Katie normally woke up before the sun rose. The rest of the camp would still be sound asleep in their cabins, including the rest of her siblings, while she snuck out early to tend to the strawberry fields. She really looked forward to those mornings, working as the sky lightened; it was the only time she was ever alone.

This morning was no different. Katie's eyes fluttered open as soon as the sun peered around the horizon. Although it was incredibly early, she felt rested and at ease. She got out of bed, stretched a little and crept around her cabin, changing into her gardening clothes and tying her hair back. No one, not even those closest to her, knew that Katie left her cabin so early and she hoped to keep it that way.

Trying to keep as quiet as possible, she finished getting ready and swung open the cabin door, stepping onto the back porch to take in the morning. Before she could even blink, she heard a creak above her and felt a thick, chilled liquid poor over her head and coat her body.

She inwardly screamed, biting her tongue as the shock and then anger spread through her body. She stood stiffened on the porch as she exhaled sharply with her fists clenched and her face hardened. Smoke was practically blowing out of her ears.

Before she could even reason with herself, she grabbed her sword that was leaning against the wall by the door and started marching over to the Hermes Cabin.


Travis woke up way too early to the sound of pounding on his door. Although he never opened his eyes, he squinted them shut even tighter and rolled onto his stomach with a groan.

Connor, on the top bunk across from his mumbled, "Travis it's for you".

"Mmhmm," he replied, eyes still closed as he grasped his pillow tighter to his face. Other Hermes campers were grumbling and murmuring profanities under their breath as the assault on their door continued. Sleep was just about to hit Travis again when something else did. Right in the back of the head he might add.

Connor, face still buried under his blanket, threw a pillow at his brother's head, causing Travis' eyes to shoot open and glare at the Connor shaped lump under the covers.

"Hey now, no need to get -" Travis started, but was interrupted by another pillow flying at his face, this time from another one of his siblings.

"Okay, okay. I get it," he muttered as he was mentally preparing to get out of bed at gods know what hour in the morning while the ruckus at the Hermes cabin door continued. He wondered how long it had been going on.

"Hurry the fuck up," Connor groaned.

Travis, still annoyed, started to reply with a "Yeah, yeah" as he swung his legs over the side of his top bunk, but something a lot harder than a pillow struck him in the stomach, dangerously close to the no-no area. A shoe. A fucking shoe.

"Okay!" Travis yelled as he leaped off his bed, throwing the shoe back towards Connor's shape. Slowly he began trudging over to the door, eyes still half closed and scratching the back of his neck. He was only wearing sweat pants and one of the legs was scrunched up just below his knee. The elastic band of his boxers was definitely visible above the waistband of his makeshift pajamas.

He swung open the door quickly, still unimpressed with the whole waking-him-up-at-ungodly-hours situation, but rapidly had to muffle his laugh as he saw what was on the other side. Trying to hide his smile, he leaned against the doorframe and crossed his arms.

"Well good morning Katie-Kat. To what do I owe the pleasure?" Travis' voice was still husky from just waking up.

Katie huffed and put her hand on her hip while her sword hung at her side. Green paint covered her body and was caked in her brown hair. She had clearly tried to wipe off the paint from her face, but her cheeks were still tinted green, showing how red her face was underneath, probably from anger (definitely not from being flustered due to Travis' unclothed chest).

"You," Katie began, pointing her sword at the figure at the door, but was interrupted right away by a cocky Travis.

"I mean, I know you just couldn't wait to see me at class, but I never expected you to break the rules and sneak out just so you could be graced with my presence," he said with a smirk.

If it were possible, Katie's face turned even redder while she attempted her most intimidating glare, trying not to be distracted by the half naked man standing in front of her.

"You asshole!" Katie continued, making violent hand gestures while still keeping her sword pointed at Travis.

"What the Hades was that? Are you trying to make my life a living hell? I mean I get you're upset that we have to teach together, trust me, I'm not thrilled about it either, but come on. Green paint? Really?" A frown settled on her lips.

Bravely, Travis reached out his hand and stroked her cheek. "I think it brings out your eyes," he said with a grin. Although the comment was sincere, he was still trying to fight back his laughter.

Katie just scowled (again) in response and hit his hand away with the side of her sword before continuing:

"Touch me again and I won't even hesitate to cut off your hand, Stoll." Katie took a deep breath, trying to contain her anger.

"Just a couple of hours: that's all I ask for every morning to just do my thing so I can make it through the rest of the day; just so I can tolerant the shit that fucktards like you pull! How did you even know that I get up this early?!" She shouted the last question as if she was asking herself as well.

To be honest, Travis didn't know that Katie left her cabin extra early every morning. In fact, he had totally forgotten about his little prank until he opened the door. After Chiron had appointed both him and Katie to teach sword fighting together (as more campers kept pouring into camp, a lot of other senior counselors were asked to help out with classes) they both made it very clear that working civilly wasn't going to be an option. So naturally, Travis had planned something to more or less prevent Katie from showing up at the lesson that was supposed to start at 9am. Not now, at whatever time it was in the freaking morning.

