I LOVE YOU SO || PERCY JACKSON & THE OLYMPIANS¹

14.

"BEEN ON MY MIND..."

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DINNER, 6:00 PM.

I could feel eyes drilling into me⎯and not in a good way. Hunching forward, I hide my face with my hair, sagging my shoulder as much as possible to seem small. Keeping my head low, I steal a glance at Walter's table out of the corner of my eye, seeing him staring me down. His siblings are chatting around him, but he's frozen in place. Eyes drawn to me. Great, just great.

Feeling another pair of eyes drilling on me, I scan the dining hall for the other person staring at me. Spotting Luke in the corner of the room, he's leaning against one of the columns, his eyes drilling into me. First Walter, now him⎯now this was just brilliant. Ignoring the stares pointed at me, I sneak an apple into my bag, just a little something for later on.

"What did you do to make everyone hate you?" Travis whispers, nudging my side.

"I talked about how I felt, got emotional over it." I deadpan, "They couldn't handle it."

"Oh...So, how do you feel?" He asks, an uncomfortable look on his face.

"I hate my Mom for leaving me unclaimed for so long. I hate how I rated my self-worth on it too." I explain, sneaking another apple into my bag. "I now know that I have my dad, and that's enough for me. I'm not going to give her the time of day anymore."

"Really? I mean⎯She's your Mom, Nat." He argues, making me huff.

"Yeah, a neglectful one, Travis. One who made me feel like shit. One who made me the worst version of myself." I argue, "I don't want that in my life anymore. I don't want to be that girl anymore. Is that so wrong of me?"

He doesn't respond. Lifting my eyes up, Luke is now sitting at the table with the rest of the Hermes cabin, chatting with one of the unclaimed kids. His eyes darting back to me every few seconds. Turning my eyes to Walter, he's still staring me down, an almost dead look on his face. Like he wasn't really alive anymore and was creepily taxidermied to have a 'natural' look on his face. Pulling my eyes away from him, I tosh a random apple into the fire, muttering a prayer to Artemis that I don't die tonight.

"No. But, like just out of curiosity. Has anyone apologized⎯for what I am assuming⎯is a fight over how you feel? Or are things kinda awkward, like they have more to say, but know that it will cause issues if they speak up?" He questions, rambling on. "Or are you all just giving each other time to cool off and heal?"

"I'm not apologizing for how I feel, Travis. They can apologize, but I'm not. If they have more to say, they can say it. But, I'm not gonna promise or apologize if I don't like it." I argue, shaking my head.

"Were a lot of hurtful things said? Is that why you're packing your bag?" He asks, causally.

Fuck. How did he..? Lowering his eyes to my bag, he flashes me a knowing grin, a small 'Don't try to lie to me' glint in his eyes. Okay, that's how he knows. No point in lying about packing extra snacks. But, he didn't need to know where I was going. Snatching an extra roll off the table, I turn to walk to the table, when Travis yanks me back.

Shooting him a sharp glare over my shoulder, his eyes dart down to the offerings, a stern look on his face. Ugh, like they'd starve to death if I decided to skip one offering. Rolling my eyes at him, I chuck a small piece of the roll into the flames, flashing him a condescending smile over my shoulder.

"You're going out tonight, aren't you?" He asks, making me scoff.

"Nope." I lie, flashing him a smile.

"Then why do you have your bag? You don't ever take it at dinner." He argues, "Not unless you plan on going out with Walter to the shed."

"Fine, I'm going to the Arena tonight. I'll be back before sunrise. I just need to vent and want to do it alone." I lie again. 

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Clasping her hand over her mouth, she shuts her eyes tightly, her heart pounding frantically in her chest. Please, go away. Please, go away. Slowly pulling her sword out of her holster, she opens her eyes, training instincts taking over for the moment. If it was a Harpy, keep low, don't try to be tall or big. If it was a camper, lie about being on watch duty. Pulling her hood up, she steps out of the shadows, careful to keep the noise down to a whisper.

Watching where she steps, she spots a figure not too far away, waving a flashlight. Like they were looking for someone or something. Narrowing her eyes, she slides her sword back into its sheath, a small smirk forming on her face. Pulling out her pocket knife from her jacket, she twirls the blade in her hand, the glint of silver shining in the moonlight. Throwing the knife as far away as she can, it crashes into something making a loud noise in the still forest.

"What was that?" Someone shouts, a nervousness to their voice.

"No idea, let's go check it out! Could be a new camper." A second voice pipes in, "They might need our help."

"Or it could be a monster. Let's leave it for one of the Ares kids, they'll have no problem with doing it!" The first voice argues, making the second scoff.

"This close to camp? Even more of a reason to go check it out! Something could be wrong." The second voice argues, the flashlight turning to the trees near her.

Fuck. Fuck. Dropping to her stomach, she lays flat on the ground, pressing herself into the ground. The flashlight points at one of the trees just inches from her. Mega fuck! Crawling to the side, trying to use some of the thick tree roots to hide her. Her heart picks up in her chest. 

They were gonna catch her. Oh, they were totally gonna catch her. Curling up into a ball, she shuts her eyes tightly, praying to any god or deity out there that they don't spot her. Maybe she can fake being unconscious? That was probably not too bad of an idea..

"Was that a fucking knife? Did someone throw a knife at us?" The first voice questions,

"A MONSTER JUST THREW A KNIFE AT US! THEY'RE EVOLVING!" The second voice screeches, "THE MONSTERS ARE EVOLVING!"

"Caleb! Caleb! Shut the fuck up! You're gonna wake the entire camp up with your screeching!" The first voice scolds, assumingly chasing after the second voice.

Hearing twigs snapping near her, she opens her eyes, half expecting the two voices to be in front of her. But, they weren't. Letting out a small sigh of relief, she pokes her head from behind the tree, seeing the faint glow of the flashlight going farther and farther away. Taking a long and deep breath, it felt like a weight had been taken off of her shoulders.

"Thank you, to whoever did this." She breathes out, "I owe you one."

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And I am done with the chapter! Stay safe out there guys!

I hope you all are doing okay emotionally and physically! I love you all!

I hope that you are enjoying the book so far! A quick reminder to comment below about the story of what you think so far.