Jason

Jason really likes them, he really does.

As soon as he comes sit with them, Leo pummels him with a multitude of jokes and makes dozens of cracks at the goons surrounding them. He's not afraid of being abrasive, which instead of worrying Jason, comforts him. He feels like he can trust people like Leo more, because people like that are the most honest.

There's also Piper. She is absolutely stunning, but Jason isn't so superficial as to stop admiring her there. He loves the witty comments she offers without hesitation and how she laughs sweetly and purely. When she finds one of Valdez's jokes to be too rough, she doesn't offer a fake uncomfortable laugh. She isn't afraid of showing how she feels, she isn't hypocritical or pretentious. She's very intelligent in her mannerisms and her vocabulary is stellar and far from vulgar-not that there is anything wrong with vulgarity in speech, but it's refreshing when one meets someone who strays from it. He guesses he can say the same of Leo Valdez as well, except his usage of substitute words are almost worse than the actual curse word.

Anyways.

He doesn't offer much to the conversation because he doesn't quite know how to contribute to anything. Every now and then they reference some television show he's never heard of and when they ask him about it he can only stare back in confusion and shrug sheepishly. When Leo mentions celebrities he gets cold silence from Piper and more blank stares from himself. It's a disaster, he feels like an idiot. Everything about pop culture is an absolute mystery to him...as a matter of fact, even things outside of the genre boggle him. They speak of cities he should probably know about but can't recollect enough information about them to form a complete thought.

"So enough about the Kardashians, tell us about yourself Jason."

He glances up at Leo and his heart races, "What?"

Piper leans forward and smiles encouragingly at him, "Yeah, where are you from?"

He opens his mouth but then promptly shuts it again. "Um…"

"You look like a Florida boy-Piper, I bet you a dollar he's from Florida."

Piper furrows her eyebrows and turns to Leo with an incredulous look, "You're seriously placing a bet on where he is from?"

Where am I from?

Jason's hands start shaking and nausea begins to overwhelm him.

"Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeck yeah I am, too chicken to place your own?"

Her jaw drops and she notches a challenging eyebrow up, "Oh you're on! I think he looks...he's from Neb-no, no Georgia! Georgia, that's my final answer."

Jason begins to sweat and he's finding it difficult to catch his breath.

With a huff Leo throws back, "Georgia? Of all the places, you go for Georgia? I almost feel bad about getting to win you so eas-"

It's then that Jason swears that he feels actual needles piercing into his brain. He clutches the sides of his head, eyes tightly shut.

Piper lets out a guffaw, "Fine, if you are so sure about your ridiculous Florida suggestion, how about we make things a bit more interesting...I bet you two dollars he's from Georgia."

Even with his eyelids offering darkness to his pupils, he feels like the light outside is too bright.

"Two dollars? That's weak, let's make that four dollars!"

Piper lifts her chin up in the air and reaches out her hand, "Fine, deal."

An ambitious gleam shines in the impish boy's eyes as he shakes her hand and says, "Papa is about to get four dollars richer, oh yeah."

They then pay their attention to Jason for the first time since the question was brought up.

Piper gasps and puts a hand on Jason's knee, "Jason, you okay?"

He snaps out of it immediately and he even forgets about the agonizing experience altogether, "Yeah, why?"

"Well-"

But Leo, being a person who always focuses on the important business at hand, interrupts her with another question,"Where are you from blondie?"

"I'm from-"

Berkley Hills, say Berkley Hills my hero.

"-Berkley Hills, in California."

He blinks. Of course that's where he's from...why is he so surprised by his answer?

Interestingly enough, Piper and Leo both also seem to forget about Jason's ill state from just a couple of moments before.

Piper and Leo both slump their shoulders in complete and utter disappointment, simultaneously they mumble a desolated, "Oh."

Jason cracks a smile, "I guess Piper deserves the win though, Georgia is closer to California."

Piper whispers a triumphant "Yes!" accompanied with a punch into the air.

Leo, in absolute dismay, slams his fists against the concrete, "No way! Florida is so closer to California, what are you on?"

With a giggle, Piper shrugs, "Well, I agree with Jason. So, two against-"

"He only said that because he's into you," Leo grumbles with his arms over his chest, an upset pout dragging the corners of his lips down.

They both sober up and blush in silence.

Mrs. Shier calls them all back inside and sends them to their designated group.

Norman the creep slumps against the auditorium wall with a dead glaze over his eyes when they walk in, but as soon as he catches sight of the girls he straightens himself up and winks obnoxiously at them and sends catcalls their way. Jason wrinkles his nose in disgust and sits as far away from him as possible, he'd learned his mistake. Sitting next to the guy before had been a true struggle, what with the stench of blue cheese Norman radiates.

Leo digs his elbow into Jason's gut, "Psssst, we might be roommates."

He glances down at the little guy and grins, "We'll see."

Piper sighs dejectedly at the other side of Leo, "I am not looking forward to this."

Before either of them can comment, Norman claps his hands loudly, making everyone in the group jump.

When everyone has turned their attention to him, he rubs his hands together and wears a near malicious smile as he looks at each one of those gathered in turn, just as a lion would observe his prey.

