Urgh. High school. A living hell for teenagers everywhere. As Reyna walked through the hallways, she heard some whispers about a new girl. Of course, Reyna knew about this as being part of the Student Council and also being its President. She had been asked to show the girl around and was heading over to the school office to do just that.
She didn't know anything about the girl except that she was a transfer student from LA. But, from the rumors that were going around, she could catch some phrases like 'naturally gorgeous' and 'mysterious aura'. Some girls who couldn't possibly have met the new girl had already started to hate on her. She even heard the school's biggest bitch, Drew Tanaka muttering about the girl looking like a 'Dumpster Queen'. Reyna simply rolled her eyes at the comments. Leave it to the school bitches to be so shallow to judge a girl they haven't even met.
Reyna entered the office and saw a choppy brown-haired Native American girl sitting in one of the seats. She was indeed beautiful just as people had muttered about in the halls. She wore some baggy jeans and a t-shirt, her tan skin seemed to glow and her eyes were wide and kept shifting hues. But, she was not alone. Jason was with her. Reyna hadn't seen him all morning and here he was—chatting it up with the new girl. Jason and the new girl seemed to notice Reyna standing two metres away as they drew their attention away from their intense conversation and looked up. Reyna felt a pang of jealousy at how close they seemed after just being introduced a while ago.
Jason grinned, "Hey, Reyna." She plastered a fake smile just to seem polite.
She turned to the new girl, "You must be the transfer student. My name is Reyna. Student Council President. Pleased to meet you." Reyna thought she sounded too formal but she didn't care. It was better to be business-like. She would have liked to maintain a distance from the girl anyway. She didn't like the way the girl was very friendly with Jason.
Despite the slight steeliness in Reyna's voice, the new girl gave her a smile. "I'm Piper McLean. Likewise."
"Hey," Jason said. "Reyna, I was wondering if I could take your responsibility of showing Piper around." An ice shard in the heart. How could Jason do this? The task was assigned to her. But, at the same time, she was torn between making Jason stay away from the girl and not disappointing her best friend.
The girl spoke up, "It would be really cool for Jason to show me around. We actually met in LA while he was there during the holidays." So they had met before. That explained why they were so friendly with each other. It didn't really help with Reyna's bitter feelings towards the girl, though.
He smiled. "Yeah," he said. "I didn't even know you were coming to this school, Pipes."
"Well, you didn't tell me you went to Jupiter High School did you, Sparky?" They even had nicknames for each other. Sure, blame Reyna for being a jealous best friend but these two had endearing nicknames for each other. Jason never gave her a nickname before. Sure, he had called her Rey-Rey once before but she punched him for it and he never called her that again. She wasn't even that great with nicknames so she didn't bother coming up with one for Jason.
She shoved down her bitter emotions and agreed to Jason's request anyway. Reyna felt like Piper sensed something wrong with Reyna from the fake smile on her face. Piper gave Reyna a once over as she walked out the door with Jason by her side.
Luckily, the receptionist was still in the office or Reyna would have lost control and punched something. With a deep breath Reyna gathered up her pride and with an aura of confidence, walked out the office door just as the first bell rang.
Annabeth was by Reyna's locker. The two made small talk as they made their way to homeroom. Being with Annabeth took her mind off of Jason and who knows what he was doing with Piper. As they settled in homeroom, the blonde girl was babbling on about some architecture assignment which she seemed widely interested in but didn't exactly catch the attention of Reyna. She didn't even realize as she zoned out and was thinking about Jason.
She was awakened from her stupor by Annabeth snapping her fingers in front of Reyna's face. She blinked. "I'm sorry, what?"
The other girl glared a little at her. Sometimes Annabeth's stormy grey eyes actually intimidated Reyna—like now. "There's a Student Council meeting today. It's about that fundraiser project for Children In Need."
"Oh. When is it?"
Annabeth rolled her eyes. "Seventh period. You have study hall then so I don't think it will be a problem," she said. "Honestly, you can be so much like Percy sometimes!"
