Daughter of Neptune, Book one

I

Disclaimer: I am not Rick Riordan. I don't own any characters except for Tori.

Tori's pov

Even before this guy Jason and I got electrocuted, I was having a pretty bad day. For starters, I woke up in the back of a school bus leaning on someone shoulder that I didn't know and didn't even know my own name. I picked my head up and looked at the person I was leaning on, he look like a Latino Santa's elf. He had a babyish face, curly black hair, pointy ears, and a mischievous smile, and really hyper, his fingers never stopped moving. He look exactly like the kind of person you shouldn't trust with sharp objects. "Well someone is finally up." The boy said.

"Hi, who are yo-" I was saying, then I was cut off by a girl in the seat behind me holding hands with a boy with blond hair and sky blue eyes and looked oddly familiar.

"Jason, are you okay?" the girl with uneven, chocolate hair in braids and weird, but cool, kaleidoscope eyes. One name down, three to go, I thought. Jason let go of her hand "Um, I don't-" Then in the front, a teacher shouted, "All right cupcakes, listen up!"

The guy was obviously a coach. His baseball cap pulled very low, you could only see his beady eyes. He had a wispy goatee and a sour face. His buff arms and chest pushed against his orange polo shirt. His nylon pants and Nikes were spotless white. He had a whistle hanging from his neck, and a megaphone clipped to his belt. He probably would look pretty scary, if he was five feet tall. He stood up, then a student called, "Stand up, Coach Hedge!"

"I heard that!" The coach scanned the bus for the offender. Then his eyes fixed on Jason and I, his scowl deepened.

A jolt went down my spine, I was sure Coach knew I didn't belong there. I had a feeling that he was going to call me out, and I wouldn't have a clue of what to say.

But Coach looked away and cleared his throat. "We arrive in five minutes! Stay with you partner. Don't lose your worksheet. And if any of you precious little cupcakes causes any trouble on this trip, I will personally send you back to campus the hard way." He picked up a baseball bat and made like he was hitting a home run.

I looked at the boy next to me. "Can he talk to us that way?" Then I heard the Jason behind me ask the same question.

He shrugged. "Always does. This is Wilderness School. 'Were kids are the animals' " The girl behind me said like it was a joke they'd shared before.

I turned around to them, "This is some mistake. I'm not supposed to be here." Jason said to them.

"I'm not either." I added.

Then the boy next to me turned around as well and laughed. "Yeah, right, Tori," the boy said "We've all been framed! I didn't run away six times. Piper didn't steal a BMW."The girl, Piper, blushed.

"I didn't steal that car, Leo!"

"Oh, I forgot, Piper. What was your story? You 'talked' the dealer into lending it to you?" The boy, Leo, raised his eyebrow at me like, Can you believe her?

"Anyway," Leo turned to me, "I hope you've got your worksheet, 'cause I used mine for spit wads days ago. Why are you looking at me like that? Somebody draw on my face again?"

"I don't know you." Jason said.

"You don't either?" I said.

Leo gave us a crocodile grin. "Sure. I'm not your best friend. I'm his evil clone."

"Leo Valdez!" Coach Hedge yelled from the front. "Problem back there?"

Leo winked at me. "Watch this." He turned to the front. "Sorry, Coach! I was having trouble hearing you. Could you use your megaphone please?"