The week went on and Friday finally came. It was the end of the day and my friends and I went to go see the poster for the school musical.
"Mean Girls." Silena exclaimed.
"I know, right?" I said, running up behind them. Silena flipped around to me.
"You knew?"
"Yeah?"
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Um... I wanted it to be a surprise?" Silena growled and turned to the rest of us.
"Do any of you guys plan on auditioning?"
Piper shrugged. "I think it would be fun! Are you and Cal doing it?"
I nodded. "I have a few people I might go for, I could audition for Regina-"
"I wanted to audition for her!" Silena crossed her arms.
"You're acting like a baby-"
"Hey!"
"But, I have other options too. There's also Gretchen-"
Piper snorted. "I was gonna audition for her, actually."
"Okay then," I sighed. "The last option I had was Cady."
"You would be a perfect Cady!" Silena squealed. "And you get so many songs!"
"Oh, but your songs are so much cooler!"
"I'm right here, y'know." Piper laughed. We apologized and she looked at everyone else. "Anyone else?"
Will groaned. "I'll probably end up having to be involved with it in some way." Nico giggled and Will stepped on his foot.
Zoë poked her head in the crowd and squinted at the board. "I could audition for Janis, that would be fun."
"And we get to be on stage with each other like 50% or the time." I pointed out.
"True!"
"You guys do know you can't take all the roles, right?" Leo laughed. I rolled my eyes at him.
"There's still a ton left: there's Damein, Karen, Aaron-"
"Okay, I never asked for you to tell me every sing character!"
"You made the comment!"
"You answered me!"
"If I didn't you would keep complaining!"
"Woah, woah!" Silena stepped in. "Weren't you guys were laughing with each other a few minutes ago?"
"Shut it, Silena." I huffed.
"H-!"
"We've had enough school for one day, don't you think?" Everyone nodded.
Piper took a flyer from a basket near the board. "It says auditions are Monday- that is definitely not enough time to practice."
"Let alone practice by yourself."
"Who said we needed to be by ourselves?" Silena asked.
"True." Piper agreed. "Cal, Silena, do you guys wanna come over tomorrow?"
"Hey, what about the rest of us?" Leo complained.
"Anyone can come, really-"
"They'll be a distraction!" I protested.
"No they won't!" Piper addressed our friends. "Leo knows where the spare key of my house is. Anyone who wants to come can."
I decided not to protest and agreed. We wentour separate ways and I headed home.
-----------
"A musical?" My father asked. We were sitting in my mother's garden- a place he never particularly liked, but only sat there because I wanted to.
"Yeah, it's amazing. And guess what, I'm going for the leading role!" He raised an eyebrow.
"Really?" I nodded. "Well, I'm sure you'll do great. You're a wondeful singer and actress."
"Thanks, Dad."
"Is Zoë auditioning?"
"She is! She going for Janis."
"Ah, very fitting." I snorted and grabbed a strawberry from the basket beside me. "And when's the final show?"
"How should I know?" He gave me a disapproving look. "Sorry- what I meant was that rehersals haven't started yet since there hasn't even been casting decisions yet either- or even auditions!" He nodded and grabbed a strawberry as well. "Why do you ask?"
"You do understand that I won't be here forever, correct?" I bit my lip. I knew I only had so much time left to see my father face-to-face, but I didn't like thinking about it. Soon, he would be leaving. Zoë didn't seem to mind. I did.
"Yeah."
"Calypso," I looked up at him. "I understand that you'll miss me. And I'll miss you and Zoë just as much. You'll still have someone else to keep you company-"
"That's not what I was worried about, Dad."
He ignored what I was saying. "There's tons of other people in your life! Like your mother, Zoë, your friends, that Leo boy you like so much-"
"LEO?" I yelled. My father jumped and the birds by the flowers flew away. I calmed down and shook my head. "How do you know about everything with Leo?"
"Zoë and I talked for a bit."
"You talked? That's great!- But HOW DO YOU KNOW ABOUT LEO?" Once again, I was yelling.
"Calypso, keep your voice down."
"Sorry."
"We were talking about you girls' future. Zoë brought up Leo and how she thought you may like him. After seeing what he's like, I've noticed that he's very different from Drake, Percy, and Odysseus-"
"You know about Odysseus too?"
"She told me a lot."
"What a blabbermouth!" He laughed for a moment, and acted serious again.
"In all seriousness, I'll be going back home at the end of the month."
"Dad, that's so close!"
"Not really..."
"Why didn't you tell me before?"
"I didn't want to upset you... and Plieone has been starting arguments and such."
"You have the money, why not just separate?" He frowned at me. "What? She's rude, selfish, arrogant, annoying, and-"
"Those qualities all seen like they fit you, dear." I turned to the voice that definitely wasn't my father's. Standing at the back door was Plieone, a disgusted look planted on her face.
