SecondDisclaimer: Same thing as before... honestly I'm tired of saying it.
Jason's POV:
"Go Annabeth!" Jason shouted from the stands.
It was December 4th, the Wednesday after the disastrous Thanksgiving Party, and Jason was tired. It had been a long day, and he was exhausted.
First off, Student Council had officially replaced Gwen with some pink-haired girl named Lavinia, who looked kind of like Lacy.... just with several pearl barrettes clipping back her hair, and Lavinia was taller, with lanky limbs and dark roots peeking through her hair.
Lavinia was way less organized than Gwen, and Jason could tell Reyna was regretting picking Lavinia from her expression the whole time.
"Did you get that down, Lavinia?" Reyna said, her mouth tightening in a forced smile.
Lavinia didn't look up from her iPad. "Yep."
At first, Jason had been holding out hope that maybe Lavinia was taking minutes on her iPad, but then he caught a glimpse of her iPad.... and yeah, she was digitally drawing a portrait of a green-haired girl that Jason might have seen in the hallways a couple times. And yeah, the drawing was really good, but maybe actually focusing could be nice?
Secondly, Musical Theatre had been interesting, to say the least. Choir had gone off fine, but Musical Theatre had been strife with tension. They were rehearsing the Adelaide and Sarah Brown scene, and Piper and Drew both didn't seem happy about it.
And after that wonderful conversation from Thanksgiving, (basically Drew and Piper and Jason having a strange argument about confusing things), they weren't too happy about having to do the scene.
Football practice wasn't fun, as Coach Hedge was the official sports coach now. He made them run drills and practice so so so much. (again, football's not my thing... so sorry, don't really know what people do during practice)
He wanted to just lay down and rest by the end, but he still had Annabeth's track meet to go to, so he reluctantly donned a Goode High sweatshirt, and drove to the strange place.
"Wahoo!!!" Percy cheered.
Annabeth was in the lead, at the moment, and hopefully it would stay that way. Leo had told him that Track was the only sport that they had never received a medal in.
Annabeth gave them a quick wave, her sweat slicked face glistening in the sunlight.
"Go Annabeth!" Piper said. She turned towards him. "I think she's going to win?"
Jason was dazed for some reason. "Um, yeah, totally!"
Piper's lips curved in a mysterious smile, and she turned back to the meet with a swish from her purple sweater. Jason inwardly slapped himself. Why did he have to sound so stupid in front of her?
"Hey guys, sorry I'm late," Hazel said, scooting in between Frank and Leo to sit down. "Is she winning?"
Hazel wore an orange sweatshirt, black leggings, and sneakers that lit up with each step.
"Yep!" Frank said, staring intently at the orange and purple dot.
"Hopefully she'll get us the gold medal," Leo said, shoving another potato chip in his mouth.
"Yeah," Percy said. "I think she will."
A few minutes later, she did.
They all cheered loudly.
"Yay!"
"Go Annabeth!"
"She did it!"
"Well, I never doubted that for one second."
"True, true."
"Congratulations!" Jason said as Annabeth jogged towards them.
Annabeth looked tired, but she smiled. "Yeah, I got the medal!"
She proudly showed them the shiny gold medal she'd gotten.
"Do you guys want to get dinner?" Percy said. "I would kill for a cheeseburger right now."
"Me too," Annabeth said, hooking her arm in Percy's. "What about you guys?"
Frank nodded. "Sure, I'm fine with that."
Leo shook his head. "I have to get back to my garage and work on Festus."
Festus had still not been fully fixed. Jason didn't really know anything about cars.. but he figured from Leo's expressions, that it was not looking good.
Hazel smiled. "Definitely! I'm sooo hungry."
Piper sighed. "Sorry, guys, I have to go home and make sure my dad is okay."
Piper's dad had yet to fully recover from his kidnapping.
Jason really wanted a cheeseburger... but he couldn't. "Sorry, I can't go either. I have to make sure my mom and Thalia don't kill each other. Could you get a cheeseburger for me or something?"
