Annabeth POV

Thursday Afternoon

"I would like to say, as student council president of this year, that I am extremely pleased with the generosity of the students at our school. Over the past month we have pulled together over $100,000 to the Ebola cause and will be donating all the money to the organization, Doctors Beyond Borders and their fight towards stopping the Ebola virus once and for all." I paused for effect. "This donation will assist in materials to aid the sick, to continue studying the virus, and most importantly, to preventing this outbreak from ever happening again by teaching the local people how to avoid contracting Ebola. Thank you." I stepped off the stage and back in to my seat.

I smoothed out the floral pattern on my skirt and crossed my ankles so the heels of my lavender pumps just barely grazed the floor. I risked turning around, scanning the crowd for bright sea-green orbs. My search did not disappoint, my boyfriend was looking at me intently with a half smile etched on his faced, I returned the expression and turned back around. My eyes focused on the next speaker who was speaking about homecoming.

"... And the theme will be the Red Carpet, so come dressed as your favorite celebrity! Or your parent if you choose!" A few chuckles echoed in the auditorium and the speaker cleared his throat awkwardly, as if he had expected more of a reaction. His face slightly flushed, he continued, "Thank you! Don't forget to vote for king and queen, and come to the football game!" After that he received a round of applause and a few shouts.

The vice principal walked on stage, "Thank you Brian, Annabeth, and Simera for your speeches." I nodded at her in recognition. "Now you may head back to your dorms. Classes for the rest of the day have been canceled, and I'll see you all tomorrow."

I slowly rose out of my seat and strode out of the theater. I met Percy and Thalia right outside the double doors.

"I had a great idea!" I gushed at once, "We could go for classics and be Marilyn Monroe and Joe DiMaggio!"

"Uh... Annabeth." Thalia said tentatively, "Marilyn Monroe, wasn't exactly the greatest role model y'know. You two could be just, y'know, two people and just have one of the iconic outfits remade for you."

"I like that idea. Percy?" I questioned.

"Yeah, I guess. But will it require a fitting?" he pouted.

"It will." I gave him a stern glare. His hopeful face fell, but he didn't say a word.

"Let's go! We have the rest of the day in front of us!" my best friend called, running ahead of us in her combat boots. Her layered hair had lost it's red tips and now lay pitch black on her shoulders. Her ensemble matched her hair, she wore a black crop top with sheer netting across her shoulder and black skinny jeans, all topped off by her combat boots.

I shot her a look. She knew I couldn't run in my carefully put together outfit. I wore a black crop top like Thalia's except it had cap sleeves and had lace instead of mesh. My skirt was pulled up to directly below my shirt and was black and white floral, I had a long lavender cardigan to match my heels.

I marched after Thalia and Percy, trying to look as purposeful as possible. I walked up the stairs to the third floor and into my dormitory where Thalia, Piper, Reyna, Leo, Jason and Percy were already waiting.

"Goodness Wise Girl, that took you forever!"

"I'm sorry, my wonderful boyfriend wasn't there, have you seen him?"

Thalia spoke up. "Enough of this flirting."

"Why are you guys even here?" I asked.

"Duh, Homecoming!" Leo responded sassily.

"Right, well, I'm gonna call my mom, and she's probably going to send a tailor." Piper said, taking out her cell phone. She walked over to the other side of the dorm for some privacy.

"How long do you think before Alexis squeals?" Percy asked.

"Not more than a minute from now." Leo predicted. He had a confident smile that spread widely across his face. There was a mischievous glint in his eyes.

"Wanna bet?" Percy challenged.

Leo was just about to respond when Jason cut in, "Guys, this is my girlfriend's mom we're talking about, please refrain from derogatory comments."

"Way to be formal Jase, we're just having a bit of fun." Percy explained.

"Don't let it include Alexis." Jason finalized, and of course, Leo burst out laughing. Jason's cheeks flared a blotchy pink color when he realized how that could be taken.

I decided it was time to step in. "Alright guys, it looks like Piper's almost finished her phone call. We'll figure out the details when she's off the phone, but please," I begged, "Just be mature about this. Especially you, Leo and Percy." They both gave fake offended looks and I just rolled my eyes at them.

Piper came back to the middle of the room. "My mom said, since Homecoming's next month she's sending somebody over tomorrow, is that good?" We all nodded, albeit some more reluctantly. "And she said to have your designs."

We all nodded again and I shooed everyone out of our room. I set to work on coming up with dress designs, I wanted something with a lighter color and that flows. Something that would be easy to dance in, but formal. I finally came up with the perfect dress; a bright blue halter floor length dress with a pleated skirt and a silver belt around the waist.

"Thalia, I came up with my design, what's yours?" Thalia walked over to me and showed my hers. The outline of it was hard to follow at first, but I got the picture. It was a long, forest green dress. It was one sleeved but it had a double strap.

"It's gorgeous, Thalia," I complimented. She blushed a bit.

"Yeah, I really like yours too." She commented.

(Grace's POV)

Thursday Afternoon

After Annabeth and Mark gave their speeches, I rose from my comfortable seat. Lexi was standing too, her sparkly shirt reflecting light onto the dark ceiling. She was wearing a loose and long sparkly gold shirt with white leggings and creme flats, not to mention the white headband nestled in her auburn curls. My outfit was much more casual, simply a royal blue T-shirt and black high waisted jeans, with blue converse high tops. I put my arm around my best friend's shoulders and we walked out of the auditorium together.

"Okay, so I really love anti-jokes. Wanna hear one?" Lexi asked as soon as we were out of the auditorium.