"Why is he even related to this conversation, again?"
Annabeth exasperated, "You can't keep zoning out when I tell you important stuff. I mentioned some ideas for the fundraiser, you know. But anyway, I'll let you off the hook. I can tell something's bothering you, what is it?"
"Huh? Nothing's bothering me, I swear," she lied.
Annabeth didn't look convinced. She eyes Reyna seeing if she could coax information out of her but eventually gave up. She sighed, "If you say so."
~o0o~
Reyna wouldn't necessarily call herself popular. Nor would she call herself a loner. Almost everyone knew her because she was the Student Council President and having that title did have its perks but that didn't stop the Queen Bitch of the school from picking on Reyna. Drew never let slip a chance to taunt Reyna and make her feel bad about herself. Being in the same school with the popular girl for almost four years had taught Reyna how to stand up to self absorbed snobs. So, it didn't come as a big problem for her to shoo off bullies.
Heading over to the cafeteria after the lunch bell, Reyna heard the sound of heels clicking. She turned around to come face to face with Drew flanked on either side by her boyfriend—Dylan and her wingman—Nancy Bobofit.
Of course, their school had a strict uniform code. White button down shirts with a purple blazer and a black tie, knee length black skirts for girls and full length black pants for guys. Even with the uniform fixed, Drew and Nancy still somehow made their uniform to be skimpier. Their skirts only came till mid-thigh and if they bent down you could see a flash of their underwear. Their button down shirts were a little tight and they didn't button all the way up so when they flirted with guys, they would bend down low enough to give them a nice view of their cleavage.
Drew didn't wear layers of makeup unlike Nancy. No, Drew was naturally beautiful physically but she was rotten inside. The saying 'all that glitters is not gold' seemed to suit Drew perfectly. Nancy on the other hand, applied so many layers of makeup that it would completely alter her face. And then Dylan—who was Drew's on and off boyfriend/hook-up partner. Whenever Drew couldn't find a guy to get into her pants, she would just go back to Dylan who oddly seemed to accept her.
"What's the problem, hon?" Drew said in her high pitched nasally voice. "Can't find another boy to hook up with? Or are you still hung up on Jason Grace?"
Drew had always hated Reyna for being close with Jason. She had always taunted Reyna, spreading false rumors about her sleeping with random guys at school, using drugs on guys and persuading them to sleep with her. Reyna was initially bothered by it but as time went on; she got used to the bullying and began to fight back. If Drew was intending to break her, she was going to stand up and fight back twice as hard.
"Can't find another guy, Drew?" Reyna said icily. "Seems like your back with Dylan again. Can't get your hands on Jason?"
Drew had put her focus on Jason as soon as he had hit puberty and had been trying relentlessly to get him to sleep with her. And Jason, being the nice guy he is, declined her politely. Most of the time, when Drew was approaching Jason, he would just make a lame excuse and get out of the place. Other times . . . he was not so lucky. Drew would put herself all over him—touching his biceps, bending down to show her cleavage, bringing her face really close to his, batting her eyelashes, trying to tempt him seductively. All were fail attempts so far. And Reyna was glad Jason had the common sense to control himself.
Drew gave an evil smirk."He's not my target anymore."
"Really? What made you change your mind?"
"Oh, you know," Her eyes darted to something behind Reyna. "The new girl." Reyna turned around to see Piper and Jason walking together through the crowd of teens. "They seem awfully chummy, don't you think? I know you want her away from him, Reyna. You can join me. I'll help you get him."
Reyna was vaguely reminded of Draco Malfoy from Harry Potter then. The scene in the first book/movie where Malfoy tries to convince Harry to be his friend was very similar to the situation at the moment. After all this taunting and Drew wanted Reyna to join her. What shocked her more was that Drew wanted to help Reyna get Jason. Yeah, right.
She laughed bitterly, "Tell me this is some sick joke."
Drew laughed. "It's true, hon. I'm giving you the option. Its time you opted for some better company. Anyway, toodles!" She flipped her hair as she turned around and sashayed away with her little posse.
