Hazel Levesque, November 17, 12:00 PM

You know what's more petty than popular girls? Gossip. Which is kinda the popular girls' main personalities. That was one reason why I found them extremely bland and plastic-like, regardless of the few authentic pretty girls among them, like Piper. But now, I had to also face one annoying part about gossip: I have to hear all of it because I'm always in the background; the quiet kid really does hear it all.

"She was totally trying to kiss him or something," a girl was whispering to my left.

"No, Annabeth's more of a book-smart type of girl. She'll never be street-smart enough to hook a guy like Percy. That's Matilda's job."

"She's failing miserably, though. Percy's friends with Annabeth--"

"Well, they kinda hate each other--"

"But they talk--"

"They're co-captains--"

"They don't really share any of the same classes--"

"Yeah, but there's so many kids, who gives a fuck nowadays?"

Frank slid into his chair next to me, rolling his eyes as he shoved through a crowd of girls hovering over another's phone, probably checking the Goode Instagram page. "The nerve of some people. Are they really this shallow? People like Annabeth or Percy would never sink to that level of pea-brained-ness."

"Tell me about it. That seaweed brain of a boy may not be the brightest, but he's definitely not one for idiotic, surface-level gossip like that. If that were the case, I would've kicked his ass out of the group house a long time ago," I replied nonchalantly. "And Annabeth would dominate their arguments if he weren't."

"Oh, God. Annabeth." Frank glanced at me as the teacher walked in. "She's probably gotten so many questions today."

"I just heard Sabrina call her a whore," I whispered, causing Frank to hiss angrily.

"Come on!" Frank groaned, a little too loudly. "Why is everything taken out of context?! Can't people just let other people live their lives peacefully and mind their goddamn business? This world is just full of such shallow, hollow people with no real meaning to their lives!"

The room went silent and I gently poked Frank, wincing. "Uh, Frank... everyone can hear you."

He sat down in his chair again, chuckling nervously. "Oh. Sorry."

"Ahem." The teacher squinted and pulled the blinds closed with his pointer stick, before turning on the projector, which flickered to life in the dark room. "Turn to page 394." He adjusted his half-moon glasses and sat on his idiotic stool, eating a granny smith apple so loudly that I mistook him for a damn horse.

Leo Valdez, November 17, 3:30 PM

Now, this McShizzle is always there for his friends when they need him, but if I'm a hundred percent honest, I've got bigger problems to deal with than some out-of-context photo framing Percy and Annabeth as the school's next biggest rivalry gossip. I had a girl online who was actually into me! I mean, I made sure she wasn't some online cyber hacker trying to ask me for nudes and make me scrape up a few hundred dollars in exchange for keeping silent about child p*rn (A/N: important things to keep in mind when you're ever talking to anyone online so always make sure you keep yourself safe when you're surfing the internet bc it's a dark place).

Most of our conversations were pretty robotic. I mean, she clearly wasn't a fast typer like most gamer girls, but for someone who typed as slowly as she did, she was pretty good at playing the game. In fact, she beat me half the time, firing her gun like a machine. Her keyboard clicker must've been pretty sensitive or her fingers were flashing fast.

I was sitting in the library, sipping a matcha latte and playing the game, since she was online, and watching her avatar skip across the screen, a long braid trailing behind her. Her white dress was covered in dirty stains and her braid was a strange caramel color that looked a bit more orange in cartoon-form than anything, but gingers were cute, too. I mean, assuming she looked like her avatar did in real life, jut less pixelated.

Me: good job!

islandgirl: thanks, you too!

Me: another round?

islandgirl: sorry I'll probably have to come back

islandgirl: I've got a Chemistry quiz tomorrow and I should probably go ask my teacher some questions

Me: what, no way! I have a chemistry quiz tomorrow, too. well, I mean, we probably don't go to the same school, but we're probably in the same grade? wait what country r u from?

islandgirl: im in ny, wbu?

Me: wow same

islandgirl: im 17btw and im sure if ur smart enough to somehow find a way to join my games every time, you'll be able to see that im really 16 years old, haha

Me: yeah, im 17 too. no nudes, right?

islandgirl: someone tried to send me some in my last game, but no lol

Me: well, if ur going to talk to ur teacher I might as well do that, too

Me: my teacher's name is Miss Fitzergald and she like totally yelled at my friends the other day for calling this kid Sean a fat motherfucker even if he totally deserved it

islandgirl: oh thats crazy my teacher's name is Miss Fitzergald as well tho its prob a coincidence

Me: yeah. well, I'll see you then

I got up from my seat, and just as I was putting my laptop away, the familiar scent of coconuts filled the air as Calypso walked by, laptop in hand, periodic table resting on top. My brain froze for a second, eyeing the objects in her hand. Was she...? No. A pretty girl like her was probably not playing violent gun video games in a pretty library like this one. She was probably studying for our Chemistry quiz tomorrow with Miss Fitzergald, since Miss Fitzergald was pretty famous for giving quizzes on things we'd never learned before.