Fourteen Part Two
"Give me one reason why I shouldn't rip your arms off and force feed them to the Pegasus," Katie snarled. Travis started backing away, but he couldn't stop the growing smirk on his face.
"Because you love me?" he asked. Katie stopped and put a hand onto her chin.
"Wow that is such a good reason…" she mused.
"Really?"
"No!" she yelled. Travis started to make a break for it, towards the climbing wall and Katie quickly followed. They left behind the bags and bags of spilled seeds on the Demeter gardening shed floor. Travis' cackled all of the while he was we running and Katie started reaching for her duel knives that were at her waist.
"Woah!" Wendy said, grabbing Katie's shoulders, stopping her. "What do you think you're doing?"
"I'm going to murder your brother!" Katie yelled so Travis could hear. Wendy jumped in front of her so Katie had to look at her.
"You need to calm down. You've been like this ever since the end of the summer," she said. Katie looked at the ground and sheathed her knives. "Let's take a walk," Wendy said soothingly. Katie nodded and Wendy walked her over to the border of Camp Half Blood, near Thalia's tree. They sat down on the soft green grass and stared at the light falling snow that was piling outside of the magical borders of Camp. "Relaxing, isn't it?" Wendy remarked. Katie sighed and nodded. She stuck her hand across the border and caught a few snowflakes. "Sometimes I wish that Mr. D would let it snow inside Camp for a few days."
"I guess," Katie mumbled. Beside her, Wendy fixed her ponytail and turned to Katie.
"What's up?" she asked.
"Nothing," Katie said.
"Oh please. Don't tell me nothing is going on. You've been trying to kill my brother everyday now," Wendy said.
"It's only because he gives me a reason to!" Katie protested. "You know, he was actually pretty cool the past few summers but if this is how he acts during the year… I don't know," Katie said, stopping herself.
"… What?" Wendy asked, dreading what Katie was about to say next.
"It's just, he's so immature! He pulls so many pranks on me and he just loves to test me! He knows that I hate his pranks! It's like he doesn't even respect our friendship," Katie muttered.
"And?" Wendy asked.
"And if this is how he really acts, I'm not sure if I want to…" Katie's voice drifted away and she left her sentence unfinished.
"You don't want to be his friend anymore?" Wendy finished.
"No! Of course not!" Katie said, looking at her friend disbelievingly.
"But that was what you were going to say," Wendy said.
"Yeah, well I don't actually mean that," Katie said, "I couldn't imagine not being his friend."
"That's good," Wendy said, relieved.
"Yeah, it's just, I wish that he would lay off me for a while," she said.
"He just wants your attention," Wendy said.
"Like a puppy? He chews on my slippers and pees on the couch so I notice him?" Katie asked.
"I'm not sure about the peeing part, but yeah, I guess he's like a puppy," Wendy said. Katie's eyes got wide and she covered her mouth.
"He's chewed on your slippers?" she asked. Wendy shrugged.
"Yeah, this was when we were really little," she said, "He and Connor just had a thing for shoes." Katie exploded in laughter and Wendy added a few giggles. After she was done, Katie sighed.
"It's nice, getting my mind off of the war this summer," she said. Wendy nodded. "Do you think some of us won't survive?" Katie asked. Wendy didn't do anything for a while, but then she nodded.
"For sure," she said. Katie scooped up some snow from the ground and shaped it into a snowball.
"I just can't imagine any of us not being here, you know? I mean, Camp wouldn't be the same if Jake wasn't in the forges, making a new robot for Connor, or if Silena wasn't in the stables, teaching new kids to ride the Pegasus, or if Jesse wasn't playing in the sing-a-long, or if Clarisse wasn't shoving someone's head in a toilet, or if Annabeth wasn't reading a book in front of the Athena cabin, or if Brooke wasn't trying to beat her record on the climbing wall, or if… or if…" Katie trailed off.
"If Travis wasn't pranking you?" Wendy suggested.
"Right! Wait, no…" Katie said. Wendy laughed and nudged her shoulder.
"It's true. Camp wouldn't be Camp if you weren't chasing Travis around for a stunt he just pulled," she said. Katie scoffed. "No! It's true! Camp wouldn't be the same without you."
"Don't tell Will that," Katie said, "He might turn that into a song." She sighed at the bitter-sweet memory. Wendy got up off of the ground and offered a hand to Katie.
"Are we all done from our little Travis-rage?" she asked. Katie nodded and brushed her shorts off. She then got an idea.
"Hey Wendy, can you get a bucket and meet me back here?" she asked eyeing the snow. Wendy looked at her suspiciously, knowing what she was planning. But, she was a daughter of Hermes so she got the bucket anyways. Let's just say, at dinnertime, Travis got a bit more than what he asked for when he told his cup for soda… with ice.
