He sat in computer class, Drew beside him, laughing and constantly talking. Reyna was at the other side of him, cursing at Sherman and Damien. Jason wasn't paying any attention to any of them. Leo Valdez was sitting behind him, laughing with Piper. Genuine laughter, not Drew's high pitched somewhat sarcastic laugh.
Ever since that stupid, stupid detention Leo had been taken up 99% of Jason's thoughts.
Shut up.
Now Leo thought Jason liked Piper. And Drew thought he liked her. Neither of them were exactly his type.
Stop. Freak.
Reyna suddenly stood up, about to walk away, before the teacher told her to sit back down. She sat down angrily, turning to Jason.
"Tell your weirdo friends to fuck off."
Jason looked over Reyna's shoulder to Sherman and Damien.
"C'mon Rey'. Don't be like that." Sherman said.
"For the last time Yang, go away."
"Yeah, Yang," Damien said. "Like she'd ever like you. So, Reyna-"
"Stop it."
"Just stop." Jason said.
Sherman rolled his eyes. "Always surrounded by girls, Grace."
"Oh my god!" Reyna snapped.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Jason asked.
"Oh, come on, don't be so dense. First Drew now Reyna." Damien said.
Drew scoffed. "Reyna! As if-"
"What that idiot is trying to say is I, Reyna, a lesbian, likes you, Jason, a man."
"Logical." Jason muttered.
"Because apparently lesbians like men, meaning they think I should give them a chance." Reyna said, typing violently. Jason glanced at her screen. She was typing up her speech, which Jason really needed to do.
"Well, you never know." Sherman said.
"Alright, alright," Jason sighed. "Just shut up. Leave her alone."
Sherman and Damien laughed, but went back to looking at their computers.
"I can't believe you're still friends with them." Reyna muttered. Then she looked over at Drew and looked away quickly again. Even though she didn't say anything, Jason knew exactly what Reyna was thinking. She hated Drew. And Jason kissed her at the party anyway, trying to stop thinking about Leo Valdez. It didn't work, so now he was stuck with Drew.
• • •
Eventually, it was lunchtime. Jason didn't like how fast the day was going. He wasn't looking forward to going home. He'd spent most of the previous day helping Reyna clean. Surely she wouldn't hang out with him two days in a row, but he asked anyway.
"Hey. I was wondering if you wanted to hang out after school. If you want. Of course."
"Sorry, Jason, I can't. You know the speeches are on Wednesday so we both really need to get our own done. Plus Hylla is coming home this evening, before leaving again on Thursday. Isn't Thalia coming home with her, too?"
Their older sisters, Hylla and Thalia lived together with a couple of other girls. Usually, if Hylla was driving all the way back to New York to visit, Thalia would go with her, or if Thalia was driving, Hylla would go with her. However, Thalia hadn't said anything about coming home.
"Oh. That's okay. And no, Thalia isn't coming home. Or at least I don't think she is." Jason was confused at first, then angry.
Reyna sighed. "Jason, is everything okay? We were together all day yesterday. You insisted on helping me clean. You've been acting different. You can talk to me, you know."
"No- I'm sorry. I'm just- uh. Bored of school."
"It's only the second week?"
"Yup. Super bored." Jason felt bad walking away, but he didn't want Reyna to question him anymore. At that moment, all he wanted to do was talk to Thalia.
• • •
He got home, hoping Thalia would surprise him by being there or something. There was no surprises. Beryl passed out on the couch wasn't a surprise.
He walked upstairs and rang Thalia straight away. She didn't answer, but after about half an hour, she rang him back.
"Hi, J!" Thalia said. She sounded happy.
"Hey."
"How are you? You're back to school, right?"
"Mm. I'm fantastic. Heard Hylla was coming home to New York until Thursday." Jason said.
Thalia was quiet for a minute. "Yeah."
"And you didn't go with her?"
"Jason-"
"There's no electricity again," he said shortly. "I need to do my homework before the sun goes down." He hung up before she could answer.
Thalia didn't visit once all Summer. She promised she'd come home whenever she had the chance, but that was obviously a lie. She also promised she'd call or text him every day. It was always Jason who texted first. Never her.
He tried to do his homework, starting the speech for the student council, but he gave up. Octavian could have the place. Jason didn't care, his thoughts were taking over. Jealousy. Thalia had a new home. She had a new family. Even as a child, when she came back after running away, she was allowed to stay at their father's. Jason was never welcomed there.
It was as if everyone in his life seemed to leave him. First when his dad kicked Beryl out, marrying a new woman and not wanting to see Jason. Then when Thalia ran away for almost a whole year. Even after she was caught and taken back, she was different. His mother practically left, too. Sure, he was still living with her, but she wasn't actually there. Who'd leave next? He couldn't afford to loose Reyna.
He ended up throwing his homework across the room. If his parents never broke up, none of this would've happened. Everything would be so much better.
