reflection ● jason grace

They ride in a random woman's car. It's totally safe.

"Clara," Jason said incredulously. "Please tell me you didn't just give ten dollars to that homeless man."

Clara crossed her arms. "Well, maybe if we'd left after my shift I wouldn't feel so inclined to help people."

Jason and Nathan shared a glance of disbelief.

"Yeah, you would, Clara." Daria held the map up to the sun. "Which way is south again?"

They had been traveling for about an hour, having left immediately after lunch. Daniel said the morning would be too chilly, especially since it was November now. Daria knew that she and Jason wouldn't have a problem with the temperature; they woke up at six every morning to train. Nathan, not so much.

"There," Nathan pointed to their left. They stood near the entrance of a park, surrounded by tourists and college-aged students. They did live in Berkeley, after all.

"Do you really have powers?" Clara asked suspiciously. "I think you're making that up."

"Silly Clara," Nathan batted his eyelashes. "Have I ever lied to you?"

Daria thought about the time Nathan and Jace pretended to be colorblind for a year because they dyed every flag in New Rome pink. "Yes."

Jason wheeled on her. "I'm sorry, are you Clara?"

Daria mocked him, stomping off to the 'south'. She was a bit nervous about how okay things were going; they hadn't seen any monsters or suspicious gods yet. Though, by thinking that she'd probably just jinxed it.

"Are we really going to walk all the way down to Los Angeles?" Nathan shielded his face from the sun as he followed. "I mean, that's more than a week's journey."

"And Clara just gave away one-fifteenth of our cash," Jason added, earning a scowl from the dark-skinned girl.

"Give me the map," Nathan said.

"Do you know how to read?" Clara asked.

"Give me a break, woman!"

"It's a valid question," Daria smirked, but she gave him the map anyway. He studied it for a few moments, tracing lines with his finger. Daria couldn't help but wonder if he was just messing with them.

"Okay," Nathan's eyebrows creased together. "There's a bus from the station to San Jose that leaves in, oh, thirty minutes. If we take that, it cuts down our journey by 15 hours, and I know a couple of parks near the city where we can crash."

"I thought you lived in Los Angeles," Jason frowned.

Now it was Nathan's turn to be confused. "I ran away when I was seven. Lots of park benches in different cities," he explained self-consciously. "I thought you knew that."

"How would I know that if you never told me?" Jason fired back. Other than Daria, Nathan was Jason's closest friend. She could see hurt flash across his pale blue eyes.

"I told you!" Nathan glanced at the girls, trailing off when they wore similar expressions as the son of Jupiter. "I..."

"Let's keep walking," Daria decided. There was a big sign that had a picture of a bus and an arrow pointing down, so she took her chances.

Jason huffed and strode beside her even though he was usually by Nathan's side. The brown-haired boy faltered for a moment before Clara rested a hand on his arm in comfort.

"Why did you run away?" She asked in her sweetest voice. Whenever Clara spoke, Daria was reminded of the sugary lollipops Ryan had given them once as kids. Jason had spat his out right away, never too fond of sweet things, but Daria rather liked the green-apple flavor. She wondered if Clara reminded Dakota of his Kool-Aid.