So, while Annabeth, Percy, Frank and Hazel got food, Leo went in his replacement car that he had not named to his garage, Piper was driven back home by Coach Hedge, while Jason was driven home by Argus.
And, unfortunately, Thalia and his mom were fighting again.
Jason took a deep breath, and went in. "Hi mom, hi Thalia."
Thalia stopped, mid shout and smiled. "How was the meet?"
"Fine," Jason said. "What were you guys arguing about?"
"Honey, why don't you just go upstairs?" his mom said.
"No, you've been fighting for almost a month now, and it doesn't seem like it's been resolved," Jason said. He couldn't listen to this anymore.
Thalia sighed. "She's leaving again."
"It's only for a short period of time," his mom said. She tugged on the ribbons of her blue dress and looked down.
Jason wasn't sure how he felt. Sure, his mom was infuriating and has messed up a lot... but she was still his mom, and at the end of the day, the little boy inside of him, with messy blond hair and blue eyes that spilled over with tears far too often, still was waiting for his mom.
"Why?" Jason said softly. He didn't want to make a big deal out of it... but he wanted to know. For real.
"It's been made very clear to me, um, that I need to fix myself before I can be a real mom," she said. Her words were careful, concisely crafted from her years of lying.
"Well, we've done just fine without you," Thalia said. She looked defiant, dark hair pulled into a messy knot, bright eyes sparking with anger.
"I know, and I'm proud. I want to be a part of your life, but I can't be, not until you're ready, and I'm.. someone worthy of being a part of your life," his mom said.
That made sense, and Jason had to support it. It was what was best for all of them, really.
"Where are you going?" Jason said.
"Um, LA," she said. "I'm meeting with my agency again, and we're talking about possibilities."
Jason tensed. Fame and money had been what made her go crazy. What was to say that it couldn't happen again?
"Don't worry," his mom said, seeing his expression. "If I break, you won't be there to see it."
Because that made him feel so much better.
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Piper's POV:
Piper woke to screams.
She rolled out of bed, grabbed her replacement knife, and held it out steadily as she followed the sound. She immediately dropped it, when she realized what was really happening.
"It's okay, it's okay, dad," she said.
The past few days had been rife with flashbacks for her dad. He always woke up screaming.
He whimpered in his sleep and Jane looked fearfully at Piper. Despite their best efforts, it had not gone away.
"Is it time?" Jane whispered.
Piper sighed. "Yeah."
About an hour later, Jane had it all figured out. "Okay, so we'll meet with the therapist at 10:00, after I meet with his agent. Are you ready to go to school?"
Piper finished buttoning her blouse and dusted off her black jeans, looking at herself in the mirror. "Um, yeah, almost."
"Wow," Jane said, coming around the corner. "Why are you dressed up so fancy?"
Piper smiled. "Today, they're bringing in people from all sorts of professions for the Maker's fair, and we have a strict dress code."
"Wow," Jane said. "Well, let me do your hair then."
Jane came over and braided Piper's hair, finishing it up, into some sort of braided ponytail thing.
Honk! Piper jumped up and grabbed her backpack. "Bye Jane, bye dad!"
Jane waved, but her dad barely lifted his head. Piper tried not to let it get to her... but it really did.
"Hi Piper!" Annabeth said. She wore a blue suit and a blue ribbon in her blond hair.
Piper slid into the front seat. "Thanks for driving me."
"Of course," Annabeth said. "It should be noted, though, that I am the only one in this car who can drive."
Piper stuck her tongue out as Annabeth started to drive.
Hazel handed Piper a foil wrapped package and said, "Here's some breakfast from Percy's mom, and, well, Annabeth, I'd like to let you know that I will be starting driving lessons soon."
Hazel wore a black blazer, a black pencil skirt, and a white ruffled blouse.
"Ooh, that's exciting," Piper said, taking a bit of the amazing blueberry pancakes. "We should be there, to cheer you on!"
Hazel passed Piper a blue smoothie. "Sure! Though, I suppose, we should probably focus on other things."
Piper frowned, but Hazel was right. Her mom, Jason's stepmom, and Annabeth's mom, were all still gone.
