THIS IS ME TRYING

18: Strawberry Fields

Sat next to Silena was her best friend Clarisse, which made Luna confused since they were so different. Their laughs faded when Luna approached them, as Silena stood up quickly and introduced the girl to the group.

"This is Luna." She smiled, "Luna, this is Charlie and-"

"Clarisse." Luna finished, subtly rolling her eyes as she sat down next to the Hephaestus boy who smiled slightly.

Clarisse tilted her head at the girl, as she rested her back up against a fence,"So, did you tell Chiron?"

"What's it to you?" Luna shot back, mainly because she didn't particularly want to admit that she made Luke do it for her.

"Stop it." Silena complained, as she picked a strawberry from the plants behind her, "What's this even about?"

"Clarisse stole the lightning bolt," Luna blurted out confidently, "My brother told me."

Charles almost choked on the strawberry in his mouth, as he questioned, "Percy Jackson?" He shared a concerned glance with Silena, "Didn't he... well, you know... die?"

"Charlie." Silena muttered, as she nudged him. She looked at Luna sympathetically, "How'd you know he's alive? I heard something horrible happened to him."

"Yeah, he fell 630 feet, but he's okay." Luna explained, "His dad saved him."

Clarisse let out a purposeful sigh of boredom. Charles nodded, clearly impressed, "I'm not surprised. I only spoke to Percy a few times, but he seemed cool."

"Yeah." Luna smiled slightly, before asking, "So... why do you hang out in a field of strawberry's?"

"It's away from all the combat practice." Silena explained, "With the Gods going to war, we can barely get a second without some quiet."

"But the deadline was summer solstice." Luna suggested, "If Percy got the bolt back to Zeus, there shouldn't be a war between them anymore."

"If Percy got the bolt back to Zeus." Clarisse emphasised, "Who's to say he succeeded, Red?"

Charles rolled his eyes, "Clarisse."

Luna's heart dropped. Maybe Clarisse was right, she thought, Maybe Percy didn't make it.

"Come on, Clarisse." Silena sighed, "Luna has enough to think about right now, you aren't helping-"

Clarisse's smirk faulted for a split second, almost realising she had left Luna to spiral in her own mind. She chuckled, "It's a joke. I'm being realistic, Red. Not everything gets handed to you on a silver plater."

"I'm gonna go." Luna blurted out, suddenly feeling as though her time with her new friends ended so quickly. Luna got up, trying to smile at Silena and Charles as they looked at her sympathetically, and walked back through the fields towards Camp.

Behind her, she heard the voice of Charles Beckendorf, "Silena, don't. Clarisse made her upset, so Clarisse can fix it."

Silena's voice disagreed, "But, she's our friend now-"

"Seriously?" Clarisse complained.

"Clarisse." Charles warned, "Go after her and apologise."

Clarisse hated being told what to do, but she had realised that her timing of her jokes about Percy was insensitive. She tried to catch up to Luna, who continued walking quickly, as Clarisse looked back at her friends in annoyance. As she walked, Clarisse had been mentally preparing what she would say- 'I'm sorry, I'm really happy Percy's alive' seemed to be a visible lie.

"Luna, wait." Clarisse huffed, as she followed Luna inside the Hermes Cabin. She glared at a few Hermes kids, who quickly obeyed and left the cabin so the girls were alone. Clarisse folded her arms across her chest, she blamed her father for being so terrible at apologies, "Sorry... for saying that."

Luna sat down on her bunk, secretly trying to wipe away her tears so Clarisse wouldn't notice her crying. But Clarisse had noticed, and she felt awful.

"I shouldn't of said that... even though you're accusing me of stealing the-" Clarisse stopped herself from talking. She glanced at a tin of brown paint beside Luna's bunk, "I didn't know you painted."

"You don't know a lot of things, Clarisse." Luna shot back, finally looking up at the girl who stood awkwardly in front of her. Clarisse fought the urge to start arguing, making Luna realise that she was trying to be nice. Luna sighed, "I've tried to paint over the words, but some of them are actually engraved into the wood."

"What did it say?" Clarisse asked curiously, and Luna raised her eyebrows in disbelief. She defended herself, "What? You seriously think I wouldn't of owned up to it by now?"

"No." Luna retorted, "Who else would've done it other than the girl who's had a problem with me?"

"A problem?" Clarisse scoffed in disbelief, "I didn't have a problem with you, I had a problem with your attitude."

"My attitude?" Luna shot back, "Says the Ares Kid who put me in the Infirmary on my first day at Camp."

Clarisse sighed, "Listen, I-"

"You don't have to apologies just because Silena and Charles told you to." Luna interrupted.

Clarisse frowned in frustration, gritting her teeth. She wanted to say sorry, more than anything, but a wave of anger washed over her, "Fine- good! You don't deserve the apology anyway."

"You know what?" Luna stood up angrily, clenching her jaw tightly, "You're exactly like the rest of the Ares Kids-"

A sudden eruption of commotion came from outside of the Cabin: claps, cheers, shouting, gasping. Luna rushed out of the Cabin immediately, leaving Clarisse inside to reflect upon what had just happened. In the distance, two familiar kids walked alongside Chiron in his horse form- they spoke to him, explaining what had happened as the centaur frowned in concern.

Luna rushed over to the two, as they hugged each other tightly. Grover smiled, "It feels like forever. How are you?"

Luna glanced back at Clarisse, who stood outside the Hermes Cabin with her arms folded across her chest. Luna nodded, "Good, yeah. Where's Percy?"

"He went to Olympus." Annabeth explained calmly, as she placed a reassuring hand on the girl's shoulder, "He was very persistent on talking to Zeus. He'll be okay."

Luna nodded, trying to smile, but she wished her brother was here now. Grover frowned, looking over Luna's shoulder as he lowered his voice, "Why is she still here?"

"I couldn't find the right time to tell Chiron. I didn't know what to say." Luna explained truthfully, "Luke said he would do it for me, but-"

"It's complicated." Annabeth finished, as she nodded understandingly, "It's a good thing you didn't tell Chiron, the whole Camp would've gone straight to chaos. An accusation against Clarisse would've lit this whole place on fire."

a/n:
what if i told you there's only 2 chapters left....