First Day (01)

"Last I heard, he was going to try to make sticking around Olympus work. He had a pretty good arrangement worked out with Apollo, so I don't blame him." I don't tell Soph that I think part of the reason he wanted to stick around was that it'd be easier for him to see JS. I mean, I guess I could bring JS to Protigi too but...well, it's a whole other world. It's a little different, right?

She gives you and Booker a cocky grin and class holds your attention for the next half hour. Soph has already taken five pages of notes.

What about you?

The way Soph answers that question and takes notes so intensely makes me feel a little like a slacker. Since when did Soph care this much about school? I mean, it's not like she was flunking out before or anything, but this seems a little extra. I have a page and a half of notes to her five. Granted, I could be trying harder. It's just, like...hard to care too much? Plus I have Red to do my work for me so...

With Soph heads down and Red handling things for you, you look around the class. Preethi is also taking copious notes, while Hank is half-asleep. He looks like he threw on a shirt and stumbled into class. Booker is paying attention to Mr. Howells but doesn't take notes.

Mr. Howells is very excited about his subject and a reasonably interesting speaker, but still - this is info Red can handle for you. The subject today is Collective Choice and Voting. He talks about how rank-choice voting is challenged by Arrow’s Impossibility Theorem and starts listing out a bunch of mathematical equations to demonstrate the theorem. Generally, the theorem posits that rank-choice voting is a social-choice paradox. It states that a clear order of preferences cannot be determined while adhering to mandatory principles of fair voting procedures.

How do you pass the rest of the class? Text with someone? Zone out? Look out the window?

I decide to spend the rest of class sketching in my notebook. I work on a few layouts of my dream studio - with spaces for creating new art and then display rooms and gallery spaces to sell my work. I know it will mostly just be a front for cleaning any cash Knox gets from his illegal jobs, but still, it's fun to put it all together. Then I spend some time sketching out a few potential pieces. I'm searching for a theme for my first collection. Doing something on the gods seems too derivative, but playing with the idea of humanity and immortality seems interesting.

The bell rings, interrupting your sketching. You head out with Soph and she peers at you in the busy hallway before saying, "You didn't pay any attention to Mr. Howells, Jay. I thought this was our class. Que pasa? Trouble with Knox? Something else on your mind?"

I turn to Soph with my eyebrows knit. "What do you mean? We're in the class together, so it's ours for sure. I just, ah..." I shrug a shoulder. "I guess paying attention to the actual lecture didn't seem like it was that important? I was sketching a little, that's all. I'm all good."

She narrows her eyes as she hefts her backpack with a strap. "I'm not carrying you in this class, chica. I was thinking this could be like our very first class - healthy competition and fun! Like when I ran cover for you in Ms. Brix's class. Of course, you were sketching back then, too."

I'm a little surprised to hear Soph call me out on this. I mean, last semester she helped me do my homework a few times. I didn't think it was a big deal. But now, I don't know...it feels weird.

"O-okay. I won't expect you to carry me then. But I didn't sign up for the class because of the class. I signed up for it so we could see each other. I don't have to take five pages of notes for that."

Her expression shifts from annoyed to concerned in a heartbeat. "Jay, it's our senior year. Don't you want to like... go to college?"

I take a breath and reach up to push my hair over my shoulder. "I don't know, Soph. Dad's okay with me taking a gap year or two." I lick my lips and stop, putting my hand on her shoulder. "Look, can we talk about this later? We should get to class. Don't want to be late on the first day, right?"

You leave Soph with her pouty face and huff it to your next class - Creative Writing with Ms. Calliope.


You spot an empty desk in the back and head back to grab it. That's when you see Kastor sitting in the seat right beside your spot.

What do you do?

I decide to cut off any chance of awkward silence right away when Kastor sits down next to me. I turn to him, smiling, and ask, "How was your summer?" Apart from his occasional visits to the Weird Kids Club, I haven't really seen much of Kastor. so it's a genuine question I don't know the answer to.

He seems pretty chill. Maybe wherever he was actually let the Nestor side of him relax a little and the Kace side forgive me a little.

"It was good. Knox took me to Hawaii a few times, and of course I spent a lot of time at the club too." I narrow my gaze on his face a bit and lower my voice. "Were you...visiting Olympus?"

He shakes his head side-to-side and leans closer while reaching for his phone in his pants pocket, "I was in this small town called Liberal. Still in Kansas, but four hundred miles away." He wakes his phone and pulls up this picture from his gallery:



"I played baseball all summer for a semi-pro league. Lived with a host family while I was there. It was really... fun," he admits with a bit of a shy smile. "We lost the last game of the season this weekend and I packed up my bike and drove home."

I lean over to get a look at the picture he shows me and I can't help but smirk. "BJ's?" I say with a mischievous grin. "They're doing that on purpose, right?" I laugh lightly and lean back again. "That's great though. Sounds like you really found your thing. I'm happy for you."

He chuckles at the BJ's crack, "Yeah. The uniforms looked pretty cool..."
He shows this pic of his team:


As more kids enter class, he hides his phone again, "I hoped the Fort Collins Foxes would draft me. But my mom was really happy I didn't end up leaving Kansas."

I lean over to look at the picture, and seeing Kastor in his uniform is...frell, it's super hot, I can't deny it. But I know he's very, very done with me in that way at least, so I try not to dwell on it too much.

"Is that your plan then? After high school, I mean? Go off and play in the big leagues or whatever?"