Remember when we were little, and hitting people meant we had a crush on them?
Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson and the Olympians.
The eleven-year-old pretends she hates everybody. That she thinks everyone is beneath her and definitely not worth her attention. But no one is devoid of emotion, some people just have a funny way of expressing.
People like Clarisse.
She's already friends with him. Well—as chummy as she can get anyway; somehow he doesn't seem to notice how she's never tried to forcefully shove his head into a toilet bowl like everyone else. Or how she only calls him by his first name.
Or especially how the only form of pain she's ever inflicted on him are her usual punches to the shoulder. Okay maybe she hit's him harder than others, but she wants to leave him something to remember her by.
If she leaves a big purple bruise on his arm, he'll think of her every time he sees it. He'll think, Wow! That Clarisse sure is strong! And that's definitely the kind of thought she wants everyone to have. Especially him.
She's no daughter of Aphrodite, but she knows he shouldn't be constantly avoiding her like he is. He never sticks around long enough to talk to her.
She ponders, confused, while sitting on the porch steps of her cabin. "What am I doing wrong?" She says aloud, just as Silena Beauregard skips by.
"What?" Silena asks, pausing by the cabin.
"Nothing." Clarisse growls, trying to get the pesky daughter of Aphrodite to leave her to her thoughts. Of course, the bubbly, annoying girl doesn't leave, but instead sits beside her on a step.
"Tell me." Silena snaps. Clarisse considers explaining her situation, she could certainly use help in the whole "crush" department.
"Okay. So, I kinda… maybe sorta like this guy, and he doesn't seem to notice." She says quickly, looking away. She finds this whole conversation pathetic. She never thought she'd ever be in a position where she needed advice from a barbie-doll daughter of the love godess.
"Have you tried talking to him about it?" Silena asks, rolling her eyes.
She didn't think being so blunt was the answer. Honestly, she'd never tell this to anyone, but what she always saw on those movies with her mom back home was nothing like that. The girl always did crazy things, all while trying not to look desperate. Clarisse raises an eyebrow, "Should I?"
Sighing in exasperation, Silena gets up and wipes her skirt, "Uh, yeah! How else is he supposed to know?"
Clarisse has always been a straight-forward, in-your-face kind of person, and so she agrees to this idea. And so that's what Clarisse does, when she sees Chris at dinner.
"Hey Chris." She says, walking up to him, pointedly ignoring Silena, who's giggling and giving her an indiscreet thumbs up by her table.
"Er, h-hi." He mumbles, grimacing. Clarisse may not be the sappiest person, but it hurts her to see him cower from her.
She curls her hand into a fist, ready to slam it into his shoulder like a show of friendship, or… maybe just a little more, when he takes a tentative step back. "I gotta go, Luke's calling!" He mutters, trying to look apologetic, and stumbles away.
Clarisse doesn't feel too sad, she's more angry than anything. She puts her hands up and yells in frustration, "WHAT AM I DOING WRONG?"
Silena scurries up toward her, frowning in disappointment, "Maybe you should uh- stop with the whole punching thing…" She says, scrunching up her noise in disgust.
Clarisse just stares at her like she's an idiot, and then walks away, shaking her head and muttering about stupid daughters of Aphrodite and their stupid love advice.