~Chapter 24~
Clarence
Spying on her cousin and best friend – with her rival, not to mention – was one of the things she regrets. She feared that Ami might hate her for doing that. And she had to agree to Ash’s stupid plan then end up being soaked in the cold river water. At least Ash pushing her into the river interrupted Jed and Ami’s big cheesy romantic kiss. It seemed like seeing her cousin and Ami kiss was a nightmare to her. Though, unlike Ash, she’s going to apologize to the both of them.
Honestly, she felt a little jealous and left out because of Jed and Ami’s growing relationship. If they dated, she would have no more time for Ami and she was sure Ash would feel the same towards Jed. It’s going to be hard having a lovesick best friend and leaving you with your rival to be the third wheels.
She would spend time with Gerald, though. Clarence would tell him everything: her problems, her dreams, her hobbies – as if he was her diary. He was a good listener and always gives her advice for all that. She can’t believe people judge him for a lonely person right away. Gerald was more than that. They just couldn’t see that fact.
“Ash, I have a million reasons for this to backfire,” Clarence told him while they sat by the archery site. They went to their first lesson early to discuss how they’re going to make it up to their best friends.
“It’s going to be okay, Clarence. You said so yourself that Ami liked surprises.” Ash assured her. Clarence still doubted this whole thing.
“But still…this could go wrong.”
He sighed, “Look, this could go wrong but we won’t let that happen. Jed and Ami deserve to be together and we won’t ruin that. Later at night, we’re going to send them notes, telling them to go to the woods. There, we set up this dinner table and food to eat and they’ll enjoy a nice relaxing date. A real date.”
“And nothing could go wrong…right?”
“Yeah, so stop worrying about it.”
If they were going to upset Ami and Jed again…Clarence wouldn’t know what to do. She’s her best friend and he’s her cousin so she wouldn’t want them to hold a grudge against her. Ash was too determined in this plan.
“Alright, take your places! The lessons will be starting!” Darwin Charlton, a son of Apollo who is teaching archery announced. Clarence and Ash stood up from the grass and made their way towards the crowd.
Darwin was best archer in the whole camp – or at least that’s what the camp thinks. He always bragged about how he would get the bull’s eye and not miss any shot. Clarence would always snort at that fact.
Darwin called out names from the clipboard and told the demigods to shoot the targets. Ash’s name was called, so he jogged up in front of a target, kept his distance, and aimed the arrow. He wasn’t any good in archery so his first arrow was released and ended up less than two feet from him.
Clarence watched him aim another arrow. This time, it landed on the edge of the target. She chuckled a little while he was struggling to put another arrow on the bow. Watching Ash fail was so amusing to her.
When he finally got the arrow into position, he released it and it landed on…Darwin. Fortunately, it wasn’t fired strongly so it didn’t hurt one bit. But Darwin was angered and he went up to Ash and began yelling at him.
Without even thinking, Clarence marched up to the two. I little circle of demigods was formed around them. She pushed through the crowd and glared at the teacher.
“Harper, what the hell?! All I ask is to fire arrows at that target and you shoot them at me? You think this is funny?” Darwin told Ash.
“You shouldn’t get mad at people because they make mistakes,” Clarence stood in front of Ash and crossed her arms.
Darwin laughed, “What? Can you shoot an arrow properly? Protecting your little boyfriend, huh?”
She clenched her fists, “If I were to shoot you, then I’d aim it straight towards your chest.”
“Do you want a challenge?”
“Bring it on.”
He smirked, “Then it’ll be an archer’s challenge. We shoot arrows…blindfolded.”
“I’m in.”
They shook hands and got prepared for the challenge. The demigods were so interested in this archery fight that they stayed around to watch it and ignored their lessons. Before it started, Ash pulled aside Clarence.
“You know, I don’t want you standing up for me like that. It makes me seem like I’m weak, Clarence.”
“This isn’t for you, Ash. I need to teach that jerk a huge lesson.”
“Are you sure you can win against him?”
“When did I ever lose a fight?”
Ash rolled his eyes as Clarence marched over to where Darwin was. He was already blindfolded and was preparing to shoot an arrow. He released it and it went flying to the sky then dropped to the grass causing Ash and Clarence to snicker.
