Gwen and I climbed out of the pool after a good half an hour of goofing around. Lou had joined us, as had Rachel, but the other contestants chose to stay out of the water, which in actuality was rather cold.
"Have fun?" Nico asked from his seat at the side of the pool.
"Yeah, actually." I grabbed a towel and began to undo the braid in my hair so I could dry it out.
Rachel pulled a pair of black shorts out of a small bag she had brought with her and slid them on over her green and blue one piece. "Why didn't you come in, Nico?"
"Don't like water."
"He's a son of Hades, of course he doesn't." Lou pointed out as she played with the tassels on the strange half-skirt leather...thing she was wearing.
"What is that?" I asked her.
"Not a clue. Looked cool so I asked if I could wear it."
"Huh."
"I like it." Gwen commented.
Lou opened her mouth to respond, then her eyes traveled over my shoulder and she made a face. "What is wrong with that girl?"
We turned to look who she was talking about. Unsurprisingly, it was Annabeth. She was wearing a blue bikini and high heels, with sunglasses shielding her grey eyes.
She twisted a strand of her hair around a finger as she shamelessly flirted with Jason. From the look on her face and the drink in her hand, she was tipsy.
"That girl is a cougar of the worst kind." Rachel muttered.
"No kidding." Gwen made a face. "And flirting with a guy who's taken? That's low. I hope Piper gets her."
We looked over to the daughter of Aphrodite, but it seemed that luck was not on our side. She was talking to Thalia, across the pool from the unfortunate son of Jupiter.
"What the Hades!" Annabeth's voice suddenly burst over the chattering of various conversations.
We all turned to see the daughter of Athena drenched head to toe. I frowned.
No one was in the pool. Jason, still standing next to her, was completely dry.
"What just happened?" I asked.
"Not a clue...someone did it to her?"
"But who?" Rachel pointed out.
I scanned the pool area as Annabeth continued to throw her hissy fit about being wet and hating water, blah blah blah. At first I didn't see anyone, then movement in the shadows caught my eyes.
The boy from the first mixer stood in the corner, snickering as he watched the scene in front of him.
"Nico, who's that?" I asked, pointing.
The son of Hades looked over. "No one important."
"He did it didn't he?" Gwen asked.
"Most likely." Nico said shortly.
"Alright, Miss Chase, why don't you go get cleaned up." Cupid had arrived on the scene, rolling his eyes as the daughter of Athena complained about her hair.
She huffed off.
As everyone went back to their own conversations, I turned to look for the teen. He was still chuckling, his dark hair falling in his eyes.
Who was he?
No one important.
I seriously doubted that.
The boy seemed to notice me watching him. He made eye contact with me and ducked out of view as fast as possible, headed for the door from what it looked like.
"Reyna, where are you going?" Nico asked.
I stopped, part of the way to the door. "I'm going to use the bathroom."
"Want me to come?" Gwen offered.
"Nah, I'm fine." She looked a little skeptical, but nodded and let me go.
I jogged down the hallway.
"Hey!" He heard my shout when I saw him and turned. Seeing me, he whirled and began to run.
"Oh no you don't." I muttered.
He was fast and he obviously knew the house well, but I kept up with him pretty easily.
"Come on, I just want to talk!" I lunged forward and caught him around the waist, knocking him to the floor.
"No, get off, you don't get it!" He exclaimed, squirming violently.
"Not until you talk to me."
"I'm not supposed to."
I sat on his back. "I'm not moving until you talk to me."
"Why is this so important?" He demanded, giving up and flopping on the floor.
"Because last time I saw you, you were watching me and it was creepy, and this time, you freaked out when I saw you."
"I'm not supposed to talk to the contestants."
"Who are you?"
"Technically, I'm the go-fer."
I frowned. "The what?"
"The go-fer. You know, go-fer this and go-fer that."
"The errand boy."
"Exactly. Can you get off me?"
I got up and he pushed himself to his feet.
"So, Errand Boy, you got a name?"
He looked at me. "Why do you want to know?"
"Because I do." I put my hands on my hips.
He sighed. "I'll tell you, but don't tell anyone I did, especially not Nico or the band. Don't tell the other contestants either."
"Why?"
He grunted in irritation. "Because!"
"Because why?"
"Reyna."
"How do you know my name?"
"I work here." He pointed out.
"Well now you have to tell me because you know my name and I know yours."
His green eyes flashed, partially surprise, partially irritation. "Fine."
"Thank you." I smiled.
Instead of answering, however, he dodged around me and sprinted down the hall.
"Hey!"
"My name's Percy!" He shouted over his shoulder before he disappeared around the corner.
[A/N See, told y'all he was already here! You just weren't paying attention.]