Rowan Tinne's Story

After a dreamless sleep, Rowan Tinne, son of Hecate, finally opened his eyes. A faint ray of sunshine peered through the window in his dorm room, and rested right onto his eyes. Because of this, he didn't need an alarm clock. By the time he woke up, his eyelids were already burning. With a yawn and a stretch, Rowan woke up, and started to get dressed. While preparing for the day ahead, he snacked on a crispy granola bar that contained tiny bits of blueberry and pecans. He then brushed his teeth in the bathroom next to his room, staring at the abnormally large ears that protruded off of his face the whole time. As he spat out the toothpaste and water from his mouth into the sink, Rowan's attention rested upon his bracelet: beads of blue opal carved into miniature skulls. He grabbed it from its location near the bottle of soap, and put it unto his wrist. Being a Scorpio, opal was his lucky gem. The particular type of opal known as blue opal was supposed to bring him success and allow him to feel courageous. With his uneasy soul, courage was the virtue Rowan needed the most. ESPECIALLY due to the fact that he was in an academy full of supernatural adolescents. Fortunately, he was one of these teenagers, but unfortunately, he was one of the most useless.

Rowan picked up his notebooks, writing utensils, and textbooks off of his messy floor, and placed them in a green drawstring bag. To the naked eye, the bag looked simple, lightweight, and almost ancient. Of course, just like Rowan, it was different. The bag had been charmed by his uncle, another son of Hecate, who had made it so that it could contain more than normal. Rowan's staff, laptop, notebooks, textbooks, and all of his other random crap were contained in the fifteen-inch drawstring bag. Looking down at the golden watch on his right wrist, the fifteen-year-old realized that he still had some time before he needed to head to his first period class. He stuck his whole hand into the bag, and pulled out a dusty red yo-yo. Some days, Rowan liked to fish out old trinkets from his previous life before he had learned of his ancestry. He was a champion at doing tricks with his yo-yo during childhood, but he hadn't bothered to use the old toy after he turned eleven, when his love for the yo-yo was replaced with his desire to solve his new rubicks cube. Wanting to see how his skills held up after years of not practicing, Rowan brought the yo-yo
up and down as he headed outside.

As he walked along the pavement of the campus, he performed the "cat's cradle", "double or nothing" and the "flying saucer" all with ease. It was as though his aptitude with the yo-yo was the same after almost five years. He was just about to "walk the dog", when he heard a loud "OOOFF!" and tripped unto the ground. Fortunately, he saved himself with his lanky arms right before his head was about to crash into the blacktop surface. He lifted his head up, finding a red-haired girl with freckles above him, her arms crossed and her bright-green eyes crackling with electricity. There was no sign of contentment on her pale-colored face.
"WATCH WHERE YOU'RE GOING!" she scolded. Rowan scratched his head, and apologized. "Sorry," he said, his cheeks turning a bright pink. Even his ears flushed into the pink pigment as embarrassment flooded over him. As the snotty-looking girl left on her way, he picked himself up, and brushed away the little pebbles that came to rest on his polo shirt. He rolled his eyes. Making a girl furious at him was the perfect way to start the day.

He sighed as he continued to walk. Would there ever be a time in the future where he would learn to be normal? Contain himself? Not make himself look like a complete idiot? Maybe not. Especially not with his right arm, which had somehow turned lime-green. He did a double take. Sure enough, his right arm was literally pigmented the bright green color. Suddenly, as if the thought had randomly popped into his head, he realized that this had happened because of the girl. She had turned his arm green. He grunted with anger as he made his way towards the lake. Did she do it out of shock upon bumping into him, or did she do it out of spite? What did it matter anyway; his arm was FREAKING GREEN. What he really needed to worry about was how to make his arm turn back to its normal color.

Suddenly, "May I see your arm, Rowan?" said a girl's voice of nowhere. He looked up. In front of him was Sage Fitzgerald, a child of Athena, and perhaps the most studious girl in the entire school. "Uhhh...sure? I guess..." he mumbled awkwardly. He lifted his arm towards her. The girl inspected it curiously, checking it from different angles and lifting it up and down.
"Iris," she then said, "this was done by a child of Iris. It's only logical. What were you doing before..."
"I bumped into a girl. Then my arm was green." he quickly declared.
"Oh...that would make excellent sense, then. Children of Iris have the capability of using photokinesis. In technical terms, the natural light rays that reflect off of your arm..."
"How long will it last??" Rowan blurted out. He could tell that Sage was a little drawn back by his impulse to speak so suddenly.
"...Only for a little while. Unless you find a way to metamorphose your condition. Hecate, right?"
"...Yes."
"I'm sure you can alter it with an incantation of some sort. If not, it will only last a little while. Minor powers like that of the children of Iris's don't last too long on their victims."

Rowan breathed a small sigh of relief, and thanked her. She gave him a nod of acknowledgement, and then headed on her merry fway, a giant book in her hands. Rowan shook his head and kept his eyes on her as she left. She was smart, and powerful, and practical...but to him, she was frightening. He didn't know why. There was just something about Sage Fitzgerald that he found oddly cryptic.

"Very nice drawing," he heard her say to a girl sitting nearby. Rowan knew her face. It was Rosalie Tate. "The shading is stupendous. It must have taken you a while to draw that." After she payed a compliment to Rosalie, Sage Fitzgerald left the lake, following the pathway that Rowan had just traveled along. He had a gut feeling that she was heading to the library. Sometimes, he found her organizing the books in there.

He was curious as to what the child of Hephaestus had drawn, so with his right arm behind him, Rowan approached Rosalie Tate. He looked down at the family illustrated on the paper. "Woahhh," he said, his eyes wide with wonder, "that IS a nice drawing." As he inspected every little crevice of the drawing, he managed to hide his right arm from her with the concealment of his drawstring bag that he had taken off of his back. He quickly glanced at the girl next to Rosalie. It was Selyse Hendrickson. He wasn't quite sure which god she was a child of, but from looking at her from afar, Rowan knew that she made charismatic and articulate facial expressions. (Despite the fact that she could be a quiet bookworm at times.)

"Rosalie, is that your family?" he intrusively asked.

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(OOC: Kind of confused as to whether or not the drawing is still visible, so if it isn't, just let me know, and i'll change the post.)

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As Rose pulled out her notebook and returned back to the drawing, shading the face of who she believed was her father. Again, she had to remind herself that the blurry man in the picture was her father, not her dad. There is a difference to the Romanian. She froze for a minute hearing someone speaking to her. "Very nice drawing," She looked to her side to see Sage. They weren't good friends, but they had no problem with each other. So, whenever they saw one another they were friendly. She looked back down at the pencil drawing with a small smile of accomplishment on her pale face. "The shading is stupendous. It must have taken you a while to draw that." She gave the girl a nod before letting out a small thank you. She watched as the girl walked away and breathed in deeply before going back to the drawing. And before she knew it, she could hear someone else coming up behind her and begin talking to her. And when the person began to speak, she knew exactly who it was. "Woahhh," She turned to look up at her friend, Rowan. When she saw the look in his brown eyes filled with wonder which made her smile towards him. "That IS a nice drawing." She nodded before speaking towards the younger boy.

"Thanks Rowan. I've been working on it forever." She said as she looked back at the photograph before the boy asked her a question. "Rosalie, is that your family?" She looked down at the grass before shrugging. "More or less of a 'family'. I think of them only as the ones that brought me into the world. Nothing more really." She told him before closing the notebook and putting it back in her bad before looking back up at Rowan. She looked at him and only seeing one arm, she raised an eyebrow before standing up and looking in the distance to see Brandon coming towards them. She gave a smirk as he tripped over a root from the tree the girls were under, knowing he was nervous around Selyse. "Hello Brandon." She said giving him a small wave. "What's everyone up to today? Mind if I join you?" "And by join us, you mean join Selyse." She said in her head with sarcasm. Not that she would say it out loud. She didn't want to embarrass her friend, especially someone who couldn't go a day without tripping or stuttering around people. Even Rose herself had better social skills... And she rarely talked to people unless she knew them closely. Which weren't many people. When he knelt down to Selyse, Rose picked up her bag and put it on her shoulder. "Or would you prefer I left you guys alone with your books and your private conversation."

"Actually, I was just about to go to the cafeteria to get some breakfast before class starts." She looked at Rowan before speaking again. "Rowan, do you want to come with me just in case Arielle and her followers are there." She asked darting her eyes in the way towards the cafeteria telling him to go with her or go somewhere that wasn't there.

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As Santiago and Arielle talked about their plans for the weekend, probably including their other best friend, Vanity in their plans. They planned on going into town with a group of friends, hoping to pick up guys for the night. But, the whole time they were talking with each other, Arielle could tell that Santiago was looking for someone. And she knew exactly who that 'someone' was; Nolan Yarley. Someone the Asian girl didn't know a lot about except that he was a Zeus kid and that Santi had eyes for him. Which made her be nice to the baby doll faced boy and for that reason only. She whistled towards the Hawaiian, getting her attention before pointing to a table not too far from the two. "Earth to Santiago. Why do you like him so much, I mean he's... the complete opposite of you and it weird to think of you two together. I mean, it was weird enough knowing you slept with Reuben." She said to him as he rolled his eyes. "Look, I don't need to explain my reasons to anyone but myself. Thank you very much and besides you said you would never bring that up again. I have my reasons for everything I do." He replied before smirking and taking a sip of his black coffee before finally looking in the direction that Arielle had pointed. Showing him where Nolan was sitting. He gave a small smile to the table before returning his stare back to his friend who had a smug look on her face. "Oh what?! What's with the face, Elle?" He asked as the girl simply shook her head before fixing a piece of hair behind her right ear.

