Chapter 3: Betrayal

Connor's POV

I feel bad for what Travis did, and so I'm going to get Phoebe the shirt she was staring at. Yeah, that's my excuse. If I'm going to be completely honest with myself, It's actually because I... kind of like her. Like, like like her. Good God, I sound like the stereotype of a teenage girl. But if I ever told Phoebe that I liked her, then she'd probably stick her arrows somewhere besides my helmet and eventually kill me. Even Chiron the super safe centaur couldn't stop her. But one thing keeps nagging at me, Phoebe is so mean to every boy she sees, so why is she friendly towards me? Is it because I apologized for something that wasn't even my fault, so she sees me as trustworthy enough to at least be her friend? But who would trust me of all people?

"Hey, what's got you thinking so hard?" Katie asked.

I jumped about five feet up and yelped.

"Don't sneak up on me! You'll ruin my reputation!" I half yelled.

"I snuck up on you. There must be something really wrong, especially if you actually admitted that." Katie said worriedly.

"Nothing wrong, just going to drop off a surprise delivery." I said without thinking.

I never think anyway, it interferes with the simplicity of being a thief without a plan.

"For who?" Katie was curious.

"My friend Phoebe." I answered.

"You really do like her, don't you?" Katie giggled.

"What?! No, friend is the operative word!" I said nervously.

"I'm a girl, if there's one thing we can all do, no matter how stupid the girl is, is detect love. And it's not like I'll tell Travis..." She was cut off by my nervous rant.

"NO! Do NOT, I repeat do NOT tell Travis! He'll tease me for the rest of my life, and he'll make a big deal about it in front of everybody! Are you NUTS?!" I practically screamed.

"Calm down, I just said I wasn't going to tell him. I'm not going to tell that mischievous lunatic no matter how much I like him. Your secret's safe with me." She promised.

I relaxed a little after that statement.

"Too bad it's not safe with me." Travis said from behind me.

"Where did you come from?!" Katie exclaimed.

"I stole Annabeth's Yankees Cap." He grinned. "Gotta run." Then he grabbed the shirt.

"NOOO!" I yelled as I ran after him.

I chased him all the way to our cabin, which he locked me out of.

"Open the door dammit!" I was panicking.

"Just a minute!" Travis said in a girly voice.

I panicked and ran to the Poseidon cabin. I knocked on the door.

"Connor, I swear, go away." Percy answered the door.

"Percy, I need your help! Travis stole Annabeth's Yankees Cap and a shirt I was going to use as a gift for a friend!" I panted from all the running.

"Okay, fine then. But only because of Annabeth's cap, God only knows what that gift is." Percy agreed.

"It's not a prank, it's an actual gift to a girl I like and Travis stole it because he's a jerk!" I was angry.

"Okay, sorry. Good luck with the girl after you get the gift back." Percy looked a little confused.

So we walked back to my cabin and Percy picked the lock with water.

"Impressive." I noted.

"I did learn something from being in your cabin a couple of years ago." Percy grinned.

That's the first time I've seen him get that big of a grin since Annabeth disappeared. Poor Percy.

"Travis, give me back Annabeth's cap and whatever you stole from Connor." Percy demanded.

"Fine, you win, I surrender." Travis feigned defeat.

Something about this isn't right, but I need that shirt back, so I grabbed it, and Percy grabbed Annabeth's Yankees Cap. Then I headed over to the Artemis Cabin and nervously knocked on the door. Zoë answered the door.

"H-hi Zoë." I stuttered.

Zoë got a look of sadness on her face that was replaced by her usual stoic expression.

"What do you want Connor?" She asked.

"Funny, I heard you call us either by our last names, Half-Blood, Demigod, or in my case, boy." I tried to make a joke.

"Usually I would, but you've obviously gained Phoebe's trust, and it would be rude to call you Stoll, since you're not like your brother." She got a half smile.

Wow, Phoebe must really trust me.

"And it's very hard for anyone, let alone a boy to gain her trust, so I'd be careful if I were you." I think she just threatened me.

"I will." I promised. "I just came to give her this as a gift. She was staring at it earlier." I held out the shirt.

Zoë took the shirt and got an amused smile.

"Just don't break her heart. It's happened once already, and I'll never let it happen again." She threatened.

I think I just got her blessing, but I'm not sure how that would work, because even if Phoebe did like me back, she wouldn't be a Huntress anymore. This is weird and confusing.

"Goodbye and good luck Connor." Zoë nodded.

