January 13

The Best Little Field

Yesterday afternoon I asked Clarisse (who is now head of Ares cabin) whether she would please be so good as to allow the Athena cabin to use the field in Camp Half-Blood three afternoons a week, from two to five-thirty (see how polite I am?). We already use the field every day from one to two-thirty while the Ares cabin is taking a nap, but the rest of the time the field is off limits; the Apollo kids use the field in the morning for archery practice.

So it seemed like a reasonable request, and I asked Clarisse very politely. What do you think her reply was? "No." Just plain "No!"

I was incensed and wasn't about to let myself be put off like that. I asked her the reason of her "No," but this didn't get me anywhere. The gist of her reply was: "We have to practice too, you know, and if we can't do that in the afternoons we won't be able to fit it in at all. Besides, you aren't serious about fighting. Chess and reading- what kind of sport is that? We use that field and we aren't going to give it up!

I replied, "Clarisse, we do take fighting very seriously. I would appreciate it if you would reconsider our request!" Having said these words, the insulted Annabeth turned around and marched away. I was seething with rage and felt that Clarisse had been incredibly rude (which she certainly had been) and that I'd been very polite.

That evening at dinner, when I managed to get hold of Chiron, I told him what had happened and we discussed what my next step should be, because I had no intention of giving up and preferred to deal with the matter myself. Chiron gave me a rough idea of how to approach Clarisse, but told me to wait until the next day since I was in such a flap. I ignored this last piece of advice and waited for Clarisse at the campfire.

I began, "Clarisse, you seem to believe further discussion of the matter is pointless, but I beg you to reconsider."

Clarisse smiled at me like she was about to spear me. "I'm always prepared to discuss the matter, even though it's already been settled."

I went on talking, despite Clarisse's repeated interruptions. "Clarisse, it's camp rules that everything is used and handled fairly. If we were to do it that way, you'd have four whole days on the field and we'd have three days! We're not asking for that much, but three afternoons a week does seem very reasonable to me."

And once again she brought up the business about the chess and the reading, and once again Annabeth was insulted. However, I showed no sign of it and let Clarisse finish: "But no, it's impossible to talk to you. You're too self-centered. No one else matters, as long as you get your way!"

She went on and on until there was such a deluge of words I could hardly keep up. For one fleeting moment I thought, "Her and her lies. I'll smack her ugly mug so hard she'll go bouncing off the walls!"

At long last Clarisse's fury was spent, and she left the campfire triumphantly. I went running to Chiron and recounted the entire story. Chiron decided to call Clarisse to the Big House that same evening, and they spoke for more than an hour. Mr. D. took Clarisse's side. First they discussed whether the Athena cabin should be able to use the field at all. Chiron protested strongly, and so the conversation went, back and forth, with Chiron defending Athena's "pansy games" and "useless activities."

Clarisse and Mr. D finally had to give in, and we were granted an opporunity to practice without interruption three afternoons a week. Clarisse looked very sullen and didn't speak to me for two days and made sure she occupied the field from ten to noon and five-thirty to six- all very childish, of course.

Anyone who's so petty and pedantic at the age of eighteen was born that way and is never going to change.

January 16

Clarisse has the misfortune of adorning foreign words without knowing what they mean. Today Connor and Travis let off a few stink bombs (natural ones this time) in the bathrooms, and Clarisse put up a sign to warn everyone of the smell.

"RSVP- gas!"

Of course, she meant "Danger- gas!" but she didn't have the faintest idea that RSVP means "Please reply."