"Oh, who are you to talk about romance? You don't like chicks and you make most guys cry themselves to sleep every night. The only guy that might be able to handle you is--" Was all he said before Emmett sat down next to Arielle and spoke. "Good morning fellow students. I hope you're both feeling well on this fine day." With that said, Santiago looked back Arielle who now had a smirk on her face as she looked at the man had just joined them. "Emmett." Ari looked at her best friend before speaking to him, "Shut up, Santiago." She looked back at the man next to her and gave him a charming but sarcastic smile. "Hello Emmett. I don't remember inviting you to sit at our table. But, since you're already here." She said in sarcasm, doing her best to hide her accent, knowing it wasn't most... popular thing to have when you already stick in school like a sore thumb. "You're looking as radiant as ever Ari, made anyone cry yet?" She gave him a smile before flipping her black hair over her shoulder and answering him. "Why thank you very much, It's take effort to be this gorgeous. And sadly, no. Not yet, knowing me it should be anytime now." She told the two males at the table before see Halley, who seemed to have slowed down her pace once seeing Arielle when they were walking in. When she saw the girl looking. Arielle gave the gave a sarcastic wave and smile to match before giving her an eye roll. She watched the girl turn away and go to a table on her own.

Arielle grabbed a small piece of toast off of Emmett tray before nibbling on it and seeing Xavier sit down and speak to Emmett. "Morning." She gave a small smile toward her half brother before speaking to her best friend who had been trying to learn Chinese so they could say things about anything without people knowing exactly what they were saying. "Yánzhòng de shì, zài zhèlǐ wǒmen shuō duìfāng de liǎng gè jiāhuo zhǐshì huá'ěrzī yǐwéi tāmen yǒngyǒu cǐ biǎo." (Seriously, here we are speaking to each other and two guys just waltz up thinking they own this table.) Looking back up from his breakfast, he looked at Xavier before looking to Ari. "Hēi, wǒ bù bàoyuàn de kànfǎ. Érqiě, bù cǎiqǔ xíngdòng, rúguǒ nǐ hèn tāmen ó zhème duō." (Hey, I'm not complaining of the view. And, don't act as if you hate them oh so much.) She scoffed before looking at the two boys at her side. God, Santiago was smart sometimes. Shockingly, but she did enjoy having both Emmett and Xavier around. Xavier was her half brother for gods sakes and Emmett was... Emmett. She always enjoyed having his company. "I guess you're right, but seriously never say that first part again. Do you hear me, Williams? I will end up making you less popular then Rosalie and her little friends." She threatened with her head tilted and a fake sweet smile on her face.

Sage Fitzgerald

Sage checked the watch on her left wrist. There was still plenty of time before classes started. She could never understand people who chose to wake up later. Days felt so much fuller when they were longer. Time was a precious thing. She could never comprehend why so many people wanted to idly waste it with dreaming and sleep. Of course, you needed sleep to function, but too much of it was just ridiculous. Maybe that was the reason she could never understand the children of Hypnos....

Sage had left the lake not only due to the fact that the place was becoming awfully crowded, but also because she had finished her four-hundred page book about the famous Battle of Thermopylae. The library was her next destination. While she still had time, she would return the book, pick out some new ones, and help the librarians in any way she could. Sometimes, she walked into the library to find that the shelves of books were in the incorrect order, or that books were missing from their spots and were scattered across the tables instead.

However, her plans promptly changed when she found Xavier Richards, a mischievous and arrogant child of Khione, gliding past her as he walked swiftly towards the school building. She completely disregarded his presence, until she saw what he had in his hands; a tee-shirt, jeans, and a vivid-colored cardigan. Judging by the way they were styled, Sage could tell they weren't his. They were way too small to fit him. It could only mean that they were women's clothing. There was something remotely fishy about his pacing, so the child of Athena decided to follow him. She walked slow enough so that her whereabouts weren't suspicious, but fast enough that she could catch up with him.

As she was on his tail, she understood that he was heading the same way that she had originally planned to go. However, it wasn't until he made a sudden turn that she realized he was approaching the dining hall. She stopped in her tracks for a while, letting him enter the dining hall before she made her way inside. That way, it would seem less likely that Sage had been following him for yards. Releasing a heavy breath of air, she entered the cafe, tightening the ponytail on the top of her head as she walked in with wide strides.

Her eyes locked onto Xavier's black hair. She watched him as he approached Arielle Liu, Santiago Williams, Emmett Meade, and other kids Sage wasn't particularly fond of. Realizing the clothing wasn't in his hands anymore, Sage checked all around her, hoping she would find them. Sure enough, as she expected, the clothing had been dumped into a small dustbin that was near her. She looked down at the articles of women's clothing, particularly the red and white cardigan. Little specks of light colored dirt or sand could be seen all across the clothing. Whomever had worn them or had owned them before Xavier had been outside somewhere. Her mind deep in thought, Sage kept inspecting the clothing. The clothes weren't really soiled, so what was the purpose of throwing them out? Knowing Xavier Richards, he had most likely pulled a prank on an innocent girl. Then again, there could have been other reasons, but all of them seemed unlikely. With a resentful sigh, Sage slowly approached the table where Xavier was sitting.

Despite there being a multitude of people Sage disliked, such as Arielle, she had never really feared them, as other kids did. She had heard stories of demigods who were frightened by the daughter of Khione. It was obscene to Sage, as she had never seen her as a major threat, but she took people's opinions of the girl into account. As she neared the cafeteria table, she could hear Arielle say,
"I guess you're right, but seriously never say that first part again. Do you hear me, Williams? I will end up making you less popular then Rosalie and her little friends." Of course. Gossip and threats. What else did these kids have better to do?

"Excuse me," Sage spoke sternly yet politely, "Sorry to infringe your conversation, but I have to ask Xander a question."
Xander. Sage was always getting his name wrong. It just seemed to be his name in particular that she could never remember.
She glanced at everyone sitting at the table with her chilling gray eyes. She kept her focus on Emmett for a while. Much to her discontent, the two were acquaintances. However, Sage never bothered with Emmett outside of the classroom or library. He was much too shady for her to consider him a true friend.

"Just out of curiosity," she started, "why did you throw those clothes in the garbage? I walked in, and I saw you dumping them in the dustbin over there. I'm just asking because they looked like girl's clothing, and i was intrigued."

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"Thanks Rowan. I've been working on it forever." Rosalie said in response to his compliment. The brunette looked down at the grass and shrugged in response to his question about the people in the drawing. "More or less of a 'family'. I think of them only as the ones that brought me into the world. Nothing more really." He saw that the picturesque smile on her face had been replaced with a deep and sullen expression. "Oh..." he replied, his face matching Rosalie's. Once again, he had made the situation dreadfully awkward. He stared off into space, until the sound of a familiar voice brought him back to earth. "H-hey! What's everyone up to today?"

It was Brandon Faust, a child of Ares, and in Rowan's opinion, one of the coolest guys in the academy. Brandon was so big, strong, and laid-back, that Rowan couldn't help but look up to him as a sort of role model. For a child of the god of war, he never had a ferocious temper. "Sup, Brandon!" he greeted him with a hearty grin.

Rosalie greeted him as well. "What's everyone up to today? Mind if I join you?" he said through a slight stutter. Some people talked about how Brandon was awkward with girls, but Rowan didn't see it. If anything, HE was ten times more awkward with girls than Brandon was. "Or would you prefer I left you guys alone with your books and your private conversation?" he added. "Actually, I was just about to go to the cafeteria to get some breakfast before class starts." Rosalie replied. She then glanced up at Rowan, who was surprised to see that she remembered he was still there. "Rowan, do you want to come with me just in case Arielle and her followers are there?"

The name Arielle threw him off guard, and his cheeks started to uncontrollably grow a bright pink for the second time that day. "Uhhhhh....." he said, his left hand scratching the back of his head. He knew it was ridiculous, but Rowan was somewhat scared of Arielle Liu and her followers. He'd heard stories about her and Vanity Blond, and he knew that those two were bad news. Then again, he had never associated with them, so they probably didn't care about him anyway. He let out a half-smile, and swung his drawstring bag back unto his back.
"Ah, what the heck? I've already eaten breakfast today, but I can go for round two." He chuckled under his breath, and then lifted his right arm towards the girls and Brandon.

"If we're going. I might as well show you this," his eyelids lowered as he spoke in a lower tone of voice, "this is what I managed to do to myself today."
His lime-green arm shined brightly in the sun. "I bump into a girl on my way here, and then as soon as I get up, I find that my damn arm is lime-green!"

Selyse flipped the pages eagerly, hungrily reading the words, excited for what each new paragraph would bring. She knew she read animatedly, her facial expressions giving away the each word she read on the page. Her eyebrows raised, eyes widening, as she turned yet another page. "No..." she whispered, not believing what she was reading, her head shaking in disbelief. Yet she kept reading, only a dozen or so pages from the end. "Hi Lysa. Are you enjoying the book?" Her head shot up, seeing one of her best friends, Rose, taking a seat close to her. Selyse smiled, knowing that Rose had read the same book only weeks before. "I'm at the good part!" she said excitedly. Rose would know exactly which part she was referring to. She held up a finger. "Hold on one second, I'm almost finished." She returned her nose to her book.

She attempted to hurry though the pages, not wanting to ignore her friend. She was vaguely aware that more people were coming up to the pair of them, yet she kept reading, not wanting to interrupt her reading. When she finished, she would be able to focus on her friends fully. She didn't want to have to juggle reading and talking in a conversation at the same time. It never went very well for her. She did take a peek next to her, seeing that Rowan was the one who had approached and was eagerly talking with Rose. Good, he would buy her some time to finish the book.

After a few minutes, she read the last paragraph on the page, shaking her head again. She should have seen it coming. "It was the husband all along..." she said to no one in particular. Books were one of her favorite loves. And she wasn't particular about the type of books she read either. All genres and types have something different and unique about them. She read everything from fantasy to classics to young adult series to sappy romance novels. She enjoyed thousand-page books that were difficult reads, as well as two hundred-page books that she could fly through in a day or two. "H-hey. The voice broke through her daydream of books, and she looked up to see Brandon approaching. He clumsily tripped over a root, and she smiled at him.

She had to admit, she was extremely surprised to see him approaching. She knew that he and Rose were friends, but apart from a few conversations the two had in passing, they never really spent time together. Heck, she didn't even think he really knew who she was. She always thought of him as a knight in shining armor. He had that heroism and bravery that girls only heard in fairy tales. "What's everyone up to today? Mind if I join you?" He approached Selyse and sat down next to her, opposite the side Rose was on. Once again, close but not too close. Selyse wondered if she had some sort of invisible force field around her today, preventing anyone from getting too close. "Or would you prefer I left you guys alone with your books and your private conversation." Selyse chuckled softly, and slapped her book shut. "I just finished, actually, so you're more than welcome." She brought her eyes up to meet his, a soft smile on her lips.