I smiled nervously in return. Then she shut the door with a giggle that I never thought I'd hear out of her of all people. God help me.

Phoebe's POV

"What do you mean he got her a shirt?" I heard Fiona say from the other side of the room.

I was taking a nap to think about things, but all it did was give me dreams about Connor. Damn it.

"I mean he got her a shirt as a nice gesture, and because she was staring at it earlier today." Zoë sounded annoyed.

They couldn't possibly be talking about Connor, could they?

"Then he's either a stalker, or he's up to his infamous pranks like he usually is." Fiona was being a jerk.

Good God, it is Connor.

"No, he's just being kind because he's the first boy that's gained Phoebe's trust since she's been a Huntress, let alone befriended her. I don't know if I can trust him, but I trust Phoebe's judgement." Zoë countered.

"He brought me a gift?" I sat up.

"Yes." Zoë handed me the shirt with an amused grin.

It was the shirt I stared at when I was window shopping. He actually payed that much attention?! The thought made me grin. Fiona looked at me in confusion, and Zoë got that sad but happy look again. She may not be angry with me, but she'll at least miss me if Artemis finds out and releases me from the Hunt. I held onto the shirt for a while without putting it on. I even brought it to dinner with me. Then I decided I'd put it on. If I'd have been paying attention, I'd have seen Chiron sniffing the air suspiciously. I put the shirt on, and I liked it immediately. Then something weird happened.

"Agh!" It burned.

The shirt made me feel like I was burning wherever it touched my skin.

"What's wrong?" Zoë looked worried.

I screamed in pain. I tried to take the shirt off, but it was stuck to what looked like a burnt version of the shirt under it and my skin.

"It burns!" I started to cry.

I fell over in pain. I saw the worried looks on Connor and Zoë's faces as they came to help me. I kept crying because it hurt so badly. Zoë tried to pull the shirt off, but it was stuck to me.

"Get a blanket!" Zoë screamed.

Connor ran and grabbed a blanket that one of the Apollo kids threw. Always prepared, aren't they? Then Connor ran over and threw the blanket at Zoë as he tried to pull the shirt off.

"Here, you'll need this to get it off her." Chiron offered something in a blue bottle.

Connor dumped it on the shirt and pulled it off. Then he looked away so he wouldn't see me shirtless and put the blanket on me. The other shirt I was wearing before had dissolved. Connor stroked my head affectionately. Zoë punched him square in the jaw.

"What the Hell?!" Connor exclaimed.

"Firstly, no one is allowed to touch Huntresses that way, and secondly, you're the one who poisoned her with this shirt!" Zoë screamed at him.

"No I didn't, I don't even know what it is that burned her!" Connor seemed angry.

"It's centaur blood, that must be what I smelled." Chiron noted.

"I thought you were different, that I could trust you, but your just like any other boy I've met; selfish, rude, and overall as horrible as Travis, or maybe worse. You betrayed me." I muttered.

Chiron's eyes widened, Zoë looked sad again, and Connor looked... heartbroken? No one else seemed to notice what I said, excpet maybe Dionysus, but he was shaking his head sadly at me.

"Connor wouldn't do that, he likes you. And Travis stole the shirt from Connor just earlier today, so he probably did it." Katie defended.

"Katie?!" Travis exclaimed.

"And I wouldn't say that unless I thought it was possible, because I really like Travis." Katie glared at Travis.

"She's right, I had to help Connor steal back the shirt slong with Annabeth's Yankees Cap, and he said it was for a girl... who was his friend. Besides, Travis is usually the one to come up with the evil plans, not Connor." Percy confirmed.

Connor looked at me pleadingly.

"That's true. Out of the pranks they've pulled, when I go through how they came up with the plan, it's usually Travis who gets the ideas for the evil plans." Dionysus added.

I doubt Dionysus would have reason to lie to me at this point, let alone confirm something that the campers-especially Percy- actually agree on.

"I believe you." I looked at Connor.

He looked relieved and he helped Zoë carry me to the infirmary. He geld my hand and I instantly felt better. Emotionally. Zoë suddenly pulled Connor away.

"But I want to stay." I heard Connor say outside.

"It will look too suspicious to the other Huntresses. Come back tomorrow." Zoë reasoned.

"Fine." His voice was cracky.

Zoë came back inside, and held my hand.

"You're lucky, you found a keeper." She smiled sadly.

He must be if Zoë thinks so. Then I fell asleep.