Yo~! How's it going, peoples? . . . I don't have much to say today. Well, except for the fact that I READ THE MARK OF ATHENA TWO-THREE WEEKS AGO! I know some of you hadn't read it yet so I'm not going to say anything and spoil it for you. But let's just say my heart exploded (in a good way) at the ending of the second to the last chapter. Despite what a lot of people thought, I thought that it was really romantic and bittersweet.

Moving on . . . eep! Have you guys ever had those moments when you really embarrassed yourself in front of your crush?! Oh my Percy, when it comes to me, stuff always happens! Like that one time:

*Me sitting in front seat of mom's car, blowing my nose into tissues like crazy since I was sick*

*There was a car in front of us as we drove to my Youth Group and both of our cars pulled into the parking lot.*

*The car before us parked first, and we were waiting behind them so they could finish*

*Next thing you know, my crush climbs out with his hair all spiky and feathery, his glasses making him look really dorky that day*

*He shoots me a smile just as this huge snot bubble came*

. . . that was embarassing.

Ohh, and sorry for not updating so quick! There was a MASSIVE hurricane and stuff so I had to evacuate! *pout* Stupid hurricane!

Um . . . first ten reviewers shall get a sneak peek! And to those who would answer the chapter question!

…I don't own this.

Chapter 4: Butterflies

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I shan't deny it but I cannot help it
The butterfly feelings, I admit
Every moment that I am next to you
It's like a wish I didn't have to wish came true

"When I'm With Her"- MC Ryoku

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Age: 14

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Katie

My life is cursed. Either Karma really hates me or Fate has a twisted sense of humor. Because my worst nightmare won't go away. And by worst nightmare, I mean my next door neighbor that goes by the name of Travis Stoll. The mere name made my teeth clenched. You know why? Because ever since that Easter five years ago, we've been enemies. You know what happened? Stupid Travis and his younger brother by one year named Connor planted chocolate bunnies all over my front lawn on Easter morning. But that wasn't the reason why our rivalry started. No, it started when the sun decided to beam down on the chocolate that was lying in the grass later that day!

Of course, my dad was fine with it, him being the laidback type after all. But my mom, who didn't divorce my dad at the time, went totally ballistic. This helped me come to a conclusion that that's where I got my bad temper and strictness from . . . not that I would ever admit that, especially to that stupid arrogant Travis Stoll.

And now, it's been two months since school had started and to my horror, Travis Stoll is in all of my classes!

"Hey, Katie."

Speaking of the devil . . .

We were sitting in History, taking notes about the Constitution with our teacher droning on and on with his dull, boring voice. And my teacher stupidly placed Travis Stoll in the desk behind my desk. I ignored Travis, bending my head over, my caramel brown hair tumbling in waves around my neck and shoulders. He kicked my chair.

"Katie," he sang softly.

My teeth clenched together and my fingers gripped onto my yellow pencil tightly.

"Hello~? Dirt face?" He asked, pulling on the back of my collared dress shirt.

Dirt face. His nickname for me ever since he found out I had a passion for gardening. Travis kicked my chair again.

"Katie, Katie, Katie, the girl who's really weighty." He sung under his breath, loud enough for only me to hear.

Weighty? I was not fat. I glared daggers on my notes, wishing that Travis would just shut up.

"Katie? Katie~!" He poked my back with that stupid finger of his.

I ignored him.

"Katie?" Another poke.

"Hello~?" A sharp jab.

"Gardner?" A kick under the chair.

"Yo~!" A pull on my collar.

"Hey."

My eye twitched.

"Dirt face."

My fingers were turning red from holding onto my pencil too tightly.

"Are you deaf?"

. . .

"Katie."

. . .

"Ka-"

Snap! I whirled around in my seat, my green eyes blazing with annoyance and suppressed anger.

"WHAT?!" I snarled.

"Hi?" He waved at me, that stupid, stupid, stupid, grin on his face.

I swore my vein popped. A rough hand clamped itself onto my shoulder. I looked up to see my history teacher looking at me sternly through his thin-wire glasses, his stormy blue eyes making me feel small.