He fired the second arrow, and it whizzed past the target, barely missing it. Clarence knew he had no clue that he was losing. A few demigods chuckled at his failure.
The third arrow was shot, and miraculously, it bounced off the target and into the grass. Clarence burst into a fit of giggles. Darwin opened his blindfold and scowled. He turned to Clarence, “Your turn.”
She smirked and grabbed her own bow and arrows. She tied a blindfold over her eyes and made sure she couldn’t see at thing. In her mind, she was already using her photographic memory and was visualizing the target. She grabbed a silver arrow from her quiver and positioned it properly on the bow.
She stretched the bow and in no time, the arrow was released. All Clarence heard around her was silence. She didn’t know if she hit the target or not, but she took out another arrow and aimed it. With her unique memory, it is as if she wasn’t blindfolded at all or the blindfold was see-through. This time, she pictured an arrow already on the center of the target.
She fired the second then last arrow and it was the same. Everything was silent. After she fired the last arrow, she smirked in satisfaction when she saw the three arrows hit bull’s eye. Darwin was glaring at her and Ash was laughing like the others.
“See? I told you I could do it!” she told Ash.
He merely smiled and nodded his head.
~ΔΟΛ~ ΔΟΛ~ ΔΟΛ~
After dinner, when the sun already sank, Clarence and Ash put their plan in action. Luckily for them, there were no arguments or fights during the set up. Actually, Clarence found it really silent and quiet. She and Ash would just put the table and chairs there, cover it with a fresh soft white cloth, place the porcelain plates, added some wine glasses to make it classy, and finally, a candle in the middle of the table.
Clarence wondered why Ash was so determined to get Jed and Ami together. Yeah, Jed was his best friend, but she didn’t know he valued their friendship so much that he would set up a romantic dinner for the girl his best friend likes. Ash told her to shut up and just go along with the plan. Once they were done fixing the place up, it was not that bad. The both of them already sent hand-written messages to them, telling them to go to the woods and wear something.
For Ami, Clarence picked out a pinkish red dress that reached above her knees and had a sweet heart neckline. It was glittery and matched the stilettos she also sent her. She hoped Ami would put on makeup and do her hair for the date. She made sure, in the note, to blackmail Ami into going there.
Meanwhile, for Jed, Ash gave him a note, blackmailing him like Clarence did with Ami and also sent him a white dress shirt and slacks along with some polished leather shoes. They’d come in the woods in fifteen minutes.
Ash dressed himself in slacks, a dress shirt and a black vest with a bow tie, making him look like a waiter. Clarence wore a white blouse and a pencil skirt with black heels then made sure to apply some makeup. When they were all settled, they waited for the two lovebirds to come.
“What if, after this, Jed would finally ask Ami to be his girlfriend?” Clarence wondered whilst they sat below the trees, waiting for them.
“They’re not lovesick, Clarence. Everything would be just as it is.”
“Well, I hope so. It’s kinda hard for you when your cousin and best friend goes into a relationship. I feel like a third wheel.”
“We both care for them. And we should make sure they’re happy.”
Clarence turned to Ash and gave him a small smile. Nothing in this dinner could possibly backfire.
A little while after that, Ami and Jed showed up in the place. They both gawked at the candle-lit dinner in front of them. They wore the clothes sent to them and fixed themselves up for a date. Ash and Clarence watched eagerly.
“Did you do this?” Ami asked.
Jed shook his head, looking as surprised as her. Ash grabbed Clarence’s hand and they came out of their hiding.
“You two may sit down, now.” Ash said as Clarence and he walked up to the table. Ami and Jed took their seats, smiling ear to ear.
“Guys,” Clarence started, “We’re really sorry for spying on you a few days ago and not trusting you so we set up this little date. I hope you two can forgive us.”
Ami beamed at her best friend, “This is wonderful. Thank you.”
After that, Ash and Clarence left them alone in their date. Clarence made sure to light up the stars brighter and make the sky more scenic for the both of them. The two demigods changed out of their outfits in the cabin. Clarence decided not to sleep yet so she perched herself on the cabin roof and hugged her knees, watching the stars.
“You’re still stargazing, are you?” A voice asked from below her. She looked down and saw Ash there.
