It seemed like a perfect day. The sun cast a faint golden glow upon the shimmering lake water, and the cotton ball-like clouds rested like a blanket above the residents of Camp Half-Blood. It was definitely hot outside, but the scenery looked too beautiful to complain, so everybody enjoyed their day at the lake. Everything was peaceful – that is, until a deafening scream echoed across the camp that demigods everywhere knew could only mean one thing: somebody was in trouble.

This doesn't mean physical trouble, however. Nobody was about to be attacked by a monster or accidentally stabbed with a sword while sparring. No, this person was about to get a serious lecture from none other than Katie Gardner herself.

Only minutes before the scream was heard, Katie was outside in the camp garden, tending her most treasured items: the strawberry plants. Immediately after she finished picking the ripe berries and disposing of the rotten ones, she brought most of the full cartons to the Big House, keeping two for her siblings of the Demeter cabin and herself. As Katie was about to rest the two cartons on a small table in the Demeter cabin after bringing the rest to the Big House, she glanced out the window into the garden, suddenly noticing that someone was there. After moving a little closer to the window, she realized who it was. First, she noticed the wavy brown hair. Then she recognized the person's confident stance, the twinkling eyes, and the sarcastic smile aimed in her direction. The boy was, of course, Travis Stoll himself. What is he doing in my garden? Katie thought, but she knew he couldn't be there for any good reason. In fact, just as she made this realization, she noticed that Travis was holding a hose in his hand and that most importantly, it was on, and he was spraying water exactly where the strawberry plants were growing. Oh, Gods! If that idiot of a demigod is doing what I think he's doing, he's going to wish he was never born by the time I'm through with him! Katie screamed inside her head.

Sure enough, after sprinting out the cabin door and almost tripping over her own feet while running in an attempt to get to the garden as quickly as possible, Katie realized her nightmare, which was really reality, had come true. There was Travis, only a few feet from where she was standing, looking as handsome as always, while spraying water in the dirt between two rows of strawberry plants. It was a hot, sticky day, and Travis obviously decided he needed to cool off in the most annoying way possible. So what did he do?

Travis Stoll made a mudslide in Katie Gardner's garden.

And that's when Katie screamed.

"TRAVIS STOLL, WHY DO YOU ALWAYS HAVE TO RUIN EVERYTHING? YOU WALK AROUND WITH THAT STUPID SMILE LIKE YOU OWN THE CAMP, AND THEN YOU GO AND MESS EVERYTHING UP FOR ME WITH NO REGRETS! WHY DO I EVEN CONSIDER YOU TO BE MY FRIEND? YOU HAVE THAT SARCASTIC SMILE AND THOSE MISCHIEVOUS EYES, SO I CAN'T EVER STAY MAD AT YOU, BUT GUESS WHAT? I'M NOT GOING TO FALL FOR THAT SMILE OR THOSE EYES THIS TIME! I'M GOING TO SPEAK MY MIND FOR AS LONG AS I WANT! " she yelled, but right then, Katie had gotten too close to him, and she slipped in the mud, fell down, and slid all the way to the end of the garden, where the slide ended.

"Enjoying yourself, Katie? I thought you didn't want the slide in the garden, but I guess you're using it after all, huh?" Travis asked, while laughing. He flashed her one of his famous, confident grins.

In her embarrassment and anger, Katie hadn't realized how many of the other demigods had started crowding around the slide, taking in the scene and laughing hysterically. Katie turned red (much to Travis's delight), and then Connor Stoll cried, "C'mon, Katie! You know you like him! Just admit it!" At this, Travis looked at his brother and silently thanked him. Then the Aphrodite kids, who were obviously enjoying this greatly, walked over to Katie and lifted her out of the mud. They then proceeded to take her over to Travis, where she mustered up all the anger she had, ready to start yelling at him again.

But she never had the chance.

As soon as Katie parted her lips in an attempt to begin lecturing, she noticed Travis looking at her with this look of seriousness on his face and a look of love in his eyes. Katie had never seen such a serious look on that face in the past, but before she could think about it anymore, Travis leaned in and kissed her softly.

And then Katie broke.

She couldn't be upset anymore. She just couldn't. After all those years of waiting for this single moment, she decided for once that this wasn't the time to pull away and yell at him because this was the moment she had been waiting for since the day she arrived at Camp Half-Blood all those years ago, when she was about to be claimed by her mother. Katie just couldn't hold back anymore. She couldn't ignore the felling of love for him that had always been there since that day. Right then and there, for the first time in her life, Katie Gardner seized the moment before pulling away from Travis Stoll and giving him a bashful smile.

And, as always, Travis gave her that confident, sarcastic, loving smile in return.