Together we are Unstoppable

Chapter 15

Artemis POV

His house loomed over me like a monster waiting to swallow up its prey.

I can't do this.

I can't face him. He killed my friends. I couldn't even think about them without tearing up. No way could I talk to their killer.

You have to. They would want you to. They wouldn't want you to live like this. You're going to talk to him.

I took two steps towards the front door, then three more, and before I knew it, I was at the front door. I silently hoped that his mom didn't answer. I didn't want to be the one to tell her about the crash (knowing Damen, he probably hadn't told her yet).

Maybe I should've accepted Dwayne's offer. He said he'd come with me if I needed him.

I raised my hand up to knock but before I could knock the door swung open to reveal a still-bruised Damen holding a black duffel bag. He looked a little surprised to see me.

"Hey, um, can I talk to you for a second?" I said quickly, not wanting to give him the chance to yell at me. 

"Sure," he said, noticeably angry. I guess he was still mad at me for beating him up. He gestured for me to come inside.

We sat down in the living room. He was careful to sit a few feet away from me.

"So what did you want to talk about?" Damen asked, annoyed.

"Well... first, I need you to answer me this. Why did you crash into them?" I replied, nervously.

"If you really want to know the truth, it was because of you."

"Me?"

"Yeah, the boys and I were in the car and they were teasing me about you so I turned around to slap one of them and I guess I was going too fast and I didn't see the taxi and then we crashed."

I didn't know what to say.

"So... yeah that's what happened. And if that's all you wanted to say, I was just about to go to the Y and shoot hoops," Damen said.

"Actually, there's one more thing. I just wanted to say I'm sorry. I know that I kind of overreacted...but I just wanted to know if you would forgive me for beating the crap out of you?"

He sighed and set down his duffel bag. "I forgave you pretty quickly after that and besides, what you did was reasonable. I would've done the same thing. The real question is, will you forgive me?"

"I don't think I can do that just yet."

"Well then can I leave now?"

"Yeah, I guess," I said. It hadn't gone as well as I was hoping it would.

He walked towards the front door and I followed him. He opened the door and let me walk out. He came out and shut the door behind him.

"Bye," he said as I walked towards home. I was thinking of calling Mom and asking her to pick me up, but I kinda wanted to walk alone for a while. I needed time to think.

Damen had actually forgiven me. I didn't think he would. But then again, all I'd done was beat him up. I just hoped I could forgive him someday. The funerals were in a week. Scarlett's grandparents and Elise's dad had decided to just do it together since they had died in the same accident anyway (it might also have been because Scarlett's grandparents were relatively poor and Elise's dad was insanely rich).

I knew I'd have to attend the funeral, but I didn't really want to. I couldn't bear to see my best friends' dead bodies lathered in makeup and in fake dresses with fake smiles and I didn't want to see all of the people there who pretended to be sad and pretended to cry because they didn't want to be rude. I didn't want to see the people from our school who would be glad that they were dead. In fact, I didn't want to see anyone from our school. I didn't want to break down in front of them and forever be known as the girl that cried all the time. I didn't want to see Scar's grandpa cry for the first time. But most of all, I didn't want to be reminded of that day and how painful it was.

I was walking down Main Street when I heard the shrill school-girl scream of a high school guy. I whirled around to see a tall, blond-haired guy, being shoved against a wall by a man in black clothes. I slowly walked towards the guy, trying not to be seen by the attacker. Once I was close enough, I ran up behind the man and picked him up from the armpits. I threw him away from the high school kid and he hit the ground with a crunch. The attacker stood up and pointed a gun at me. Where did he get a gun?! He was a trained mugger, Artemis, of course he had a gun.

I chose that moment to throw the high school kid over my shoulder and high-tail it out of there. I heard a couple shots go off, but luckily none of them hit me. I ducked into a nearby bakery with the high school kid still over my shoulder.

"Excuse me, ma'am, but may I ask why you have that guy over your shoulder?" the woman behind the counter asked.

"I just... I just saved him.... from... getting mugged," I said, trying to catch my breath. Apparently, even with superstrength, it's tiring to carry someone over your shoulder and run.

I set the kid down. Oh my goodness. No way. It was James freaking Anderson.

He brushed himself off. "Um, uh thanks for the rescue... wait, you're Artemis, right? That one girl who keeps telling everyone I'm a douche?"

I blushed. "Oh, yeah, that would be me."

"Well, could you stop telling people that? I'm not that bad. I just don't like freshmen."

"Okay, I won't. And you're welcome for saving you."

"One question though, how did you pick up a grown man and throw him like 10 feet?"

"Um... lots of time at the gym?"

"Okay..." he said, clearly unconvinced.

"Well see you around James!" I said as I turned to leave.

"Bye Artemis!" he called out after me.

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"So, Artemis, I heard that someone saw you and James in the bakery together," Percy said at the dinner table.

"Okay, first of all, I was helping him, and second off, I don't even like him. Like at all. He's a total douche," I said, playing with the spaghetti noodles.

"Whatever you say..." Percy said with a smile.

"Who's James?" Mom asked, oblivious.

"He's this stupid sophomore that I helped today. We were at the bakery and I was helping him with homework," I lied. I couldn't tell Mom that I had powers. At least not yet. I think she could tell that I was lying though.

"So, Percy, how is that new computer you're working on going?" I asked, trying to change the subject.

Any talk about his computer gave him a little gleam in his eye and could make him rant for hours on end. Mom was still giving me a weird look. Probably still thinking about the James stuff. No way I'd ever like that guy.

I pretended to listen to Percy for a while, nodding at random intervals, or whenever he finished a sentence.

It was just fun watching him get excited over tiny computer parts. Like, they made him so happy. It was kinda weird.

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I hope you like it! :) If y'all have any favorite ships, I'd be glad to know them!