"Actually, I was just about to go to the cafeteria to get some breakfast before class starts. Rowan, do you want to come with me just in case Arielle and her followers are there." Rose was sweet, looking out for Rowan like that. Selyse wasn't a fan of Arielle herself, not being able to find many redeemable qualities in her. "Actually, food sounds delicious," she said, agreeing with Rose's suggestion. Rowan seemed timid at first, considering Rose's offer. Finally, he agreed, apparently going for round two of food this morning. "If we're going. I might as well show you this... this is what I managed to do to myself today." He lifted his right arm, which was an eerie shade of lime green, one that Selyse would never be caught wearing. "I bump into a girl on my way here, and then as soon as I get up, I find that my damn arm is lime-green!" Poor Rowan, she thought to herself, knowing it didn't really match his outfit at all.

She placed her book back in her bag, then stood, making she her dress still modestly covered herself as she rose. "It will fade, though, won't it?" she asked Rowan, concern in her voice. She knew Brandon had just sat down, and so she offered him a hand to stand. "What do you say," she said, her hand outstretched to him. "Breakfast?" she added, secretly hoping he said yes. And hoping that when they got to the cafeteria, he wouldn't ditch her for someone else.

After catching Emmett giving her a vivacious wink as she had predicted, Sage was surprised to find that he looked as curious as she had been when she had questioned Xavier about his actions. With a playful and deceitful look on his face, the child of Khione took a bite out of his blueberry muffin, and took his time to respond, as though the question meant no significance. To say the least, Sage was disgusted by his attitude.

"Lovely to see you too, Sage," he said, a wildly insolent grin on his face, "how are you this fine morning?"
He took another bite of his muffin. Clearly he wasn't in the mood to give her a direct answer.
"Dandy." she replied, a dark smirk on her face, "Although, I've been better."

"Hi Sage..." said a soft, monotonous voice behind her. The voice had belonged to a girl's, and it was awfully quiet, as though a mouse had just learned how to speak. Slightly turning her head and casting her eyes as far to the right as they could go, Sage glanced at none other than Halley McClain, a daughter of Hephaestus.

"Hello, Halley." she greeted, matching Halley's sweet-sounding tone. Although Sage respected Halley and had absolutely nothing against her, she couldn't help but wonder why the girl had even bothered to approach her. Just from the way her voice slightly trembled, it was evident that Halley had been reluctant to approach the table. So why did she? In the midst of a battle of sarcastic remarks, it was almost a foolish decision to approach her at that moment....

Of course, it wasn't long until the hawk started to claim its prey. "Halley!" Xavier sarcastically greeted the girl,
"How are you? Do join our delightful conversation - I was just saying how much of a fine morning it was, don't you agree?"
A simple polite question was now turning into something else. Sage was never one to have a short-fuse, but it was the mocking of the weak that she couldn't stand, even if the victim was being taunted in a subtle manner. As she stared at the arrogant boy with intimidating and chilling eyes, the feather attached to the chain around her neck started to glow, as if supernaturally. The expression on her face became intense with anger.
"She wasn't ta-..."

Sage had lost her focus when out of the corner of her eye, she saw a girl furiously sauntering into the food hall, her wet bathing suit dripping water onto the floor. At first, Sage was confused by Saoirse's entrance, but after recalling that the girl was a child of Poseidon, everything instantly clicked in her head. Xavier had stolen the clothes from Saoirse while she was swimming. It only made sense.

"Where did you put them?" she said simply. With the enraged glimmer in her eyes, the plain words came out ferociously. Sage watched as Saoirse stared at Xavier. The two seemed to shoot daggers at each either as their gazes interlocked.
"Saoirse, are you talking about jeans, a tee-shirt, and a red and white cardigan?" she said calmly to the infuriated girl. It was that moment that Sage noticed Madison Bridle, a daughter of Hecate, standing next to Saoirse, using mystokinesis to dry the soaked girl. Madison was someone who Sage had always consistently shown recognition to. She always seemed to have her head on straight.

The child of Athena briskly walked over to the garbage can, pulled the clothing out, and gently handed it to Saoirse.
"I'm assuming these are yours? I discovered them while I was entering into the cafeteria. Someone was propelling them into the trash when I arrived."
She didn't mention Xavier's name. She was well aware that Saoirse already knew who had committed the devious crime.

Looking at the table in front of her as well as the three girls standing behind her, Sage crossed her arms and let out a half-smile. She didn't want to wage a war, nor did she want to attract anyone else to the table, so she decided it was best to leave.
"Right, well, I best be off to my first period class. Don't want to be late for the bell. Antío."
As she ended her sentence in a heavy Greek accent, the blonde gave a small wave, and disappeared into the hallway.

"Ti éna MALAKA." she cursed Xavier under her breath.


(ooc: @PatchworkHeart AAAACK!! Sorry about Xavier's name!!! :( Looking back, I realize that I had confused his name with a character named Xander from a different roleplay. I would tell you to change the post, but I think i'm going to keep it. It'd be kind of funny for Sage to know everyone else's name at the academy except for Xavier's, and have her mess up his name throughout the roleplay. :D)

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As soon as he showed his arm to the group of three, Rowan noticed that Selyse was the first one to react. Then again, she would be the first one to react. She was a daughter of Tyche, the goddess of luck. Crazy things NEVER happened to her. Embarassment did not exist. By the way Selyse Hendrickson dressed and acted, she knew she didn't have to worry about getting bad grades, losing games, or being harassed. With luck, the world could be handed to you on a silver platter. Rowan wondered what his life would have been like if his father would have met Tyche instead of Hecate...

"It will fade, though, won't it?" she said with concern. This threw him off guard, as he was expecting all three of them to laugh at him. "Yeah, I should be fine." he said, "The girl I bumped into was one of Iris's daughters, so I don't think it should last long..." He then twisted and turned his arm in the sunlight, and a smile crept onto his face, "In fact, I think it's starting to grow on me. I might use it to scare people or something..."

Selyse then turned to Brandon, who was still sitting, and asked if he wanted to come to breakfast as well. Rowan looked out across the lake, watching people as they wandered and socialized. Having the guts to approach Rosalie and Selyse, Rowan realized that he wasn't as small as he thought he was. Everyone on the campus was different and made their own pathways in life. He looked down at his blue opal bracelet. Maybe he would find courage after years of waiting. Coming back down to earth, Rowan waited for Brandon's response, and then decided he would follow the group. He wouldn't have much to talk about, but at least he wouldn't be getting breakfast alone.

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As she finished talking to Santiago, she looked to the side to see someone else join the table. Paige Harrison, a girl who was somewhat of one of Arielle's friends, she could roll with the punches. Which was a giant plus for most of Arielle, that means she wouldn't cry and boo hoo about the comments that came out of her mouth. She looked to the side to at least acknowledge the girl who had just sat down. "Hey Paige." which was followed with a small wave. All the while, Santiago was throwing away his tray before sitting back down at the table across from his friend. She was about to say something before closing her mouth and turning her attention to Sage. She quickly lose her joy and the cold look that was always in her eyes, came back. And, earlier than usual.It at least returned right before going to class. She wasn't complaining through. Santiago looked to his side and looked her up and down as Sage began to speak to group. "Excuse me," She tilted her head to the side in sarcastic politeness, waiting to hear what was oh so important that she had to come up to them now. "Sorry to infringe your conversation, but I have to ask Xander a question." She watched as the girl's eyes go on to Emmett for a while which infuriated her even more and Arielle couldn't even explain why. But, whatever the reason, just Sage's presence truly annoyed Ari. She looked at her half brother with a raised eyebrow, wondering just what the hell he did now. "Just out of curiosity, why did you throw those clothes in the garbage? I walked in, and I saw you dumping them in the dustbin over there. I'm just asking because they looked like girl's clothing, and i was intrigued." She looked toward the dustbin and looked back at Sage. Right when she was about to say something, Santiago said the same thing on her mind. "Oh c'mon. From the looks of the clothes. They needed to be in there any way." He told the girl with a serious face and a shrug of his shoulders. Arielle turned towards Xavier as he started his sarcastic act.


"Lovely to see you too, Sage, how are you this fine morning?" Before anyone knew it, Halley had walked up behind Sage, again infuriating the small girl. "Hi Sage..." Arielle let a small scoff out before rolling her eyes. Halley, at least to Arielle was just one of the pesky bugs that wouldn't go away. She always felt the need to be around people mostly when people came up to either talk to or confront Arielle herself or one of her friends. "Halley! How are you? Do join our delightful conversation - I was just saying how much of a fine morning it was, don't you agree?" She let out a small smile before speaking. "It was anyways before you two came over here." She told them as she turned back to the two girls standing up on the other side of the table near Santiago. And before anyone knew it all the eyes were on the front door as Saiorse walked in and stormed to the table to Xavier. "where did you put them?" Oh, so they were the mermaid's clothes. "Huh? I could see that now." Then again Xavier would pull a prank on anyone or anything... other then Arielle herself. She didn't want to do something drastic to her half-brother because of an idiotic prank. After a moment, Saoirse somehow got dyed out of no where. And, Maddie walked next to the daughter of Posiden. "Saoirse, are you talking about jeans, a tee-shirt, and a red and white cardigan?" Now, Santiago and Arielle were just watching the now boring conversation. When Sage walked to the bin and back, showing the other girl the clothes. "I'm assuming these are yours? I discovered them while I was entering into the cafeteria. Someone was propelling them into the trash when I arrived." Arielle just rolled her eyes once again with the fire in her eyes now dulled down in boredom. "Right, well, I best be off to my first period class. Don't want to be late for the bell. Antío." She watched Sage exit, leaving Saoirse and two overly nice and nervous girls at the table.

