"Also, where even are we?" "In our new dorm room in a college in Manhattan." "Three ins in one sentence. That's not going to get you a good mark for creative writing" "Aren't you like seven?" "Yes, so what?" "I was just thinking, isn't that a bit young to be complaining about such things?" "Uh, no, I'm old enough. If you round it, I'm about 10 years old." "You can't just round up your age" "But I just did" She started laughing. We continued talking for a while, until "Hey Piper, you said this is a college, right?" "Yes, why, oh right, we actually have to take lessons. Our first one is…" I checked the schedule and the time. "Ten minutes from now. We've got history together" "Cool, I like history. But I think I'm a bit too small for eleventh grade" "Just a little bit" "I'd say we get someone older to the front. Let's see… I think Annabeth is kinda close" "should we try to trigger her out?" "You can do that. I bet she'll love to analyze the structural integrity of this bed or something. If you start doing that, maybe she'll join you" I began pretending to know anything about statics "Okay, so the bed has four legs, each about two centimeters in diameter and ten centimeters long…" This continued for about a minute. "This gives an area of about 1.23 square meters and-" "Firstly, it's 1.32, not 1.23. Also, what happened?" "When I showed you your new dorm room, you had a flashback and Luisa was triggered out. I helped you through it, and then I organized it so that the girl who would have been my roommate is now living where you were supposed to go. Coincidentally, she's also friends with the other girl in that room, who would have been your roommate. Anyways, we switched rooms and then Luisa and I just talked for a while, before I eventually tried to trigger you out because class starts in…" I checked the clock again "…seven minutes" "So, you deliberately used a trigger on us?" "With consent from the currently fronting alter of course. In fact, she said herself that someone other than her should do it. Did you really think I'd do such a thing without consent?" "Not really, I trust you. Not enough to find you hot, but still quite a bit. But as the saying goes: trust is good, control is better." "Never heard of that saying." "I think I got that from Thalia, who might have gotten it from a different huntress. The oldest hunters are over four thousand years old, so who knows where or when the saying comes from. Speaking of when and where, we should really go to our class now. Do you know where we need to go?" "That'd be room number N23, though I have no idea where that actually is." "I think I happen to know that one. Don't forget any of your stuff here"

Annabeth led me through the school to our class room, reaching it just seconds before the bell rung. Luckily, we were still able to find a table with both seats empty. As soon as we sat down, our teacher started talking attendance. Annabeth must have been a bit dissociated since she didn't hear him calling her name until the third time. When my name was called, I got the usual 'McLean? Like Tristan McLean?' looks. "Today, we'll be learning about the American industrial age. Can anyone tell me what the most important product of that era was and who invented it?" A boy raised his hand. "I'd say it was the car, invented by Henry Ford." "Correct" Annabeth raised her hand. "Yes, Annabeth" "That's not correct. Henry Ford did invent the forty hour week and the assembly line, which are essential to how cars are produced nowadays, but the car itself was invented by Carl Benz" "I'll have to look that up." The teacher admitted. He took out his phone and typed something in. After about ninety seconds, he said "You're right, it was Mr. Benz. Why does everyone always teach that wrong?" "I can tell you why. It's because the United States are more pumped with hubris than, well, me, and my hubris almost got me killed a few times, so that should give you a vague idea of how messed up this countries self-reflection actually is. We just like to take credit for things we didn't actually achieve, like in this case the invention of the car."

The rest of the lessons that day went similarly: The teacher explained things, and Annabeth corrected. After history, a boy approached me. "So, your name is McLean" "Yes, why are you asking" I of course knew why he was asking but decided not to say it. "You don't happen to be related to the actor Tristan McLean, do you? You also look similar" "I don't think that's particularly relevant" "I think it is" The thing about charm speak is that in some conversations, you only get one shot at using it before it becomes awkward. If that one chance isn't enough to convince the other person, like just now, there wasn't much I could do. "Fine, we are related. He's my dad. Could you do me a favor and not tell everyone. I don't want people's first impression to be that of a celebrity's daughter." "Sure thing. Also, Annabeth I've heard she's your girlfriend now." "You mean Piper? First of all, as I've said many times I. Have. A. Boyfriend. Secondly, what makes you think that?" "Rumor has it that you forgot to look the door while kissing in the bathroom" "Uh, what? Pipes, do you know what he means?" "Well, that, we weren't kissing or making out of whatever. I was just holding her because I was being a good friend and helping her through a flashback." "A flashback?" "Yes, I've seen some bad stuff, and now I have some form of PTSD. It's not officially diagnosed, but anyone who actually knows me wouldn't deny it." "Oh okay. Well, have fun next lesson" He left us alone. "Well, that wasn't very trust issues of you, just telling that guy about your trauma." "Well, the fact that I had a flashback already made it kind of obvious, the only information I disclosed was the fact that I have no official diagnosis" "How do you always just have perfect responses to any given accusation ready." "Superhuman brainpower I guess." "Well, I don't like it" "That's either because you're jealous or because you just don't like when I successfully counter your arguments" "It's probably both. As long as you use it against someone other than me, preferably a mutual enemy, it's acceptable" Fine, maybe acceptable wasn't the right word, admirable was closer. To be honest, what about Annabeth wasn't admirable? "Why do I feel like you have a crush on me?" Annabeth asked. "Because it's kind of true? But don't pretend you don't have one on me as well" "Maybe a little bit" "I believe yesterday you said 'Why do I have to be so gay for you Piper?'. That more than just maybe a little bit" "You're just way too good at charm speak." "If the boys could hear us right now…" "I don't think they're any better. That constant 'bro'ing… But what do I know, you're the one with the gaydar" "Well, I'm both bi and love sensitive due to my mom so I have like the best gaydar in the world. Except maybe for some of my siblings. Drew especially, since she's got the added bonus of being a judgmental bitch." "So, circling back to my original question…" "Nothing straight about these guys" "Thought so. One more thing. You've met Nico months before the Argo II launched, or did you, I'm not sure, I was too busy missing Percy and-" "Yes, I have met him. Thought I didn't really notice it until a few months later, probably because he was completely closeted back then. And I'll tell you, keeping it to me wasn't easy, but I didn't want to forcefully out him like certain other love-related beings. Once he and Jason returned from split, I knew something was different. I talked to him and gave him the courage to come out to the rest of the seven. Well, except you and Percy. You were kind of… unavailable at that time" "Speaking of Percy, I wonder how he's doing right now"