“Why are you not asleep?” she asked.
Ash shrugged, “I can’t sleep. Can you bring me up?”
She nodded and summoned the stars then brought Ash up to the roof. He sat beside her, staring upwards as well. Clarence remembered when they spied on Ami and Jed. They seemed to get along and share jokes every now and then and she’ll see the good side of Ash. When he pushed her to the river, she felt angry towards him and now, they’re here, watching the stars together.
Ash used to persuade her to tell her secrets, but he was pretty unreadable himself. She realized she knew less about him and his family. She heard from Jed that he left his family and went to Demicamp and that he refused to tell anyone about his personal stuff. Though, Clarence knew he was hiding something, too. Something painful, that Clarence could relate to her hating Artemis. Ash was never open towards her but she felt like he should be telling her something.
“You know, I can’t really understand you.” Clarence said all of a sudden.
“What do you mean?”
“It’s just that…one day we get along and chat about some stuff and actually work together then the next day you’re all grumpy and pissed at me. What are you? Bipolar?”
“I didn’t…” he trailed off, not even looking at her.
“You didn’t what? Tell me, please.”
“I didn’t want to get closer to you.”
What does he mean by that? Clarence wondered. Was he drawn to her somehow? “See?” she said, “You’re all confusing.”
“Then what do you want me to do?”
“You know about me. About my family, who I really am, why I am so special, what my past is…practically my whole life. And I don’t know your story.”
Ash stared at her, his mesmerizing green eyes looking straight at her bright blue orbs. He seemed to be searching her face, for something. His eyes roamed her eyes then down to her…lips. Clarence stared back, hoping he could tell her everything for once. Deep beneath his eyes were worry, pain and anger.
“Tell me,” Clarence begged once again.
“I left my family when I was twelve,” he began, his gaze averted. His eyes stared into everything but Clarence. “My mother was caring and soft; I was surprised Ares would even fall for her. She was different. After I was born, she married another guy and he became my stepdad. They had two children: a girl then a boy. I was close towards my sibling back then and acted like how a big brother should be. When one day, my mom told me I was a demigod, I grew distant to my family. Finally, I decided to run away to protect them. I can’t risk them being attacked by monsters. We lived in San Francisco and I spent about a year fighting monsters, training myself and traveling to camp.”
He took a deep breath and paused. Then he continued, “I never called them or visited them once. I knew they would hate me for leaving them…I didn’t belong to them.”
After a long silence, Clarence spoke softly, “Ash, they’re still your family. If you care for them, then of course they’d care for you, too. At least you have a mother who loves you instead of an annoying prick for a mom. At least you have siblings that are always there for you instead of being the only child and a one of a kind demigod.”
“How about you? People keep on telling you your mother loves you but you don’t believe them. You haven’t even given her a chance to talk to you properly. You always focus on the mistakes she’d done rather than what she did for you.”
Clarence pursed her lips. He was right. Maybe Artemis didn’t hate her at all.
“Do you hate her now?” Ash questioned.
“I wanted to believe that she was a good mother…but I just couldn’t…ugh,” a single tear escaped from her eye, “Maybe I was the wrong one. Maybe she wasn’t rejecting me as her daughter and I was the one who rejected her as my mother…”
He gave her a sad smile and wiped away the tear, “Hey, don’t cry. We all make mistakes.”
She smiled back, “Yeah…and I regret those mistakes that I’ve done…”
She stared up at the sky. Ash has finally opened up to her – and so did she to him. If she got the chance to talk to her mother again, she would open up to her and expect that Artemis would accept her. Ash helped him realize that she was just pushing away the people who actually care for her and loved her. Clarence felt like there was a huge weight lifted off her shoulders.
She felt her heart was lighter.
~ΔΟΛ~ ΔΟΛ~ ΔΟΛ~
I know, I know, a very craffy, shizzy and short chapter. I hate it. I hate it. I hate it.
But since I missed Clarence, I brought back her POV
Okay, the chapters are getting really short lately because I'm not sure if it's writer's block or I'm just lazy to think of new ideas. But don't worry, I'll do my best to update everyday. Though, things are gunna change once school starts...
-Vireen, Daughter of Riches