Disclaimer: The owner of PJO is Rick Riordan. Who is not me, sadly enough. Plot is the only thing that is mine.
Piper's POV:
"I can't believe they're still making up things about it!" Piper said, slamming her locker shut.
At the end of the week and the last class, she wanted to just go home already, but she had to audition for Guys and Dolls. She doubted she would get the lead role of course, but it would be at least a learning experience.
Lacy shrugged. "Paparazzi will do anything for a view."
Annabeth nodded, shouldering her backpack. "Yeah. I even saw one about you and Jason being in love."
Piper opened her mouth, then closed it. She probably looked like a fish, but a love story? She wished.
"Does someone have a little crush?" Lacy smirked.
"No!" Piper said.
Annabeth laughed. "We so need to talk about-"
"Talk about what?"
Piper clenched her jaw, as she turned around to see the one and only, Drew and her lackeys. Well, not exactly one.
Annabeth smiled. "Oh, I'm sorry. Did the middle of your sentence interrupt the beginning of yours?"
Piper high-fived Annabeth. She was glad Annabeth had answered that one, because Piper was sure how she'd respond.
Drew put a hand to her heart. She wore a cream colored jacket and jeans, and was carrying around a gold chain.
"That's not very nice," Drew said, pouting.
Annabeth rolled her eyes. Lacy looked scared. Piper.... well, she wasn't really sure.
"What do you want, Drew?" Piper said.
Drew rolled her eyes. "I want the nerd to stay out of my business. I want Loosey Lacy to stop talking to Calypso. And I want you matchstick to give Jason to me!"
Annabeth smirked. "I'm not a nerd. I'm just smarter than you."
Lacy looked even more frightened. She'd been talking to Calypso? And what gave Drew the right to call Piper a matchstick? Her body type was her body type, and hers alone.
"You are not smarter than me," Drew said. She opened her mouth to say more, but Drew's newest lackey, Khione touched her arm.
"We got to get to auditions. These losers aren't worth our time," Khione said.
Khione was somehow wearing a blue sundress despite the cold weather. Though, Calypso, Nancy, and Rachel were all wearing cropped outfits too, so they must have just be cold resilient.
Drew waved a hand and off they went.
Piper groaned. "I can't believe she's in Musical Theatre too. At least she's not in Choir too. Can any of you come to the audition with me?"
"Sorry, I have architecture club," Annabeth said, smiling apologetically. "I think we're helping with the sets soon, though."
Piper turned to Lacy. "Lacy?"
Lacy shrugged. "Sure! I want to see you sing."
Piper sighed. "Well, okay, whatever."
Annabeth waved goodbye, while Piper and Lacy went into the theatre. Currently, Jason was singing. And, wow, he sounded amazing! He was singing 'Something's Coming,' and his deep voice suited the song perfectly. He would likely get the lead.
At the end, everyone burst into applause. Piper clapped eagerly. Jason came down from the stage, and sat down next to her.
"How was it?" Jason said, looking at her nervously.
Piper smiled. "It was amazing! Where'd you learn to sing like that?"
Jason blushed. "Thanks. I don't know, I-"
Melpomene, one of the theatre teachers, shushed them, as Khione started singing. Khione was singing a song from The Music Man, 'Till There Was You.' Her voice was soft and silvery, pretty in its simplicity.
When she finished, Piper could hear Euterpe, the music teacher, who was right behind her, say, "Sarah Brown, definitely" to Melpomene.
That made Piper a bit nervous. Wait, why was she nervous? It wasn't that big of a deal.... right?
Drew was next. She sang 'Don't Rain On My Parade' from Funny Girl. Her voice was certainly powerful, as she belted it out.
But Euterpe said "Adelaide" in a hushed tone to Melpomene.
That certainly calmed Piper's nerves a bit. Why was she even happy about this? It was just a role, just a role.
Piper was up next. Her hands were dry as she clenched the microphone. Her sweater was just an inch short, exposing her stomach to the cold air. Her hair was in an intricately braided ponytail, a few loose strands grazing her collarbone. Such random things that made her feel vulnerable. Her music started playing, and she started to sing.
On my own
Pretending he's beside me
All alone
I walk with him till morning
Without him
I feel his arms around me
And when I lose my way I close my eyes
And he has found meIn the rain the pavement shines like silver
All the lights are misty in the river
In the darkness, the trees are full of starlight
And all I see is him and me forever and foreverAnd I know it's only in my mind
That I'm talking to myself and not to him
And although I know that he is blind
Still I say, there's a way for usI love him
But when the night is over
He is gone
The river's just a river
Without him
The world around me changes
The trees are bare and everywhere
The streets are full of strangersI love him
But every day I'm learning
All my life
I've only been pretending
Without me
His world will go on turning
A world that's full of happiness
That I have never knownI love him
I love him
I love him
But only on my own
Something about the lyrics truly resonated with Piper. For her, Marius was her dad. And no, she wasn't thinking of him in that way. Not romantic love, but family love. He was always away, in his new world of Jane and Hollywood, a world that brought him happiness. So, sometimes, resorting to her imagination was the best she could do.
