The Lost Hero (Jason Grace x OC)

1

"All right, cupcakes, listen up!" Coach Hedge yelled, and I groaned.
Coach Hedge was your stereotypical coach. His baseball cap was pulled low over his hair, so you could just see his beady eyes. He had a wispy goatee and a sour face, like he'd eaten something moldy. His buff arms and chest pushed against a bright orange polo shirt. His nylon workout pants and Nikes were spotless white. A whistle hung from his neck, and a megaphone was clipped to his belt. He would've looked pretty scary if he hadn't been five feet zero. When he stood up in the aisle, one of the students called, "Stand up, Coach Hedge!"
"I heard that!" The coach scanned the bus for the offender. "We'll arrive in five minutes! Stay with your partners. Don't lose your worksheet. And if any of you precious little cupcakes causes any trouble on this trip, I will personally send you back to campus the hard way."
He picked up a baseball bat and made like he was hitting a homer.
Jason turned around and faced me and Piper. "Can he talk to us that way?"
Piper shrugged. "Always does. This is the Wilderness School. 'Where kids are the animals.'"
"This is some kind of mistake," Jason said. "I'm not supposed to be here."
I shared a confused glance with Piper. Jason was by far the hottest guy at wilderness school. He was tall, a little over six feet if I had to guess, with his sandy blonde hair cropped short and gorgeous blue eyes. I was just one of the lucky people that was friends with him.
Leo looked at Jason and laughed. "Yeah, right, Jason. We've all been framed! I didn't run away six times. Kendal didn't flood an entire apartment complex, and Piper didn't steal a BMW."
Piper blushed. "I didn't steal that car, Leo!"
"Oh, I forgot, Piper. What was your story? You talked the dealer into lending it to you?" He raised his evebrows at Jason like, Can you believe her?
Leo looked like a Latino Santa's elf, with curly black hair, pointy ears, a cheerful, babyish face, and a mischievous smile that told you right away this guy should not be trusted around matches or sharp objects. His long, nimble fingers wouldn't stop moving—drumming on the seat, sweeping his hair behind his ears, fiddling with the buttons of his army fatigue jacket.
Piper, my best friend, was basically my other half. Her chocolate brown hair was cut choppy and uneven, with thin strands braided down the sides, and her eyes seemed to change color like a kaleidoscope—brown, blue, and green, a sharp contrast to my long blonde hair and sea blue eyes. Piper wore no makeup like she was trying not to draw attention to herself, but it didn't work. She is seriously pretty. All the guys love her.
So that's our group. The four of us have stuck together like glue ever since we met at the wilderness school.
"Anyway," Leo said, "I hope you've got your worksheet, 'cause I used mine for spit wads days ago. Why are you looking at me like that? Somebody draw on my face again?"
"I don't know you," Jason said.
Leo gave him a crocodile grin. "Sure. I'm not your best friend. I'm his evil clone."
"Leo Valdez!" Coach Hedge yelled from the front. "Problem back there?"
Leo winked at us. "Watch this." He turned to the front. "Sorry, Coach! I was having trouble hearing you. Could you use your megaphone, please?"
Coach Hedge grunted like he was pleased to have an excuse. He unclipped the megaphone from his belt and continued giving directions, but his voice came out like Darth Vader's. The kids cracked up. The coach tried again, but this time the megaphone blared: "The cow says moo!"
The kids howled, and the coach slammed down the megaphone. "Valdez!"
I stifled a laugh. "My god, Leo. How did you do that?"
Leo slipped a tiny Phillips head screwdriver from his sleeve. "I'm a special boy."
"Guys, seriously," Jason pleaded. "What am I doing here? Where are we going?"
Piper knit her eyebrows. "Jason, are you joking?"
"No! I have no idea—" Jason started.
"Aw, yeah, he's joking," Leo said. "He's trying to get me back for that shaving cream on the Jell-O thing, aren't you?"
Jason stared at him blankly.
"No, I think he's serious." Piper said.
"That's it!" Coach Hedge yelled from the front. "The two back rows have just volunteered to clean up after lunch!"
The rest of the kids cheered.
"There's a shocker," Leo muttered.
But I kept my eyes on Jason, trying to decide if I should be worried. "Did you hit your head or something? You really don't know who we are?"
Jason shrugged helplessly. "It's worse than that. I don't know who I am."