Skinny Love - A Tratie Fanfiction

.C.

   .Child of Love.

   .Katie.

   It had been days since Travis Stoll turned his back on me.

   I have been trying to talk to the boy, but he declines any invitation and waves off every small talk. Most of my Drachmas were used on trying to Iris Message him, and each time was declined, too. Paper and scrolls were low in our cabin; a result of my unanswered letters to Prankster King #1.

   Every night was restless; my thoughts were wild enough to consume every single cell in a Katie Gardner. Sleeping was useless, too, for I would stir on the first minute and wake up on the fifth. So I just lay there, staring into the empty darkness looming above me, unable to organize the raging thoughts in my mind.

   I replayed that evening a dozen times, that night when my frustration with Travis ended, that night when the son of Hermes’s lips were only inches away from mine, and that night that the love goddess was right, that I had fallen for a Stoll. Of course I did my best to conceal my feelings, avoiding him since that evening. Because who knows? What if he was just pretending to like me, assuming that he does. Or what if some of his friends just dared him to do it? Gods. Each question made my heart ache.

   Each day dragged longer than usual without Travis. It almost drove me crazy.

   Friday finally came, and soon Capture the Flag is to begin. After Solace helped me strap my armor on, he gave me a wink before leaving to help the younger campers to strap theirs on. Not even a minute has passed when Travis stood before me, all walnut colored curls (naturally windblown at moment) and striking blue eyes.

   “Kates,” was all he said.

   “Travis.”

   He reached out as if to caress my face, thought better, and quickly retreated without a second’s hesitation. All the eagerness in me was replaced with disappointment.

   Will Solace returned me to reality. The son of Apollo was ready to announce the teams.

   “Athena has allied themselves with Poseidon, Apollo, Demeter, Dionysus, Hypnos, and Hecate.” He continued, “And as usual, they get blue. Ares and allies will get red.”

   A snicker came from Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase on the word ‘blue.’ Those two spends their time seventy-six point thirty percent of—

   “Katie?” a boy in front of me asked. He still was the same one, Travis Stoll.

   Dubiously, I stared and blurted out the word: “What?”

   Travis chuckled, as if my caught-off-guard moments were his favorite show. I immediately felt the scarlet hue darkening my cheeks.

   “Good luck Gardner, and play safe,” he repeated for me before taking off with a smirk on his face.

   Nine minutes has passed and both teams haven’t even lifted a finger. The tension hung restlessly in the summer air. We all know that the children of Hermes will be the first to invade enemy territory on the eleventh minute, out of cabin pride, I don’t know. An Apollo camper overheard Chris Rodriguez talking to Clarisse la Rue about it.

   The tenth minute came.

   Will and Malcolm barked orders; and Solace’s voice echoed around us, clear and melodious as music, Malcolm’s with an air of authority, like a future politician’s. I checked my watch; it was twenty-two seconds before eight forty-one, the eleventh minute.

Fifteen seconds...

Eight...

Three...

   Everything happened all at once.