"Great now that you have your rags back, you can leave now. Seeing that your guys' little leader has left. And Halley, what was the purpose of coming up here if you were only to give off this nervous vibe to us?It's pathetic." She told them with a fake smile on her face before watching Halley walk off without another word. She waved the girl off before looking back to Emmett who was surprisingly quiet. When he got up and gave them a nod for goodbye. Arielle just gave him a scoff that ended with a small laugh. "Go get your girl, Emmett." She told him in sarcasm as walked out of the cafe and to Halley. Arielle looked at Santiago who was just rubbing his temples from being so irritated. Something he did everyday. "I need another coffee, want one Elle?" She nodded, knowing he already knew how she liked it. She playfully pushed him as he watched past her. She felt someone kick her seat, knowing it was he best friend who had a smirk on his tan face without saying another word. So, with no one left other than Paige and Xavier. She turned her attention to the two. "So, Santi and I are thinking of going out to two after the classes let out. Wanna go with my new big brother and new friend? She asked, knowing it wasn't really an option.

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OOC:I will do Rose later today, I'm in a hurry.

As Brandon sat next to Selyse, she clapped shut the book she was reading and turned to face him. "I just finished, actually, so you're more than welcome." She brought her eyes up to meet his, a soft smile on her lips. Brandon smiled in return, his eyes momentarily gazing down to his feet to keep himself from blushing. "I hope you didn't 'finish' just because I'm here." Brandon chuckled, making a bad joke, complete with air quotes. He laughed softly for a moment, then looked over to Rosalie as she spoke.

"Actually, I was just about to go to the cafeteria to get some breakfast before class starts. Rowan, do you want to come with me just in case Arielle and her followers are there." Brandon scowled. "That girl is a menace, picking on Rowan like that just because he's a little bit shy." Brandon thought to himself, but he was pulled from his musings by an invitation. "Actually, food sounds delicious," Selyse agreed, and Brandon nodded. "That sounds great, I'm so hungry." He said, complete with a small roar coming from his stomach.

All that was left was Rowan's agreement, and though he seemed timid at first, considering Rose's offer, finally, he agreed. He'd already had breakfast, but he was being kind enough to come with and keep the group company, if not to snag a muffin, or something of the sort, for a snack later. He seemed eager to show them something, and pulled his arm out from behind his back, where he'd been hiding it. "If we're going. I might as well show you this... this is what I managed to do to myself today." He lifted his right arm, which was an eerie shade of lime green. Brandon laughed as a reflex, as it was a very shocking shade of green, but quickly stifled himself. "Sorry, I didn't mean to make light of your situation." He offered. "That's just such an odd color." Brandon explained, allowing Rowan to continue. "I bump into a girl on my way here, and then as soon as I get up, I find that my damn arm is lime-green!" Brandon nodded in sympathy.

Selyse placed her book back in her bag, then stood, making sure her dress still modestly covered herself as she rose. "It will fade, though, won't it?" She asked Rowan, genuine concern in her voice. "Yeah, I should be fine." He said, "The girl I bumped into was one of Iris's daughters, so I don't think it should last long..." He then twisted and turned his arm in the sunlight, and a smile crept onto his face, "In fact, I think it's starting to grow on me. I might use it to scare people or something..." He said, putting on a brave face. Brandon spoke up. "My buddy Jayce is a child of Hecate, just like you, he's been here a while and is pretty good at minor magic like that. If you like, I could talk to him about helping you remove it. He's always looking into some pretty goofy stuff, so I bet he's got a seal for that." Brandon suggested, offering the expertise of one of his friends as an apology for laughing. As he finished speaking, Selyse offered him her hand, to help him stand up, as he'd just sat down but it was time to go. "What do you say," she said, her hand outstretched to him. "Breakfast?" There was a bright smile on her face. How could he refuse?

"Well," he said, pausing for a moment, as if to seriously consider being a loner and eating by himself. "Sure!" He said, taking Selyse's hand and allowing her to help him up. "Thanks. Next time, I'll owe you my hand." Brandon offered lamely, feeling kind of stupid. "Shall we?" he asked, slinging his backpack over his shoulders and motioning towards the cafeteria. He hoped no one would read too much into his dumb little line and that they'd just continue on to the cafeteria. To aid in that quest, he offered some subject matter, turning to Rowan as they began the walk to breakfast. "So Rowan, Arielle's been picking on you again? Why not stand up to her and her pathetic little friends? You're such a nice guy, and there's nothing wrong with that, but don't let her step all over you like that. You can always come to me or one of our teachers if you're feeling bullied." Brandon offered. As he finished, he pulled out his phone and quickly texted Jayce. "Hey dude, breakfast is almost over. You might wanna get up. Also, your half brother's managed to get his arm turned green, got something for that?"

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Rose looked at Selyse as she agreed in go to the cafeteria to quickly grab something to eat so they wouldn't be late. "Actually, food sounds delicious," Rose gave a small smile before hearing that Rowan had to show them something. As he removed the drawstring bag from his arm and actually when he removed his arm from hiding behind his back, Rose had a raised eyebrow wondering why. And then, there it was. The young boy's arm was green and not a dark green, but a rather bright lime green color. "I bump into a girl on my way here, and then as soon as I get up, I find that my damn arm is lime-green!" She heard Brandon stifle a bit for apologizing for doing what he called, making light of the situation. She chuckled a bit before speaking, "Nice going, buddy." She said in playful sarcasm before looking at Selyse who seemed to feel really bad for Rowan and well, so did Rosalie herself but she thought positively that is was going to fade sooner or later. "It will fade, though, won't it?" It had to, there was no student at this school who could keep it like that forever... Right. "Yeah, I should be fine. The girl I bumped into was one of Iris's daughters, so I don't think it should last long... In fact, I think it's starting to grow on me. I might use it to scare people or something..." The Romanian rolled her eyes before chuckling. "That surely scares me already." She said with a smirk on her face. She watched as Selyse helped Brandon get up, asking him if he would be joining the three others for breakfast. Rosalie looked back a Brandon who had an idea to fix the green pigment of Rowan's arm.

"My buddy Jayce is a child of Hecate, just like you, he's been here a while and is pretty good at minor magic like that. If you like, I could talk to him about helping you remove it. He's always looking into some pretty goofy stuff, so I bet he's got a seal for that." She nodded towards him before looking back at Rowan with a shrug. "Couldn't hurt trying." She told him. As the group began to walk after Brandon agreed to the invitation from Selyse, she could tell the Brandon was trying to tell the subject after a comment given towards the other girl. But, honestly Rose didn't listen to what he said because of the distracting green arm next to her. "So Rowan, Arielle's been picking on you again? Why not stand up to her and her pathetic little friends? You're such a nice guy, and there's nothing wrong with that, but don't let her step all over you like that. You can always come to me or one of our teachers if you're feeling bullied." That was true but Arielle had her ways to get back at anyone no matter what they did to her and what they did to her. And sadly, she didn't work alone, she had people to do everything that does with the revenge plan from the idea, to the information about said person, everything done to a T which terrified Rose. Not that she ever showed that to anyone, even if she was quiet... She wasn't weak. As the four of them keep walking, rather quickly too. Rose had gotten a text message telling, her that if she was going to go somewhere. Not to near the center table in the cafe. Which of course made her ask why but, of course she knew why. It was one of Arielle's bitch fit days. She just sighed before slipping her touch screen phone back in her back pocket. She could hear someone playing the guitar, which peaked her interest automatically.


This until she saw who was playing the instrument. Ray Chami, someone Rose was particularly fond of just because he was the stereotypical son of Aphrodite. He was a seductive, egotistical, and overall flirty "bad boy" that all the girls fantasized about being with. She rolled her eyes slightly as the four of them passed the brunette. Rose opened the door to the building, holding it for the others before fixing the strap to her bag on her right shoulder.

Nate smiled, a small expression of relief crossing his face as Nolan made room for him at the table. Glancing at Thayer, Nate noticed the short glare of disapproval. He hesitated unsure if he should sit or if it would be better to move on to a different table, then Nolan continued,
“So how are you this morning Nathaniel? I hope you're doing a little better than Thayer with his temper tantrums...”. Taking that as a sign of good will Nate settled into the seat, smiling cautiously he said
" Seems as good a day as any, oh and please, call me Nate. Only my dad..." the sentence died on his tongue even now he had trouble, five years later. Everyone in the school knew of his fathers death, except maybe the incoming freshmen. Nate swallowed hard, trying not to be the wuss he knew Thayer thought he was.
Moments later Thayer interjected, inadvertently saving Nate from an awkward silence.
’So...you solve world hunger yet?’ Nate laughed lightly, a wry smile creeping onto his lips. "Don’t mind him Nate, like I said, he’s just being cranky.” Said Nolan, a concerned look on his face. Nate smiled appreciatively towards Nolan, his demeanor changing rapidly to something lighter, airy. "No, not today but perhaps in the future." he said addressing Thayer. He continued, "From all the drawings and musings you've got there, I would guess you're closer than me," said Nate with just a hint of sarcasm mixed with self deprecating humor. He tilted his head and looked down at the stack of papers in front of Thayer, an eyebrow lifted in question.

Just then Gwen walked over, and as she found a seat at the table Nate looked up at her, smiling brightly as she said "Morning." Returning the greeting, he began to munch on his food. "Morning Gwen, you ready for a shitty day too hm?..” Thayer's snarkiness just as thick with her as it had been with him. He was content to let the discussion at the table occur around him, only adding the occasional nod of agreement as the cafe began to fill with students all ready to face a new day.
As the conversation picked up Nate's eyes trailed over to watch the door to the cafe for no real reason.
It opened Selyse, Brandon, Rowan and Rosalie all entering together. For the second time that morning a sunny smile broke across his face as he waved to them. Catching Brandon's attention the tall boy nodded to him a smile crossing his face as well. " I'm going to go get some tea" Nate said to the table, as he pulled his chair out and rose to his feet.
Humming to himself softly he made his way back up to the food table, reaching the section with the coffee and tea he began to fix himself a cup.
" Hey Brandon." he called out catching his attention once again, "you can all come join the table over here" he said gesturing to the table with Nolan, Thayer and Gwen. The tables were banquet style holding up to 10 people so there would be no shortage of room and he hoped to start a pleasant conversation before they all were to head to class in about 20 minutes.

