"Connor Stoll!" Lou Ellen screeched at the innocent-looking boy in front of her.
"I'm sorry, Lou!" Connor blurted out.
"Don't call me that." Lou Ellen said in a surprisingly steady tone of voice. "My name is Lou Ellen."
"But you have to admit," Connor continued as though she hadn't spoken. "It was pretty funny."
"It was not funny at all! Lou Ellen roared. "How could you possibly think that painting the Ares cabin bright pink and then blaming the Hecate cabin was a good idea?"
"It seemed hilarious at the time!" Connor defended.
"There he is!" A loud yell sounded across the camp. Connor turned white and leaped behind a nearby tree.
Clarisse La Rue came racing into view. "Lou Ellen! Where's that Stoll punk?"
"What are you talking about?" Lou Ellen asked innocently.
Connor gaped in astonishment from behind the tree. It took all of Lou Ellen's power not to roll her eyes.
"Don't play dumb." Clarisse snapped. "I saw him here, talking to you."
"That was Travis." Lou Ellen replied. "You know, he's really gotten a lot tamer and sweeter recently. He hasn't pulled very many pranks."
Clarisse sighed loudly. "Where did he go? Maybe he knows where his good-for-nothing brother is."
Lou Ellen pointed down toward the dining pavilion, far away from where she was standing. "He went that way."
"Thanks." Clarisse growled, before taking off.
Connor emerged from his hiding spot, grinning madly. "Thanks, Lou Ellen."
"Don't think you're getting off yet." Lou Ellen warned.
Connor shrugged. "What can I do to make it up to you?"
Lou Ellen paused, surprised that he was so willing to make it up to her. "I'll – let's just say you owe me one, okay?"
"Sure." Connor nodded.
"You know what I find a little strange?" Lou Ellen asked as they gravitated down toward the lake. "That Travis doesn't really prank anymore. Didn't the two of you used to be inseparable pranksters?"
Connor pinched his lips together. "Like you said, he's gotten a lot tamer and sweeter."
"Why?" Lou Ellen asked.
"Katie Gardner." Connor grumbled.
"Katie Gardner?" It was Lou Ellen's turn to pinch her lips. Katie Gardner was famous for her long, sharp lectures and her love for rules. Lou Ellen had had more than her fair share of run-ins with the frigid camper, mostly because some of her younger brothers loved to play in the Demeter cabin gardens.
"Travis has gone and decided that he likes her." Connor explained. "And I swear, she's changed him! He's even started combing his hair in the morning!"
"Oh, the horror." Lou Ellen said sarcastically.
"Exactly!" Connor threw his hands up in the air. "I don't know what to do anymore. Travis was my best friend. Now that stupid Demeter chick has stolen him from me."
Lou Ellen felt a sudden surge of sympathy for Connor – and a realization. No wonder Connor had been pranking campers like crazy. He must have been going insane without his brother.
"You should prank Katie Gardner." Lou Ellen suggested under her breath. "I'd help you, if you wanted."
Connor turned to her in shock, but she stared straight ahead.
"And if you tell anyone about it, I'll deny it and turn you in to the Ares cabin."
A few days later, Connor and Lou Ellen were sitting near some trees, waiting for the conch shell to signal dinner.
"Do you have the supplies?" Lou Ellen asked.
"Check." Connor grinned. "Are you ready?"
"Check." Lou Ellen smiled. She took the camera from Connor's hands and grinned.
Soon, a huge crowd of kids was headed for the dining pavilion. As soon as silence fell, the two pranksters-in-crime crept toward the Demeter cabin.
Connor eased the door open.
The Demeter cabin was set up so that there was a sink outside of the bathroom. The numerous Demeter children left their toothbrushes (neatly labeled, of course) right by the sink, so they could brush their teeth even if someone was in the bathroom.
Lou Ellen plucked out Katie's and replaced it with an exactly identical toothbrush. This toothbrush, however, had been soaking in some diluted hot chili peppers for over four nights.
