"What time do you call this, Miss McLean?" Jane snarked as soon as Piper walked in through the door, slamming it shut behind her so as to avoid the distracting pops and flashes from the press.

She glanced at her watch. "Well, Jane, I tend to call it half seven. What do you call it?" Jane gave her a dirty look, which darkened when Piper shot her a sugary sweet smile.

"Whatever. Go and put your best clothes on -  your father's got a film director coming round soon with the offer of a role in an upcoming movie. This is incredibly important, so don't you dare misbehave."

Piper hummed dismissively, heading up the stairs with her hand trailing on the banister. "Hi mom, hi dad," she called as she passed her parents room. There was silence as she was ignored, and Piper sighed, grabbing jeans and an orange t-shirt. So much for loving parents.

~·~·~

"Piper!" Piper jumped as her mom hissed across the table at her, beautiful, sapphire blue eyes (the exact same shade as Jason's) widening angrily. "Sit up straight!"

Piper ignored her.

"So this is Piper, correct?" Mr Banks - a fitting name for a millionaire - asked into the awkward silence, gesturing towards the slouching girl. He turned to face her. "I've heard a lot about you! You're the one who drove the car through that hotel window! Hotel Valhalla, wasn't it?"

"Um..." the silence from her parents was deafening as their miniscule brains tried to figure a way out of this. Instead, Piper sat up straight, speaking before her parents could open their mouths.

"Yes, it was actually." She smiled her most charming smile while her mom and dad exchanged embarassed looks.

Mrs Banks looked slightly taken aback by Piper's confidence, while her husband chuckled heartily. "Well, whatever tickles your fancy!"

~·~·~

The rest of the evening went ok. Piper zoned out while the adults continued with their boring conversations, and the only blip was when she accidentally snorted with laughter when her mother said something obnoxiously big-headed.

She listened as the hallway echoed with farewells, before running up the stairs to her room. Dam, she'd forgotten her Spanish homework! "Annabeth... I need Annabeth!" She murmured to herself, pulling out her phone and sending a quick text. Within seconds, she got a reply.

'Piper, I can't just give you all the answers! That's cheating!'

Piper sighed. Having a genius as a friend was harder than it seemed. Please!?!? She sent back quickly. There was a couple of minutes wait before the response came through, reading, Fine. I'll help you through it.

Slowly but surely, she managed to complete her homework, leaning back on her chair with a lazy smile and sending her friend a victory smiley. Finally she could just...

There was a knock on her door. Piper sat up, bemused, and quickly sorted her hair, unknowingly smearing a trail of ink across her cheek.

"Come in."

"Piper... hi..."

Piper's eyes widened as she stared at her dad in the doorway, an awkward smile on his face.
"I just wanted to say thank you for behaving, um, quite well this evening. Mr Banks was very impressed, and he said that the role was most probably going to be mine!"

Piper nodded calmly as her father continued "So, yes. Thank you!" He gave her another slightly awkward smile and leant forward to give her a pat on the back before leaving the room, shutting the door behind him.

"No way-" Piper whisper-yelled as soon as he was gone. "-Did that just happen! Oh my gods!"

She got up from her chair, stumbling over the leg in excitement and plonking down on the floor, legs sprawled around her but a huge grin still etched on her face. She stared blankly at the wall like it was her best friend. "My dad just thanked me? My dad just thanked me!"

She scrambled up and fell back on her bed. "Wow. Ok, wow!" Within seconds, she was asleep.

~·~·~

"School, glorious schoool! Work, homework and more work!" Percy crooned as soon as Piper walked into school the next day. "School, glorious scho-"

"Percy, shut up!" Piper smacked his arm.

Yeah Perce, shut up! Annabeth signed, smacking her boyfriend's other arm.

Percy looked confused. "What... but you can't even hear me..?" Annabeth grinned evily, sweeping blonde hair behind her ear.

Well, I'm special like that.

Piper almost cried with laughter at the sight of Percy's bemused face and Annabeth's obvious triumph... until Leo and Nico appeared beside her, pale and shaken.

"Hey guys... wait, what's up?" She asked, cocking her head to the side as she studied the couple. Yup, something definitely looked wrong.

Nico shook his head. "Nothing, Pipes, it's nothing." Annabeth looked as though she wanted to press them for longer, but Piper gently touched her arm. She picked up the hint quickly.

There was a small pause in the conversation, broken only by the loud chattering of a year 7 group. "Ok, right, I'm going to go and get my stuff from my locker," Piper said into the silence,

"Bye then..." Percy looked away, sticking his nose in the air and pretending to be offended. Annabeth grinned, but there was a hint of concern in her sparkling grey eyes as she noticed Leo and Nico not even attempting to crack a smile.

"Yeah, see you," Piper waved a half-hearted goodbye and walked away, a strange feeling of doom settling in her chest.

~·~·~

"Nico? Wha-?" Piper was cut off as Nico grabbed her arm.

"Help, Piper, please!" Before she could even protest, Nico pulled her through the corridor. Doors blurred into walls and walls blurred into hallways as the kid tugged her through the school. They stopped outside the boys toilet.

"What!? No, no way am I going in there. Sorry, Nico, but boys and pee and stuff..." Piper watched as Nico's face grew panicked. His chest rose and fell quickly, and his eyes began to well up as though he was about to cry.

"You have to... it's- it's Leo..."

Piper's heart skipped a beat. "What? Nico, what's wrong with him? Tell me."

Nico just shook his head, grabbing Piper's arm and taking her into the toilet, this time with no reluctance. Luckily it was empty, except for a couple of light sniffs coming from inside one of the stalls.

Nico knocked gently. "Leo, it's me. I've brought Piper." The door opened slowly as with Piper held her breath, unsure of what she'd find inside. Finally, her own kaleidoscopic eyes found dark, shiny brown ones; eyes that showed helplessness, hurt, and pain.

The skinny boy in front of her radiated none of Leo's usual happiness and joy. His lip was cut, blood dripping from the broken skin, and his right eye was darkening, already slightly puffy. He held his side gingerly, wincing.

"L-Leo... what happened to you?" Piper asked, her voice a murmur as she stepped forward to get a closer look at the black eye. Leo slid a small, pained smile on his face bravely as he answered.

"Isn't it obvious? Beckendorf wants to kill me."

AN
IT'S ALMOST CHRISTMAS! YIPPEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!
Omg I might even get WiFi! :D (oh the wonder!)

I swear someone asked me to do a Piper chapter in the last part, but I checked the comments and no one had, so... if anyone did want a Piper chapter HERE YOU GO!!! :)))

Who do you want next? Leave me a comment (and a vote if you will!) and I'll see what I can do!

Love you, my little popping candy freddo frogs :)

RandomPhandom xxx