Percy, Tyson, and Annabeth's punishment was KP. I knew firsthand how awful that was, considering how I spent a whole month on it last summer.
The campfire that night was sort of miserable, as everyone had some sort of injury. Injured people usually don't like to sing with high spirits. I sat with my cabin, in between my half-brothers Mark and Noah. They were talking to each other across me, but I didn't really mind. I was busy trying to ignore the pain in my shoulders and the shame from losing the chariot race immediately. I was also trying to convince myself that I didn't have fun with the Stolls these past four days.
I had done a fair job of it until Madge tapped my shoulder from behind.
"Ow!" I hissed, her finger tapping right at a bird bite. "What?"
"Sorry," She didn't seem sorry. "You seemed to be having a lot of fun with the Stoll brothers today. Don't tell me you're actually becoming friends with them?"
"What?" I scoffed. "You've got it all wrong. It was a purely professional operation."
Katie piped up from next to her. "Good, because you know how we feel about that cabin. Especially those boys."
Katie was still on the rivalry, and I should be too. I was, for the most part. But she avoided them completely as opposed to my arguing.
"You know I'm not friends with them. We're always arguing, if you haven't noticed."
Madge and Katie seemed to be at least a bit satisfied with this answer, and turned back to the campfire. Apparently we weren't being subtle with our conversation, and half the Demeter cabin leaned towards me.
"You mean you're not dating?" Harper said with a shocked expression.
"What?!"
"I thought for sure you'd be together, you're always teasing each other."
"And flirting!"
I stared into the fire. Could he be flirting? No, because that's how he acts with everyone. He's just a charismatic person in general.
"Are you telling me that you all thought I was dating..." I dropped my voice to a whisper. "Connor Stoll?"
My half-siblings all nodded enthusiastically.
"Oh my god." I groaned.
I was saved from any more thinking when Tantalus took it upon himself to make an announcement.
"Well, that was lovely!" He smiled coldly. "Now, some announcements about tomorrow's schedule."
He was interrupted by Percy. "Sir." He started, standing up with Annabeth. I thought they were very brave. I knew as ridiculous as Tantalus was, he had no fear of killing or punishing campers he didn't like.
"Our kitchen boy has something to say?"
I groaned audibly at the half-assed insult, but I didn't care if Tantalus heard me.
"We have an idea to save the camp." This pricked everyone's attention. As different as everyone was, we all wanted our home to be safe. The campfire turned from its boring lint color to an orange.
"Indeed," Tantalus deadpanned. "If it has anything to do with chariots—"
"The Golden Fleece," Percy stated, unafraid. "We know where it is."
This sparked much murmuring. Annabeth went on the talk about its properties and such.
Tantalus interrupted her. "Nonsense. We don't need saving."
It was clear that no one agreed with him, as we the air hung with awkward silence. "Besides, the Sea of Monsters? That's hardly an exact location. You wouldn't even know where to look."
Percy went on to explain that he did, and listed a bunch of numbers. I wasn't stupid, I recognized them as coordinates.
"We need a quest!" Annabeth insisted.
Tantalus looked as if steam was going to come out of his ears. "Now wait just a minute..."
He was too late. We'd all started chanting. "We need a quest!"
The campfire turned from orange to yellow and grew about five feet.
"It isn't necessary!" Tantalus roared, but it was clear that he was uncomfortable.
"WE NEED A QUEST! WE NEED A QUEST!" The campers were getting impatient with Tantalus now.
"Fine!" He practically screamed. "You brats want me to assign a quest?"
"YES!"
"Very well!" He agreed, but something was off. "I shall authorize a champion to undertake this perilous journey, to retrieve the Golden Fleece and bring it back to camp. Or die trying."
Everyone cheered, but he wasn't finished.
"I will allow our champion to consult the Oracle and choose two companions for the journey. I think the choice of champion is obvious."
Percy and Annabeth were already practically on the edge of their seats. Tantalus looked at them, then continued.
"The champion should be one who has earned the camp's respect," That's when I knew he was up to something. "One who has proven resourceful in the chariot races and courageous in the defense of the camp. You shall lead this quest... Clarisse!"