She stared at the (tired and smug) son of Hermes for a couple of seconds before scowling deeper and thrusting her sword forward so it was touching Travis' chest.

Katie couldn't believe her luck. Her entire morning was spoiled just so this idiotic Hermes kid could have a laugh while attempting to keep her from teaching with him. Teeth still clenched, Katie's glare intensified as she dug her weapon a little deeper into Travis' bare skin causing him to step back. Katie wasn't really one to be hostile, but revenge via slicing Travis' head off seemed more and more appealing by the second. Not only that, but then she wouldn't have to teach with him: two birds, one stone.

Not that Travis would ever admit it, but he was pretty terrified. He swore he could see fire blazing in Katie's eyes. Anticipating that she would make another move, Travis, not taking his eyes off of her, let his hand fumble for the hilt of his sword, which was resting beside the door inside his cabin.

Not a second later, Katie violently slashed her sword at his shoulder and Travis barely had anytime to block it with his own, resulting in a loud clang. Using the advantage of weighing more than the smaller daughter of Demeter, Travis leaned on his sword causing Katie to become off balanced, separating the two demigods by her stepping back for stability.

Travis smirked overconfidently as he stabbed his blade forward, only for it to be sidestepped easily by Katie, who added to his momentum by slamming her body against his, effectively pushing him down the porch steps.

Travis landed painfully on his knees in front of his cabin and turned, still crouched down, just in time with his sword up to catch Katie's, which she had swung straight down with all her strength using both her hands. Before Travis knew what was happening, Katie brought up her foot and kicked his wrist to the side, making him let go of his blade, which slid a good 15 feet away towards the center of the cabins.

Completely unarmed with Katie's weapon pointed victoriously at his throat, Travis desperately tried a different approach:

"Okay Gardner, you win."

Katie lowered her sword, surprise etched in her features as she looked at the kneeling figure in front of her. That was her mistake. Before she could say anything, Travis grabbed one of her ankles and pulled hard, causing Katie to fall on flat on her back.

She made an "oomph" sound when she hit the ground. All the air was knocked out of her lungs as Travis swung his one knee over her hips, straddling her to pin her down.

When Katie started to raise her sword again, Travis caught her (greenish) wrists in one of his hands while he used his other one to push the weapon out of her grasp and out of reach.

Both demigods were breathing heavily and glowering at each other when a voice broke them apart.

"What in the name of the gods do you think you're doing?"

Connor, who had still been awake, heard the short battle that had been going on. Scowling, he marched towards the two on the ground and forcefully pulled on Travis' shoulders, bringing him to his feet.

"Can't you guys settle your arguments like a normal couple? You're going to wake up the entire camp!" Connor whisper yelled before turning to Travis and crossing his arms.

"You of all people know that we already have two strikes and I most certainly do not want to be responsible for cleaning the Pegasus stables all summer."

Katie bent down to pick up her sword and glared at the brothers. Travis would be lying if he said he didn't stare at her ass.

"Whatever Stoll, this isn't over," she said pointing her sword at them once again, before she shuffled away towards the showers, continuing to mumble to herself:

"Stupid Stoll with his lame, tacky prank and ruined my day and going to take forever to wash-"

"Lame?!" Travis yelled at her back while Connor shushed him.

"That prank was awesome! And what do you mean 'tacky'?" He was actually quite insulted. He had gotten the Hecate cabin to curse the bucket to release paint only on Katie and he even got some terrifying advice from the Aphrodite children about how to make permanent dye (only agreeing because they approved of him and Katie dating). After all that trouble, he expected a little more credit.

"Please Travis," Katie said still walking and not looking back. "It was hardly imaginative".

Travis stared at her back in disbelief. He picked up his sword and crept back into his cabin and leaned against the frame of his bed as his siblings continued snoring. Connor climbed back onto his bunk after shooting Travis some brotherly advice ("get your shit together and quiet the fuck down").

Travis was still offended. He was really expecting a better reaction than just a little screaming and a sword fight, not to mention Katie to skip out on class.

Travis grimaced into the darkness, wiping the excess paint off his torso and arms that he accumulated from the altercation that had happened outside. If Katie really thought that he didn't have the ability to pull off great pranks, he'd obviously just need to prove her wrong. Plus no matter how much he liked the girl, there was no way he was teaching with her.

Fine, he thought as he rushed to the door, pulling a shirt over his head, slipping on his shoes and shouldering his bag. Travis was now determined to make that girl beg for mercy.


So I know I already posted this once, but I caught a few errors and moved some of the story to the next chapter. Just want to apologize 'cause I'm still pretty new to this site. Either way though, let me know what you think. :)