My father stood. "Now, Plieone-"
"Please, don't defend your daughter like you always do." She turned to me. "Learn some respect and maybe things will work out for you, alright?"
I raised an eyebrow. "What are you talking about?"
She giggled. "I mean, let's be honest. Every man in your life leaves you! You have like what, three guys you fell in love with in 5 seconds and they all left! Oh, and don't even get me started on the ones you're related to. Your father lives across the world! And when was the last time you've heard from a male family member that wasn't him, hm?" I was speechless.
"Plieone!" My father gasped. "That's it, we're leaving."
"Oh, thank goodness!" She turned and walked away.
My father looked at me. "Calypso, I am so sorry."
I shook my head. "She's horrible, Dad."
"I understand how you feel-"
"Why do you stay with her?"
"I-"
"All she does is hurt people. Do you actually care about how we feel after she says all that or are you just trying to keep everyone pleased?"
"Calypso-"
"That hurt, Dad."
"Calypso," I didn't let him finish. I sped past him, through the house, and out the door.
-------------
I didn't know how long I had been driving. Maybe 25 minutes. Maybe an hour. It's not like I would be able to see the time anyways. Tears flooded my view.
It probably wasn't the safest way to drive- my crying drowning out the honking horns at stop lights probably wasn't safe either.
I kept driving, and my car started slowing down. "No, no, no, no, not right now!" My car stopped, and at that very moment it started raining. Luckily, I was on the side of the road. I looked straight ahead and sobbed. Love just wasn't for me, huh? Pleione wasn't wrong. My father was barely there- he voluntarily sent us across to world. But I'm not mad at him for that. The fact that he's still with her is what I'm mad about.
And of course no guy ever stayed with me. They always left me for someone else. There was always someone else, somewhere they needed to be- I was never a priority.
Knock.
Maybe I was being dramatic.
Knock. Knock.
Maybe, I just wasn't good enough.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
Maybe, I was only a pretty face. Did people even see me as human?
"CALYPSO!" I snapped out my thoughts as turned to my left where I heard someone call my name. Because of the rain, I couldn't see the person waving outside my window. I rolled my window down only to find out the one and only,
Leo Valdez.
"Leo?" I asked.
"Yeah, it's me. What's wrong, why are you crying?" I looked at him for a few more seconds before breaking down again.
All I managed to get out was, "My step-mother... - my dad... - so rude.... - my car-"
"Woah, Calypso, slow down! I can't understand you, I'm sorry!"
"My car is broken." I decided on telling him.
"Oh, well you should probably get out first... here." He opened the car door and held out his umbrella. I stepped put of the car and went under the umbrella with him. "And you're crying because your car broke down?" I took a shaky breath, and before I could even start crying again he pulled me into him. I wrapped my arms around his torso and burried my face in his chest. "Look, Calypso," he started. "I don't know why you're crying. I can tell you're pretty upset... but would you like to tell me why?" I pulled away from him and began to explain.
"My step-mother is horrible, and my father just stays with her! I don't get it. She said a bunch of stuff to me about how I'll never find love, and no one loves me, and blah blah blah-"
"Well that's not true!"
"But is it not, Leo? My father doesn't even stay with me, which isn't entirely his fault but still, and every guy I've ever loved didn't love me. I was never a priority or anything, there was always something much more important."
"But... tons of people love you!"
"Yeah, my family."
"And your friends!"
"I met them a few months ago."
"That doesn't change the fact that they all care for you and would be there for you no matter what. And what about what I told you on the roof at Piper's party, huh?"
"I forgot about that."
"Really?"
"No, I just hate it when you're right."
"So you admit that I'm right?"
"I never said that!"
"You were implying-"
"Leo!"
"You're smiling." He pointed out. My frown was now replaced with a stupid grin on my face.
"Thanks, Captain Obvious."
He rolled his eyes and looked behind me at my car. "I would fix it for you, but I left my tools back at Waystation."
I shook my head. "Don't, I don't even have money with me right now."
"I'll do it for free."
"What? Leo no, I won't-"
"Look, you're clearly in distress. Taking your money isn't a 'friendly' thing to do. It'll just be a favor. Let me do this for you, okay?" I hesitated, but nodded.
---------------
Leo and I walked for a few minutes before finally reaching the Waystation. He took his keys and opened the door. I walked in and looked around. It was huge. The kitchen was big, and the space around was even bigger. The structure was amazing, and the furniture looked like something you could fall asleep on on seconds. Leo followed behind me. "What do you think?"
"You work here?"
"Yeah, but I live here too." I turned to him with my mouth wide open.
"Leo, you may be the luckiest teenager in the world. If I lived here, I don't think I would ever want to leave."
