CHAPTER ELEVEN: POOP PILE
Her day dragged on for ages, dread kicking in as it got closer and closer until she had to meet with Richard.
Honestly, she was currently blaming everything at Aphrodite, not matter how much she was uninvolved.
Tripping in front of the whole camp? Aphrodite.
Having to do cabin inspections two weeks in a row? Aphrodite.
Stepping on a snake? Aphrodite.
Have to go on a dreadful date with a guy you don't even like? Aphrodite.
The problem was, she could actually blame the last thing on her. Aphrodite had been positive that no matter what happened with Richard, Connor would want her back. It was a desperate plea at this point, both of them were beginning to move on, but she just hoped that Aphrodite was right, for her own sake.
Dinner was dreadful as usual, sipping soup that had gone cold a while ago at a large table that she shared with exactly no one. She had her head propped up with her fist, leaning over the bowl. She stirred it absentmindedly, watching the noodles spin around.
All around her, campers laughed and talked loudly, leaving her to drown out into the background.
She cursed her mother's name under her voice, yet again. Harmonia probably wasn't happy with how disrespectful of a daughter she was, but Ellie didn't really care what her mother thought of her. She had ruined everything she had going for her, and she wished she was still unclaimed pretty much every moment of every day.
"Hey," A voice called. At first, she didn't even look in the direction, assuming the person was talking to someone else. "Yo, I'm talking to you."
Her head jerked up, her eyebrows knitting in confusion. In front of her stood no other then Richard Yorks, pretty much the last person that she wanted to see at the moment.
"Mind if I sit here?" He asked, but it wasn't a question. He slid into the seat across from her without waiting for a response.
"You're supposed to sit at your own table," Ellie found herself saying. She wanted to spent as little time with him as possible.
"Pfft. Do you take me for a rule follower, Dalton?"
Ellie shrugged, looking back down at her cold soup. To be fair, she couldn't care less if he was a 'rule follower' or not. He could be a bratty rule-breaker somewhere else.
"So," He drawled out, obviously trying for a conversation. "Are you excited?"
To do what? Stick her head down a toilet? Sure, that would be better then this. She kept that to herself.
"For what?"
"Our date, of course!" He exclaimed, tapping the table excitedly. He actually looked happy about it, so she shoved down the gulp building in her stomach.
"Yeah, of course." She choked out, resulting in the cocky smirk to drawl out again. His pale skin glowed in the fiery light, produced from the torches surrounding the pavilion.
"Well, why don't we go now, then?"He asked, his deep voice purred out.
"Now?" She asked, as if she didn't hear him right. Her cold soup sounded far more better of a plan then that.
"Yes, now." Richard said, rolling his eyes. "You deaf or something, El?"
She tried to hide her cringe when he called her that. Besides, if she was supposed to date the jerk, she assumed she should get used to it.
"Sure." She found the words falling from her lips.
He grinned in such a way that Ellie thought maybe this wouldn't be so bad, after all. He seemed truly happy to spend time with her, and she suddenly felt guilty for being so judgmental to begin with. Connor was with Drew, and there was no obligation to wait for him.
He offered a hand, and she ditched her cold dinner and took off behind him. She didn't miss the two stares from Hermes' table, but she didn't even have time to process them as he pulled her away from reality.
Zeus' fist wasn't really Zeus' fist. It was more just a pile rocks on the outskirts of the camps forest. If looked at from a certain angle, it looked like a large fist. If looked at from any other angle, it looks like a pile of deer droppings. The campers are prohibited from calling it "Poop Pile", as Zeus tends to be picky about things that bear his name. Chiron believes it's disrespectful to call something a "pile of deer poop" after it was initially named after the king of the gods. Ellie wasn't too careful with her words she probably should have been after the amount of time she had stayed in the camp.
"How'd you know where this was?" She sat breathlessly as the boulder came into view. "I thought you were new."
Richard shrugged. "I had time to explore."
Ellie nodded slowly, climbing up to the top of the boulder. Richard stayed at the bottom, leaning against it lazily, as he had done with the tree.
She couldn't lie to herself. The guy was attractive, no matter how arrogant he was. As the sun fell behind the trees behind them, the moon cast a glow around his face, illuminating his brown eyes and sharp jawline.
"What would you like to do now?" His voice was softer then normal, and it brought a small smile to her face.
"What would you like to do?"
"Oh, I have a few ideas."
From the bottom of the boulder, Richard was still taller then her sitting on it. He brought her face closer with his thumb under her chin, and before she knew it, he had sealed the distance between them. His lips connected with hers.
She pulled away after the first few seconds of shock were gone.
"What is wrong with you?" She spat, hopping off the boulder.
His face screwed up in confusion, and he moved to get closer to her. "What are you talking about?"
