Piper stood up, drying her eyes. "Ugh," she thought, " I need to move on from Jason. He isn't coming back." Pushing the picture frame of her and Jason at the carnival two years ago under her bed, she started getting ready for school. After all, why would anyone in Oklahoma besides her care-- or know, for that matter-- about Jason? Looking down, she realized she was nearly late. Grabbing her backpack and running to the kitchen, Piper yelled, "Bye, Dad!" as she grabbed a granola bar and ran out the door onto the sidewalk, just as the faded yellow bus pulled up. When she got to school, she was greeted by a group of boys, all of them wanting to go out with her, just for her face. "Why, Aphrodite," Piper thought, "why did you have to be my mother?" Piper didn't care for any of the boys. She hasn't liked anyone since Jason, which Hera started and placed in her head. When she got to the classroom, she noticed a new kid standing up front, talking to Mrs. Ira. The bell rang. "Alright everyone, settle down" Mrs. Ira called over the din, "We have a new student today, Ba-" She stopped, looking at the paper she was holding. Starting again, she said, "Our new student, Basil, is here today. What an odd name! Would you like to introduce yourself?" Basil nodded, and stepped up. "Hi, I'm Basil. She/her, in case you were wondering." Basil had a white t-shirt and slim gray pants. She was pretty, Piper noted. All of the boys were already eyeing her. "I'm from northern New Hampshire." Looking at the teacher, she added, "And I think Basil is a fine name. It's Greek." Startled at her remark, Mrs. Ira told Basil, "I don't know where you came from, but talking back to a teacher is considered enough to get a lunch dentition." Piper was shocked. Mrs. Ira was usually one of the nicest teachers-- unless your homework was late. Besides, telling a teacher that you thought your name was not odd shouldn't result in a dentition. "Oh," Basil added, "I feel I should spare the boys in the classroom the embarrassment. I'm g@y." The whole class, Piper included, was astonished. Not a single person in her high school was openly part of the LGBTQ+ community. Piper felt bad she was surprised by this, as last she'd heard of her friends at Camp Half-Blood, Nico was dating Will Solace, and she was happy for them. Unfazed, Basil walked to the only open seat in the room-- all the way in the back, to the left of Piper's. That seat was usually Johnathan's, but he changed schools mid-year due to a fight. Piper was lost in thought until Basil whispered to her, "Why so quiet?" Realizing Basil said something to her before, Piper asked, "Sorry, what did you say? I wasn't listening." Basil smiled slightly, then said, "Where's room 303? It's my next class, and I don't know how to use this-" Basil tries flipping the paper upside down, "-Map." Piper looks at the paper, points out a room, and says, "We're here. I also have advanced math classes, I can walk you to 303. By the way," Piper adds, "I'm Piper." Basil looks confused, and asks Piper, "What was the last part? You turn-" Basil stops, her face turning red. "I mean, I didn't catch that." "I'm Piper," she says. Turning to fully face Basil, she adds,"Please, don't call me Pipes." Basil laughs, then says, "As long as you don't make up some weird nickname for me, like Bay or something." Basil then reaches into her bag, and grabs a set of markers, along with two small coins, one black and one silver, which she places in her pocket. Taking out a bright pink marker, she circles the room Piper pointed out and room 303. The bell rings, and Basil must not have noticed, as Piper nudges her, and says, "On to room 303 now? The bell just rang." At lunch, Piper sits with Basil and they talk for a while. Basil tells Piper all about New Hampshire, but Piper doesn't talk about California, trying to avoid the subject of Jason. Basil finally stops talking and asks Piper, "So what about you? Have you lived here in Oklahoma your whole life?" Piper decides it's inevitable, and tells Basil, "No, I used to live in California. I also have some friends I know from a summer camp in New York. But that's all." Piper didn't want to tell Basil about her friends from Camp Half-Blood, but Basil was encouraging. "So, did you live in New York for a summer or something?" "Yeah," Piper says, "I lived at a camp there for the summer, and I had a few really nice friends and--" Piper breaks off, thinking of Jason. It had been a few months since ...that... happened, but she wasn't willing to go there, especially with a girl she only just met, even though she was an interesting and kind person. Noticing Piper's concern, Basil asked her, "Are you ok? You're... crying." "Oh," Piper said, noticing, "I'm fine." At that moment, the fire alarm went off throughout the cafeteria, lights flashing and sirens blaring. Piper jumps up, and Basil takes a second to notice. "Is that the fire alarm?"
Kids are in full panic, running out the doors, screaming, and even trying to get out the windows. There's more than just fire, though. At the middle of the cafeteria, four large H3llhouhds pace towards them. Piper goes white. She hasn't seen a monster in ages, and here are FOUR full-grown H3lIhounds standing right in front of her. Basil's here too, and she must get out of here. Piper rummages through her bag and finds her d@gger, Katropis, at the bottom. Basil, though, seems unfazed as the monsters get closer. Instead, she puts her hands into her pockets and pulls out her two coins. Immediately, they grow into two staff, which she holds out in front of her, and looks at Piper. "Go," Basil says, "Get out of here." Piper's mouth drops open. She manages to ask, "Wait-- you're a demigod?" Basil looks puzzled, then says, "You're one too?" Not waiting for a response, she adds, "Well, that means I don't have to take down them all on my own. Come on." Piper and Basil advance towards the monsters, and manage to take three down. The fourth one, the wiliest, is slowed by Piper's charmspeak, as she convinces it to sleep. "Well then," Basil says, looking up, "I suppose these things will just hunt for me for the rest of my life?" Surprised at Basil's abilities but lack of knowledge, Piper explains what Camp Half-Blood is, and that Basil needs to get there. Ugh. I probably have to write a chapter two.