"Miss Gardner, I would really appreciate it if you would not shout in my class. Perhaps an hour's worth of detention will keep that mouth of yours shut." He clicked his tongue in disappointment. "And to think that young man Stoll wasn't corrupting you."

"But, sir-" I protested but was silenced by his glare.

"No buts, young lady," he warned me, wagging his wrinkly, old index finger at me. "Now, hush and pay attention to the notes. And Travis," he turned to meet Stoll's cheeky grin. "Would you please stop flirting with Miss Gardner here?" The class erupted into giggles and snickers while Travis and I shared looks of disgust. "God knows much more hormonal teenagers will continue to flood this classroom."

Class resumed after that but yet I still couldn't let go of the fact that I got a detention because of stupid, stupid, stupid Travis. I turned my head around, expecting him to shoot me that devilish grin of his, but instead, he was sitting in his chair, the chair balancing on its two hind legs, his legs propped up against the table with a yellow pencil lying horizontally across the little space between his nose and upper lip.

His eyes were wide and were crossed, giving him a goofy look. Without noticing, a small smile formed on my lips. My stomach did these weird flip flops as my eyes swept over his figure. I quickly turned around in my seat to finish taking my notes. I sighed; I really need to stop eating the school food, it's affecting my stomach.

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I just remembered the reason why I hate Travis Stoll so much. During art class, just as I finished my sketch of ivy crawling up the stone walls of a worn down castle, I had turned around to get an eraser to smudge the graphite to make it look realistic when I heard a loud splat!

My mind finally registered the sound as a paintbrush hitting a surface. I turned around slowly to meet the sight of a paintbrush lying on my drawing, red paint splattered all over the gray and white surface of the paper. A gaping Travis stood nearby, his eyes wide, hand still opened as if the paintbrush was still in his hand.

Fists were clenched tightly at my sides as I shouted loudly in the art room, "TRAVIS!"

Not to mention what happened during gym class, the period before lunch. During the middle of the period, I felt a sudden rush of coldness starting from my lower body to the end of my legs. I shook it off, thinking that it was just my imagination when in the middle of running laps, I felt hotness spreading everywhere. I shrieked and as I pumped my legs to go faster, a patch fell loose from the inside pocket of my white shorts. I stopped and looked down, picking up the unknown object.

IcyHot was written across the object, and when I flipped it over, a scribble that I recognized as Travis's handwriting said, Hope you enjoyed that ;)

Shocked, the packet slipped through my fingers as I whipped around and shouted once more,

"TRAVIS!"

But as much as I hated to admit it, ever since we came into high school, I've been having these funny feelings around Travis. Like one minute, I imagined strangling the guy half to death and the next, I find myself looking at his face way too long.

I just hope that these feelings go away soon, because they are sure confusing. Well, I hope it's not what I think it is because me and Travis? As if.

"Katie, Katie, Katie who's just so weighty ~," Travis sang as we walked to our lockers.

His is three down from mine and just as I slammed my locker shut, my eyes are suddenly met with his eyes. I am immediately blown away as I realized that his eyes are a shade of blue that I have never seen before. But I'm not going to say that.

Travis grinned at me in a way that made me suspicious and my eyes darted to my locker, wondering what the heck he had done to it.

His mop of brown hair reaches his eyelids and I wondered how long ago he had a haircut. I was about to mention it when I stopped. It's none of my business. I shouldn't be noticing these things.

"What are you doing?" I asked him, rolling my eyes as we made our way to the lunch room.

"Why, escorting the stick in the mud to the café, of course!" He exclaimed as if it was obvious. "I mean, it's not like another guy will be doing that in the near future, especially with that hair," he flicked my hair to make a point. "You should be lucky that you're being graced with my presence."

"Please," I scoffed. "I would rather drink bleach than be near your presence," I retorted. I turned and faced him just as we were inches away from the double doors. "And why don't you hang out with your friends? Don't you have better things to do than stalk me?" I arched an eyebrow.

Travis chuckled, his head dipping to the ground, his hands stuffed in his pockets. "I'm not stalking you. I'm merely making sure that no guy would have to go near you and suffer from your boringness."