"You-you had no right to do that!" She wiped her lips, as if she could erase what he had just done.
"Are you kidding?" He spat. "You were practically begging for it! What would you like to do?" He mocked in a high pitched voice. "Gods, are you one of those girls who lead guys on and then say they assaulted you?"
Ellie blinked back tears, stumbling backwards until her back connected with a tree. She quickly turned, facing him one last time. "Don't ever talk to me again." She whispered, her eyes burning.
Then, before he could yell anything worse, she took off for camp.
She didn't stop running until she ran into someone.
Literally. They both fell to the ground on impact. Ellie scrambled to her feet, eyes still glistening. She promised herself that she wouldn't cry until she got to her cabin. She couldn't afford to be vulnerable in front of anyone.
"Wow," The boy who she had trampled into said as he struggled to his feet. "Are you okay?"
With her vision blurred with tears that hadn't fallen yet, it took her a few seconds to realize she had ran into Connor.
"Fine." She squeaked, trying to take off, but he stood in her way of escape.
Connor narrowed his eyes. "I told you to stay away from him,"
Ellie threw her arms up. "Sorry!" She let out louder then she wanted to. A few campers who were nearby snuck glances to them. "You win, Connor! You were right, he's a dickhead! Want a medal?"
Her brain was mush. She would have never, ever even raised her voice at him if she wasn't so distraught. But her words seemed to sink in quickly, and Connor moved out of the way so that she was free to run away to the safety and isolation of her empty cabin.
She knew that she may have overreacted a tiny bit.
As she slammed the Harmonia cabin's door shut, she wasted no time in scrambling up the wooden steps, not even slowing when she stubbed her foot on the second to top step.
She collapsed onto her bed, exhausted from her emotions. Everything was so complicated. Sobs racked her body as she remembered Richard kissing her.
He had no right in taking away her first kiss.
And then, there was the slut-shaming. Had she really been teasing him? She hadn't thought so, but his explosion of anger said otherwise.
Exhaustion overtook her body eventually, and she fell into sleep.
Someone was humming.
As the scene swirled in front of her, she felt herself being enchanted by the humming. It was beautiful, the pitch was perfect.
A woman came into view, shifting blue eyes and silky brown hair that bounced when she tilted her head. She was watering some flowers outside a small cottage house. The clouds were fluffy white, exposing the brilliant blue skies. A soft breeze made goosebumps travel up her arms, a feeling that made her question if she was actually just dreaming.
"Aphrodite?" Ellie tried, looking at the familiar woman.
She turned, dropping the hot pink watering can. Her lips curled into a tight smile.
"Ellie Dalton." Her voice was sweet, but it had a dangerous edge to it.
Ellie shifted her feet. Looking at Aphrodite, she felt self-conscious and severely underdressed. Aphrodite was all decked out, dressing as if going to a fancy ancient greek party, with a chiton dress, and golden jewelry that sparkled in the sunlight.
Aphrodite neared her, smelling of roses and strawberries. She had her nose scrunched up, as if she was disappointed with her.
"I did warn you, correct?"
Ellie's heart skipped a beat.
"About what, Lady Aphrodite?" She asked carefully, her lips pressed into a thin line. At her side, her hands shook slightly.
"Don't play dumb with me, girl. I gave you a simple direction: Date the boy. Couldn't follow that one, simple, tiny rule, huh?"
Ellie shifted uncomfortably. "I-I'm sorry, ma'am. I got uncomfortable."
Aphrodite's eyes turned to dangerous slits, glaring daggers at her. Ellie wondered if she could do that literally.
"Uncomfortable?" She barked out a dry laugh. "Ask me again like I care. Here I am, trying to help, and you've not even trying to work with me."
"I-I do."
Even she would admit she found her words pathetic.
"Oh, do you now?" Aphrodite's fists clenched at her side. "I believe I mentioned that there would be consequences, didn't I? As I said before, I need people to take me seriously. I always like to start with the meek. The most craftable, in my opinion."
" Meek?" Raw anger slipped into her words. Ellie Dalton would not allow herself to be called meek. She was a survivor, a warrior of the Battle of Manhattan. She was far from meek.
"Yes, meek." Aphrodite waved her arm, dismissing her anger.
Then she smiled sickly sweet, moving so her face was inches from Ellie's. She didn't seem as gorgeous now, now that she knew the inside of her, her personality was downright mean and scary. Then again, she expected nothing less from an Olympian.
"Now, here's what's going to happen." She whispered with an angry glint in her eyes. "I'm going to teach you a lesson, and then maybe this won't have to happen again."
Ellie faltered. "A lesson?"