Percy

During Recess, I saw the girl from yesterday again. A group of bully looking guys, the same ones as yesterday, were approaching her. "Hey Julia, where'd your new boyfriend go?" They asked her. Time to see whether yesterday's efforts had been successful. "He's not my boyfriend" She said, her voice a bit shaky, but still confident. "Oh, so you're single again. Does that mean you're free for me?" "No, because I'm quite comfortable without a boyfriend. But I get if you don't accept that" "That's the wrong attitude" I called over to her. "Considering your IQ, I really can't expect that from you." A loud "oof" was heard, possibly from me "Oh, now you're insulting us. Well, you know what that's gonna get you." From years of attending the kind of school for the kind of students generally referred to as 'troubled kids' I knew that this was the kind of thing you say before beating someone up. "Seriously guys?" I called over "Four guys again one girl? Don't you think that's a little unfair?" within seconds, I was between them. "Looks like we get to beat up two people today" in that moment, the bell rung, signifying the end of the break. "12:30 at the wooden frame that probably was a sandbox at some point. Let's see who wins this" I said. The boys left, probably to their next lesson. Or maybe they'd skip that, they did seem like the kind of students to skip a few classes. "Did you seriously just challenge four of the most muscular guys in the school to a fight? I mean, it's very brave and all, but it's also kind of insane" "Trust me, I've beaten worse enemies. I'd tell you which exactly, but some of that stuff is a bit too traumatic"

The message that I had challenged the 4 biggest bullies of the school to a fight spread quickly, and in the lesson just before the big break, I had to confirm the rumors three times. Thirty minutes before the fight would begin, it suddenly started raining. Perfect conditions for me. Officially, we weren't even allowed to leave the building with rain this strong, but at this school, rules weren't really rules, more like suggestions. In the ten minutes between the beginning of the break and my battle, I inspected the battle field. It appeared to have once been a sandbox, but there wasn't really any sand left in it. Next to it was a massive puddle caused by a clogged drain. Over the years, the water had dug a tunnel below the wooden enclosure around the sandbox. Currently, it was clogged with sand, but even a mortal would have been able to open it in a matter of seconds. I'd definitely keep that option in mind. Before I could make any further plans, my four enemies showed up.

"Looks like our prey arrived" one of them chuckled "Pretty sure you're the prey here" I answered. The battle began. I drew riptide, making the boys step back a bit. I remember the last time I had been in such a situation, it had ended with a water bed shop owner trying to stretch me to death. I was hoping that this encounter would go a little bit better. The biggest question I had to ask myself was how much harm I was willing to do to them. From what others had told me, they'd been terrorizing the school for years, so they did deserve it. But I wasn't out for revenge, I just had to get them to stop. Before I could think further, the four guys had surrounded me and were now closing in from four sides. Once they were in range, I spun riptide in a circle around me, which would have sliced them in half, had they not been mortals and therefore immune to celestial bronze. I used the few moments of confusion to collect water around my feet and shoot myself up. Most people would not have even attempted such a jump, but after clearing the Minotaur at twelve years old, I knew what I was capable of. While in the air, I got in a good hit to the head of the guy I had jumped over. He fell over, but slowly enough for me to have the water catch him. One down and I was just getting started. "You just signed your death warrant" one of the three remaining guys said just before his fist hit my chin. I stumbled back a few steps, but the water stopped me. It was time for my secret weapon. With a little hand movement, I made the clog under the wood burst. The bullies were really dam surprised (Sorry, but I had to) when the sandbox was suddenly flooded with hundreds of liters of water. Two of the bullies attacked at the same time from different directions. I used the water to make them slip and crash into each other. That left just one guy. "Do you want me to beat you as well, or do you give up now?" "I give up. From now on, you get all the bullying rights. We'll try to stop." "A wise decision. I think so at least, but I'm not really an expert on wisdom. For that, my girlfriend is the expert. I'll ask her the next time I see her." "A boy who takes advice from his girlfriend?" "First, she's smarter than me, second, even if she wasn't, not listening to her opinion would be really sexist and not something you should be advocating and third, you just forfeited your bullying rights to me so you can't criticize me" "Yes, uh, sorry"

So, Percy's making his school a safer place for everyone. I feel like that's the kind of thing he'd do.