let you end up with your dad, right?" Alex asks Roy. He looks at her in confusion. She takes his hand. "We'd stash you in my attic among the dangerous weapons and the floating siblings. I'd never let you go there." Roy almost laughs at her joke. Yes! Progress!

Before I can motion to Alex to kiss him, Roy starts to speak. "Lexis, look. I know that Johnny put you up to coming over here and talking to me. Remind me to thank him later. I really, really like you, Alexis Walker." He finishes, then gets up. "I'm just going to-" Before Roy can finish his sentence, Alex gets up and kisses him. When she pulls away he's staring at her, grinning like crazy. Then, not according to plan, she hurries away, and his smile disappears.

I step out from behind my tree. "Dude, she just kissed you. You've had a crush on her for ages, that's epic." I tell him, but he, apparently, doesn't want to hear it. "She ran away." He remarks, not speaking to anyone in particular, than walks away from me. Well shit.

Okay, let's get something straight. I was not mad at Alex for what happened. I mean, she obviously had a thing for Alex, so kissing another guy must've been, like, a sensory overload or something. I was more angry with myself for not thinking my plan through. Anyways, nothing of importance really went on after that disastrous thing, except for that night.

That night, I sat in the rooftop garden on top of my apartment building, pondering what happened, trying to spot Alex's house, and making up a plan that won't result in Alex being confused and Roy being more depressed.

However, my brilliant planning was interrupted by something glowing in the sky. I turned to the heavens, and immediately spotted the shining anomaly. Something glowing orange was progressively growing larger. No, not larger. Closer.

I leap to my feet, but before I can back away or do anything, a voice croaks from the orange tendrils of light. "Help. Help me. You're the only one who can save me from the avarice of Ophidian." Was all that was said before the glow transformed itself into a ring, stopped glowing, and clattered to the ground at my feet.

Alright, I'm really pissed at Alex right now, because he didn't let me fully explain that I'm not greedy. Oh well. Silena's turn!