"Enjoy your ice?" Katie asked, leaning over Travis' wet shoulder. His face warmed and he turned to face her, splashing a few of his siblings with his damp, curly hair.
"Yup, I love it, sweetheart," he said, matching her tone. She laughed and ruffled his wet hair, once again getting his siblings wet.
"Kit-kat! Stop it!" Connor protested. With that, Travis shook his head harder, getting Connor even wetter. "Hey!" he exclaimed. He shielded his face and used his elbow to his Travis on the arm. Katie gave Travis a high five and walked away to her table. Seeing their little exchange, Wendy got up from her seat, on the other end of the table, and made her way to Travis.
"Nice one," she whispered. She then walked to the kitchen and dropped off her plate.
"What's a nice one?" Connor asked. Travis clammed up and started picking at his peas. "Is this about Katie?" he asked, a mix between amused and annoyed. Travis looked up from his food and covered Connor's mouth with his hand.
"Be louder, will you?" he hissed. He looked at Katie at her table, and she was talking to Wendy. Connor rolled his eyes and licked his brother's hand. Having that happen often, Travis pinched Connor's nose shut also. Like always, Connor waited until he couldn't hold his breath any longer and shoved his hand away.
"A minute and five seconds," Travis said, looking at his wrist, where there was a make-believe watch, "I've very disappointed in you." Connor rolled his eyes and shoved some chicken in his mouth.
"Whatever, Katie lover," he said with his mouth full.
"Ew, Connor. No one wants to see that," Ann, their sister, said.
"Whatever Ann," Connor said. Travis quickly leaned across the table.
"Did you hear what Connor said?" Travis whispered.
"That you like Katie? Yeah," she said, flicking some of her hair behind her shoulder.
"Shhh!" Travis hissed, making enormous gestures with his hands.
"Dude, it's not a secret. Everyone knows," she said.
"Everyone?" he asked.
"Well, anyone who has a brain," Ann said, "So that rules out Percy, Jake, and Hank," she said nudging her brother next to her. Travis sat back down in his seat and looked over to Katie. When she saw that he was looking at her, she quickly turned away. Travis got up from his seat, grabbed his plate and walked confidently over to her.
"Hi Katie," he said, squishing himself in between her siblings.
"Hey Travis," she said, smiling, "What's up?"
"Oh nothing. I saw you looking at me. Were you wondering what you were going to get me?" he asked.
"For Christmas? Travis, Christmas already passed," she said. She stabbed some broccoli and put it in her mouth. It's okay, Travis thought, she leaves during the school year. She wouldn't know.
"Uh no," he said.
"Hanukah?" she guessed.
"No…" he said.
"… Kwanza?"
"My birthday! Sheesh, this should be common knowledge," Travis chided her.
"Really?" Katie asked, "When is it?"
"Tomorrow," Travis muttered.
"What? And you tell me now?" she asked, hitting him on his shoulder. He inched away, pressing his back on her sibling's shoulder, eyeing her duel knives.
"Yeah. Like I said, It should be common knowledge." Katie rolled her eyes.
"But I don't understand why you couldn't have told me sooner!" she said.
"Why?"
"I would've thrown you a surprise party!" Katie said.
"Really?" Travis asked. His eyes got big and practically sparkled with possibilities.
"Yeah, well it's too late now," Katie said, shrugging her shoulder. Travis coughed, quenching his sparkly eyes.
"Yeah, I guess it is," he said, disappointed, "Well, bye," he said.
"Later," Katie said, looking at her food. She prayed for him to go away faster, for she couldn't contain her growing smile. When he left the Mess Hall, Katie quickly put her plate away and found Wendy in her cabin. Thankfully, Travis wasn't around. "Wendy!" she said, sitting down on her bed beside her.
"What?" Wendy asked.
"I'm going to throw Travis a surprise party!" she said.
"For what?"
"For his birthday! Sheesh, shouldn't this be common knowledge?" Katie said, imitating him.
"My gods, you sound so much like him! Are you really Travis dressed up as Katie?" Wendy asked, pulling at Katie's cheeks. She swatted her away.
"Yes it's me! But I'm going to throw Travis a surprise party!" she said, telling her the news again.
"But isn't his birthday tomorrow?" she asked. Katie raised an eyebrow.
"So?" she asked. Her expression practically yelled: your point? Wendy waved for her to continue. "Anyways, will you help me?" she asked. Wendy scratched her forehead.