"Well, once our little meeting here is adjourned, you will officially be students of the Wilderness School. Which means...well, you'll see soon. Just a heads up ladies, if you want a quick way up the social ladder, I am your man."

Isabel breaks into uproarious laughter and claps her hands for emphasis, she goes on for about half a minute before she catches sight of Norman's hurt face.

"Oh I'm sorry, you were being serious?"

Piper sniggers into the back of her hand.

Norman straightens his back and with a tomato red face shifts the conversation to actual seriousness. In a hushed and slightly high pitched tone, he says, "In your bags you'll have your room number, take the stuff out and see who matches with you. We will….we will have an activity now where you guys get to know each other."

With that, he runs out of the auditorium and Jason is fairly convinced his sudden exit is linked directly to the tears that had begun streaming down the sides of his face.

Jason takes out the little pamphlet he'd received at the entrance from his pocket and opens it up. After some browsing, he finds it: B-210.

Leo swaps Jason's booklet right out of his hands and peruses it until he finds his answer. His eyes widen and a light shines in them.

"Yo! We're roomies! Woo-hoo!"

Jason rises his eyebrows and places their pamphlets side to side, and sure enough, they have matching numbers. He nods his head and feels pretty relieved, "Thank the gods."

Leo makes a funny face, "What?"

"What?"

"I don't even want to know who I'm ending up with, I-"

But Piper is cut off mid-sentence when the twins, Carolina and Dakota, stop in front of her.

When Piper meets their gaze there's a glimmer of wariness in them.

"What's your room number?" They ask simultaneously, bringing a shiver down Jason's back.

Piper feigns a smile and with shaking hands scans her informational packet and shakily reports, "Uh...In uh C-206."
One of them grimaces and clenches her fist meanwhile the other jumps in place and claps her hands cheerfully.

His new friend rises her eyebrows, "So uh, who-"

"Me," grumbles the girl who now glares in envy at her cheerful sister.

Leo's jaw drops and Jason gawks at the girl who wears a pair of very large pants with many tears in it, under her baggy camouflage jacket she wears a white tank-top with the image of a fist in it. Her sister, who in contrast wears very trendy clothes, grins and gives her sister a sarcastic hug, "Laters, Dakota!"

When Carolina scuttles away to meet with Isabel, Dakota groans dramatically and kicks the ground under her feet in frustration. "Just my fucking luck that I end up with a damn dirt worshipper."

Oh no.

"Hey-!" Jason begins but then shuts his mouth after catching sight of Piper's eyes. He still wants to curse out Dakota, but there's something about the way Piper's eyes flashed him, he shuts his mouth almost against his own will.

Piper pushes herself off the auditorium's wooden floor and folds her arms over her chest and glares directly into Dakota's eyes, "Excuse me?"

Dakota's upper lip curls and she nearly spits at her, "I shouldn't be rooming with your kind, that's what I said, or are you too stupid to-"

"Hey, watch your mouth!"

They all turn to Leo, who stands several inches short of Dakota. Despite his vertically challenged state, he faces her as if she were the smaller one.

"How fitting that a wetback defends you-"

"Did you just-"

Jason grabs a hold of Leo around the waist before giving him the chance of pummeling her like she deserves. Leo kicks at the air and tries to scratch off Jason's arms, "Girl, I will cut you!"

Dakota snickers, "Please, I've dealt with fifth graders taller than you."

"Oh that's it! Jason let me go!"

The girl flashes them the middle finger before turning on her heels and leaving them.

Once she's out of hearing range Piper scowls at Leo, "I appreciate the support, but I'd much rather fight my own battles."

Jason drops Leo back to the ground.

"But she was-"

"Yeah, I know."

Leo glares at Dakota, who leans against the wall opposite them. "I'm sorry, I just can't tolerate racists."

"Leo…"

He rises up his hands in surrender, "I can respect what you mean though, my bad for butting myself in."

She smiles at that, "Thanks."

` He smiles back at her with a shrug and adds, "But I am going to bash her freaking head in for that wetback comment."

Piper shrugs, "So long as it's your own personal matter I have nothing to say." It's then that her shoulders fall and she pinches the bridge of her nose and lets out a heavy sigh, "I don't even know why I'm so surprised about this, considering where we are and what I am."

Leo gives her an awkward pat in the back that Jason thinks is meant to be comforting, but which causes Piper to grimace at him. Catching that, Leo slowly retracts his hand and offers a sheepish smile, "Okay, not doing that again."

Piper nods, affirming his statement.

"You should go to the director about this, they might be able to do something about it," Jason suggests, feeling as helpful as a blanket during a heatwave.

She gives him a half smile, "Nah, there'll be no need for that. After a night of rooming with me, I'll have her regretting her bigotry in no time."

Leo and Jason both raise their eyebrows, impressed by the terrifying and deadly glint in Piper's eyes. Jason was worried at first, but now he is a bit more concerned about whether or not Dakota was going to survive to see tomorrow.

Haha...so it's been, like...over two years since I last updated? I've had this draft written up for eons, I'm not quite sure why I never got around to actually uploading it. I am so sorry for the incredibly long wait! I am in college now and time to do anything is hard to come by! I hope you guys enjoyed this, and I hope to update this regularly again. And the next chapter is for Leo, and he's so much fun to write for so maybe that'll quicken the process!