Connor fitted the camera so that it would capture everything.
Then, after discarding the toothbrush, the two of them snuck out.
"Travis!" Katie squealed. "We shouldn't be in here."
Travis grinned, pulling her onto her bed. "Who's going to tell?"
"What if we get caught?" Katie asked.
"Then I will make up an excuse." Travis promised. "Come on, Kit-Kat, it'll be fine."
"Don't call me that." Katie murmured absently. She put her arms around her boyfriend and smiled as he kissed the top of her head.
"Don't worry. Your cabin won't be back until after the campfire. And, worse come worse, we can go to mine." Travis offered.
Katie wrinkled her nose. "I'd rather not. Your brother hates me."
"Connor doesn't hate you." Travis chuckled.
"He left me a note saying that he hated me." Katie reminded him.
Travis wrapped his arms around her and sighed. "He'll come around, babe. He has too."
Around ten o'clock, Travis wrapped the blankets around his sleeping girlfriend and left the cabin.
Around eleven thirty, Katie woke up with a start. Realizing that she'd forgotten to change into pajamas and brush her teeth, she got up.
The toothbrush landed on her teeth, and it tasted like strawberry – that was the kind of toothpaste she used.
"YLAAAARRRGGGGHHHHHHH HHHHHHHHOOOOOOOOOOTTHHHHHHH!"
Three glasses of water, two shrieks of horror, and one irritated cabin later, Katie managed to calm down. She promptly picked up the toothbrush and hurled it out the window, and then washed her hands five times.
"Katie, just relax." Miranda yawned. "It's gone now."
"I can still taste it." Katie winced. "I'm going out of a walk, okay? I can't sleep now."
"Just keep an eye out for the harpies." Daisy warned.
Katie managed a smile. "They won't come out for a while."
"Lou!" Connor hissed. "Lou Ellen!"
The door to the Hecate cabin opened ever-so-slightly. "What do you want, Connor? It's the middle of the night!"
"Lou, I've got the camera." Connor whispered. He whipped it out with a flourish. "And I've got blackmail material."
Lou Ellen was out in a flash. "We'd better get away from everyone else. They might wake up."
The two of them walked a considerable distance away from the cabins. Lou Ellen was practically dancing in anticipation.
Finally! A way to get Gardner to stop bugging my cabin!
Connor at last pulled the camera up.
Numerous kids came up and brushed their teeth. A few brushed their hair, and a couple inspected their reflections carefully in the mirror. Katie didn't show up.
He fast forwarded. Suddenly, he caught sight of Katie approaching the mirror. He hit play.
She put the brush in her mouth. Her expression didn't change.
And then the screen went blank.
"What happened?" Lou Ellen asked, sinking in disappointment. "Did the camera run out of charge?"
"No." Connor shook his head. "My dad gave it to me for my birthday. It doesn't run on battery. And it never fails."
Lou Ellen frowned. "Then what happened?"
Connor shook in head in bewilderment. "I don't know."
Katie knocked on the door of the Hermes cabin, hoping that Connor Stoll wouldn't be the one to open it. She heard shuffling, and then Travis popped into view.
"Katie?" He mumbled sleepily. "What's the matter?"
"It's your brother, that's the matter." Katie said crossly. "He pranked me!"
"How do you know?" Travis asked.
"Travis, you and Connor are the only ones who prank anyone, and you've pretty much stopped." Katie pointed out. "It has to be him. Besides, I told you he didn't like me."
Travis closed the door behind him and put his arms around Katie. "What did he do?"
Katie pouted. "He switched my toothbrush for one that was super spicy. I almost died after I put it in my mouth."
Travis's mouth twitched.
"It's not funny!" Katie burst out.
"No, no." Travis quickly reassured her. "I was just…did he dry to get a video or something?"
Katie smirked. "He tried."
"What did you do?" Travis asked nervously, thinking of the camera his father had given Connor.