"I don't know. I'm not feeling so hot," she said, "My head hurts and my nose is runny." Katie got up off of the bed and handed Wendy the tissue box from the nearby dresser. "Thank you," Wendy said, after she finished blowing her nose.
"How can you get sick?" Katie asked, concerned.
"I've been visiting the borders a lot lately," Wendy said. Katie nodded. That made sense.
"So you can't help me?" she asked.
"I'm sorry," she moaned, coughing into her tissue.
"Do you need to go to the infirmary?" Katie asked.
"Probably," Wendy said.
"Alright. I'll help you there," Katie said. She helped the weak Wendy to the infirmary, where Chiron took her into his hands.
Katie then set out to find someone to help her with Travis' party. She already had an idea in her mind. There would be balloons, people, and lots and lots of food. Katie went from person to person and they were either busy, or they just didn't want to go to a party for Travis. For those people, Katie sent them a deadly glare and added them onto her list. The top of course was reserved for Travis. In her entire day of searching, the only person that said they could help/come was Connor.
Katie, exhausted from running around, trudged to her cabin after the campfire. She didn't change into her pajamas or wash up. She just fell on her bed and buried her face into her fuzzy green comforter, falling asleep.
"What do you want me to do?" Connor asked Katie.
"Can you help me blow up these balloons, Con?" Katie asked, holding up her bag of balloons.
"Yeah sure, Kit-kat," Connor said. He picked out and balloon and started blowing. "Where did you even get these, anyway?" he asked.
"I bought them at the camp store," Katie said in-between puffs. Connor slapped his hand against his forehead, sending his half blown balloon flying.
"Kit-kat, you're getting help from a Stoll," he said, "You could've gotten those balloons for free!" Katie rolled her eyes.
"Thief," she muttered.
"Goody-two-shoes," he mumbled back, "I have no idea why my brother likes you," he breathed.
"Did you say something?" Katie asked.
"I said how many balloons do you want?" Connor asked.
"At least ten," Katie said. Connor nodded. That wouldn't be much of a challenge. After they got done with ten, they put all of the balloons in a pile.
"Where should we put these?" he asked.
"Put it in my cabin," Katie said. After they did, they headed over to the kitchen to make a cake. After some pleading to the harpies, they finally got the entire kitchen to work with. "Where's that cookbook," Katie muttered to herself, sorting through cabinets. After a full thirty minutes of looking, she gave up. She leaned against the sink, scanning for any place she hadn't looked. "You could help," she said to Connor.
"Yeah, whatever," Connor said, deeply engrossed with the book in his hands.
"Put that book away and help me!" Katie said, snatching the book out of his hands. She looked at the title. 500 Recipes for Hungry Demigods! by Demeter. Katie looked at Connor, disbelievingly. "This is the book I was looking for!" Connor shrugged. "I've been looking for this for thirty minutes!" Katie said, exasperated, "How long have you had this?"
"Since the beginning…?" Connor said, cautiously. Katie groaned dramatically and slammed the book on the counter, flipping through the pages. Sometime she forgot how it was so hard to work with Stolls.
"Does Travis like chocolate?" she asked, finding the recipe.
"Oh yeah, he loves it," Connor said.
"Alright. We're making him a chocolate cake. Get the ingredients as I say them," she instructed, "Eggs, chocolate, flour, milk…"
After two hours of messy mixing, taste testing, some more mixing, taste testing, putting it in the oven, and taste testing, the cake was finally ready. When Katie opened the oven door, the heat slapped her in the face and she turned away. She carefully grabbed the tin that held the cake and kneed the door shut. Connor set out a paper plate and Katie plopped the finished result on it. They looked at their cake, hopefully. Turns out, it was not bigger than a small cupcake. Katie smacked Connor on the back of the head.
"I knew I shouldn't have let you eat that much batter!" Katie said. Connor rubbed his slightly upset stomach.
"Well, I told you not to keep it in the oven that long!" Connor said.
"It said: 30-35 minutes. Keep it in longer if necessary. I thought it was necessary!" Katie defended.
"But not for an hour!" he said. Katie huffed and looked down at their pathetic excuse for a cake.
"Let's just decorate it," she said. They looked through the kitchen for some kind of frosting. They couldn't find any. "How could they not have frosting?" Katie asked herself.
"Uh, Katie?" Connor said, looking down at the cookbook. Katie walked over and read what was on the page. As for frosting, don't bother. There's already too much sugar in this treat! Try some cereal instead. Katie groaned.
"Thanks mom," she muttered.
"I guess this will have to do," Connor said.
"Alright," Katie said, scooping up the cake, "Let's go get the balloons." They headed to her cabin and found two of her younger siblings sitting on them and popping them.
