Words Like Water, Challenge Entry Quote: A good reason to keep a small circle of friends is that three out of four murders are committed by someone who knew the victim – George Carlin.

..-o-..

Let's be honest. He knew this would happen someday. He just hoped it would happen later on.

Because hoping has never hurt anybody, right?

But when it comes to Patrick Dare, hoping has never done a thing for him. He didn't build one of the biggest companies in America hoping. Hell, no. He worked hard for that, making uncountable sacrifices and monumental efforts for years, breaking his back to guarantee economical stability and absolute comfort to his family, to ensure the life of luxury they were used to. He had even agreed with his wife's decision to have one – and only one – child, even though he had always wanted a numerous family. And when Rachel grew older and began to take interest in things such as stopping pollution and saving animals from extinction and raising funds for the poor and homeless, he tried to listen to her. He even tried to incorporate some of her wacko ideas to his corporate plans, just to keep his little girl close to him a little longer.

So, if he had made so many sacrifices in order to succeed, why couldn't his daughter make the tiny effort to stay in the damn finishing school?

Ever since Rachel turned thirteen, she had seemed to try her best to give her father an aneurism by doing things he considered inappropriate for a heiress to do, like marching in front of makeup factories to stop animal-testing. But he guessed things really got serious a while after she turned fourteen. She came home from a tour at Hoover Dam (How the hell did she make it there by herself?), her green eyes wide, babbling about skeleton warriors and pens that turned into bronze swords.

And then she turned fifteen and blew up a school.

It wasn't really Rachel, he knew. Some eye-witnesses had told the police they saw a boy run out a blazing hole in the wall, Patrick's redheaded daughter trailing behind. Patrick really had no idea what in the world happened (Rachel wouldn't tell him), but what he did know was that he didn't want that teenage delinquent anywhere nearby his daughter.

Of course, said teenage delinquent ended up being his daughter's best friend. He knew Rachel thought he was a snob, and he knew that's what she told all of her weird friends, but seriously, was it too much to ask for his daughter to get some decent friends? The people she surrounded herself with were either tortured artists (coughhipsterscough), not nearly as rich as their family was, or had a significant criminal record, sometimes all three at once. His worry was this: Rachel was an only child. If she never married – and with the company she kept, he seriously hoped she never did – who would carry on the greatness of Dare Inc.? Even worse, he wasn't sure her questionable friendships were safe. What if one of them stole from her? What if one of them kidnapped her? And if they murdered her and disappeared so he couldn't do a thing?

And now, in the middle of a very important meeting in London, he gets a call from Clarion's telling him Rachel has run away. In one of his company's helicopters. Heading for New York.

And so the shit hit the fan.

What angers him the most is the empty tone his assistant uses when she tells him this.

"Rachel's missing", with a 'Good riddance' implied in the tone.

And he knows many of his partners will sigh in relief; they're rather afraid of the boss's kid.

But he's pissed.

There's a brief moment of silence. You could hear a pinprick drop.

"What?" His voice is plain, monotone, empty, yet it lets others know something important is about to go down.

"She left in the middle of her History class," said the assistant, reading the details off a note.

Patrick sighs and rubs his temples. "Can I get an aspirin?"

The assistant nods, her brown hair bouncing. "Yes, sir."

He decides that Rachel should fight her own battles and face the consequences of her actions. Namely, he won't do anything this time.

And then, she tells him she's going to summer camp. Camp Half-Blood, no less. He knows nothing about this place, and apparently no one else does, either. Nobody's ever seen it or heard about it. All he knows is what Rachel has told him (Camp Half-Blood? Oh, it's awesome! Percy and Annabeth and the others go there), and he doesn't trust her opinion that much (Well, honey, I don't think that necessarily means you should go). Of course, Rachel goes there anyway. Every summer. And she never calls. Nor does she write, or send smoke signals, or anything to tell him she's fine, alive and kicking.

And it kills him. If he's made so many sacrifices, why can't his daughter return the favor?

Why does he never get any love?

..-o-..

(A/N): T-t-t-that's it, folks! I'm sorry if it wasn't as funny or great as expected, but I wanted to try something a little bit more serious. Namely, character exploration. Maybe you've already noticed, but people sometimes take certain characters (such as Mrs. Chase, Mr. D, Rachel's parents, etc.) and make them antagonists because it feels only natural to hate them. But, in the end, these characters find a way to redeem themselves and end up in the readers' good side. Mrs. Chase had her chance, so did Mr. D, but I though Hey, what about Mr. Dare? Then I read that quote and began thinking. Wasn't Mr. Dare worried about Rachel? Sure, he's snobby and filthy rich, but he still cares. It's hard to ignore someone like Rachel Elizabeth Dare, and it's even harder to ignore her when she gets demigod friends. So, considering Mr. Dare's snobbish persona and Rachel's questionable criteria for friendship, isn't the quote just perfect? Well, it is to me. It's loosely based.

I loved the quote. Didn't you love the quote? Lovely, lovely cynical quote…

As stated above, this is my entry for the Words Like Water first round in the Quote category. Please rate!