"I just deleted everything that had to do with me, up until I put the toothbrush in my mouth." Katie confessed. "So it looks like nothing happened."
Travis buried his face in her hair. "I'll make a prankster out of you yet."
"No you won't. I'm a stickler for the rules, and you know it." Katie mumbled.
"How about you slide on that rule just once?" Travis requested. "You and I – we'll prank Connor."
Katie bit her lip. "That'll just make things worse, won't it?"
"Trust me." Travis whispered into her ear. "I know my brother."
Connor felt awful. He'd been so excited about pranking getting blackmail on Katie Gardner; the disappointment was almost crushing him. And he knew Lou Ellen probably felt the same way.
"You know, maybe this is a sign." Lou Ellen sighed slightly.
"Sign?" Connor grunted.
"That we should stop hating Gardner so much." Lou Ellen explained. "I mean, she's never really done anything bad to either of us."
"She took away my closest friend." Connor reminded her. "She must be stopped."
Lou Ellen rolled her eyes. "You watch too many movies."
"No I don't. Demigods and technology don't mix, remember?"
"Whatever." Lou Ellen grumbled.
Connor sighed, letting his camera drop onto the ground. "I know what you mean. But she's just so…ugh."
Lou Ellen raised an eyebrow. "Wow, what a description."
"You know what I mean." Connor replied. "I guess we should go back to our cabin now."
There was silence. Neither really wanted to be alone.
"I guess we could take a walk, if you wanted." Lou Ellen suggested timidly.
She'd never ever done anything "timidly" before. If she wanted it, she got it. She didn't yet know if she liked the change or not.
They stood up, and she reached down for the camera. When she did, she noticed that there were some strong strawberry vines wrapping around it.
"Uh – Connor?"
The vines picked up the camera and slowly carried away. In shock, Connor and Lou Ellen followed.
"What's going on?" Connor asked.
"It's not magic." Lou Ellen whispered back.
They followed it all the way to the edge of the forest.
Then, it stopped.
Connor and Lou Ellen turned to look at each other in the ensuing silence.
"BOO!"
Lou Ellen screamed like a little girl.
Connor screamed like a little girl.
Katie Gardner and Travis Stoll laughed like maniacs.
"Oh, that was beautiful!" Travis wiped his eye. He turned and high fived Katie, who was still giggling. "You have got to do this more often."
"That was you?" Connor yelped. "You almost gave me a heart attack!"
"You freak me out!" Lou Ellen accused.
"Like the way you two made me freak out over my toothbrush?" Katie raised an eyebrow.
Connor and Lou Ellen looked at the ground guiltily.
Katie turned triumphantly to Travis, who was still grinning widely. "That was still the most beautiful prank I've ever seen. Planned, executed, and enjoyed all by my beautiful girlfriend. And she tampered with the camera before you got it back, Connor."
"I can see why you would enjoy this." Katie admitted. Then she sobered. "But I am never doing it again. We've broken so many rules just doing this."
"I have to admit," Connor mumbled. "I did not think you were capable of doing something this cool."
"Yeah." Lou Ellen agreed. "I kind of thought you were lame, and a little stuck up."
"I am lame and stuck up." Katie stuck out her chin. "But that doesn't give you the right to prank me."
The culprits took a deep breath, preparing themselves for a long earful.
"Come on, Kit-Kat." Travis stepped forward, gently diffusing her temper with a quick kiss on her cheek. "Let's get back before the harpies come out."
Katie yawned. "Yeah, I am a little tired. I guess we should go. But you two; don't ever do that to me – or anyone – again."
Connor watched his brother and his (probably) soon-to-be-sister-in-law walk away.
"Getting caught sucks." Lou Ellen noted. "But pranking is fun."
Connor turned to her and grinned. He quickly dropped to one knee in front of her. "Lou, would you do me the honor of becoming my lawfully bound partner-in-pranks?"
"Only if you stop calling me Lou. It's Lou Ellen." Lou Ellen stifled a laugh. "But yes. I accept."