"What are you two doing?" Katie exploded. She ran over to the last surviving balloon and took it out of their grubby hands. Immediately the two started crying. Katie sighed and handed the balloon over to Connor for safe keeping. She kneeled down next to them and shushed and cooed at them until they started crying. After they did, another hour had passed and they were running out of time. "Let's go, Connor," Katie said, running out of the cabin.
"Where?" Connor asked.
"Does the snow sound good?" Katie asked. Connor gasped.
"Katie? Leaving the camp borders? Going against Chiron's rules?" Connor asked.
"It's just for a few minutes," Katie said. Connor sighed.
"And when I thought you weren't uptight anymore," he said. Katie rolled her eyes and they quickly stepped into the freezing snow. "How many more people are coming?" Connor asked. He stomach groaned and he clutched it.
"Just us," Katie said.
"Just us?" Connor asked. Katie nodded. "I think Travis would like it if it was just you," he said.
"Connor!"
"-Plus my stomach is yelling at me to go to a bathroom," he finished. Katie inched away. "I can get him for you," Connor said.
"That would be good. Thanks for helping me with this sad little party," Katie muttered. Connor saluted her and ran off to find Travis. Katie took a deep breath and ignored the coldness of her feet. She waited for a few minutes, watching the snowflakes fall over the chocolate cake.
"-Connor what are you doing?" Travis said. Katie quickly put on a smile and tried to make the balloon and the cake slightly presentable.
"Just trust me," she heard Connor say.
"What's wrong with your stomach?" Travis asked.
"I've got to use the bathroom. A bit of advice, never eat too much batter," Connor said. Katie rolled her eyes and watched as Connor led a blindfolded Travis past the camp boundaries.
"Wow!" he jumped up in surprise.
"Too cold for you?" Katie asked. Connor took the blindfold off of Travis and ran off to the bathroom.
"Katie?" Travis asked confused.
"Surprise," she said, holding up the balloon and the cake.
"For me?" he asked. She nodded and walked over to him. Behind them, the sun was starting to set and people were just beginning to leave the Mess Hall.
"I hope you like chocolate," she said.
"I love chocolate," he confirmed. She picked up the small cake and swallowed it whole. Katie waited for him to recoil and spit it out but that never came.
"Does it taste alright to you?" she asked.
"It tastes fine. Why?" Travis asked.
"Nothing," she said smiling. "I told Connor that it needed more time to bake," she hissed to herself.
"What?"
"Oh, nothing," Katie said. Travis laughed nervously.
"So is this my surprise party?" he asked.
"Yeah," she said, "Sorry about the outcome."
"Why apologize? You're here, right?" Travis asked. Katie smiled and looked down.
"Well, here's your balloon," she said, handing him the balloon. He thanked her and dropped it on the ground. It didn't even float.
"So, where are my presents?" Travis asked.
"I uh… hmm," Katie said. The balloon isn't enough? What else do I have? she thought. She undid her ponytail and handed her hair tie to him. He had an orange-ish glow on his face from the vibrant sunset.
"A hair tie? Thanks," he said, picking some of her excess hair off of it.
"Sorry," she said, "I don't have anything else." Travis thought for a moment.
"How about a dance?" he asked.
"With no music?" Katie asked.
"We have snow, a sunset, a beautiful girl-"Katie blushed, "-and a gorgeous guy. Why do we need music to dance?"
"I guess," she said. They walked closer to each other. Katie put her arms around his neck and he wrapped his arms around her waist. They pulled each other close, trying to keep warm in the freezing snow. Katie rested her head on his shoulder, closing her eyes. After a while of silence, Travis spoke.
"Katie?" he said softly. She looked up at him. His blue eyes looked away from her. "Can I have one more present?" he asked.
"What is it?" she asked.
"Can I have… a kiss," he choked. Katie blushed and leaned up. She pressed her lips against his warm cheek and stayed there for a few seconds. When she went back down, Travis' cheeks were burning.
"It that good for you?" she asked.
"Yeah," he squeaked. Katie giggled and rested her head back on his shoulder and sighed. This was how it was supposed to be. This felt… right.
"Happy birthday," she muttered into his shoulder.
The next few months didn't get any better than that. Travis started pranking Katie even more after that night and she was really starting to wonder if he was playing around, or just being mean. She totally snapped on Easter day. Katie's eyes slowly opened up and found none of her siblings in the cabin. She threw her blanket off of her and slipped on her fuzzy pink slippers. She looked out the door and found a boat load of campers forming a semicircle around her cabin, Demeter campers included. Most of the campers were laughing, or at least had a look of amusement on their face. The Demeter campers just looked horrified. Katie ran outside and joined the semicircle, trying to find out what was going on.
