Boy Oh Boys! (Season 1)

Chapter 3-3

"Charlie! That is coming from your oven!" Max looked worried.

"Oh no! I forgot to set the timer!" Charlie cried, throwing open the oven door and waving at the smoke with her mitt.

Coughing, she pulled out her tray of burnt cookies.

"Oops," grimaced Charlie as Seneca crossed his arms and shook his head.

~~~

"Well, I guess Chefs Club isn't for me," Charlie pouted as she carried her plate of charred cookies towards the door.

"Here, Charlie. You can have mine," smiled Max sweetly, trading her for his plate of perfectly baked snickerdoodles.

"Really? Thanks, Max!" Charlie exclaimed gratefully before stepping into the hall. "Aren't you coming?" she asked, turning back to see why her friend wasn't following.

"I am going to speak with Seneca about his recipe for a moment. I will meet you back at the dorm," Max told her pleasantly.

"Okay," Charlie waved and headed down the corridor, happily taking a sniff of the non-burnt cookies.

"It's too bad mine didn't turn out," she thought as the door at the end of a connecting hallway opened, letting in a burst of sunlight and a stampede of soccer players.

Charlie backed up, preparing to be trampled, but the boys veered through a doorway marked 'Locker Room' before reaching her.

"Come on, Captain!" the short Sparta guy named Nix paused to call out the door, then he too, bolted for the locker room. "Wait up, Zenith!" he shouted, disappearing through the doorway after his team.

"Captain?" Charlie glanced around the hallway. It was now empty. 

Curiously, she turned into the hall and crossed the tiled flooring to the door. However, before she could peer through its window, it swung open.

"Charlize!" Printz had just stepped in. His blonde hair was damp with sweat and a towel was draped over his shoulders. "What are you doing here? Were you watching practice?"

"Oh, I was just-" Charlie stammered.

"You made me cookies?! Thanks!" Printz beamed before she could answer, graciously grabbing a snickerdoodle and popping it into his mouth. "WOW! These are delicious!" he slowly licked his lips, savouring the flavor. "I take it your new extra curricular is the Chefs Club," Printz grinned, now taking the entire plate from her hands. "That was really nice of you to bring me these after practice. I'm always starving after a workout."

"I, uh-" Charlie was at a loss.

"I'll have to do something special for you next time," he said, and with a wink, strode down the hall and into the locker room.

~~~

"Charlie! What took you so long?" Demeter greeted her as soon as she entered the Athens common room. "Alright! It's cookie time!" he grinned delightedly, but his smile faded as Apollo rushed out of their bedroom looking equally as hungry.

"Okay, honey! What do you got for us?" demanded Apollo.

"You mean for me!" Demeter pushed his brother aside. "You baked your cookies for me, right?"

"Why would she do that when I'm here?" Apollo shoved him back.

"So, who are you going to give them to?" asked Demeter intently.

"Clearly, me," said Apollo. "You like me better, don't you, Charlie? I'm better looking and- wait- where are the cookies?"

Both of the twins looked at Charlie in confusion.

"I thought Max said today was cookie day in Chefs Club," Demeter frowned.

"It was," Charlie told them.

"Then where are they?" Apollo knit his brows.

"Well, you see..." Charlie began awkwardly. "They're kind of... already gone."

"What? You already ate them all?" Apollo pouted, but just then, the common room door opened and Max stepped in to join them.

"Nevermind! It's okay!" shouted Demeter excitedly, making a beeline towards Maxsim. "Max is back! His baking's the best anyways!"

"Save some for me!" Apollo also pounced towards Max and his plate of cookies, grabbing two and stuffing them in his face.

"Hey! That one was part of my share!" yelled Demeter, spitefully taking three cookies and squashing them into his own mouth.

"Umm... guys..." Max glanced anxiously at Charlie when-

"BLECK!!!" the twins spewed bits of snickerdoodle all over the floor.

"What are these, Max?" Demeter gasped in repulsion and rushed for the bathroom.

"Yeah! They taste like firewood!" Apollo gagged, following his brother out of the room.

