The Lost Hero: My Version

Jason

Even before getting electrocuted, Jason was having a rotten day.

He woke up in the back of a school bus, not sure where he was, holding hands with a girl he didn't know. That wasn't entirely the rotten part, though. The girl was pretty, he guessed, but he couldn't figure out who she -the stranger weirdly holding his hand- was or even what he was doing there. He sat up and rubbed his eyes, trying to think.

A few dozen kids were sprawled in the seats in front of him, listening to music, talking or sleeping. They all looked around his age... fifteen? Sixteen? Okay, that was scary. He didn't know his own age.

The bus rumbled along a bumpy road. Out of the windows, desert rolled by under a bright blue sky. Jason was pretty sure that he didn't live in a desert. He tried to think back... the last thing he remembered...

The girl squeezed his hand, annoyingly bringing him out of his thoughts, "Jason, are you okay?"

He turned to face her and took in her appearance for the first time, ever. She was wearing faded blue jeans, hiking boots and a fleece snowboarding jacket. Her chocolate-brown hair was cut choppy and uneven, with thin strands braided down the sides. She wore no make up like she was trying to not draw attention to herself. She had lovely eyes, though: chocolate-brown like her hair.

Jason let go of her hand, "Um, I don't- "

In the front of the bus, a teacher shouted, "Alright cupcakes, listen up!"

The guy was obviously a 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 mouldy. His buff arms and chest pushed against his bright orange polo shirt. His nylon workout trousers and Nikes were spotless white. A whistle hung from his neck; a megaphone was clipped to his belt. He would have looked pretty scary if he wasn't five foot nothing. When he stood up in the isle, one of the students nastily shouted, "Stand up, Coach Hedge!"

"I heard that!" The coach scanned the bus for the offender. Then his eyes fixed on Jason and his scowl deepened.

A jolt went down Jason's spine, he was sure the coach knew he didn't belong there. He was going to call Jason out, demand to know what he was doing on the bus- and Jason wouldn't have a clue as to what to say.

But Coach Hedge looked away and cleared his throat. Phew. "We'll arrive in five minutes! Stay with your partner. Don't lose your worksheet. And if any of you precious little cupcakes cause any trouble on this trip I will personally send you back to campus the hard way."

He picked up a baseball bat and made it look like he was hitting a homer. Ok, maybe he was scary.

Jason looked at the stranger next to him, "Does he always threaten kids?"

She shrugged and Jason suddenly became very sleepy, maybe she had some lavender perfume on, but the tiredness was defiantly coming from her. "Always does. This is the Wilderness School. "Where kids are the animals.""

She said it like it was a joke they'd shared before, but he wasn't laughing, just trying to stay awake.

"This is some kind of mistake." He decided, "I'm not supposed to be here."

The boy in front of him turned and laughed, "Yeah, right, Jason. We've all been framed! I didn't run away six times; Piper didn't steal a BMW." He winked at the stranger beside him.

The girl -Piper- blushed, "I didn't steal that car, Leo!"

"Oh, I forgot, Pipes. What was your story? The dealer lending it to you just fell asleep, didn't he?" He raised his eyebrows at Jason like, can you believe her?