Travis caught up to Katie in a clearing. She was sitting on a log, surrounded by anemones.

"Katie, are you okay?" he asked, worried.

She looked up with tears in her eyes. "No," she said. "But I'm coping."

"Is there anything I can do to help?"

"Just go. Please, I can't deal with you right now."

Travis walked deeper into the woods, because back at his cabin was his lovesick, secret-keeping brother, and at camp was Percy Jackson, the guy who broke his crush's heart.

He continued to walk until he was completely, utterly, and hopelessly lost. He sat down and leaned against the tree.

"Hey, Travis," someone said. Travis shot up so fast, he nearly brained himself on a branch.

"Juniper! What are you doing here? Isn't your tree by the camp?" Travis asked, confused.

"I'm visiting my friend, Violet," Juniper said.

Travis looked around. There were no violets here. "Who?"

Juniper rolled her eyes. "The maple you're leaning against."

"But it's a maple, not a violet!"

"There are forty-two dryads named Maple in here. Sixteen Mapleinas, four Maplinas, twelve Maplannas, and eight Maplannas. So she's named Violet. It's a lot less confusing for everyone," she said, sitting down next to him."I saw the fight," she added, abruptly changing the topic.

Travis exhaled noisily. "So?"

"You wanna talk about what happened? It might make you feel better. Start at when you and Katie became friends."

"I guess it started at the Battle of Olympus. Connor and I were fighting fourteen large hellhounds, and then one ate my sword-" Travis began.

"Wait a second! A hellhound ate your sword?" Juniper asked, shocked. "How did it not die?"

"Well, it was a big hellhound. It ate my sword, and Connor was fending off about six of them, and I knew I was going to die, when suddenly, the hellhound vaporized. It…disappeared, I guess, and all that was left of it was my sword. Katie Gardner saved my life.

"After that, we became friends. I mean, if it weren't for her, I literally would not be here." He shook his head. "Wow, I sound girly. Anyways, I think I first realized I liked her romantically around Christmas-"

"Why do we even celebrate Christmas, anyway?" Juniper asked, confused.

"Because it's an excuse to get presents. Please, stop interrupting my story!"

"Sorry," Juniper said. "Go on."

"I figured out I liked her at Christmas. She'd come back to spend Christmas with her aunt, and she came to camp to see us and drop off presents. And I dunno, it just clicked. But then, she told me that she liked Percy, and Percy liked her, and that they were going out soon. I thought she knew that he was still dating Annabeth. I would've told her otherwise, but-" Travis sighed. "I just think that now she'll hate me."

Juniper shrugged. "Well, I wouldn't know, I'm just a tree, but I doubt she hates you."

"No, she does! I knew that Jackson was still with Annabeth and I didn't tell her. I knew that my brother was dating Annabeth and I didn't tell her! She hates me, I know it."

"You knew about that? Why didn't you tell anyone?"

"Because he's my brother and I love him. And he didn't tell me; I figured it out. He's on the top bunk and I'm a light sleeper. But that's not the point!"

A new voice joined their conversation. "Well," it said. "Don't date her yet, because the worst thing to be is a rebound."

Travis turned around quickly, nearly braining himself on the tree trunk. "Who are you?" he asked, rubbing his forehead.

"I'm Violet. You know, the tree you're pressed up against?" Violet asked.

"Why am I discussing my personal life with you?" Travis moaned.

"Because we're an almost unheard-of combination of pushy and patient. It helps, being a tree for fifty-three years," Juniper said, chuckling.

"You're fifty-three?" Travis was shocked, to say the least.

Juniper gestured aimlessly at the trees that surrounded them. "As evidenced by Thalia ,trees age slower that mortals." Then she reached over to pluck a ladybug off of Travis's sleeve.

"Travis?" Katie Gardner stood by a tree. She hadn't been there long, clearly. "Travis, what's going on?"

"Katie, I swear, this isn't what it looks like-" Travis began.

"Travis, I know what's going on."

Travis breathed a sigh of relief.

"Goodbye, Travis."

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