¹Pocket Full of Posies.

𝐕𝐈𝐈𝐈. apollo's old friend

pocket full of posies
❛ viii. apollo's old friend ❜

━━━━━ POSIE WAS INCLINED to skip breakfast to meet up with Lee at Half-Blood Hill, but he, unfortunately, arrived early enough so that they could both eat breakfast together. As siblings, to bond, or whatever else he said over the Iris Message that morning as Posie grimaced when she realized her plan was already falling apart before it could even start. The sentiment would have been nice if she wasn't avoiding, like, half of Camp ( really, she was only avoiding Percy and Beckendorf, but with the fewer campers this time of year, that was practically half of Camp ).

Ms. Fletcher—her name was Kirsten, but Posie felt awkward calling her brother's mother by her first name—was waiting for Posie and her son to stop by to say goodbye. Mrs. Fletcher had expressed her liking for Posie the few times they had met whenever she would drop Lee off at Camp, and wanted her and her son to say goodbye. Even more so, Kirsten Fletcher wanted to see Posie so bad she sent her son out to grab her from Cabin Seven. If Posie was so disturbed by her conversation with Becknedorf, she would've been flattered, but right now she wanted to wallow in fear and self-pity.

"C'mon, Posie, my mom loves you!" Lee said, grabbing her by both arms to pull her out of her bunk. "Mom even took the day off so she could talk to us—Are you wearing my sweatshirt?" He stopped pulling on her arms, and Posie fell back on her bunk with a grunt. "That is my sweatshirt! I wondered where it went."

She pulled the hoodie over her head, pulling at the drawstrings. "You left it here, and I needed it."

"And you'll need pants," he agreed, throwing a pair of black leggings at her. "And shoes. Because you're going to say goodbye to my mom, Posie."

She rolled over, curling her legs into her chest. "Do I have to?"

"My mom drove over an hour to drop me off and talk to you," Lee told her, placing his hands on his hips like a disappointed dad. "You're not going back to being a hermit, Posie. I'm not letting that happen again! I thought we got past it."

She eyed her brother from underneath the gray hood with annoyance. She knew what he was talking about—before her first ever quest two summers ago, Posie was quite reserved and shadowy. She was for many reasons—the silent understanding something wasn't normal when it came to her ( and that understanding, unfortunately, came around to be correct ), general comfort in being by herself, fear of rejection, and fear in general ( which she has unfortunately learned is her fatal flaw ). It's not that she is a social butterfly now, she still is reserved just less so. She has more acquaintances, and she realizes many more people consider her a friend than she first realized, like Annabeth or Rose.

Lee grabbed her by the arms and gave one final pull—unfortunately, he must've used more momentum than he meant to, and both of them were sent flying into the next bunk. Posie yelped, cradling the top of her head, which had bumped into the bottom of the top bunk.

"C'mon." Lee stood up from the bunk, brushing off his winter jacket. "You're going to interact with people whether you like it or not!"

"I think you gave me a concussion ..." She rolled around the bunk, holding her head gently.

The son of Apollo rolled his eyes with exasperation. "I'll check on it after you talk to people, Posie."

✿