Around a week later, while we were all still bursting from adrenaline from the meeting, we were called down to an assembly after homeroom. Everyone went down to the auditorium. The eight of us sat together, plus Celine and Walker's best friend Ronan.

Immediately we noticed that both the old and the new principal were on stage, along with Gabrielle Vasquez.

Gabrielle tapped the mic. "Is this thing on? Hello? Hi. My name is Gabrielle Vasquez. I am the founder of the Percy Jackson branch of Fangirl School. And I have exciting news to share."

I could hear murmurs. People were guessing. But our group knew.

"Starting next year, you won't have to wear your uniforms anymore."

Cheers rang across the auditorium. This was actually a request Fiona had dashed back and added after our meeting, which we could see had been granted.

"Secondly, the Get-Into-The-Book events will be making a return next year, but with a twist. More fandoms will be participating in these events."

Whispers became louder.

"I'm sure you're wondering how this came to be. Well, I'd like to call to the stage Y/N L/N, Fiona Albert, Delphine Garcia, Lucas Crystalos, Brandon Miller, Walker Norman, Jacqueline Katz, and Mitchell Anderson, for making this possible."

We all went up onto the stage, leaving Celine and Ronan behind. Some people recognized me as the victor, a few knew Walker, Mitchell, and Jacqueline as the other kids who were in the reenactment, and just about everyone in our year and the year below knew Fiona as top student at this school by far.

"Please give these students a hearty applause, because they made it possible to have Get-Into-The-Book events next year and to add new fandoms into it!"

We each took a bow. Janet, I saw, was gritting her teeth so hard they looked like they would break. And that made it all so much sweeter.

There was a lot of cheering, and I could tell they meant it. The Lightning Thief years who knew about the events and didn't want them to be ruined on their first year. The Battle of the Labyrinth years who wanted their last year at PJO fangirl school intact. And everyone else, too.

"We also want to inform you that our former principal, Ms. Dicesare, is returning to Fangirl School Percy Jackson, with all her same rules!"

More cheering. Everyone was happy. In that moment, life was great.

Exam studying was a grind, however. Not only were we being tested on The Sea of Monsters, we were also being tested on the Lightning Thief and the first chapter of The Titan's Curse.

On the ides of March, exactly seven days before exams, I remembered Jeveskia. I still needed to make it up to her.

So I pulled her aside before lunch.

"Hey," I said. "I know it's been almost three months, and this is really overdue, but I'm sorry."

"You should be," she said, but she didn't sound harsh- just hurt. "I was really upset, you know."

"I know. I just- I don't even have a good excuse for forgetting you. I shouldn't have."

"How come you remembered Lucas and Brandon, but not me?"

"Lucas... well... he's a bit of a special case. And Fiona wanted Brandon there."

"Well, that makes sense." She sighed. "Don't forget me again, okay, Y/N?"

"I won't," I promised.

~>♡<~

Two days before exams Lucas called.

"Hey, so- I need advice."

"Lay it on me," I said, glad I was finally able to help him for a change.

"I want to get creative with my- y'know- meetups with Delphine. How do I make sure she has a good time?"

I wasn't sure why my heart sank, but I said, "I don't think she cares about what you do. As long as it's not something, like, intensely boring."

I remembered how she'd made herself comfortable while squeezing into Fiona's mom's car before. How she'd done our makeup and always found a way to lighten up a situation.

"Delphine has this way of seeing things that makes them interesting. Take her to a movie or something. But a good one. Or even surprise her with her favorite cupcakes."

"Whoa, you're good," he said. I could tell by his tone of voice he had that little appreciative smile on his face. "Thanks, Y/N."

There it was. The phrase I'd been waiting for forever. It should've sounded refreshing, but instead my heart dropped even further. "No problem."

He hung up, and I called Fiona over to study. I needed to distract myself, and she was the only one who could do so for me.

At least, until she snapped her fingers under my nose two hours later. "Y/N? You've zoned out at least thirty times. What's going on with you?"

I tried to shake my head, but the sentence came out anyway. "Why is Lucas bugging me so much?"

