edited on 4.4.15
Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson.
Clarisse Pov
I sat next to Chase. We were all meeting to discuss what to do about Kronos (Luke) and his army.
One of the members of the Hermes cabin (not one of the Stolls. Travis was flirting with Gardner and Conner was sleeping.) was talking.
I gripped my knife.
He thought we should kill the demigods who betrayed us. My eyes found Charles. He looked in pain.
I stood up and threw my knife at the kid. It landed in front of him a millimeter where his hands were. I glared at him as everyone stared at us.
"We will not kill them!"
"It makes sense! They are traitors!"
The kid was pushing his luck. The Stolls were trying to get him to shut up. No one messed with me. Only Chase or Jackson could get away with it.
"They are our family and friends."
We stared arguing.
A clearing of the throat made us turn.
It was Chase. We were kind of friends. She was still annoying and Jackson has still yet to make a move.
She was looking at us.
"Clarisse is right. No killing. We need to bring them here. We can keep them as our prisoner and ask them questions."
She turned to Nyssa. "Can your cabin make a small prison?"
The girl nodded and left to get to work.
The Hermes boy suddenly cried out.
"Wait! Who made you boss? You're a girl. Just because you're Jackson's girl doesn't mean you're in charge. "
I was furious. I went to pull out my spare knife. But so did everyone else.
The Hermes boy gulped.
Travis Stoll looked furious.
"Kieran. Head back to the cabin." The boy all but ran.
Stolls turned to us.
"Sorry, he wanted to come. He wanted to see what it was like."
Chase nodded and Jackson wrapped an arm around her. He glared at the door.
Chase looked at all of us, her gaze resting on my face.
"So does everyone agree."
We all nodded. We didn't want to kill out friends, family, and special some ones.
The meeting was dismissed and everyone headed their separate ways.
I caught up to the Stolls and gave them some money. They nodded.
"10 pm. Lake."
I nodded and went to the training arena.
Chase and Jackson were there. There were on rock climbing wall. He was helping her.
He didn't realize it but she was his biggest ally but also his biggest weakness.
Chase would always have his back, but if something happened to her, (like her getting shot at the Sea of Monsters) he would try to protect her. I watched them for a bit. They were both very good. Chase was the best, but then again, she was a teacher. And Jackson was her student.
I laughed as Chase disarmed Jackson. He really did love her.
I felt sad. Watching them reminded me of us.
Me and Chris.
We used to spar and climb the mountain together. I used to laugh and smiled all the time.
Now, I smile but it is fake. I didn't laugh anymore and I spend most nights drunk.
I left the two love birds alone. It hurt too much to watch them.
I figured should get change for dinner.
I ate my dinner. More like I picked at my food. I never really ate a lot since then.
I saw Grace with Chase laughing. Jackson bumped into Chase as headed to his brother.
I caught the Stolls eyes- actually I caught Conner's. Travis was too busy drooling over Gardner. He nodded and my hand drifted to my pocket where the money was.
Another three hours, until the lake.
I go back to the arena and begin hitting the dummies. I pretend they are Chris and within minutes they are completely broken.
I turn to archery even though it's not my strongest point. I hear Chase and Jackson come in. They are laughing. They join me and grab some bows.
I try not to snap at them. The arena is full of people but they choose to be near me. Everyone knows not to come near me when I'm upset. Even the Apollo kids won't come near the bows and arrows and they love archery.
I try to ignore their laughs and jokes.
Then I hear "Wise Girl! You know I love you! You are my best friend."
My bow string snap and they turn to stare at me. I run.
I head to the lake. It's late and everyone should be at their cabin.
The Stolls gave me my beer and I'm sitting on the pier.
It's funny, I used to hate beer because of my step dad, and now I have a drink almost every other night.
I look at the stars and think of Chris once took me stargazing.
I close my eyes and let the wind blow my hair, the water brush against my feet.
I feel a presence next to me and open my eyes, my hands reaching for my knife before I realize it's Chase.
She says nothing. She has a can of beer in her hand. We sit in silence looking at the stars.
She points to one.
"Peagus."
I smiled. I point to another. "Ursa Major and Ursa Minor."
We point out all the stars we know.
"You like Jackson."
I don't know why I said it. Must have been the beer. People don't mess with me because I'm scary, but Chase is a different level of scary. I will admit, never to her face, but I am scared of her.
She doesn't kill me.
She shrugs. "I don't know."
She laughs. "Boys suck. They make you think that you are special then they hurt or leave you."
I think of Chris. And I nod. "Yeah. I know."
And I tell her about me and Chris. I never told anyone about us. But I know I can trust her.
"Chris and I used to date. We started off as friends. He was the only one not scared of me. He offered to spar with me and I kicked his ass. After that he never left me alone. He asked me out and I said yes. We started dating when we were 12. Today would have been out 4 year anniversary. Now I wonder if he really liked me or if he was stringing me along."
Chase says nothing. She just reaches over and squeezes my hand. I offer her another beer. She hesitates but takes it.
