Homecoming

Date: September 17

    Frank had never gone to a school dance before unless you counted the Mickey Mouse dance in first-grade and Frank didn't. He was nervous and excited. The entire school had been buzzing about Homecoming. Even the teachers had been more laid back than normal. Mrs. Dodds actually made a Jeopardy game for the class to play to review for their test on Monday.

    He was going with Leo. Frank had mixed feelings about Leo. Leo sometimes made jokes at his expense. Once, he had given Frank a Chinese finger trap and the entire lunch table had howled with laughter when Frank had been unable to get out. He had finally freed his fingers when Mrs. Demeter's iguana had chewed it into two. Frank had been even more of a laughing stock than usual for weeks.

    Still, Leo had offered to drive Frank to Homecoming and Frank preferred that to having his grandmother drive him. He didn't need people to start calling him "baby man" again. Frank looked in the mirror in his living room. He had put hair gel on for the first time in his life and was wearing cologne. His black suit looked neat and his tie had elephants on it. Frank thought he looked much more dapper than anymore. His thoughts were interrupted by the honk of a car.

     "Leo is here!" Frank said to his mom. "Goodbye grandma!"

     "Goodbye, Fai!" his grandmother said as he headed out to Leo's car.

     "Thanks Leo," Frank said as he hopped into the car.

    "No problem," Leo said. "I figured I should show off Festus to someone if I couldn't show him off to Calypso."

    "Festus?" Frank asked.

    "My car," Leo said. "My foster parents were going to sell him because he broke down, but I repaired him, so they let me keep him."

   When they arrived at the school, Frank was stunned by how the school had been transformed by the student council. The theme was "Greek Gods" and Frank saw several girls actually wearing what looked like chitons. Many guys were wearing bed sheets as togas, but most of them were wearing suits like Frank was.

    "Well, Frank," Leo said. "Want to flirt and dance with girls? Follow my lead. All the ladies love Leo."

    Frank laughed and followed Leo. He heard the song finish and John Legend's "All of Me" began to play. The couples joined together and danced slowly. Frank saw Reyna and Jason dancing slowly. Percy was tucking a loose strand of hair behind Annabeth's ear while she steered him. Beckendorf was holding onto Silena's left hand as she spun like a ballerina. Grover and Juniper were laughing and dancing at once. Frank laughed when he saw Leo hugging himself and dancing as if he was waltzing. 

     Frank moved towards the snack table and poured himself some punch. He drank some and as he finished his cup, he saw Hazel smiling slightly at him. She was wearing a sparkly golden dress and looked more brilliant than the sun. He hadn't expected to see her here today. She had been crying earlier that day because Jacob had broken up with her.

    "How do you like it?" Hazel asked.

    Frank smiled. Even in the midst of a breakup, she was kind and considerate.

    "I'm having a good time," Frank said.

   It was true. He didn't dance with Hazel or any girl that night, but it was still one of the best nights of his life.