"Bugging you? Why would he be bugging you?"

"He called me before I called you. He was asking me about advice for how to take out Delphine. I don't know why that just sort of bothered me."

"That's weird." She raised an eyebrow. "I've never felt like that before." She squeezed my hand. "Please tell me if something's bugging you again, okay? Even if it's at three in the morning. Call me. I know you have lots of therapist friend figures, but I'm still your best friend, right?"

"What would I do without you?" I smiled, finally looking up. But the feeling in my chest didn't go away.

~>♡<~

Exams were much more convoluted this year than last year. They had the whole grade down in the auditorium and partnered up randomly to do a bunch of stuff instead of being tested in separate subjects. By some streak of luck, I got partnered up with Lucas.

The teachers were all up on stage. Each pair was given one of those buttons from game shows, and we had to answer trivia questions. That was the whole exam. It actually took a lot longer than expected, because the grade was huge. At first they asked each pair and timed them, and it didn't matter who answered because they were grading us on the number of answers we got right, and how much time it took to remember. Complicated much?

They eliminated pairs who took the longest. They must've really remembered us from the Fight, because the remaining pairs were Fiona and Walker, Delphine and Xavier, Jeveskia and Giovanni, Brandon and- poor boy- Janet, and me and Lucas.

"Round one!" Mrs. Golde declared. "Let's start off easy. What's the name of the business that goes with every head of a hydra?"

Fiona slammed her hand down on the button mere moments before I did. "Monster Donut!"

"Correct!" Mrs. Golde said. "What was the name of Luke's boat?"

"The Princess Andromeda!" Lucas and I burst out at the same time, both our hands on the button, his over mine.

"Very good! What were the name of the evil creatures that sing evil music?"

And on and on we went. Brandon and Fiona were eliminated on the first round, then Giovanni and Jeveskia, then Delphine and Xavier. Finally, it was me and Lucas up against Fiona and Walker.

"Okay, this is the last question. Whoever gets this right isn't eliminated," Mrs. Golde said. Then she read the question on the card. "Where was the boarding school Nico and Bianca di Angelo went to?"

Everyone looked confused, but I knew this one, because I had read this sentence over and over again in my daze while studying.

I slammed my hand down on the button, making Lucas jump. "Maine!"

"Correct!" Mrs. Golde said. Lucas high-fived me, while Fiona looked baffled. So did the entire audience, actually. It was the first time anyone had ever beaten Fiona Albert at anything.

The next day, March 22nd, was goodbyes day. I spent the first hour with the entire group, then a bit with the Package Deal plus Walker, only one left in stock.

I also caught Theone's number, because I hadn't gotten it yet. We talked a bit, just some small talk about the Fight, which people still hadn't gotten over yet.

Finally, at around one, I found Lucas. We walked around the school like we had been doing almost this entire year, reminiscing about all the people we'd met this year and everything that happened. By Fangirl School standards, at least in our own school, we were famous. And if they recited our names in the other schools, too, we were heroes.

We did that for a solid two hours. He promised we'd meet up, not necessarily as a group, over the summer. I wasn't sure how that would work with this whole thing with Delphine, but for what must've been the millionth time this year, I shut my trap and went along with it.

Goodbyes weren't too hard with Fiona and Delphine, since we knew we would be seeing each other, but they hit so much differently with Jacqueline, someone I'd just met but had come to depend on. I hugged her for a good minute before letting go.

I'm not sure if it was harder with Walker or not. He was going with- blegh- Janet to Australia to the rest of their family, so I had zero guarantee I'd see him at all this summer.

Saying goodbye to Lucas was even harder than last year. We'd done a lot this year. I looked to Delphine for a moment and she nodded. The second she did I wrapped my arms around him, and he didn't hesitate to hug back.

Fiona and Delphine went back to my house. We bought another round of matching bracelets to mark the end of another year and went back to my house for a sleepover. It felt good to finally hang out with my girls again. We talked about the possibilities for next year, and how excited we were for the second Get-Into-The-Book event.

Little did I know, The Titan's Curse year would be maybe the most complicated year of my life.