When she finished, everyone was clapping loudly except for Drew and Khione. Euterpe said something to Melpomene, but Piper couldn't hear what it was over the sound of the applause. Hopefully she did well.....
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Jason's POV:
Everyone was talking the camping trip. Jason supposed it was exciting, as it was a two day and one night trip in the camp that the high school had been going to for three years. But really, according to Percy and Leo and Grover(especially Grover who had a very loud opinion), it was really glamping. After all, the cabins were customized, and they were sorted by personality type. Apparently, out of 20 cabins, Percy and Jason were both alone in their cabins. Apparently their personality types were rare or whatever.
But that wasn't what they were talking about. They were talking about musical theatre.
"Dude, I'm sure your audition was fine," Percy said.
"But it wasn't!" Jason said. His audition had not gone that well.
Leo pushed him playfully. "C'mon, Superman. You can sing. We both know that."
"How do you know that?" Jason said suspiciously.
Grover chuckled, kind of sounding like a goat. "You've gotten drunk once or twice."
"Drunk?" Jason couldn't believe it. He'd drank alcohol after everything with his mom?
Percy nodded. "Yeah. You normally keep us from drinking, but sometimes we can convince you to loosen up and drink."
"Drink?"
Percy immediately covered Hazel's ears. "No, no. You didn't hear any of that. You are an innocent child."
Hazel giggled. "I'm not an innocent child. I'm barely two years younger than you guys."
"But you are still our cousin, so we might be protective," Jason said.
Hazel rolled her golden eyes. "A bit? If a guy even looks at me, you guys beat him up!"
Jason shrugged. They weren't overprotective, were they? They were just protecting their cousin!
"Well, you might convince him to look at the cast list," Leo said. "Tell Jason to look at the cast list."
Hazel looked Jason in the eye. "Look at the cast list."
Jason shook his head quickly. "No. I'm too scared!"
Percy groaned. "You have nothing to lose, bro!"
Jason could argue that actually, he did have a lot to lose, but he sighed and said, "Fine. If it makes you shut up about it, fine."
With dread sinking him down, he walked towards the wall. "Wait, they didn't even post it yet!"
They all groaned.
"So that whole talk was for nothing?" Leo said.
"Yep."
"Cast list coming through!"
Melpomene and Thalia, the theatre teachers, held out a white paper as they rushed towards the wall. The whole theatre crowd followed them. Several people gasped, and Jason heard and indignant gasp that sounded a lot like Drew.
Eventually, he pushed himself to the front, and looked at the list. To his surprise, he was Sky! The lead! Jason jumped up and down, and pulled all his friends into a bro hug. Everyone else looked at them like it was a normal experience, which perhaps it was.
Piper burst out of the crowd, her multicolored eyes flashing with excitement. "I got the lead!"
Jason laughed and hugged her too(though not in the bro way of course). "Congratulations!"
"Thank you!" Piper said.
A shriek rang out. "Adelaide? They think I'm an Adelaide?"
Drew stormed past them, followed by Nancy and Calypso, muttering about stupid theatre as she went.
A scream ran out. "Understudy?"
Jason was pretty sure it was Khione.
It was confirmed when Khione stalked past them, only pausing to say, "Congratulations, Piper" sarcastically.
Rachel followed her, but stopped for a moment and said, "Sorry about that."
Jason didn't even have time to process whatever that was, when Leo sighed, looking up from his phone. "They have photos of you two."
"What?" Piper and Jason said at the same time.
Leo showed the photos. It looked very romantic sure, when in reality that was just when they were talking about what they might sing.
"How did they even get this?" Jason said. "I thought we were at a private beach."
"We were," Percy said. He opened his mouth to say more, but with his phone ringing, he held up a finger for a minute.
"They must have somehow gotten there...." Piper said.
Jason nodded. Privacy was not privilege. It was a right!
Percy gasped loudly, and they all turned to him. "Really? Okay, let me tell them."
"What's going on?" Piper said.
Jason prepared himself for everything, but honestly, he never would have guessed Percy to say, "Athena's been kidnapped."
So, now the plot really begins. The camping trip is the next chapter, and more things will happen!!!! See you next time