"Katie, look!" Miranda Gardiner said, pointing to their roof. On their grass roof was the Stoll brothers, and hundreds and hundreds of chocolate Easter bunnies. When Travis saw her, he hopped off of the roof and walked over to her proudly.
"Hey Katie, do you like chocolate?" Travis asked waving a chocolate bunny in her face. Katie's mouth fell open, remembering the night she gave him a chocolate cake. Now he was making fun of her for that? She was being nice and he decided to tease her about it? Now, that was just cruel.
"That is enough!" Katie yelled. All of the other campers stopped laughed and they turned to look at Katie and Travis. "You! How could you? I was being nice, but you make fun of me for it? Fine! From now on, we are rivals! I'm no longer your friend," Katie said, stomping away. Travis stood frozen and dropped his chocolate bunny on the ground. Connor hopped down from the roof and patted Travis' shoulder.
"Alright. Nothing to see here. Scam!" Connor yelled at all of the other campers. They quickly dissipated so soon it was just Connor and Travis.
"I just wanted to pay her back," Travis muttered, in a daze. Connor looked at him sadly. Even though he didn't know if Travis and Katie was a good couple, he still wanted his brother to be happy.
"I'm sorry, bro," he said.
The end of the school year was rapidly approaching. As it did, Katie couldn't help but think about the great big war that was about to take place. She sat in front of her cabin, musing. She knew not everyone was going to make it. That was a given. She just couldn't imagine Camp Half Blood without them. They were a family and losing family hurt. She got up from her seat and walked over to the Apollo cabin. She held her knuckle up to knock on the screen door, but decided to just go in. Inside, she found a couple of Apollo campers, including the one she was looking for.
"Katie!" Will said when he saw her. He got up to put his guitar away, but she stopped him.
"I have a song request."
They worked for the rest of the evening and came up with a nice result. When the campfire came along, Katie was itching for Will to lead the camp in their song. As everyone got seated, they started singing their usual songs, Someone's in the Kitchen with Chiron and Satyr. The flames shot up and everyone was in high spirits. Eventually, Will got up from his bench and waited for everyone to quiet down. When they did, he started talking.
"Hey everyone. As you all know, there is a war coming soon." There was a few muttering. "And we all know that not all of us are going to make it." Chiron started to walk over but Will held a hand up, stopping him. "So because of that, Katie and I wrote a song. I hope you guys like it," he said. He pulled up a stool and sat down, strumming the chords they decided on. Then he started singing. At first everyone was silent, listening intently at the song. Katie mouthed the words along with him, not daring to break the calm silence. She looked around at the other campers' expressions. Some were listening intently to Will's singing. Others were hugging each other sadly. A few even started crying. When Will got to the final time to sing the chorus, his voice cracked and he choked. Nobody said anything for a few seconds so Katie decided to take a chance.
"-When you do, just know I'll miss you.
It's true, camp wouldn't be the same without you.
Yes, camp wouldn't be the same without you.
It wouldn't be home without you," she sang without a guitar, picking up where Will left off. She started singing the chorus again and a few other campers joined her. Slowly, as they got to the next line, a chorus of sad voices rang through Camp Half Blood. Everyone sang the chorus along with Katie.
"-Yes, camp wouldn't be the same without you.
It wouldn't be home without you," the entire camp sang, ending it on the final note. Katie looked around at everybody. They all sat on their seats with the crickets chirping before they jumped up and started hugging all of their friends. Some cried on each other's shoulders and others just stood there in each other's arms. Katie hugged the crying Miranda and rubbed her back.
"Shhh," Katie whispered, "It's fine." Miranda sniffled and went over to hug another one of her friends. Katie walked over to Wendy and they wrapped each other in their arms. Katie swallowed the ball that was traveling up her throat.
"You took it to Will," Wendy said.
"Yeah," Katie's voice wavered. Wendy laughed sadly and rubbed her back.
"I'm going to talk to my other siblings," Wendy said, breaking their hug.
"Okay," Katie whimpered, wiping some fresh tears out of her eyes. As everyone paired off, Katie stood, wiping the nonstop waterfall of tears. She felt a tap on her shoulder and turned to face Travis. He looked at her for a second before holding out his arms. She didn't hesitate when she ran into his arms and cried. She didn't totally forgive him but she needed Travis to know that camp wouldn't be the same without him, also.
Sad, huh. I'm thinking about making that into an actual song. It just came to me. Also, I thought that camp would have a final heart-to-heart campfire session before the war started. Sigh. Remember to review. butterfly kisses
~ xhiddendreamx