"Sure." I sighed, used to her antics.

"Okay, so why did the little girl fall of the swing?" She asked, already starting to laugh.

"I dunno, why?" I asked.

"Because her mom threw a fridge at her!" She gasped, doubling over with giggles.

I lifted my eyebrows at her in amusement, my mouth twitching into a closed-mouth smile.

"Here's another," She said when she finally recovered, "Roses are red, violets are blue, I have a gun, get in the car." A smile split her face, and a bark of joyful laughter escaped her lips.

I smiled, all my teeth showing, "People are looking, stop making stupid 'anti-jokes."

"They're not stupid!" She pouted, and her boyfriend, Matthew appeared next to her.

"Lexi, what did Grace do to you?" He asked.

"I did nothing, thank you very much. She's been telling anti-jokes!" I defended.

"Oh, those are pretty bad," he admitted.

"See, even Mark agrees with me!" I said, pointing a finger at Lexi's face.

"First of all, remove your finger from in front of my face," she pulled my finger down, "and second of all, shut up!" She snapped.

My eyes widened, shocked at my friend's sudden mood swing, "Sorry," I muttered, "I have to get back to my room anyway." I walked slowly away from my friend and her boyfriend. Lexi had been having mood swings recently, but I figured it was just that time of the month.

Once in my room, I noticed Piper was missing. I brought out my sketchpad and started designing a dress. I had always loved strapless dresses so I made the top an off white color, with a reddish pink skirt that stopped mid-thigh in the front and went to the floor in the back. I gave the top a slightly lacy cover. That took about half an hour, and by the time I came out of my closet, Piper was there, starting on her homework.

"Where were you?" I asked, not unkindly.

"Annabeth's room, we were getting tailors."

"Oh, I need to do that too!" I pulled my phone out of my pocket, and inserted the call in my reminders list, "Thanks for reminding me."

"No problem." Piper retreated into her closet, and I played Piano Tiles until she reemerged, dressed in an entirely different fashion. Her shoulder length brown hair was worn down, but had a braid woven with a feather. Instead of her tan heels, she wore black ballet flats. And in place of the knee length, royal purple, cotton dress she had been wearing, she had a pair of faded, sky blue skinny jeans and a black peplum shirt.

Piper collected her books, and left the room without a sound, the wooden door closing softly beside her. She was probably gone for another study date with Jason.

I exchanged my semi-casual outfit for a pair of yoga pants and a spandex tank top. Gathering my books, I headed down to the common room. There were only a few people common room, it was a large room with overstuffed sofas and tables where people could study and do homework. Next to it was a little cafe where people could get sandwiches, coffee, and other beverages. I placed my books down at an abandoned table and went to the cafe.

"How does Annabeth not notice? I mean she's the clever one, and she hasn't even seemed the least bit suspicious of you hanging out with us. C'mon Sil, doesn't that seem weird to you?"

"Maybe Percy's just rubbing off on her. He basically lives on trust and loyalty. He's trusting to the point of death. Or the death of his company at least. Plus we work here together."

"Another reason to be suspicious, why would you of all people get a job."

"I told them that I needed to focus in life and that I needed to get grounded before college."

I decided that I had heard enough at that point, "Excuse me?" I asked.

"Oh my God, someone's here!" I heard 'Sil' say.

"Hi, my name is Hailey, may I take your order?" A girl with a peppy attitude asked. She was wearing the sunny yellow polo, part of the cafe uniform. The shirt matched her attitude perfectly.

"Um, yes, could I have a medium Caramel Macchiato?"

"Sure! Silena, could we have a Car Mac?" Hailey called to another girl. I recognized Silena at once, she was always hanging out with Annabeth. As Silena made my drink I sat in awkward silence.

"Here's your drink!" Hailey handed me a steaming, styrofoam, travel mug, "That will be $3.50"

I handed Hailey the money, and took my drink. I treaded carefully back to my seat, trying not to spill my beloved hot beverage. Once seated I began to study my notes, but I couldn't focus on the Spanish verbs. My mind kept wandering back to Hailey and Silena's conversation. I tried to convince myself that they were just talking about a surprise for homecoming, and for some strange reason Silena needed Hailey's skills. But if so, why was Silena working at the shop? Couldn't they get together at some other time? A job was a semi-permanent thing, not something that would be kept for a month. It had to be bigger than that.

I was deep in thought when someone sat down next to me, "You need help?" A male voice came from my right.

"Yeah, how could you tell?" I chuckled. It was my friend, Xavier.

"Judging from your confused expression, mixed with that intent glare," he said.

"Oh, yeah. Could you quiz me?"

"Sure thing." And with that he picked up my Spanish notebook, slid my textbook onto his lap and began to tutor me.

After about an hour of me being tutored in Spanish and tutoring Xavier in Geometry, I finally went up to my room.

When I got there Piper was lazily lying on her bed and my earlier curiosity with Silena and Hailey's conversation was reignited.

"Hey, Piper, do you know a girl named Hailey?" I asked.

"Um... yeah actually, Silena's mentioned a girl named Hailey before. Said she goes to St. Valentine's Academy, you know that Catholic All Girls school?"

"Yeah." I replied dejectedly, "I just wondered if one went here."

"Not that I know of. Why?"

"I just wanted to see, for our short story in English? I just wanted to make sure I don't use someone's name. And you know pretty much everyone."

"Okay." She seemed to accept my excuse.

I made my way to the bathroom, wondering who this Hailey girl was, and why Piper didn't know her. Piper knew everyone... didn't she?