"Lady Nightlock, a letter for you." A maid held out a letter, sealed in blue wax. It was Tuesday afternoon, and I'd been on my way to the Women's Room to see if Piper or Reyna would like to talk.

   I took the fancy-looking letter curiously. "Thank you." Breaking the seal and unfolding the paper, I scanned it quickly. It said:

   Calypso,

   My friends and I are hanging out on the fifth floor this afternoon -- if you'd like to join us, you're welcome to. Go with Piper when she leaves the Women's Room if you want to come. I'd be happy for you to meet everyone.

    Yours tru -- how many times do I have to say it?!

      ~Leo

   I bit my lip. Certainly Percy would be there, and Annabeth too. Could I face them? Piper would help, surely, but still, it would be difficult. Then I thought of Leo and our date on Sunday, and I decided with a sudden resolve that I would go.

   Entering the Women's Room, I settled next to Piper and showed her my note. She grinned widely. "I knew it," she whispered. "I knew he liked you."

   "How do you know?" My voice was a bit too eager for my own liking, and for a split second I wondered if I could be falling for the prince of Illéa -- but I shook that idea off quickly.

   Piper's mischievous grin grew even wider. "He tells us all the time that he's going to take the standouts to meet his friends. He doesn't want a girl who doesn't like them."

   Even more pressure, I thought. And I had an obstacle with Percy and Annabeth. How could I do this when I already had a disadvantage?

   At about 2:00, Piper put away her magazine and motioned for me to come. I walked with her as we headed up stairs and past servants till we reached the fifth floor. I hadn't yet been on this floor, and I studied it carefully, trying to remember it. 

   Piper stopped and knocked on a brown door at the end of a hallway. It swung open to reveal a redhead girl with paint-spattered clothes, whom I remembered as one of Queen Esperanza's companions. "Piper!" she said enthusiastically, embracing the girl. Then she smiled at me. "Hi, I'm Rachel."

   Piper put an arm around me kindly. "This is Calypso. She's one of the Selected."

   "Nice to meet you!" Rachel held out her hand, and I shook it. "Come on in!"

   I stepped into a cozy room, with large windows at the end. The walls were green, and several colorful beanbag chairs and cushions were scattered around, as well as a couple couches. A table with snacks sat to the side, with a stack of board games next to it. I liked it instantly.

   I counted about a dozen teens in the room, and all of them obviously courtiers. I saw Percy across the room, and looked away quickly.

   Leo jumped up and jogged over. "Glad you could make it!" He hugged Piper tightly, and then he glanced at me inquisitively, like he was asking permission. I ducked my head, and he awkwardly hugged me too.

   Piper hooked my arm. "C'mon, I'll introduce you to people." She pulled me over to where four kids stood together, chatting and laughing. "This is Calypso, one of my good friends from the Selection," she informed them.

   A tall, broad guy with strikingly blue eyes and blond hair smiled at me. I could've sworn his eyes looked familiar, but I couldn't think of where I'd seen them before. "Hey, Calypso. I'm Jason. Nice to meet you."

   I studied him carefully. He had a face that looked stern and kind of stiff at first, but when he smiled, it just melted into a happy puppy-dog expression. "Nice to meet you," I echoed.

   Jason clapped the back of a Chinese guy with short black hair, thick arms, and a slightly confused expression. "This is Frank Zhang, our resident child of Lord Ares' good side. The other one is around here somewhere," he winked.

   Frank smiled shyly. "Most of us are children of the Council. I just go by my mother's surname," he told me.

   The next teen, a girl with light brown hair, hugged me warmly. "I'm Katie, daughter of Lady Demeter. That's my sister Miranda, over there," she said, pointing out a girl with a similar appearance.

   The last one, a scrawny boy with curly brown hair, had a look in his eyes that told me he could not be a good influence on Leo. "I'm Travis. My younger brother Conner is around here somewhere. And for the record, no, we're not twins."

   "Pleasure to meet you all," I murmured. It occurred to me that any child of the Olympians would be nearly a prince or princess -- far above my position. And yet, they were all so polite.

   "That's new. How did that happen?" Piper pointed at a long scar on Jason's arm.

   "Percy shoved me, and I fell against the water spigot," Jason admitted sheepishly.

   "Aren't you in training to be a guard? Shouldn't you be better than that?" Piper pushed him playfully. He stumbled back in mock pain.

   Watching Piper interact with Jason, I realized that this was the boy she'd spoken of when she'd told me she had feelings for someone other than Leo. I slowly backed away, wanting to let them have time to talk and enjoy themselves.

   "Hey," a girl's voice said behind me. "Welcome. Leo's told us a lot about you."

   I turned and saw the one girl I'd had a grudge against for years -- Annabeth. "Hi."

   "I'm Annabeth. I'm glad you're here. I wanted to meet the girl who might be able to keep our Leo in check." She laughed and rolled her eyes.

   "I'm sure he needs it. I can't imagine what he's like when he's not in the public eye."

   Annabeth groaned. "Oh, he's much, much worse. You're lucky you can see him now so you can beg him to let you go home as soon as possible."

   We both glanced over to where Leo was bouncing on his toes while conspiring with Travis's brother, Conner. I couldn't help but laugh. "I'm tempted."

   "Well, if you're willing to stick it out and put up with his antics, then you're definitely the right girl for him." Annabeth smiled at me. "Anyways, I hope we can be friends."

   At those words, I felt the walls of bitterness and uncertainty I'd built towards this girl crack, just a little. "I....hope so too," I responded shyly.

   Just then, Percy joined us, a boy with curly ginger hair at his side. "Hey, Calypso. I see you've met Annabeth, my girlfriend. And this is Grover Underwood, my best friend."