This time, Aphrodite didn't repeat herself, just snapping her fingers. As she did, Ellie felt a sharp crack in her arm. Instantly, she fell to the ground, clutching her injury. Her arm burned, a bruise already forming where she had heard the snap.
Boiling hot pain searing under her skin, and she bit back tears. She stopped herself from mocking Aphrodite, saying something witty like 'That's the best you got?' Because deep down, she knew that she was just touching the surface.
Aphrodite strutted over like she had time to spare. She kneeling down, and at first Ellie thought she was going to heal it, but she just pulled her hands away from the injury, and squeezed.
Ellie let out a loud cry of pain, a tear falling down down her cheeks. Her bone snapped again, collapsing against Aphrodite's power.
Then, as quick as she started, she stood. "That's your first warning. I let you go easy, remember that."
Then she waved a hand over her face, and she was gasping awake.
She was still trying to inhale enough oxygen, clutching her arm that was still blossoming in pain. Looking down, it was still broken. How was that possible, if she had just been dreaming?
She let out another small cry of pain when she tried to move it slightly. She didn't go to the infirmary much, but she figured it was must this time.
It was day now, meaning she got a full night's sleep despite everything.
She clambered down the stairs clumsily, holding her arm in a awkward position so it didn't move. She threw on a sweatshirt without looking, leaving one arm out so it didn't aggravate it.
She flew across camp with a half put on sweatshirt, a swollen broken arm, and puffy cheeks to find Will in the infirmary.
She burst into the room, where it was deadly quiet. No injured, but there was two campers milling about, she recognized them as two younger Apollo kids, Kayla and Austin.
"Get Will," She breathed. They didn't argue, just giving each other a brief look before rushing off.
Will came out from the back room quickly with Austin and Kayla trailing behind him moments later, rushing to her.
"What's wrong?" He asked her quickly, but his eye reached her arm quickly. "Ew."
"Ew," She breathed. Sweat lined the top of her forehead as the pain slowly became unbearable. "Is right."
She had broken bones before, she literally lived in a camp where young kids learned how to fight deadly monsters. But this was different, the pain was amplified, which she could also blame on Aphrodite.
Her arm was turning a horrible shade of vomit green and blue, and she could see a clear break.
"Sit down," He told her. He ran to get medical supplies. "I'll be right back!"
She wasn't going anywhere. But as he rushed away, she realized she had chosen Connor's sweatshirt. Instantly, her cheeks lit up a bright red, but it was replaced with wired fear.
What if Richard saw it? She had to date him, Aphrodite was right. She was only brushed the surface of how much pain Ellie could suffer. She tore off the sweatshirt, leaving her in just a t-shirt against the frigid weather.
Will came back with Austin. He made Austin carry everything behind him, and the poor boy struggled to keep up with the older boy.
"What happened?" Will asked. Ellie opened her mouth to reply, but what was she supposed to say? Aphrodite broke her arm?
"I don't know." She whispered, squeezing her eyes shut as the pain flared up again. "Just-please help me."
"Hey, that's what I'm here for. Hold still."
He grabbed a bottle of nectar, and poured it over the skin.
For a second, nothing happened.
Then, Ellie jumped straight up, letting out a loud cry of pain.
"Holy sh-Ow! OW! Take it off, oh my gods, take it off!"
"It's gonna hurt for just a second," Will promised, but it did not follow through.
Ellie was crying, again, as her wound rejected the nectar. The golden liquid bubbled around it, creating an even more unbearable pain. It was boiling hot, seeping into her skin, but doing more then damage.
"Please!" She cried. "Please, take it off!"
Panicked, Will wiped off the nectar with his sleeve, and Ellie sunk back into the cot.
"What in Hades?" Will whispered, sharing an equally confused look with Austin.
Ellie knew she had to come clean, it would make no sense if she didn't. Aphrodite had cursed the wound with her godly power, meaning godly medical tools had no use against it.
"Aphrodite..." She croaked. "It was Aphrodite."
"Aphrodite?" Austin blurted, eyes wide.
"What in Tartarus did you do to her?" Will asked her.
She grimaced in pain again, clutching the even bigger wound then it was before she arrived in the infirmary.
"Doesn't matter." Ellie muttered. "Godly medicine won't work. You have to use mortal stuff." She cast a doubtful glance to him. "You..you do have mortal stuff, right?"
Will nodded quickly, still looking confused. He beckoned Austin to go find it. The young son of Apollo rushed off to go get it, knocking a bedside table aside as he scrambled to help.
Will leaned over, peering at the wound. "Wha-what even-"
"I didn't listen to her." She tried to play it off, as if it didn't rattle her.
Will went to ask more, but Austin ran back with a box of medical supplies.
Will raised an eyebrow. "Now, hold still. This is going to hurt."