While Selyse was waiting for Brandon to hopefully accept her invitation, she turned her attention back to Rowan, his bright green arm still boldly sticking out in her vision. "Yeah, I should be fine," he replied, and she smiled, letting out a small sigh of relief. "That's very good," she responded, genuinely happy he wouldn't have to deal with that awful green color for much longer. "The girl I bumped into was one of Iris's daughters, so I don't think it should last long..." Ah, Iris, of course. Selyse should have known. "In fact, I think it's starting to grow on me. I might use it to scare people or something..." A smile had crept on his face. It made him seem strong and confident in himself, and she enjoyed seeing that from Rowan. Even though having that green arm every single day would be just atrocious for her to endure.

Brandon was still sitting, and Selyse began to wonder if he was going to turn down her invitation, worry making its way into her mind. She didn't see any reason for him to decline, of course thanks to her mother, she normally didn't have to worry about rejection. Honestly, she normally didn't have to worry about anything. For the most part, life was easy. For the first time in her life, she wondered what life would be like without luck on her side. Everyone else had to live with it, but she was immune. Not fully of course... she wasn't able to avoid all disaster and pain. Even though her dose of it was minimal at best. She tried not to linger on that thought, because it wasn't exactly something she could help. She was her mother's daughter.

"My buddy Jayce is a child of Hecate, just like you, he's been here a while and is pretty good at minor magic like that. If you like, I could talk to him about helping you remove it. He's always looking into some pretty goofy stuff, so I bet he's got a seal for that." Brandon's voice brought her mind to the present once again, and his words made her smile. There he was, being a hero like always. He was always willing to help, and in her opinion he wanted everyone to just feel better. The two of them may not have spent much time together, but Selyse had always been aware of his presence at Mount Olympus. He always seemed to be there to lend a helping hand, or a shoulder to cry on. Selyse wasn't even sure there was a greater guy at the Academy.

Finally, Brandon turned his attention to her. She felt her heart beat a little faster, and she secretly willed it to calm down. Thankfully no one could tell. "Well," he paused, and Selyse felt her heartbeat suddenly stop, and she held her breath in anticipation. "Sure!" he finally said, and took her hand. She helped pull him onto his feet, a smile crossing her face. "Thanks. Next time, I'll owe you my hand." She nodded, speaking before she could even think about the words coming out of her mouth. "It's a date!" Instantly she regretted her words, wondering why she would say something so idiotic. He wasn't exactly asking her out on a date or anything. But she kept the smile on her face, not letting Brandon know she was phased.

"Shall we?" Brandon asked, and Selyse nodded while releasing his hand. She fixed her hair, made sure her bag was comfortably placed on her shoulder, and began to walk with the group towards the cafeteria. Brandon made his way up to Rowan, which left Selyse behind with Rose. She faintly heard Brandon talk, and again couldn't help but smile. "So Rowan, Arielle's been picking on you again? Why not stand up to her and her pathetic little friends? You're such a nice guy, and there's nothing wrong with that, but don't let her step all over you like that. You can always come to me or one of our teachers if you're feeling bullied." Selyse looked over to Rose, and noticed her gazing over at Chami, his beautiful notes finally reaching her ears. His music was beautiful, but his personality less so.

Rose walked forward and opened the door for the rest of them. "Thanks," Selyse told her walking through. The cafeteria was busy, as always, but she could see students already filtering out for their classes. "So, Rose, what should I read next?" she asked simply, knowing Rose was as much an avid reader as she was. The group made their way over to the food, and Selyse chose to have a light breakfast. Some yogurt with granola, and a nice fruit salad. Once she was ready, she heard Brandon's name being called from across the room. It was Nate, someone she liked and enjoyed, but they didn't really spend too much time together. "You're being summoned," she said with a smirk to Brandon, "guess we better go." She headed over for the table, taking a seat with the group. "Hi everyone," she said, her lips curving into a smile.

---

Colton wasn't exactly sure how Wes was going to react. He normally didn't like anyone interfering with his plans, once his mind was set. But Colton had intervened for the good of the entire group, including Wes, even though he might not see it at the present moment. He stood firm and stiff, waiting for Wes' response. After a moment, he saw Wes relax slightly, and knew the danger had passed. At least for the time being. “Oh no doubt. Our dear sweet Abigail is rather fond of eating isn’t she? The only predictable thing about her.” And then he smiled, a toothy grin that Colton knew was particularly devious. They both had an attraction to Abby, and had from the moment she'd appeared at the Academy. She was beautiful, one of the most beautiful beings he had ever laid eyes on. And she was mysterious, making getting to know her extremely difficult. Wes was very interested in her mind, and getting to know what was behind that tough exterior. Colton was curious as well. While most of his interest in women was purely sexual, there was something else with Abby. It was still heavily physical, yet he felt a need to get to know the real woman behind the mask.

As he walked with Wes, he thought about their friendship. Most people couldn't fathom what brought them together, or kept their friendship going. The truth was, they were two halves that when put together made a perfect whole. Complete opposites that balanced each other out. They brought different and new perspectives to each situation, having answers the other wouldn't come up with. Everyone needed a best friend, and Colton was just glad he had found his. Regardless of what everyone thought.

Once the good looking duo reached the cafeteria, the pair scanned each table, looking for the blonde. Their eyes locked on her simultaneously, seated by herself reading a paper, a full tray of food positioned in front of her. They both approached, splitting up to round the table on opposite sides. As Wes did, he grabbed a chair, dragging it over to her left side, dropping it and sitting as close to her as possible. He had the urge to reach out and put an arm around her, but knew better. Where as other girls would just roll their eyes, she would attempt to hurt or maim. So he rested an arm on the table, staring at her face with a smile.

“Well now what have got here?” Wes said, a grin on his face. He said it in her ear, and Colton wondered if that really was such a good idea. Her eyes strayed from the paper and met Wes' gaze. "Fuck off Wes," she said with fire in her voice, her blue orbs narrowed in Wes' direction. "Oh come on now, Abby, no need to be that way," he said, scooting slightly closer to her. "You should feel privileged, sitting with the two best looking guys at Mount Olympus." He took a peek at Wes, grinning back at his friend, their expressions mirroring each other. He looked at the spunky blonde, admiring her more than good looks. He once again had an urge to reach forward and push the hair out of her face gently, placing it behind her ear. He wondered what it was like for her to seemingly not feel love, or have any sentimental feelings at all. Colton may not be a relationship guy, but feeling close to someone made most of the other hurt and pain go away. She couldn't say that. "We just wanted to come over and see what your plans were for tonight. We figured you'd want to have a handsome guy on each arm at whatever party we decided to attend this evening." His smile showed his bright whites, and for once he hoped she wouldn't be able to resist.

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As Rose held the door, she could heard Selyse thank her for keeping the door open for the three others. She smiled before walking in the door herself right as she heard Ray speaking to her, "See something you like Rose Tate? She scoffed a bit as she rolled her eyes as he continued to speak to the Romanian. "Don't act like you were not looking beautiful!" She looked back at him for a brief moment before shaking her head and getting a smug smile on her face before speaking to the brunette. "I was looking more at the guitar then the person playing it, Ray." She turned back around and walked in, letting the door close behind the group. Oh Ray, she had many different opinions on him, there were the ones that she wasn't shy to share and then there were the ones that she would rather die then say out loud. Mostly because he would never let her live them down. And, whenever the two spoke to one another, there was a lot of eye rolling on her end along with sarcastic remarks and smug smiles before ending up walking away to go read or something along those lines. She looked up from the floor to Selyse as she asked her something, "So, Rose, what should I read next?"

She looked at the ceiling as she thought about for a second before looking back at him, "I actually have a lot of recommendations that I think you would enjoy, so you can come to my room to make your pick if you'd like." She told her as she tried to remember how many books she had gotten not too long ago. She grabbed a cup of coffee added a few sugars and cream before putting to top on and taking a sip. Finally, caffeine. How I love you." She said in her head with a small sigh before seeing Nate walk over to Brandon, "Hey Brandon. You can all can come join the table over here." She looked over to the table to see Gwen and Nolan, two people she wasn't really close to... And her brother. At least she would be the loner at the table, not saying a single word until the bell rung for class. She looked around, seeing Austin and gave him a small, shy smile. Austin, again being another by who caught her attention yet, she didn't have the confidence to go up to him.


She looked back in front of her as Selyse walked over and she followed no too far behind before taking a seat at the large table next to her friend. She looked over at Thayer before smiling at he older half-brother. "Hey big brother." She said to him before taking another sip of her coffee before looking not far away to see Arielle, her half-brother Xavier, and Paige at another table. She let out deep, irritated sigh as she put to fingers on her temple, just looking at the girl gave her a migraine. And sooner or later, it was going to be the death of her. She looked away and back at the table before Arielle looked back and started the day on the wrong foot.

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The boy looked up at Sage with slight anxiety in his intense greenish-blue eyes. Both of the demigods' eyes were similar. Sage's had more of a gray hue to them, but compared to Leonard's, they had a corresponding light shade of colors. Noticing this, the sixteen-year-old girl realized that light-colored eyes must have been a trait of Athena's. Her father possessed dark blue eyes, nowhere near the color of Sage's. Perhaps it was the same case for Leonard. Just by approaching him, she was already learning about her godly parent.

She watched as his hands trembled as though he had been electrocuted. She was expecting him to be shocked or annoyed, but not frightened. His hands managed to mark the page where he had stopped reading, and as his book dropped to the surface of the desk, it made a faint echo in the classroom. He grabbed her hand, and briskly shook it. He looked as though he was choking on his own words. Finally, he calmed down, and although he stuttered, his voice came out oddly powerful.
"You... you can call me Lenny." he said after he initially removed his grip on her hand. It was the quickest handshake Sage had ever received in her life.

Contemplating the fact that this boy seemed to move rather hastily in everything he did, Sage continued the conversation.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Lenny." she said, taking a quick glance back at Halley afterwards. Would the daughter of the god of blacksmithing and crafting join the conversation? It was hard to predict. To Sage, Halley had a certain complexity about her that was quite complicated for her to understand. Children of Hephaestus always had questionable qualities that down-to-earth children like Sage just couldn't comprehend.