"Yeah, that's probably true," Annabeth said. "Let's go over everything we know."
"Okay, so, I was kidnapped, and I was in a weird pink room," Piper said. "Dakota and Gwen were the guards, though, Gwen's dead now."
Hazel looked more sad now. "Yeah, um, then, we have my whole past, and Gaia has this weird vendetta against our family."
"It's because she was a lawyer for them, but then she got greedy," Annabeth said. "We should try to see if she has a file or anything like that. What does she look like, Hazel?"
Hazel shrugged. "Um, dark hair, pale skin, green eyes? She normally wears a dark jacket and likes to keep her hood on."
"So, wait, are we sure that it wasn't Gaia who was there when you fought Enceladus?" Piper said. She vaguely remembered pale features and a single lock of dark hair exposed to the sun before the hood covered their face again.
"You mean, when I crushed Enceladus?" Annabeth said, with a smirk on her face.
Piper giggled, but it was definitely true. Annabeth had won so so so easily, that it was almost like Enceladus had let her win...
"Well, no, I don't think that was Gaia. Her voice is a little different. It's almost.. dreamy. It's lower, and kind of scratchy, and it has this tone to it that makes her seem like she's asleep," Hazel said.
The person's voice had been a bit dreamy.. but it more lilting and soft like snow, and definitely not scratchy. Also, it was higher, and almost sounded like a high schooler, which it could very well be, for all they knew.
Also, Piper had heard Gaia's voice, once, over the speakers in their prison, and it had definitely not been that nice sounding.
"Hmm," Piper said as they pulled up in the parking lot. "Well, let's talk more, after school."
They all went their separate ways, off to Homeroom.
"What do you think?" Lacy said, jumping off the desk she'd been standing on. The teacher had yet to come.
Lacy wore a rose gold suit, with a ruffled white and grey blouse. Her pink hair was braided in a similar fashion to Piper's.
"Nice," Piper said, taking a seat.
The classroom was full of students, and the time was past, but the teacher still hadn't come.
"I like yours too," Lacy said, smiling.
Piper smiled in appreciation. "Thanks." She looked around, and the teacher still wasn't there. "Where is the teacher? It's past when she's supposed to come, already..."
Lacy looked worried. "I don't know.. I hope she's okay."
The door opened and Piper figured it was the teacher- but, no, it was Jason, blue eyes looking bloodshot, blond hair messy, his suit a bit rumpled, and yet, he still looked hot as hell.
"Hey, are you okay?" Piper murmured to him.
Jason ran his hands through his hair. "Um, yeah. It's just, um, my mom left today."
"She left?" Piper was shocked.
"Yeah. She's starting over, in LA."
"Oh," was all Piper could say. "Well, um, how are you feeling about that?"
Jason's stare was locked on the hint of sky seen through the windows. "I, well, I don't really know. It just all feels so surreal. These last few months, really."
"I get what you mean," Piper said. She'd lost her memory, her parents had been kidnapped, she'd been kidnapped, she was the lead in the musical, and she was fake dating so that she would stop falling for Jason, who apparently was her ex-boyfriend, but he didn't know that yet, and she was definitely not going to tell him.
"Hey babe," Dylan said, coming in.
"Oh, hi," she said.
Dylan gave her a look, like, c'mon, you can act better, but Piper was not in the mood at the moment.
"I guess, I just want to forget this whole mess ever happened," Jason said. His voice was weary.
"Well, you'll get that wish, Jason Grace," a voice boomed over the speakers.
Piper immediately put a hand on her knife, Jason doing the same with his gun. Piper recognized that voice.
"Gaia?" she said.
Lacy looked at her. "What's going on, Piper?"
Alarms started to blare throughout the school. In the hallways, Piper could hear screams and shouts. She ran and tried to open the door, but it was locked.
"What did you do?" Jason said, trying to open it with her.
"What didn't I do?"
Again, sorry for the late update. But, a lot of important stuff happened in this chapter, so pay attention to all the little clues and stuff. See you next time!