"I don't even think boringness is even a word," I replied back. "And if you feel so strongly about keeping me away from other guys, you might as well be dating me."

The thought of dating me sickened him and I knew it. I gave him a saucy smile and strolled inside, leaving a horrified Travis in the crowded hallway.

Minutes later, I was standing in line, waiting to pay for my food when the familiar smell of Axe, pinewood and a hint of mischief filled the air. I stiffened, immediately knowing who it is. I turned around to see a smirking Travis leaning against the railing.

I sighed. "Are you done stalking me now? I do need a break from shouting your name all the time, you know."

"How many times do I have to tell to you, dirt face? I'm merely making sure that no guy will come near you and drop dead because of your presence," Travis explained, lowering his head until his face was inches from mine.

I turned my face the other way. "You do know that you just called yourself a girl, right? That's the only explanation why you didn't so called drop dead because of my presence slash boringness," I said coldly.

"Ouch, that hurt, Gardner," Travis said in mock hurt, wincing and placing his hand over his heart. "Luckily for you, dear Katie, I am immune to your coldness."

I shot him a glare. "Travis, I'm serious. Get away from me."

To my annoyance, he continued to pull pranks on me for the rest of the day, making sure that I would embarrass myself in front of everyone.

Like I said, there's no way I'm getting the butterflies around stupid, stupid, stupid, Travis Stoll.

Percy

Annabeth's worried about me, I can tell. I've been in the nurse's for fifteen minutes already! She's in the waiting area and I'm sitting here in a pretty comfortable bed with the curtains drawn around me. Nurse Molfkin is staring down on me, her stringy gold hair falling down in ringlets around her shoulders, one hand on her hip, the other clutching a thermometer.

"I hope you're not lying about feeling a little sick," Nurse Molfkin said, her eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"I'm not," I protested. My hands grab at my stomach for emphasis. "I told you! There's something wrong with my stomach!" I almost whined at this point.

She sighed and sat down on a chair that was next to the bed I was sitting on. "Well, maybe you should tell me what's happening then," she sighed in exasperation.

"Alright!" I clapped my hands together, rubbing them a little bit. "Ever since I hit puberty, I've been getting these weird feelings." I frowned and sort of pouted.

She raised an eyebrow. "Oh? Well, as you know, as you get older, you see that your body is changing –"

I clamped my ears shut, face feeling a little hot. "NO!" I shouted. "Not like that!"

Nurse Molfkin leaned back in her seat, a calculating look in her eyes as she looked at me. "Alright, do go on."

"Well," I started. "My stomach's been doing these weird flip flops and contractions, sort of like what your stomach does during and after riding a roller coaster, you know? And well, I think there's something wrong with my eyesight because it only focuses on one thing and everything else just blurs around me. And I've been feeling pretty lightheaded, like I'm going to fall because I'm standing in midair." I finished explaining, hands folded in lap. I look up at Molfkin hopefully. "You can fix it, can't you?"

"Well, where do you usually experience these feelings?" She asked me with a knowing look in her eyes.

I scratched my head. "Er, it's always around Annabeth," I murmured. I look at her. "What should I do?"

Her mouth formed a small O as she stared at me. "Oh, Percy," she said, shaking her head softly. "I can't help you with your condition."

"Why?!" I asked. "You're a nurse! You're supposed to make me feel better!" My voice cracked as my voice went higher and higher with every word.

She planted a hand on my shoulder and stared deeply into my eyes. With a twinkle in her eye, she told me seriously, "I think you should tell Annabeth about this. She'll help you with this."

I blinked at her. "But she's not a certified doctor."

To my surprise, Nurse Molfkin did a face palm.

You like~? Tell me your thoughts in a review please~

Aw, so cute, Katie and Percy are suffering from butterflies! Why must Percy be an oblivious idiot? And Katie! She is one stubborn girl! Hopefully it'll get into her head that Tratie isn't so bad after all~!

Okay, question of the chapter:

What was the name of the mythical creature that had taken Annabeth down with him as he fell down from the cliff in The Titan's Curse?

Answer it and you'll get a sneak peek, you guys~!

Hey, I have a question, if I didn't give out sneak peeks, would you guys still review? I'm just wondering . . .