He laughed and scratched his neck. "Once my moms grow old they're handing this place over to me. Maybe you can visit from time to time. But if you like this, you're gonna love the rest of it even more."
"That's all true." Leo and I turned and found two women standing in the door way. One had gray, short hair while the other had gray, long hair. Behind them, a little girl peeked out.
"Hey, guys!" He put his hand on my shoulder, and despite me having hugged him a while ago, I still got chills. "This is my friend, Calypso. Her car broke down and I'm gonna fix it for her."
The woman with longer hair smiled."Hello, Calypso! We've heard the much about you!"
"Mom." Leo grumbled.
"I'm Emmie, this is my wife, Jo. And she," she pushed the little girl from behind them both. "Is Georgina." She stopped smiling and frowned. "Are you alright, dear? You look upset."
"I've had a weird day." I sighed.
"I'm sorry to hear that- would you like something to drink? Or maybe you're hungry? I mean, we have a ton of food-"
"Calypso just needs to get her car fixed so she can go home, actually." Leo said through his teeth. "She's in a rush, right Calypso?"
"Well, not really-"
"Okay, we're gonna go find tools now, bye!" Leo grabbed my hand and dragged me away from his parents.
Once we made it to his destination, I stopped and crossed my arms. "I wanted to talk to your parents more."
"No, you really don't want to." He laughed.
"They seem sweet!"
"They are."
"You're incredibly lucky to have them."
"I am..." He unlocked the door to the room and opened it, revealing a large room with tools and parts all over the walls and work benches.
I came in and looked around. "What's this?"
"My workshop." He smiled. "My mom built it for me when they adopted me after they found out how much I loved mechanics, machinery, etc."
"That's amazing!"
"Right?" He went around the room looking for the different tools he needed, which seemed to be thrown all over.
"So... what got you into building and stuff?"
"My mom." He didn't look up from where he was staring.
"So after you got adopted?"
"No. My... other mom."
"Emmie?"
"No. My biological one."
For some reason, I'd forgotten that Leo had spent time with his mother before he was adopted. I knew that he had spent a lot of time in foster care, but I didn't know how long he was with his mother.
"Oh. You've never told me... uh what happened to her?"
His focus on the tools in front of him still hadn't changed. "She's gone."
"What?"
"She got killed in a fire... that I started."
"She... what?" He stood up and looked at me.
"It's a long story. Maybe, I'll tell you one day, but not today." I nodded quickly.
"Oh no, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable, or-"
"No, I'm sorry. You've been pretty open with me, Cal. I haven't been doing the same to you."
"But it's not your fault! You don't have to share anything you don't want to share with me. It's none of my business anyways."
"You couldn't have known."
"But I still shouldn't have assumed." We locked eyes and stayed there for a while before ge cleared his throat and threw the rest of his tools into a bag.
"Let's go we go fix your car."
-------------
Leo finished with the car in around 15 minutes. Once he was done, I looked it over.
"You did great."
"Thanks- I'm not sure how you manage to mess it up so bad everytime." I crossed my arms.
"The first time wasn't even my fault!"
"But the next?"
"I honestly don't know what happened."
"So you're not telling me that you did this on purpose?"
"What-"
"If you think I'm cute just say that, Sunshine." My mouth dropped.
"I- what?" I heard my phone ring from my car and reached inside to grab it. "Uh, Zoë texted me. My father and his wife are- leaving?"
"I thought they were staying a bit longer?"
"So did I... I'm sorry, I have to go home."
"It's fine."
"Thank you so much for fixing my car!"
"Of course-"
"I'll see you later?" As much as I wanted to talk to Leo longer, I had to get home and see what this was all about.
"Yeah, sure."
"Bye!" I hopped in my car and drove off.
----------------
When I arrived home, Zoë and my mother were arguing.
"I'm glad they left!" Zoë growled.
"Calypso will be so upset!"
"He's a coward!"
"He did what he thought was right!"
"Guys?" They both turned to me. "Why did Dad and Plieone leave?"
My mother walked over to me. "Your step-mother wanted to go back, so your father did just that."
"But he wasn't supposed to be leaving for another week."
"I know, Calypso."
"What is wrong with him?"
"I'm very sorry, Calypso. But maybe you'll hear from him again soon!"
"It's... it doesn't matter right now. I'm tired, it's been a long day. Goodnight, guys." I turned and went to my room.
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i just wanna let you guys know, there's gonna be around 25-30 chapters of this fic. after, i might start a new one!
i also wanted to thank everyone reading for reading bc we have 400+ reads on this and that's super cool!! so thank you to everyone reading & especially thank you to everyone voting as well!!
& finally, tysm for reading!! i hope you enjoyed, vote if you want, & bye!!