She placed Halley in the back of her mind and turned to face Leonard again. It was then that she caught sight of the title of the book he was reading. A certain spark of excitement lit up in her head and spread throughout her body.
"Jeremy Sanshone, "The String Theory; A Brilliant Branch of Theoretical Physics". That's what you are reading, correct? I picked that one up exactly one week ago for a bit of light reading. His definitions are prodigiously coherent, aren't they?"
She spoke fluently, yet utterly fleeting that someone with poor ears would have a hard time understanding what she was saying.
"Believe it or not, Jeremy Sanshone was actually a demigod himself! A child of Momus, in fact. I would continue reading more of his works, but I've been awfully caught up with circle constants and tau that, well...I've almost forgotten to go to the library and pick up more of his books!"
She gave a slight chuckle, and then the raised lines on her face dropped into their original positions as she calmed down.
"Well, it was nice meeting you, Lenny. I hope we can chat again sometime soon. I have many questions to ask you, but I'll hold them until classes for today are over. Just wanted to give you a warning."

She gave him one last polite smile, and then promptly walked over to her desk located towards the front of the classroom. She sat and wrote notes until history class began.

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It was interesting to see that Rosalie and Brandon had different reactions when inspecting Rowan's eerie green arm. They made light of the situation instead of making it darker and more serious. "Nice going, buddy." Rosalie said in playful sarcasm. Brandon, on the other hand, had a reflex of burly laughter. It brought a smile upon Rowan's face to see at least SOMEONE laugh about his condition. After a while, though, he seemed to contain himself. He then apologized, confusing Rowan. What Brandon was apologizing for was exactly what the son of Hecate wanted to happen.

"My buddy Jayce is a child of Hecate, just like you, he's been here a while and is pretty good at minor magic like that. If you like, I could talk to him about helping you remove it. He's always looking into some pretty goofy stuff, so I bet he's got a seal for that."
What Brandon had said threw Rowan off guard a little. "Jayce?" he asked. Rowan knew Jayce. He was his brother. Like Rowan, Jayce knew how to cast spells. He could perform magic, and quite well to say the least. There was only one thing about Jayce that Rowan was simply perplexed by: his multiple personality disorder. He knew that if he did it right, he would be able to remove the pigment off of his arm without the help of Jayce. But then again, that was if he DID IT RIGHT. With his bad luck, he'd probably cause the pigment to become permanent on his arm. He didn't want to risk it, and so Rowan knew that Jayce, being better at spells, would probably be the one to cure his condition. Although the thought of Jayce curing his arm, of all people, was a bit worrisome, it was also intriguing.

"Alright, sounds good." Rowan replied to Brandon. What was the worst that could happen? It would be rude to turn down the offer. Afterwards, Selyse helped Brandon up onto his feet, and he accepted Rosalie's invitation to the cafeteria. As Rowan walked with the group, breathing in the fresh scent of the late-summer air, a nerve struck in him as Brandon spoke yet again.
"So Rowan, Arielle's been picking on you again? Why not stand up to her and her pathetic little friends? You're such a nice guy, and there's nothing wrong with that, but don't let her step all over you like that. You can always come to me or one of our teachers if you're feeling bullied."

The fifteen-year-old could feel his face turning red and a tiny trickle of sweat building up upon his forehead. Arielle Liu; he hated that name. The girl was so pathetic, so arrogant, and so....powerful. It made the boy furious that snotty whores like Arielle could get whatever they wanted. Unfortunately, whenever he was in a room with the child of Khione, he was forced to take cover, as he was always the target for her constant criticism and bullying. Not wanting to talk about the subject, Rowan gave a fainthearted, "Yeah, you're right." to Brandon as he walked through the door that Rosalie had so kindly held for the group. "Thanks," he said as he slipped into the cafeteria, not even noticing Ray Chami and his guitar, as he was too focused on his thoughts about the ever so stupid Arielle Liu.

As Brandon was always so popular at the academy, the four found themselves being called over by one of his friends; Nate Sterling. Nate was an exception to the rule that children of Aphrodite were always so air-headed. As Rowan took a seat at the cafeteria table, he glanced at who was around him. There was Thayer Hendrix, a sarcastic child of Hephaestus who took pride in his witty remarks, Gwen Swann, another child of Aphrodite who had her head on straight, (and undoubtedly the most attractive out of the Aphrodite kids) and Nolan Yarley, a son of the all-powerful Zeus who seemed more like an Athena kid. Rowan wondered why he hadn't talked to these people before, as they seemed to be in his crowd. Noticing Rosalie with her cup of coffee, he excused himself from the table, and went to go get his own. He never drank coffee, but he figured that with his new green arm, he might as well become a different person for the day. After pouring the hot beverage into his own foam cup, he grabbed the biggest bagel he could find and balanced it back to the table, taking a glance over at Arielle before sitting down. Hopefully she wouldn't notice his arm. As the demigods around him conversed, Rowan took big bites out of his second breakfast. Once he finished, he would make his way over to his first period class.

And


" Seems as good a day as any, oh and please, call me Nate. Only my dad..."

Nolan felt as if he overstepped his boundaries without actually meaning to, he looked at Nate with an expression of embarrassment, luckily he never noticed, instead Thayer seemed to take his attention off the subject at hand, something that Nolan was only slightly thankful for, as he felt he needed to apologize, it was merely just his mind, and manner controlling him, but he didn't say anything as Thayer and him exchanged less than polite conversation, Nolan was about to quell the moment until Nate went over to a serving table and the three were left alone. Nolan scowled at Thayer, and spoke up for the first time since Nate's departure from the table.You really ought to be nicer Thayer, maybe then you'd gain even more friends."

Thayer scoffed at the suggestion, an eyebrow was raised on Nolan's head, then then furrowed with a bit of urgency.
"Unlike you, that's not exactly my fuckin' prerogative, I've got enough friends if I say so myself, and besides you basically take up half of that list."Gwen then spoke in the middle of this.

"As interesting as the day seems so far, I'm going to say no. Definitely not looking forward to today."


I'm in the same boat here too, coffee on my pants, on my papers, having to wake up this early, it's really killing my vibe."

"Eh, never mind. Ready for class soon?"

The Demigod thought about it for a moment, but then looked off in the direction of the serving table to find a group heading there way with the help of Nate. He mentally groaned, but knew he wouldn't be able to avoid making awkward conversation with people he hardly knew. "Doesn't look like any of us are going anytime soon.'

Before Thayer and Nolan could get back into a verbal argument, Selyse and a group of her own friends followed behind her, Nolan smiled, and Thayer made a rather confused look, not that he didn't mind their presence, actually...he did....slightly, he wasn't good in groups of people, and Nolan was almost in the same situation, it was just that he had a tendency to grow anxious when too many people were around them. Suddenly the table was turning into a Dining Hall of sorts, and the two of them couldn't believe how attractive the Table became to the passerby. Nolan looked at Nate, and assumed that at his suggestion that so many people came over, he wondered if more would come, and if he could keep himself afloat by just talking.

"Hello, everyone!'

Nolan smiled despite himself, it was something he was apparently good at.
"Good Morning.....Selyse wasn't it?

Thayer took a sip from his cup of coffee which was quickly running on empty, he acknowledged he group by tipping his cup in their direction, as they all sat down. Among the people in the group, it was Rosalie that caught Thayer's attention immediately, she probably knew that Thayer had a tendency to ignore a good amount of things, but Rosalie was among the few things he took great care and attention to. Hey Rosalie. How's your morning been?" he asked.

Nolan looked around to see if Santiago had left, but the cafeteria had been brought down to the point where it was impossible to locate just one single person, he figured it was as good a time as any to leave and head to class, or maybe even walk around aimlessly for a few minutes, though he doubted his ability to do even that, and it would conflict with the urge to follow rules despite himself. He glanced around the group, then stood up, and dusted imaginary dust off his pants before speaking.
"Apoligies, but I have to get going, class is about to start soon, it'd be a good idea for everyone else to get going too as suppose, don't rush or anything." He then chuckled, and began to walk over to the single table he previously occupied, and of course, as he was leaving Thayer just had to have the last laugh. He ad his mouth in the palm of his hand, but it was obvious that he was smirking to anyone sitting around him, and then he fake coughed.

"Ass Kisser!"

Nolan looked back at Thayer with a disapproving look on his face, then gave a rather devilish smile, unlikely for someone like him. "See you later, Thayer" He uttered in the most annoyed voice he could manage, before making his trip back to his table, gathering his things, and disposing of his food. They would probably meet again at Lunch, Nolan never took anything Thayer said to heart, but Thayer could make himself seem like the rudest of individuals, something that made Nolan relish in the fact that he was the only one Thayer couldn't make feel unnerved, not that Thayer was a bad person or anything, he just liked to give that vibe off and test people who truly desired his friendship. Nolan sighed to himself, it was just another day for him to be honest.

---

"Morning, 'bout time you opened up, I was beginning to think you were sneaking my sister out"

It took a laudable effort for Rueben not to laugh at the assumption, he wouldn't have done that to one of his best mates here, and he thought of Caro more like a sister that he occasionally argued with from time to time, it was safe to assume there were far more interesting guys she could have been after than Rueben. He gave a hard slap to Christian's soldier.
" I'm pretty sure Caro can find a better guy than me." he joked before turning to close his doors, so others wouldn't have to see the mess that accumulated due to his negligence.

"You know, in your closet there are these things called hangers, quite a nifty invention really, frees your floor up good and proper."

Rueben scratched at the back of his head and yawned, bored, and unmotivated by the suggestion, back home, his room wasn't half as dirty as the one here, but packing had been such a frustrating event to start that often times he gave up the hope of being able to organize all the items properly. He wondered if Christian's room was any ''proper' than his was, he planned to ask him one day if he really does keep all those things together, or if he gets someone to clean it up for him. Either way, Rueben wouldn't have been surprised. " It's a lot harder than you think Christian, perhaps you'd like to borrow me some hangers? Ah,¿Qué estoy diciendo? (what I am saying?)...all this talk about hangers isn't going to get us to class any faster..."

If anyone was close enough they could hear the monstrous gurgling coming from Ruben's taut abdomen, whose appetite had only been sated by the oddly flavored toothpaste in his bathroom, courtesy of the Academy as he felt the mint pass between his lips, if there was anything about mint that Rueben surmised, it was that it only made him hungrier, of course, Christian had plans to make his way to the cafeteria as well, and Rueben wold be damned if he didn't agree. He felt an unwarranted guilt about not heading outside, though it was mainly his fault for not waking up an hour earlier than he usually did, he sighed for a moment, feeling a little anxious about returning to class without breathing in some fresh air, he supposed it would have to wait, but surely the first instance he'd be able to bask in the sun's warmth he would take it. He asked Christian, whether or not he got his morning's worth activity as he seemed as content as ever as they headed over to the Cafe.

