Chapter 2

Pranks Would You Rather

Me: Well, that didn't take too long

Kasey: Yeah, when does Thalia come in this? She's my favorite (it's true)

Percy: I'm with the emo girl, when does she come in?

Kasey: Don't call me emo! (slaps Percy so hard he's knocked out)

Me: She's not in this, but Annabeth will visit you later (wink wink) I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians and I never will. Enjoy the second chapter.

The Stolls looked very eager for this which made me slightly nervous. They were only this excited when it came to stealing and playing pranks. Grover too looked nervous and I knew why. Grover loved to watch pranks, but he didn't like the pressure of playing pranks for he was afraid of getting caught. Just so you know, Grover is the worst when it comes to lying because he always wears a guilty face when he does it. So anyways, the rest of us were sitting there awkwardly, waiting for someone to start this thing. After a few seconds, I leaned over to Grover.

"Is this how these things normally start off?" I asked him. Grover shook his head.

"Not normally, though last time it took almost ten minutes to start because somebody…" he directed his attention at Nico, who wasn't even paying attention.

"Accidentally summoned Hades and it took a little while to sort things out," Grover answered. I almost regretted asking him. At last, it was Clarisse who piped up.

"None of you are going to start? Fine, I'll do it!" she growled. She looked around the rest of us; the Stoll Brothers got excited every time her gaze fell upon them. She then looked at Grover who started panicking.

"Grover," she said, an evil grin spreading. I could see Nico and Annabeth having a hard time not laughing. "Would you rather put a rattlesnake in the Aphrodite cabin or decorate the roof of the Demeter cabin with goats?" Automatically, Juniper started protesting Clarisse's suggestions.

"Oh no! Grover, you can't do either one!" She yelled. "That's not who you are." Grover was dumbstruck. Grover hated, I mean absolutely hated rattlesnakes so the thought of putting one in the Aphrodite Cabin was terrifying. But then again, we had no idea where we would get goats to put on the Demeter cabin. Annabeth leaned over to me.

"I would take the rattlesnake, it's the only one that he can really do," Annabeth whispered. I nodded as everyone gazed at Grover who was doing a sort of hyperventilation under all of this pressure.

"Come on goat boy," Clarisse urged. "You can't let your girlfriend decide for you." Juniper glared at Clarisse who wasn't paying her any attention. "Well, what's your choice?" It took a couple minutes for Grover to decide, but thank god he did.

"I'll take the rattlesnake," Grover decided reluctantly. That seemed to be all Silena needed to protest too.

"Now wait a minute Clarisse!" Silena started. Clarisse looked at Silena. "I'm the head counselor of Aphrodite; I will not allow Grover to put a venomous snake in my cabin!" Just as Clarisse opened her mouth to argue, it was Chiron who spoke up.

"Now Silena, you know the rules of the game," Chiron told her. "Whichever one Grover chose, he has to actually perform the task, no matter how extreme. Clarisse, will you fetch the timber rattler?" Silena's temper exploded, showing a different side that I had never seen before.

"I WILL NOT ALLOW A SNAKE TO BITE MY SIBLINGS! I WILL NOT! NO, NO, NO!" Silena exploded. Beckendorf put his hand on her arm, trying to calm her down. Reluctantly, Silena followed the impulse to sit back down with Beckendorf. "Promise it will be out in a couple minutes." Chiron nodded as Clarisse returned, clutching a six foot long rattlesnake by the head. At the sight of that thing, I couldn't help but feel sorry for Grover, whose hand was inching towards the snake bit by bit. Eventually, he grabbed the snake's head, but not as hard as Clarisse had. He then walked over to the cabins, disappearing out of sight. A few minutes passed and there was no sign of Grover or the rattlesnake. Eventually, Grover came sprinting back with a look of guilt on his face.

"Did you put it in?" I asked him. He opened his mouth to answer, but no sound came out. Instead, he nodded and started counting down on his fingers. Right when he reached one, distant screams emanated from the cabins, all of them shrill and feminine. Clarisse, Pollux, the Stoll Brothers, and I burst out laughing while Silena shot us all a glare. If looks could kill then all of us were dead. A couple minutes and you could hear screams and arguing emanating from the Aphrodite cabin. Everyone looked expectant, waiting for someone to go rescue the Aphrodite girls. Annabeth elbowed me and beckoned to the Aphrodite cabin. She and I stood up and walked across the field.

"Makes you wonder doesn't it," Annabeth said. "This game, though it can be cruel, brings campers closer together." I nodded, making seem like I was agreeing with her. Personally, I think the Stoll Brothers are only here in hopes to prank someone, not to get close to someone. It only took one knock for someone to open the door and pull me and Annabeth inside.

"What's going on?" Annabeth faked a question.

"Huge….rattle…snake!" huffed an Aphrodite girl, her make up running.

"Where is it?" I asked them.