The very thought of Reyna joining forces with Drew made her nauseous and she was saved from throwing up on the spot by Jason . . . and Piper.
"You okay, Reyna? You look a little pale."
Reyna muttered, "I'm fine. Peachy . . ."
Jason looked a little concerned. "Okay . . . I saw Drew talking to you. Nothing too rash?"
She shook her head. Jason knew that Drew and Reyna had been having this rivalry since high school started but he never knew why. He knew Drew bullied her but he never found out the reason. "She didn't do anything. I'm actually surprised."
"Why?"
Reyna would have replied to his question but apparently the reason was just there with them hearing the entire conversation. Instead of giving a straight answer, Reyna just shrugged.
"So that Asian girl—not to be racist—is Drew Tanaka? The mean girl of the school?" Piper asked.
"Yep," Jason said. "Along with her two friends or sidekicks—Nancy and Dylan."
Piper let out a low whistle and muttered, "And I thought I wouldn't face the social hierarchy here."
"I need to grab some lunch and get to library soon," Reyna said. "Jason, don't forget to come to the Student Council meeting in the seventh period."
Jason sulked a little. "Do I have to come? I was wondering if you could fill me in later because I have Geography class with Piper. We only have two classes together. I thought I would be able to hang out with her more."
Reyna's expression became guarded again. She wasn't going to let him off the hook again. He had to come to the Student Council meeting. He was the Vice-President. He couldn't just go throwing off his responsibilities just to spend time with the new girl. It wasn't right. Through Reyna's eyes, he was being a little irresponsible. What also bothered her was that he wasn't spending time with her. He never skipped Student Council meetings to spend time with Reyna during their junior year when they only had one class together.
"No, Jason," she said. "You have to come. You've never skipped a meeting before. Besides, you'll have a lot of time to hang out with Piper later."
"That's the thing," he said. "I've never skipped a meeting before. Can I? Just once? That's all I'm asking." The way he was asking her was almost as if he was pleading. Like a little boy pleading to his mother to get a chocolate bar. She bit her lip.
"It's okay, Jason," Piper told him. "I think you should go to the meeting. Besides, I can figure the place out. Maybe I'll make some new friends." Reyna silently thanked Piper. Jason seemed to listen to her and thought for a few seconds.
"Well . . . if you insist," he said. He turned to Reyna. "Why don't you sit with us at lunch?"
Reyna shook her head, "As much as I want to, I can't. I have to do some research for an assignment which is due soon. I'll see you guys later." She waved and walked away.
~o0o~
At the Student Council meeting, Reyna avoided looking at Jason and she didn't sit next to him like usual. The meeting was as per usual—they discussed the plans for the fundraiser. Annabeth had given some ideas on a cultural food fest and Frank Zhang, a Student Council member, had given ideas for a marathon. They hadn't agreed on anything yet and the fundraiser was to take place in end of February.
Reyna and Annabeth were still discussing some plans for the fundraiser as they left the school building and made their way to the parking lot. Reyna didn't really have a car. She instead opted to ride a bike to school. She had received several comments on bullies before on how she and her sister were too poor to own a car but she had just shrugged it off.
Out of nowhere, a black Mustang drove into the parking lot. It immediately started turning heads. The car looked shiny and new. Nobody in the school, as far as Reyna was concerned, owned a Mustang. So, obviously it was a little strange. The car pulled up near where Annabeth and Reyna were standing. A familiar dark haired punk girl climbed out of it.
"Thalia, what are you doing here?" Reyna asked.
The older girl grinned a little, "I just came to pick up my little brother. Nice to see you here, Reyna."
"Thals?" Annabeth seemed shocked.
Thalia's eyes widened, "Annie?"
Now, Reyna was confused. How did these two know each other? The two girls walked up to each other and embraced. "It's so good to see you again! I missed you," Annabeth said.
"How do you guys know each other?" Reyna asked.