"So I'm guessing you didn't spare any time getting your day's worth of activity huh?"

He chuckled at the sentiment of it, and wished he could turn back time to wake himself up for the day's proceeding. Alas, that could never be now.

---

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---

Arielle turned her attention to Paige as she asked her a question, "Is that an actual question?" Ari looked up, acting as if she was thinking if it was or not before shaking her head and looking back at the small girl. "No, not really. Just asked to seem polite." She said with sarcasm in her voice and a shrug of her narrow shoulders. She gave off a some what sweet smile before drinking the rest of her coffee and walking over to the trash can to throw it away just to see four of her targets entering the cafeteria together; Rosalie, Seylse, Brandon, and oh so adorable and defenseless Rowan. Who seemed to be a bit more... nervous and awkward as usual. Then again, it was probably because of her. She knew how to read body language and Rowan's made him out to be terrified of her... Which was understandable. If Arielle was in someone else's shoes, she probably think she was a bitch but, she honestly didn't care. Once her best friend got back from getting their other coffees, she grabbed it before standing up and speaking to him, "Bout time you got back. What? Texting your little boyfriend?" She said in a teasing voice before being nudge by the Hawaiian. "Shut up and he's not my boyfriend... Not yet anyway. Besides do you want this coffee or not? Because I could accidentally drop it all over you pretty hair." Arielle scoffed before grabbing the coffee from his hand and taking a sip. "You wouldn't do that." Santi raised an eyebrow before hearing her finished. "You value me, our friendship, and your reputation too much." She said with a small snap of her neck.

She would never do that to her friends, especially Santiago, Q, Emmett, and Vanity. They were seriously four of the best people she has ever met and she adore being around them. But, hey, things can always change if they stab her in the back. After rolling his eyes, Santiago and Arielle started walking out of the cafeteria, that was before he saw Ari look a brief second towards Rowan and Rosalie who both seemed to just look away before Rose actually gave her a small smile, obviously fake before turning back to her older brother, Thayer. He saw Arielle rolled her dark brown eyes towards her before having Santiago hold the door for her and her half-brother Xavier who was stringing not far behind them. "Get to class, Williams. I have a class not in this building." She said to him not even looking at him but directly in front of her to the glass doors leading outside. He shurgged before walking to his class, Ms.Daniels. Also known as the best teacher ever. He took out his phone and began to text Nolan who he knew had to be somewhere.



Ok, a little demanding but, hey he was the dominate one in Nolan and his relationship. He was the guard dog to Nolan who was frankly too kind and naive sometimes. So, Santiago made sure no one ever messed with hi or they would end up regretting it and that includes Arielle. He really cared for the doll faced boy and be damned before letting him get hurt. He walked into his class and took a seat in the far back corner where he always sat before going back to his phone messages.

---

Meanwhile, Arielle had exited the building not before waving and smiling towards two of her partying friends, Rayna and Ray. They weren't her best friends ever but they defiantly were good friends to have around especially during a party. "Hey sexy bitches." She winked towards them both before walking right out into the courtyard, shielding her eyes from the sun as she walked towards the building where her class was located. First class of the day; Psychology with Miss.Lyre. Not the most interesting class but, it wasn't so boring that she decided to skip it. Besides it let her get into the mind of other peoples. People who could either be of used to her or be her next target... She liked that.

---

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OOC: I should be posting for Rose soon. :)

Brandon chuckled. "So it would appear." He said with a smile, waving to Nate and the rest of their group. "Hey guys!" Brandon said, genuinely happy to see them all. "Thanks for saving us a spot! Gimme a sec and I'll be right back. I'm so hungry..." He said, making a bit of silly face and rubbing his empty tummy. Brandon set down his bag right next to Selyse's and walked over to the line where food was being served. On his way to the breakfast line, Brandon nonchalantly wiped a bead of sweat from his forehead.

"Calm down, calm down, she was just bantering with you. Making conversation. There's no reason to get so nervous." Brandon thought to himself. While he waited in line, as he still hadn't heard back from Jayce, he sent him another quick text. "You up yet? Breakfast is almost over dude. Also Rowan, your brother, managed to get his arm turned green. Got something for that?" He typed quickly as he waited his turn before smacking his lips with delight. Breakfast had always been one of his favorite meals, and today there were waffles. Brandon had always had a sweet spot in his heart for waffles. His mum used to cook them for him every day when he was still going to primary. Brandon smiled bittersweet, piling waffles, bacon, hash browns, and some fruit onto his plate. He made his way to the coffee line to grab a cupful of hot water and some earl gray tea with honey in it. Brandon couldn't stand coffee, but he loved tea. As he walked back, he couldn't help but start digging in, carrying his tray with one hand and eating an apple with the other. He smiled at other friends who were eating their breakfasts along the way. He noticed Harry sitting with some of his friends and waved to the group, apple still in hand. Brandon was very fond of the son of Nike. He was a great guy, a good competitor, and an even better friend.

Finally, Brandon made his way back to the table, sitting next to Selyse and saying a quick prayer; preparing himself to eat. The more Brandon could keep his eyes off of Gwen and on something else the better. Gods know how many times Brandon's done something stupid in front of the daughter of Aphrodite. However, before he began, as he shouldn't just sit down and eat while ignoring his close friends, Brandon addressed the group. "Hey guys," Brandon said through a smile. "Nate, Thayer, Gwen, Nolan, how are you today?" He asked, noting each of them in turn. As he listened to their replies, Brandon finally managed to get breakfast in him, pulling up his sleeves, exposing the thick leather wristband that hid his mother's bracelet, and placing his napkin on his lap. He ate quickly, but he did not slack in his manners. Brandon prided himself in the manners his mother had drilled into him; they were one of the few things left he had of hers. Besides, he mostly just wanted to talk with everyone and it was rude to talk with your mouth full. Therefore the quicker he finished, the quicker he could socialize.

Once he was finished eating, he looked down and took his phone out of his pocket. "Dude... it's this time already?! Where you guys at, the caf? Meet you there, I'll bring a tattoo for Rowan." Brandon read aloud. Brandon smirked. "Jayce is on his way." As Brandon put his phone away, his hand brushed ever so slightly against Selyse's. He couldn't control it, as he hadn't meant to do that. He blushed bright red for a moment before the heat faded from his cheeks. In an attempt to turn attention away from the small unmitigated disaster that stemmed from his own shyness, worse yet he was with two of Aphrodite's children and they could smell it on him, Brandon turned the conversation elsewhere. "So, who's got what class next? I can never remember my own schedule let alone everyone else's. Anything particularly interesting?" Brandon chuckled nervously, asking questions about others to lead them away from himself.

---

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Jayce was having another of his bizarre dreams. Though it was really more of a nightmare. In this one he was a little boy, apparently made out of some sort of cheesecake cookie, and was running away, full tilt, from a group of angry zombie cucumbers armed with pitchforks and flaming dachshunds. He woke with a start as his phone buzzed. Someone had texted him.

"What the fuuu....." Jayce yawned. Stretching and rubbing his eyes. "That was even weirder than the time I was a talking dolphin who made a living as a traveling bible salesmen in the sahara desert." He chuckled. "At least mum's giving me dreams, better than none at all. Poor Hypno's kids." Jayce murmured. He sat up and promptly fell out of bed with the kind of thump and accompanying crack that can only mean that something was broken. Sure enough, however, Jayce was perfectly fine. Though he'd landed face first, he didn't hurt, and his body was in order. He'd simply landed on Bookworm Jayce's glasses. "Oops... Sorry dude, bad luck." "Augh! Bad luck?! You idiot, I need those to see!" Jayce complained at himself. His tone was slightly nasal and grating. He couldn't help it. After all, he had sinus issues. "I couldn't help it. You know how I get in the mornings." Jayce said defensively. "Easy boys, look on the bright side." Jayce butted in, trying to mediate the bickering and bring it to a halt. His inflections were soothing and magnetic. They could make a lion pur. "Now that we aren't wearing those nerdy glasses maybe a girl will date us." Jayce supplied, attempting to slick their hair back, but its curls defied him. "Ooh..." Jayce pondered, stopping the argument for a moment, it had sounded very nice after all. "That's all well and good for you guys, but no girl will ever date a loser like me." Jayce snapped at himself. "Shut up you idiots. I'm sleepy." Jayce said, in his usual dangerous tone that ended the conversation. "Fair enough. Let's get going." Jayce suggested, and they got up to get ready for school while Jayce slept.

The boys showered, picked out an outfit with Jayce's help, and organized their school supplies at Jayce's behest. He liked to have their supplies placed ever so nicely in their bag. Finally, Jayce checked their phone. It was full of text messages from their sister, Reyna, who loved to bug them. She wasn't a half sister. Though they had different dad's, she loved him as much as any real family would have, and Jayce loved the attention. After all, he'd grown up without siblings. Jayce smiled at the myriad of pictures, funny jokes, and silly little jibes that she'd sent him. He responded with a simple smiley face. After all, his smiling was another joke of theirs. Finally, he noticed he had two messages from his good friend, Brandon. He sent his response and made sure to grab a few extra seals from their jar on his shelf. Poor Rowan. Jayce would love to help him out, after all, they were brothers.

The Jayces made his way down to breakfast and loaded up a plate with eggs, bacon, toast with raspberry jam, and orange juice. He walked over to where he saw Brandon, though Thayer was with him, and Jayce knew Thayer didn't like him very much. "Um... yo godlings. How it do?" He asked the group, before turning to Rowan. "Use this seal like a fake tattoo. Put a wet cloth on the back of it for a minute and let the magic seep into your arm. Once the tattoo is finished sticking, the magic should kick in naturally and return your arm to its regular color. The tattoo should fade after the magic has run its course." Jayce said, handing Rowan a small piece of paper with a sealing circle drawn on it. "Sorry for the nerdmeister's bossyness. You know how he gets when he's showing off. If that's all, I gotta be going, I've.. umm... got something I need to do. Yeah?" Jayce said. He liked the rest of the group well enough, especially Brandon and Gwen, but he knew Thayer wasn't his biggest fan.

