soulmates ⋮ heroes of olympus au

twelve.

H a z e l

☼

For the most part, Hazel actually liked school. Her entire friend group thought she was strange for this, especially Thalia and Rachel. But ever since she was in kindergarten, Hazel thrived in school. Academics came easily to her, and Hazel had quickly risen to be one of the top students in the grade. For the longest time, Hazel loved learning and everything it brought. She loved taking the most difficult classes she could because up until now, she could always handle it with ease.

Junior year, however, had quicky proved otherwise.

She was only a few weeks in, and Hazel had never struggled so much with school in her life. Her nights were overwhelmed with piles of homework and studying That previous spring, Hazel had signed up for an abundance of AP and honors classes, thinking that since school had been so easy for her so far, her junior year would be perfectly fine.

Sleep had become a nonexistent concept to her. Every free moment was spent doing homework and studying for tests that were seemingly impossible. The breaking point had been Hazel got her Pre-Calculus test back the previous day, and the grade hadn't been up to her standards in the slightest. She locked herself in a bathroom stall at the quiet corner of the school that few people frequented and spent most of that lunch period crying, panicking over her low grade because she had never gotten one in years.

However, Hazel didn't really want to talk about this to anyone. After so many years of school coming so naturally to her, she was terrified to admit that the one thing that she had been consistently good at was suddenly not there for her. Hazel loved school up until now, and more and more each day, she had begun to hate doing all these horrible, meaningless assignments. She felt worn out, drained, and almost hollow after only just a few weeks.

How the hell was this going to get any better over the school year?

"I honestly don't know how I got cast," Hazel heard Piper say as she approached her friends that morning, who were all standing in a big clump in front of the Goode High doors. "And as a freaking lead at that."

"Wait, the cast list got posted?" Hazel asked excitedly, jumping into the conversation after just arriving.

"As who?" Reyna added as she rebraided her hair.

Piper paused for a second for what seemed like dramatic effect. "Cosette."

The entire group gasped and squealed in excitement – even Thalia and Reyna, who never did anything like that – and all pulled Piper into a tight group hug. Once they pulled apart, however, Hazel could see a disgusted look on Thalia's face. "Gross," Thalia retched. "You have to kiss my brother onstage."

"Wait, Jason is Marius?" Calypso asked. "The same guy who always flirts with you in Pre-Calc?"

"Just remember he's my brother!" Thalia reminded the group, crossing her arms over her chest. "Please refrain from inappropriate comments."

"We won't make any 'inappropriate comments,'" Annabeth grinned. "While you're around."

Thalia smacked Annabeth in the shoulder, earning a loud bout of laughter from the group. "Do you guys think we'll actually have to kiss?" Piper questioned.

"Puh-lease," Rachel smirked, stretching out the first syllable in the word. "Marius and Cosette are the main romantic couple in the show. Mr. Apollo will probably want a full-on makeout session on that stage."

"It's a period piece. It takes place in the 1800s!"

"So?" Hazel laughed. "People made out then too!"

"God, don't remind me," Piper muttered under her breath, her focus briefly turning to Jason, who had just met up with all of his friends in the car parking lot.

Hazel quietly sucked in her breath when she saw Frank with his group of friends, seemingly laughing at something Percy said. She couldn't help but notice the way her heart did a small flutter in her chest when she saw him.

Frank noticed Hazel standing with the girls and grinned, waving excitedly at her. A small smile appeared on her face, and Hazel waved back at him in an almost embarrassed sort of way.

Thankfully, none of the girls seemed to notice this small interaction, as the group's conversation had turned to Reyna's upcoming debate tournament.

The bell rang and interrupted the girls' conversation. After saying goodbye to the group and telling Annabeth she'd meet her in English class, Hazel ran over to her locker, wanting to put her Pre-Calc textbook away so she didn't have to spend the entire day carrying it.

"Hey, Hazel!"

Hazel couldn't but yelp out of surprise from the sudden noise, causing Frank to let out a small chuckle. He was leaning up against the locker besides hers, a little grin on his face as he stared down at her. With the way he was smiling down at her and the sight of his Goode High letterman jacket, Hazel couldn't help but think how cute he looked right now.

"Hi, Frank!" Hazel managed to say through her daze. "What's up?"

"I just wanted to make sure you were okay," Frank said nervously, scratching the back of his neck. "You just seemed really upset in art yesterday."

"It's really sweet that you're checking in on me, but don't worry about it," Hazel told him with a small smile. "I was just freaking out over a bad test grade."

Although he still seemed a little confused, Frank breathed a sigh of relief and grinned. Hazel couldn't help but do the same thing alongside him, as even though what she said was technically the truth, it really wasn't the full story. "Okay, that's great. I'm glad you're alright now," Frank responded. "Just wondering...are you going to the football game on Friday night?"

Hazel shook her head, as football games had never really been her thing. "As far as I know, no. The games are super fun to go to and all, but I really don't understand much about the game besides the basic rules."

Frank couldn't help but chuckle. "If I'm being honest, I didn't understand the rules until eight grade, and that's after I had been playing football for a couple years."

Hazel felt herself smile again, but it faltered when she saw who was standing close by. Behind Frank stood Piper, Thalia, and Calypso, who seemed to be making 'kissy faces' while Reyna stood next to them, rolling her eyes at her friend's antics. Hazel wanted to tell her friends to go away, but she had no idea how to do that without Frank realizing something was up.

"Even though I'm not going, I will happily be supporting you from the comfort of my own bedroom," Hazel told him, smiling shyly and averting her gaze to the ground for a moment before looking back up at Frank. "I know you're going to do great like always."

"It's the thought that counts," Frank responded with a wide smile. "See you in art class?"

"I'll see you in art class!"

Grinning to herself, Hazel shut her locker and began walking to art class, having the feeling that today was going to end up a lot better than the day before.

☼