My jaw dropped. Camp's respect, my ass. The fire went crazy with all the different reactions. The Ares cabin went wild, while most of Clarisse's enemies (and there were lots of them) were stunned or angry.
"I accept the quest!"
"Wait!" Percy shouted. "Grover is my friend."
"Oh, sit down!" An Ares camper shouted. "You had your chance last summer!"
He had a point. Percy had lead a quest last summer, even in his first year. Clarisse glared daggers right into his eyes.
"I accept the quest!" She repeated. "I, Clarisse, Daughter of Ares, will save the camp!"
There was immediate chaos. Campers started taking sides, throwing marshmallows and yelling. It was great fun and all, but very sticky.
"Silence, you brats!" Tantalus shouted. He went on to tell his life story, which I already knew. I zoned out, thinking about Connor and Charles and my family's words. Tantalus was still yelling, and he sent an embarrassed Clarisse to the Oracle. He dismissed us with a wave of his hand. No one objected. We didn't really want to stick around.
I went to bed that night with very much to think about. As usual. I always had something crazy to think about at camp, but this was different. Was he really flirting with me? And was I flirting back?
I had to talk to him. It was a terrible idea, and I didn't want to know the answer. Plus, I practically had a boyfriend back home anyway.
I decided that I would just watch my behavior for the rest of the summer and be more aware.
•
The next morning was full of tension. Everyone was still shaken up by the previous nights events. Percy, Annabeth, and Tyson were no-shows but I was not surprised. It was always a terrible feeling to know something is wrong but not be able to fix it.
Tantalus was in a rage, but the satyrs played to his interests and calmed him down. He sent Clarisse off with a couple of her siblings and we all waved goodbye to her from the beach. She had taken an old war ship to chase after Luke Castellans monster cruise ship.
All before breakfast. When we were finally allowed to eat, I got coffee for my drink. I'd spent almost all night staying up playing back every encounter I'd had with either Stoll brother. Stuff was starting to add up. I had only one way of knowing for sure. Aphrodite. So I tossed some of my food into the fire for her.
Immediately after breakfast, I jogged up to the Aphrodite cabin to find my friend Nat. If you could call us friends. We weren't super close, but we were both skilled in volleyball and that counted for something.
"Nat!" I called, still jogging after her. "I need to ask you something."
She stopped, and turned to me. "Yeah?"
"This is kind of awkward, but my siblings are bugging me about it. Is there any, like, tension between me and Connor? They're saying there is but I don't want to believe it." I cursed myself immediately. Tension? You're pathetic.
"You don't mean to tell me you're not together? I thought you were dating."
"Gods, why is everyone saying that?" I sighed, rubbing the bridge of my nose. "No, we're not. We're still rivals and I want to know what he's thinking."
"Well," She grinned. "All you have to do is ask him. I have a very strong feeling on what he'll say." She winked and left me alone in the mess hall.
"Get out of here!" One of the cleaning harpies hissed at me.
I trudged out and went straight back to my cabin. It was Sunday, so we had no scheduled activities.
I spent nearly the whole day trying to work up the nerve to talk to Connor. When I finally gave up my hiding and headed to the lake for a quick swim or just resting in the sun, I ran straight into the only person I was trying to avoid.
"Were you standing outside my door, Stoll?"
"Can't a guy just stand where he likes on a beautiful summer day?"
I shoved past him, but he still followed me. "Come on, Callaghan. Why are you avoiding me? I thought we had a great thing going!" He hopped out in front of me, but I didn't stop moving. I had him walking backwards.
"I'm not avoiding you, Stoll. I'm just doing my part in our relationship as rivals."
"Right." He stopped. "Rivals."
I still zipped past him towards the lake, and he left me alone for the rest of the day. Then the rest of the week.
•
hey xx i am so incredibly tired but like #whatever ig
ALSO I HOPE Y'ALL KNOW THAT WHEN I TYPE THE WHOLE # THING IN MY A/Ns I AM JOKING I DONT UNIRONICALLY DO THAT