---

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(OOC: Just a quick reminder about Jayce's personalities. They are organized by color. Green is nerdy Jayce, Red is badass Jayce, black is dominant Jayce, or the "REAL" Jayce, and blue is Suave Jayce. They are listed below for clarification.)
Bookworm Jayce
Badass Jayce
Vanilla Jayce
Porter, Jayce Porter

Upon entering the cafeteria, Rose had responded to Selyse's question of what to read next. "I actually have a lot of recommendations that I think you would enjoy, so you can come to my room to make your pick if you'd like." As she sat at the table, Selyse's mouth was practically salivating from staring at her healthy breakfast, and as she took a bite of yogurt with granola, she let out a small sigh of happiness. She took another few bites, realizing she had been more famished than she thought. She took a swig of her apple juice, then looked over at Rose. After getting some food in her stomach, she decided to answer Rose's response. "I would love to come by after class!" she fold her friend with a smile, excited at the idea. As everyone said their hello's and filled into the table around her, she decided to just focus on her food. While Selyse was generally well liked, and got along with practically everyone, she wasn't great friends with anyone they had joined at the table, not hanging out with them on a regular basis.

Nolan was the first to speak directly to her. He was a child of Zeus, she knew, and had heard he was extremely intelligent. Again, they had very rarely spoken, never hung out, and Selyse wasn't exactly sure why. Most likely because they hung out in different crowds. But Selyse generally liked to be friends with everyone, no one being too different to scare her away. "Good Morning.....Selyse wasn't it?" She smiled in his direction, nodding a few times to affirm his question. "You got it. Morning Nolan." she said, still smiling as she began to eat her fruit salad. The Academy was gifted with plenty of good looking students, and while she didn't have crushes on all of them, she surely didn't ignore it. Nolan was no exception. He had a jawline that seemingly was gifted from Aphrodite herself.

She coughed slightly, embarrassed by her thoughts. Brandon appeared back at the table, and she smiled up at him, generally happy he was back. He took a seat next to her, and the smile stayed on her face as they all ate, silence taking over as food became more important. Nolan was the first person to depart. "Apoligies, but I have to get going, class is about to start soon, it'd be a good idea for everyone else to get going too as suppose, don't rush or anything." He chuckled, and began walking away. "See you later Nolan!" she called after him, waving goodbye. As everyone finished up their breakfast, she noticed Brandon checking his phone. He smiled at whatever message he was reading. "Jayce is on his way." Selyse looked over at Rowan, whose arm was still that sickly green color. She was relieved for him, glad that hopefully Jayce could make Rowan look completely normal once more. She would hate to find out that Rowan got picked on by Arielle.

Brandon went to put his phone away, his hand brushing softly against her own. Her eyes looked over to him, and she noticed his cheeks were a bright, bright red. It slowly faded, and she couldn't help but smile to herself. He was such a strong person, but his one weakness was women. It was so unbelievably cute. "So, who's got what class next? I can never remember my own schedule let alone everyone else's. Anything particularly interesting?" He seemed to be avoiding the subject of their hands touching, so she let it go. "I have Physical Training with Mr. Bennett first," she said, before taking her last sip of apple juice and setting the cup down. She actually really liked Mr. Bennett and his class. While she wasn't crazy into exercise, it always felt good to exercise in the mornings with him. The only downside was that she always looked positively atrocious after sweating like a pig. Thankfully, she always had enough time to shower before her next class.

She reached down to look at her phone, eyes widening at the time. Crap, she needed to get going. She stood up, taking her dirty dishes and disposing of them properly. She headed back to the table, grabbing her bag and placing it over her shoulder. "Anyone heading the same way I am?" she asked. She'd rather have company while walking than going alone. She hoped Brandon would come as well, she didn't feel like leaving him so soon. She had the urge to ask him to do something later tonight, but didn't want to embarrass him in front of so many people. So she just stayed silent, waiting for someone to come with her.

---

Colton sat beside Abby, close enough to irritate her, but not close enough that she would do something about it. Hopefully. He would hate for her to mess up his perfect face. To a child of Aphrodite, that would be one of the worst things that could happen. Worse than bad grades, greater than any other fear. Their appearance was their entire world, their greatest power. As he sat beside her, he wondered what she was thinking. Did she think he was so incredibly vain? Did she recognize there was actually more underneath his appearance? After all, he did care very much about being a good person. Some would think not, just because of the company he kept, but he couldn't control his friends' lives, only his own. For one moment, he wished he could have been the children of a different god or goddess. Perhaps then he would have been taken seriously by Abby.

“Don't you have a fan club to pick from or somthing? I’m sure you won’t feel too shook up if I call pass.” she responded, but he noticed her voice become slightly more gentle, more soft than when she spoke to Wes. He didn't exactly know what to think of that. He was about to respond when Wes cut in instead. “See I think he would Abby, and you know, seeing my best friend like that just might compel me to make a trip to the headmaster’s office and inform him of some weekend extracurriculars of yours." Colton's eyes darted between the pair, wondering exactly what Wes was talking about. What information did he have that he hadn't shared with Colton? Abby and Wes' eyes were locked, Colton apparently forgotten as they squared off. Colton's eyebrows furrowed. He knew exactly where this was going, and it wasn't going to turn out pretty. "Guys..." he said, but his words were ignored.

“Is that a threat?” Abby hissed at Wes, and Colton closed his eyes, not wanting to watch the rest of the scene play out. Wes was his best friend, but that didn't mean Colton always agreed with his tactics. He wanted Abby to generally like him, not to completely loathe him. For some reason unkown to Colton himself, he generally cared about Abby more than he would admit. He seriously wanted to get to know her, and there was something her cared about underneath her appearance. Perhaps it was because she was extremely different than most of the others, that she didn't play up her looks so much. She was simply beautiful without it. There was just an unknown factor that drew him to her, but the more he got to know, the more he had a suspicion she didn't feel the same at all. “No, love, it’s a promise. And as I don’t foresee you giving up on fixing up the piece of junk you call a motorbike, you might want to rethink your position.”

Colton opened his eyes once more. Wes was looking rather predatory, a look Colton had seen many times before. And Abby had a look of pure hatred, one Colton hoped she was never going to give to himself. “It’d be hard to talk to anyone with a broken jaw.” Damn, now Wes had done it.

"Now that sweetheart, is a threat, and you can go through with it if you like, but then we’ll have teachers involved anyway for that unprovoked assault.” Colton looked around the cafeteria, wondering if anyone was watching this little showdown. Gratefully, everyone seemed to be absorbed in their own conversations. Colton really didn't want any extra eyes on him... for once. “Whose side do you think they’ll take when giving out occurrences, the girl with anger issues or the honor student? We wouldn’t want to see you expelled now, after all where would you even go-?” Colton practically jumped out of his chair, the sharp crack catching him off guard. His eyes widened as he saw Abby's fork sticking out of the table, extremely close to Wes' hand. There was a moment of pure silence as the sound echoed through the hall, and then slowly conversations started up once again. Although Colton could feel all of the eyes staring in his direction.

“We’ll pick you up at eight.”

That ended the conversation, and Wes stood up abruptly, motioning for Colton to join him. He stayed frozen in his seat for just a moment, wanting more than anything to reassure her that Colton didn't want her to hate him. That he cared about her. Just something genuine. "Abby.." he whispered, but he didn't get to finish. She stood up and stormed away, not even caring that Colton had tried to speak with her. He sighed, standing up and walking over to Wes. "Damnit, was that necessary?" he asked, as they began walking out of the cafeteria. Colton hadn't even eaten, but food was the farthest thing from his mind. "She's probably going to open the door with a pistol aimed at our heads..." he said, shaking his head slightly.

The cafeteria was emptying, meaning it was time for class. He had physical training with Mr. Bennett first, and he was for once happy for the exercise early in the morning. It would help him clear his mind. "Well, I suppose it's time for class."

---

Dimitri had been up early, just like most of the students at the Academy. He was the Physical Training professor, which meant he had to live up to the job. He was extremely fit, having a vigorous workout routine that he followed daily. It started with a run through the grounds, to get his heart rate up and ready for what was coming next. He saw various students around, waving as they greeted him when he ran by. After he was warmed up, he went through his weight training, working out his specific muscles. When that was complete, he cooled down doing various stretches and yoga poses. Finally, he was finished. He took a detour on the way to his room to grab something to eat. He ate relatively healthy: some fruit, toast, and orange juice. Although he couldn't resist grabbing a waffle and dousing it in syrup. Everyone had their weaknesses.

He made it back to his room, in a building where the teachers lived together, and hopped in the shower, letting the hot water sooth his aching muscles. He dressed simply, as he always did, in a white cotton shirt with a slight v-neck, and a pair of brown pants with boots. He checked the clock, realizing that he needed to head over to the pavilion where he held his class. He liked to be the first one there and greet all of his students as they arrived. The day was sure to be a beautiful one as he stepped outside. He refused to let his class be taught in the middle of the day, when the heat was almost unbearable. It was offered only in the morning or evening. He didn't want any of his students passing out from the heat.

As he walked, his mind wandered, ending up on the topic of Anastasia. Just thinking of her made him smile. They had many conversations, mostly about literature, and could talk for hours at a time about it. She was the teacher he was closest to, and he even actually felt a connection with her. He wanted to explore their relationship further, but he didn't want to put her off. She would be getting ready to teach, just as he was. He pulled out his phone, after all he didn't live in the dark ages like some of his student thought. He found her number and pulled up the message window.

"Hey, so I was thinking... we should have lunch together. What do you think?"

He hit the send button and put it back in his pocket. He had reached his destination anyway. The pavilion was semi-secluded from the rest of the Academy, because he needed a lot of outdoor room. The pavilion held every type of workout equipment you could imagine. He liked to have weight training at least once a week, and then also liked to play various outdoor sports and do weapons training, trying to make it as fun for his class as possible. He wanted them to enjoy it, but it was also important information as well. He stood at the front of the pavilion, looking over the rest of the buildings, and waited for his class to show up.