"Castellan. Get your ass over here." I knew I wasn't supposed to be scared of Clarisse - I couldn't be. Well, who was I kidding? I was the son of Hermes and she was the daughter of Ares. It was clear who would win if we fought to the death. "Closer. This is top-secret." She spit her gum out so close to me that if I wasn't paying attention, I would've stepped in it. "What?" I asked.
"I dare you to get in Jackson's pants by the end of this week." I couldn't believe what I was hearing, even though it was sort of a shocking fantasy for me. Would I let anyone know that? Of course not. I didn't like the way she referred to us by our last names, but who was I to stop it? No one.
"What do you mean?" I asked, pretending to be an innocent fool even though I knew exactly what she meant. "You know what I fucking mean." She nearly ripped my shirt collar as she pushed me up against the tree. "Why do you want me to do it? I mean.. Doesn't he have Annabeth?" I questioned her without even thinking. Bad move, Luke.
"You don't question the daughter of Ares. You do what I say. And if you tell anyone what I'm telling you right now, I'll have your ass in the deepest crevices of Tartarus. You understand?" She growled. I nodded as I gulped. Clarisse is just a big bully, and that's all she is, I tried to reassure myself. Couldn't I just lie about it without ever having to speak to Percy?
"Oh, and.." She spun around. "I'll be watching you. So don't even think about coming up with any plans." I shuddered at the thought of Clarisse La Rue watching me, trying to figure out what she meant by that. Oh, come on, Luke. You're better than this. Don't surrender now.. But don't you want Percy?
What would everyone think if I actually did charm the son of Poseidon? Kronos would be so disappointed in me. But wasn't it time for me to worry about myself and what I wanted? If I had the option to, I'd drop everything and leave this place because I hated being here. But I knew it was too much of a risk to take with monsters and all, so I crossed that thought out a million times over in my head.
Nobody was in on my secret about working for Kronos yet, but nobody really enjoyed spending time with me. I believed that this camp was a lost cause for demigods who were just programmed to work for the gods. Now was our time. Aren't they old? Aren't they sick of running this place? I sighed and looked down at my reflection in the water.
The sound of crunching leaves behind me interrupted my thoughts. Not Clarisse again... I'd hoped that it wasn't my tormentor coming back for one last piece of information that she left out, but as I turned around my eyes met those mysterious green orbs of my forbidden crush. "What was that about? Clarisse seems pretty pissed off today.." He looked down at the water. "I'm not sure.. She's such a bully." I tossed a stick and watched as it sank into the deep blue abyss.
"Is she giving you trouble?" His curious green eyes wanted in on the situation. "No, umm.." I looked down at my shoes. "Well, you let me know, Luke. We've known each other since the first day I got here." He smiled.
As he turned and started to walk away, I smiled to myself. That was something I hardly ever did. I guess you could say I got my first mission accomplished... Getting Percy Jackson to care about me.