"Hehehe... Thanks for not telling them those were the ones I made,"   Charlie blushed at Max, but he simply smiled.

"What's wrong with the twins?" Rib scurried into the room and Charlie turned to see his leg dripping with blood.

"Rib, you're a mess!" Charlie gasped, still briefly shocked by Rib's gory makeup effects.

"Sorry, but the princes kicked me out of the bathroom so they could go throw up," scowled Rib.

"But you're going to get that fake blood all over the floor," Charlie frowned.

"No! This isn't fake! I got injured at soccer practice! This blood is REAL!" Rib beamed proudly, plopping down onto the sofa and clicking on the TV. "Oh, cool! The game's on! Check it out, Max!" he added, ignoring the stain his cut was now making on the furniture and patting the cushion next to him.

"Oh! My team is winning!" Maxsim cheered, sitting upright on the sofa as though he were attending a dinner party.

"For now," Rib stuck out his tongue grumpily before turning back to the television.

"Alright Max, I don't know what you put in those cookies-" began Demeter, re-entering the room and wiping his mouth.

"If you can even call them cookies," Apollo interjected, following behind him and looking pale.

"Yeah," Demeter continued. "But you should probably never try to make those again," he finished, his face still slightly green.

Charlie turned red and glanced around evasively, but Rib shouted, quieting them down.

"Shh! The game's on!" he cried, staring intently at the screen. Falling silent, the twins also squeezed onto the sofa and took a seat.

"Charlie, will you not join us?" asked Max after a moment.

"There's room by me!" grinned Apollo. "Don't be shy!"

"That's okay," said Charlie, eyeing the over-crowded couch and taking a seat on the floor instead.

"GOOO!" Rib yelled as the onscreen gameplay continued, but Charlie's thoughts began to wander.

"I'm completely surrounded by sports... but no cheerleading," she sighed, thinking to the practices she had been missing with Posey and the rest of her old squad. "I don't want to lose my abilities. I worked really, really hard to learn it all. Maybe I should go try a few cheers," she was just telling herself when Rib's words caught her ear.

"Man, this stinks!" he slumped further into the coach. "Watching this is just making me think about the competition. Well, everything's been making me think about the competition- and how we don't get to enter."

"I know what you mean," said Demeter. "Every time I go to swim practice it's all I can think about. I really wanted to show Charlie my backstroke. And my great physique."

"And I wanted to show her how great I look in a toga," Apollo grinned, rubbing Charlie on the shoulder.

"You do know that just because it's called the Olympus Academy Olympics, we don't actually have to wear togas, right?" Demeter smacked Apollo's hand away from Charlie.

"Well, it doesn't matter anyways," groaned Rib. "We won't be wearing anything because we're not entering."

"We won't be wearing anything?????" grinned Apollo. 

"You know what I meant," Rib punched him in the arm. "We don't get to compete and it's not fair."

"Yeah," said Demeter. "Unless Pace suddenly changes his mind."

"Perhaps we can convince him," suggested Max, causing Rib to spring up almost as straight as him.

"Yes! That's what we need to do!" Rib agreed. "We just need to talk to Pace and tell him-"

"Tell me what?" Pace had just stepped into the dorm.

"Oh, we were just discussing the competition," said Rib, awkwardly ruffling his hair.

"And?" Pace looked across the sofa at each of his dormmates.

"Well, just think about it," Rib went on. "Charlie's here now... That would give us a full team again... And I'm sure she could easily fill in for... Well... You know..." Rib trailed off with a nervous chuckle.

For a long moment, Pace stared hard at Rib. He wasn't even directing his icy glare at Charlie and it still made chills run up her spine.

"No one is going to do Casey's event but me," said Pace at last, turning back for the door. "And no one is good enough to take over mine," he finished, stomping out of the dorm and down the hall.

~~~

---AUTHOR NOTE---

Hello everyone!!!

I reached 100 followers on wattpad and I say THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!

And thanks bunches for all of the get well wishes! It really helped ^_^

Also, I have been getting some seriously awesome fan art. You guys are good! I am super excited to show it all off at the end of the chapter! 

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xox Ray