He picked up the photo frame beside his bed, the photo of his family. Jason had only been about two in the photo, meaning Thalia was seven. He was being held by his mother, his father's hand on Thalia's shoulder. They could've been so happy.
He kept staring at the photo. Beryl must've still been an actress when the photo was taken. Her hair was completely blonde, now it was streaked with grey. Looking at the photo reminded Jason how much he looked like her. No wonder his father hated him more than Thalia. He was going to grow up to be just like his mother.
He was distracted by his phone ringing. He realised he had two texts from Thalia, but didn't want to open them. He answered Reyna's call.
"Hey."
"Hi, Jason." Reyna said.
He didn't know why she was calling- she was supposed to be with her mom and Hylla, maybe even her dad if he visited. Reyna's parents divorced long ago, but had an alright relationship most of the time. If Hylla was visiting, surely her and Reyna's dad would come along, too.
"Is everything okay?" He asked.
"Yeah. Uhm, you still up for hanging out?"
He wasn't going to say no to the good offer. He'd get out of the house. "Of course."
"Can I come over to yours? I know I've never been at your house, you just can't really come to mine right now."
Even though they'd been friends since kindergarten, Reyna had never been at his house, just like Hylla never went over with Thalia.
"Uhm, we can meet nearby. If that's okay."
"Alright! See you there."
• • •
He walked for a while, eventually finding Reyna.
"Hi, Reyna." Jason managed a smile.
"Hey."
"Is everything okay? Shouldn't you be at home with Hylla."
Reyna sighed. "My dad was over and my parents got into a fight, so I didn't wanna stay there."
"Ah. I'm sorry."
"It's okay, don't worry. Did you call Thalia?"
"Yeah, she said she was busy and would come home next time." Jason lied.
Reyna nodded. "Anyway. How's Drew?" She raised an eyebrow. Jason knew she didn't actually care.
"She's okay, I guess."
"Great. Are you going to keep talking to her?"
Jason took a second to answer. Drew was annoying, but at least with her no one suspected he was anything but straight.
"Uhm. I might ask her out. Like for real." He felt bad. He didn't actually like her. She was beautiful but..
"Just be careful. She'll break your heart."
Good. Jason thought. At least I won't eventually break hers, then.
"Anyway," Reyna said, changing the subject. "Do you have the speech done? Please say yes."
"Reyna-" Jason shook his head. "I'm sure you can get someone to compete against Octavian."
"You're backing out?"
"It's not- look- it's just- yeah. Yes I'm backing out."
"Absolutely not. We've been planning this since we were kids. What's wrong?"
"Nothing's wrong."
"You've been my best friend for longer than I can remember, Jason. I know when something's wrong. I can tell when you're lying. You've been angrier lately, more tired. Plus you're talking to Drew. You hate Drew. My parents didn't have a fight. My dad isn't even home. I was just worried about you."
Jason stared at her. "I'm sorry."
"Come on. I'll walk home with you. We can work on the speech together at yours."
He had to think of an excuse. He couldn't. She was going to find out the truth eventually. "I need to talk to you before that."
"That's never a good sign." Reyna muttered.
"You and Hylla have never been over to our house for a reason."
"You always said it was because your mother was strict."
"No. Not strict, exactly. She's an alcoholic. It's gotten so much worse over the summer. She's stopped working and paying the bills-" he took a deep breath. He'd never told anyone. "I'm so, so tired, Reyna."
Reyna hugged him.
———
Word count: 1596 words
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A/N: yo dudes, I was just chilling and realised how confusing this whole fanfic is even though no ones reading it oh well. In case you, for some reason, are reading this, I'm doing a lil' timeline for every character just for it to make sense
So here's Jason's
Birth
Beryl and Jason's father (Doesn't exactly have a name since he's kinda the mortal version of Zeus/Jupiter) met and got together, resulting in the birth of Thalia. Seven years later, Jason was born.
Ages 1-3
Jason lived with his parent's and sister for his first few years. Then his father met another woman [mortal version of Hera/Juno, I guess], meaning he kicked Beryl out. Beryl quit acting and moved into a small house with Thalia and Jason, as their father didn't want them in his life
Ages 4-7
Beryl started drinking, abandoning her young children. Thalia started practically raising Jason herself. She left him alone for a while once and the four year old got his hands on a stapler, resulting in a scar on his lip that's still visible. He started kindergarten, becoming friends with Reyna. When Jason was seven and Thalia was eleven, Thalia ran away, leaving Jason alone with his mother.
Ages 8-13
When he was eight, Thalia was found by the police who had been on the search for the missing child for the past year. She was taken back to their father's, where she stayed until Jason was nine, before coming home, but she was much different. She wouldn't talk to Jason and wouldn't tell him where she'd been. When he was thirteen, Thalia moved out to go to college. She'd only be home during the summer.
Ages 14-17
Thalia finished college and moved into a house with her best friend, Hylla and a few other girls. Jason started high school and was still friends with Reyna, but made 'friends' with Damien White and Sherman Yang. And now he's started senior year:)