"We used to be cabin mates at this summer camp we used to go to," Annabeth answered her. "Remember those four years I went to a summer camp till I turned sixteen?"
"Oh yeah."
"The summer camp only allows kids till they're sixteen," Thalia said. "And I haven't seen Annabeth since I left four years ago."
Reyna would be lying if she said she felt a little left out. Two of her best friends had reunited with their own best friends on the same day. She felt a little alone and it wasn't better that she felt like a third wheel all day with Percy hanging around with Annabeth and herself.
Thalia and Annabeth engaged themselves in an animated conversation. Reyna found it hard to keep up so she zoned out. She didn't even realize it but she began to study Thalia. Her hair was spiked like always and the tips were dyed blue unlike the last time Reyna saw her which was almost a week ago. Reyna probably never noticed before but Thalia had a small tattoo right behind her ear. It was in the shape of a cloud with a bolt of lightning under it. The cloud was a stormy grey color and the lightning was an orangey yellow. Reyna also noticed that she really liked Thalia's neck. It may sound weird but it looked nice to her. Realizing what she was thinking about, Reyna shook her head. It was wrong to be thinking like that. It creeped her out a bit.
"Anyway," Annabeth said. "How is Luke?" she asked Thalia. The dark haired girl stiffened. Her eyes clouded the same way when Reyna had asked Thalia about her reason for quitting college and moving to San Francisco.
"He's . . . fine," Thalia answered. "He's still worried about his mother. She's still in a critical condition. I haven't talked to him lately, but I heard his mother is finally admitted into a mental hospital."
"Oh," Annabeth's eyes held concern. "Well, I'm really sorry. But then it's good he got to hand her over to be taken care of by other people. I hope May gets well soon."
"Yeah . . ."
"Well, I better get going. I'll see you guys later." Annabeth strode off to her car.
"How are you getting back?" Thalia asked.
"I have my bike," Reyna motioned to her purple bicycle parked in the stands.
Thalia eyes it a little. "Well, maybe I could give you a ride. I'm pretty sure it would fit in the trunk of my car. Besides, I saw Jason with some other girl so I don't think it would be a problem."
With the mention of Piper, Reyna stiffened. "Oh," she said. "Well . . . I guess its fine . . ."
Thalia smiled. Her blue eyes lit up. "Okay. Come on." They loaded Reyna's bicycle into the trunk of Thalia's car. Reyna was actually surprised it fit.
"Is this your car?" Reyna asked curiously.
"No," Thalia said. "It's actually my dad's. I'm borrowing it until I get enough money to get my own. I still have to pay for the gas for this one, though."
"Did you get a job yet?"
"Yeah. I got a job at a tattoo parlor. I used to ink my skin so I'm actually good at it."
"Really? How many tattoos do you have?"
Thalia smirked. "You'll find out." Something about that sounded a little seductive. Reyna couldn't contain herself and her cheeks reddened. She tried really hard to ignore that comment. It's Thalia, she told herself. Stop blushing!
Thalia chuckled. "What?" Reyna asked.
"Nothing," Thalia was still having a smug smirk on her face.
"What? Please tell me," Reyna demanded.
The other girl shook her head. Reyna groaned. She had to give Thalia directions on how to get to her house and soon they reached.
"Hey, you know," Thalia said as Reyna was removing her bike from the trunk. "You still owe me that lunch."
Reyna thought about when she would be free. "What about Saturday?"
Thalia nodded. "Okay. I'll text you."
Something about seeing Thalia again made her jump with excitement. Reyna was never really a person to trust someone easily and she still didn't trust Thalia completely. But, she felt a little free around Thalia. Like all her worries were gone just for the small amount of time they spent together. For Zeus' sake, they only met a little more than a week ago. And there was also the fact that Thalia was her best friend's sister so they would obviously see each other often. Reyna was still confused how she felt these weird sensations around Thalia. She didn't even know what they were. For now, she just chose to ignore it. It was best not to think of what it might be.
~o0o~
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