She open it and takes a sip.
"Boys are confusing. Sometimes I wonder if they are worth it. What's the point if they are going to leave you anyway? Everyone leaves."
Hearing Chase sound so vulnerable and sad hurts. She's strong. Now it's my turn to squeeze her hand.
"Jackson won't leave you."
She laughs bitterly.
"Do you know where he is? He's at Drew's (Aphrodite) party. She was flirting with him and he was eating it up. It's invite only and I didn't get one. Percy and I were supposed to watch a movie together. He ditched me for Drew. He's going to leave me. Everyone does. Luke, my father, my mother, Thalia, my family, everyone.
Chase is crying. Her hand is touches my cheek and I realize I'm crying. She wraps her arms around me in a hug and I don't push her away. We cry together for the boys we love. Mine is with the enemy and her's is with another girl.
I know that one day Jackson will realize what he feels for Chase but right now he is hurting her. I'm not used to seeing her so weak. It's sad. Everyone is at the party or with their special someone and the two strongest girls at camp are crying by the lake because of boys.
I tell her this and she laughs.
She stands up and pulls me up.
"I know where Chiron keeps the key to the game room." I smile and we stumble to the Big House.
Chase puts in Means Girls. We laugh and talk. For once I feel like a normal girl.
Sitting here with Chase throwing popcorn and gossiping with her feels normal. I forget that we are demi-gods. That we fight monsters. That Chris left me and that Jackson hurt Chase.
We talk about who likes who.
(Travis Stoll like Katie Gardner. Will from Apollo like Nyssa from Hephaestus.)
We talk about music and discover we have similar tastes.
We talk about our families. She tells me that ever since Thalia had come back, its awkward.
"She blames me for Luke."
I have a lot of fun with Annabeth. It's around two in the morning when we realize that we need to leave or we will get in trouble later.
We clean up the mess and I hide my beer in my hiding spot by the lake. I show her where it is, in case she ever needs it. Looking at my case, I'm surprised to see that I only had two drinks and she had three.
We walk back to our cabins and she hugs me tightly before she enters hers.
"Things will get better."
I head to my cabin and crash. My last thought is of what she said. I realize she's right. Things will get better.
The next morning I wake up early and pay Drew and Percy a little visit.
I'm behind Annabeth in the line. I whisper in her ear.
"Annabeth. You will like this morning's entertainment."
She says nothing but raises an eyebrow.
Sure enough, a furious Drew walks in. She has on a huge hat. I pray to Apollo and Zeus in hopes that her hat will blow off. It does and we see what Drew was trying to hide. Her hair is dyed a horrible red-pinkish color. Her clothes have saying on them. Her shirts says 'I can blow your whistle.' And her shorts say 'Barbie.' People are laughing because it's true. Annabeth is biting her lip and then she laughs too.
Drew is yelling at the Stolls. However, Gardner saves them by telling everyone that they were with her, Malcolm, Will, Nyssa, Miranda, and Lacey.
So they are cleared.
Jackson comes in dressed an in oversized hoodie. Travis whips off his hood and groans since there is nothing wrong with his hair. Conner unzips Jackson's hoodie and we see the problem. The shirt is too small. It is cut off where a girl's boobs would be.
He nervously explains. "All my shirts were missing except for this shredded one. A note told me to wear it to breakfast or it would get worse."
He turns to Annabeth. "Wise Girl do you have a shirt I can borrow?"
She shrugs. "No. Not going to help you. Whatever you did, this must be pay back."
She got up and walked out of the hall. Jackson looks hurt.
I follow Annabeth when no one is looking.
She's by the lake. She hugs me and whispers thank you.
I smile. She must have been really upset with Jackson. I smile also because I know Jackson will look for her and beg her for forgiveness. He really cares and loves her. He just doesn't realize it.
We sat on the pier and talk. The sound of feet makes us turn around. There we see Jackson with a bunch of flowers- lilies, roses, carnations, violets, and many others. I hug her good bye and walk away. As I pass Jackson, I hiss "Don't screw this up Jackson."
I head to my cabin and no one is there. I take a deep breath and begin going through my pictures- any with me and Chris I put in a box. I put his clothes there too. Anything he gave except for my necklace put in there. I leave it at the Athena's cabin.
"To: Annabeth.
Hold onto this for me
Risse."
Later at lunch, I see Jackson with picnic basket. I smile knowing that Annabeth forgave him. Annabeth nods at me and I know she will keep the box safe.
Seeing her and Jackson makes me realize that Chris and I weren't like them. We were different.
Seeing them gives me hope. Jackson is a good guy. Annabeth is a true friend.
I know that I'm lucky to have them in my life.
They are a package deal. They are friends. They are together. They may not be dating, but I know it will happen someday.
I'm happy for them. I'm happy for myself. Talking with Annabeth made me realize that I need to move on. I will always love him but he left me. I need to be happy. I have every right to be happy.
Touching my bare neck, I promise myself that I will be happy.
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