"Over there, that was the last time we saw it," another girl said, pointing towards their gigantic closet. My mind went blank; there was no way we were going to find a gigantic rattlesnake amongst their colorful clothes. Annabeth and I walked over to the closet, watching the ground and everything else around us to make sure it wasn't anywhere else. We heard a low hissing sound, but it wasn't anywhere in front of us. A loud scream emanated again. I whipped around and there sat coiled, the massive rattlesnake. As Annabeth and I crept towards it, it turned its attention to us. It then lunged at Annabeth, who jumped back at the last second. I grabbed the snake by the neck.

"Gotcha!" I said triumphantly, leading it towards the open window and tossing it to the ground. The snake slithered out into the forest, seething with anger. The entire cabin dove on me in a hug of thanks. Several of them kissed me on the cheek despite my protests to get back to my feet. Amongst them, I could make out Annabeth averting her attention rather angrily, but she was keeping her temper in check. She's been really good about that, controlling her temper and jealousy. Once I separated myself, I bid a warm welcome to the Aphrodite girls and rushed out of the cabin before any one of them got over affectionate. Annabeth was silent our whole walk back so I could tell she was angry about something. When we got back to the campfire, we found the Stoll Brothers and Silena gone from the fire. Grover still looked guilty about the rattlesnake and Mr. D was chuckling to himself. Annabeth and I sat down, though she took a seat across the campfire, away from me.

"So uh, what did we miss?" I asked openly, trying to distract my mind from Annabeth. It was Beckendorf who answered my question.

"Grover asked Silena if she would rather drink Mr. D's diet coke or take all of the Ares cabin's weapons and give them a list to change their appearance," Beckendorf explained. "So guess where she's off." Clarisse was the one who knew about this prank so I knew that it wouldn't last long.

"Then why is he laughing?" I asked, pointing at Mr. D. He held up his hands innocently.

"What, am I not allowed to be amused?" Mr. D asked. Everyone looked at him. "Okay, I asked if the Stoll Brothers if they would rather replace the Apollo kids' arrows with rubber ones or mow the grass on the Demeter roof, one is off doing one thing while the other brother does the other thing." Annabeth started laughing.

"Just like Travis and Connor," she commented. Silena came back a few minutes later, looking shaken up. Annabeth was the one who greeted her. "Well, did you do it?" Silena nodded nervously, occasionally glancing at Clarisse.

"Don't worry, as long as you didn't hide my stuff," Clarisse assured. She then leaned closer, as if to get a better view of Silena. "You didn't touch anything of mine did you?" Silena's eyes widened to the size of golf balls and shook her head. Clarisse leaned back. A lawnmower engine started off in the distance, followed by the sound of cutting, so I knew it would be a matter of time before the Demeter kids would turn one of them into a shrub or something. Connor came back a few minutes after Silena did, a wide grin spread across his face.

"What did you do?" Chiron asked him.

"The Apollo kids have rubber arrows/so they threatened to break my nose," he said brightly. "I've never rhymed before/I never knew what it's for." Everyone around the campfire groaned. Connor got the rhyming couplet, a punishment that almost made me want to shove scissors of my ears.

"So uh, how long will it be until Travis comes back?" Grover asked him.

"Saw him on the roof last time/man I love to rhyme!" he answered. In rhyming couplets, we would never know. We sat there by the campfire silent, listening to Connor make up some of the most ridiculous rhymes any of us had ever heard. About twenty minutes later, Travis came back; he too had a wicked grin across his face. He smelled of freshly mown grass so I knew the job had been done, but how he managed to escape with his life, I don't know.

"Okay, it's my turn and that's the end of the first part," Chiron said, adjusting himself in his wheelchair.

"What?" Annabeth protested. "Percy and I haven't done one yet!"

"You two will go first next category," Chiron promised. He rounded on Mr. D who suddenly looked nervous. Grover leaned into my ear.

"I love it when Chiron does Mr. D, it's so hilarious!" Grover whispered a slight chortle in his voice.

"Mr. D, would you rather mail Zeus a bottle of Pinot Noir, or send Ares a photo of Hephaestus kissing Aphrodite on the beach," Chiron asked, a mischievous smile forming on his face. To be honest, I wouldn't care; I would be wondering why I wasn't kissing Aphrodite on the beach. Mr. D scowled at Chiron. He had a restriction at Camp Half-Blood, no access to alcohol whatsoever, so the only real choice was the picture of Hephaestus and Aphrodite.

"I'll mail the stupid photo," he grumbled. "Anyone have the photo, and maybe an envelope and stamp I can borrow?" We watched him place the photo inside and seal it. He then waved his hand rather lazily, the address appearing magically on the envelope. A mailbox then appeared in thin air. The letter threw itself inside and closed the lid behind it, then disappearing inside the mailbox. I almost felt sorry for Mr. D, but then again, he tried to make my life miserable here, so I didn't have so much sympathy.

"Well, that's the end of round 1," Chiron announced. "Next category is monsters, Clarisse; this ought to be your favorite."

Me: Well, that went pretty well

Percy: For you! I had to go grab a 6 foot long rattlesnake

Me: What about the Aphrodite girls?

Percy: Oh come on, I only care about Annabeth

Kasey: Awww that's so sweet!

Percy: Yeah, what happens to me next Mark Twain?

Me: Oh… nothing too bad (wicked grin) Review please!