   "Pleasure," Grover said, shaking my hand with a loose grip.

   Just then, the someone tapped on the door, and then it swung open, revealing a palace maid. "Requests for Lady McLean and Lady Nightlock to come for midday classes."

   "I thought we didn't have classes today!" Piper sighed. "I guess we have to go. But I'll see you guys tomorrow."

   I followed her out the door, only glancing back once. Leo waved at me, and I smiled as the door swung shut.

   Together, we ran to classes, dashing in four minutes late. I took my seat to the left while Piper took hers two rows ahead. Hebe frowned at us, but continued her lesson on the politics of Olympus Illéa.

   "The Council is split into two main groups of politics. Lord Poseidon, Lady Demeter, Lord Ares, Lady Aphrodite, and Lord Dionysus make up one, and Lord Zeus, Lady Athena, Lord Apollo, Lady Artemis, and King Hephaestus fall into the other. Lord Hermes and Lady Hera do not take a side in the matter. The royal family, including Prince Leo and Queen Esperanza, have chosen to support King Hephaestus in the matter." Hebe continued droning on for what seemed like hours, though in reality couldn't have been very long.

   Piper leaned back and rolled her eyes at me as the discussion turned to famous dates in Illéan history. I stifled a laugh.

   "Ladies." Hebe frowned at us. "Do you have a question?"

   Piper raised her hand. "Actually, I do. If I remember correctly, the queen's birthday is coming up soon. I'm curious, are we going to be doing anything for her?"

   Hebe brightened. "Actually, yes. I was going to speak about that next. There will be a large costume party on the eleventh of September, the queen's birthday. Two weeks from now. And, it will be planned by all of you!"

   A burst of flurried conversations filled the room, and Hebe held up her hand. "This will be a test of your skills as a lady. But there is a catch. We will be having ambassadors from not one, but three foreign countries coming: Indonesia, England, and Spain. It is up to you girls to make them welcome. Indonesia and England are already our allies, but Spain has not yet made a decision. Prove to them what we can do, and you could gain us a useful ally."

   "But how will we know what to do?" asked Regan from across the room.

   "I will assign you tasks in groups of four or five. You will work together to complete the task you have been given. These are the teams." Lady Hebe cleared her throat.

   "Sarah Clerk, Enna Barnett, Lavinia Asimov, Eliza Phillips, and Angelica Baker, you five will plan the menu." The five girls shifted their desks together to begin discussing options.

   "Juniper Green, Alice Miyazawa, Drew Tanaka, Piper McLean, Nyssa Barrera, and Lou Ellen Blackstone will design the costumes for the Selected girls."

   Piper made a face at me. I smirked at her.

   "Skye Hawthorne, Julia Feingold, Valentina Diaz, and Ella Harpy will create the invitations."

   I saw Skye shift uncomfortably, and wondered how she was faring. Surely she was still rattled from her encounter with my family.

   "Hazel Levesque, Khione Benson, Reyna Ramirez-Arellano, Calypso Nightshade, and Echo Drannen, the five of you will plan the music."

   Music. I could live with that. I glanced at Hazel and Reyna, waiting for someone to make a move.

   "And Thalia Grace, Samantha Allen, Holly Victor, Jade Winters, and Kayla Knowles will design the decorations."

   "It's Sam," the girl sitting in front of me muttered. I stifled a laugh.

   "You girls have two weeks to create this perfectly. The girls with the lowest score after the party will be prime candidates for the next elimination, so choose wisely," Hebe warned us. "You have an hour of class time to discuss your options. I will be available for any questions."

   Reyna beckoned me and Hazel over to a corner, and Echo and Khione joined us. "Alright. We should have a wide variety of music, since the guests will be from all different places," Reyna stated.

   "But if we just get a bunch of Spanish or Indonesian music, they might be bored; they're here to see what our country is about. Shouldn't we have our own classic music?" Hazel countered.

   "She has a point," Echo added.

   "Fair enough. But if they don't know our dances, they might be left out," Reyna argued.

   "Most of the dances are simple. We could agree to partner with them and teach them. We probably shouldn't put in any complicated waltzes or anything," I suggested. "If they're game, we could even teach some of them a few dances before the actual event."

   Reyna nodded. "That could work."

   "Unless they see it as an insult that we think they need to be taught." Khione studied her white nails.

   Reyna considered this. "No, I don't think they would. The Indonesians, especially, are known for being friendly and enthusiastic, and I doubt the Spaniards would see it as an insult, either. British dances are quite similar to Illéan dances, so they would not need to be taught."

   "I still think they wouldn't like it."

   "Let's take a vote," Echo offered. "All in favor of teaching the foreigners the simple dances, raise your hand."

   All of us except Khione raised our hands. "Guess it's settled then."

   Khione shrugged. "Whatever. You guys are making a big mistake." She sat back and ignored us.

   Reyna sighed. "I'll ask Lady Hebe if our idea is possible." She got up and hurried to the front of the room.

   Hazel and Echo began discussing which dances were the best options to use. Khione leaned toward me and whispered, "Just because they happen to like your idea doesn't mean anything will change. You're still beneath the rest of us, except for Hazel. You two are on exactly the same level."

   I folded my arms over my chest, unwilling to engage in a fight, either physically or verbally. I knew when to keep my mouth shut. Glancing around the room, I spotted Piper trying to calm Nyssa and Drew, who were arguing. She caught my eye and mouthed help me!

   I shot her a sympathetic look. I may have had to deal with Khione, but things could certainly be worse.

~

~~~
~

A/N:
Today I pulled nails out of siding for four hours and then finished a chapter of fanfiction. Ah, duality.

See you around, hypothetical friends.