—

AURORA BLINKED TWICE.

She had a math test tomorrow, and even though she could get the Mist to change her final mark, she didn't know how well it would work. Her only option was to study absolutely everything she remembered, and even what she didn't.

The rest of her roommates had a different math teacher, so while they were sleeping soundly, Aurora was trying to figure out what x was equal to.

"I hate this," she groaned, banging her head against the textbook.

She took a deep breath, opening her notebook and attempting another problem. She just needed to prove Drew was the demigod, and then she'd be free.

Aurora would never have to do math again.

"Aurora," Drew's voice sounded.

Aurora flinched, looking up, surprised at the fact that Drew was even awake at this time. Everyone else was sleeping.

"Shouldn't you be sleeping?" she asked her.

Drew rolled her eyes, "I'll go to sleep eventually. I just got back from my date with Jimmy. That's why I'm late."

Aurora tilted her head, choosing not to comment on the fact that she didn't ask.

"Okay," she said, dragging out the first half of the word. "Well, do you need something? I'm kinda study—"

"Yeah, Jimmy and I are practically a couple," Drew continued, cutting Aurora off.

"Congratulations," she said, though it sounded like a question.

"Do not flirt or laugh with him ever again," Drew said, a serious look on her face. "You don't stand a chance."

"Whatever you say."

Drew huffed, turning around and sauntering back to her room. It would be weeks before Aurora realized that Drew was trying charmspeak on her.

Aurora barely paid attention in science, her mind focused on the math test at the end of the day.

Her group had presented their findings, using milk, food colouring, and soap as the experiment. The class had 'oohed' when the soap was added, and even Mrs. O'Conley seemed impressed.

The small wins, Aurora reminded herself, trying not to dread about the math test. Take the small wins.

"Okay, you all did very well," Mrs. O'Conley said at the end of class. "I'll hand out marks tomorrow. Make sure you answer questions one to twelve on page two hundred!"

The bell rang during her last sentence, causing her to speak loudly in an effort to be heard.

"Aurora, can I speak with you?" she said, calling the girl over.

"Go on. I'll see you guys at lunch," Aurora said to Sana and Nea, making her way to the teacher. "Yeah?"

The class emptied quickly, leaving just the two of them. Over the course of Aurora's first week, Mrs. O'Conley had not lessened her suspicious looks. Aurora was painfully aware that she might be a monster, and if she was — Aurora had only her sword to defend herself, disguised as a pin on her uniform.

"I just wanted to talk to you about a few things," she said, shuffling through some papers. "I've been looking for one of the quizzes you did before the break, and I can't find it. I checked the attendance, and it seems like you were away that day. We need to pick a time and date for you to write the quiz."

"Uh... what's the quiz about?" she asked.

"Bohr diagrams," Mrs. O'Conley answered. "It's easy stuff, really. I also need a contact number, because the one listed in your file doesn't seem to work. We need to let your parents know how you're doing."

Aurora's breath hitched at the mention of her parents. She bit her cheek, trying not to think about the memories of her life before Camp.

"Can I do it next Friday at lunch? And the contact number is," she gave Camp Half-Blood's contact number.

Mrs. O'Conley wrote it down, unaware of Aurora's mental crisis. "Oh, and one more thing—"

"Aurora, there you are!" Mr. Elmberg appeared at the door. "We've got an assembly right now, and then the math test. Mrs. O'Conley, you don't mind if I take my student, do you? We're getting late for the assembly."

"It's not a problem," Mrs. O'Conley's smile looked forced.

Aurora hoisted her backpack over her shoulders, running out of Mrs. O'Conley's class, and away from the negative feelings she was protruding.

The library was packed. In fact, it was so full that Aurora and her friends had to sit outside and work.

The math test had gone okay, and Aurora had tried to manipulate the Mist to make her mark good, but she'd only know when the test was returned. Right now, she was too focused on finishing her science homework to care about the result. 

She probably wouldn't even be in the school after a few weeks.

"What'd you get for this question?" Sana asked Nea, pointing it out.

"That's just an opinion question," Nea told her. "I said I thought it was a bad thing because it contributes to carbon emissions."

"Okay," Sana said, copying that down.

Aurora laughed, "Dude, you need more than that."

"Okay, what was your opinion?" she asked Aurora.

The girls laughed, shaking their heads amongst themselves. Sana and Nea read the questions aloud to Aurora, helping her out instead of her getting a headache trying to decipher the words.

Once the three of them had decided they did enough of the homework, they began to pack up to head back upstairs.

"Thanks," Aurora took her work from Nea, shouldering her bag and heading towards their room.

"Aurora!" Jimmy's voice stopped her.

"What does he want now?" Sana groaned, rolling her eyes.

"He's not that bad, calm down," Aurora told her, but Sana merely nodded sarcastically. "You know what, you guys head on up. I'll see what he needs and then come."

"You sure?"

"Promise."

Sana and Nea continued making their way up to their room. Jimmy smiled as he neared Aurora.

"Hey," he smiled.

"Hi," Aurora tilted her head, a little confused as to why some of his friends were standing behind him and laughing.

"Um... this may be weird and stuff, but can I ask you something?" he began.

"Sure," Aurora nodded, unaware as to what was happening.

"Wanna go on a date with me?" he grinned. 

His friends laughed loudly behind him, swatting each others chests as they tried calm down.

Aurora furrowed her brows, "Oh. Uh... no thanks. I mean — don't get me wrong — you're a great guy. But like... Drew's in love with you, I'm pretty sure. Sana hates you — and I'm not choosing between a boy and my best friend. And like... you're a nice guy, but you're not — you're not really my type."

Jimmy stared at her, silent for a few seconds. And then he started laughing.

"Oh thank God," he laughed. "Nah, it's a good thing you said no, otherwise I'd actually have to go on that date with you."

"What?"

"It's a bet," he told her, motioning to his friends behind him. "I was supposed to ask out one of the ugliest girls in the school, and no offense — but you don't have much going for you looks-wise. So yeah, thanks for turning me down, love. I appreciate that."

"Okay," Aurora nodded as his friends surrounded him, laughing and jeering.

She wasn't so stupid to base her opinions of herself on what a guy saw in her. Jimmy's opinions, or anyone else's for that matter, meant practically nothing to her. 

Aurora turned around, making her way back upstairs. She didn't care if Jimmy thought she was ugly, or any of that. Honestly, she was just happy her friends weren't around to see that go down. 

As Aurora walked away, she could've sworn that she felt regret — strong regret — floating in the air behind her.

REY WRITES!

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