Clarisse's POV
The car ride back to Camp was less enjoyable than it could have been. You try sitting in a car with an angry daughter of Athena for an hour, in complete silence. She was in the front seat with Argus, and Percy was wedged between me and Grover. My angle gave me the perfect view of her pouting. I rolled my eyes and glared out the window.
To make it worse, my muscles were aching terribly, my head was pounding softly, and I had to watch Percy touch Annabeth's elbow concernedly on a ten minute interval. After the third tap, I glared out the window with such ferocity that I was sure the blue Prius next to us would explode into flames. My anger apparently did not go unnoticed, and Grover bleated nervously. But I held my ground.
I know I should have been happy, but if you've ever had insecurities, you know it is never that easy. The fact that Percy had stopped kissing me the moment Annabeth had come out of the water, and that he hadn't talked to me the entire car ride was weighing heavily.
That's why I was relieved when Thalia's pine came into view. The car kicked up gravel before rolling to a stop. Grover took his leave as soon as possible, running out and shouting something about finding Juniper. I got out too, making sure a little excess force was used whilst shutting the door.
"Percy, can we take a walk?" Annabeth said before she had even shut the passenger side. The question sounded much more like a demand. Percy stole a look at me, too fast for me to see what was in his eyes, and reluctantly walked off with the blond.
"Ugh!" I cried, kicking a rock before stomping to my cabin. The usual rock music was playing, and my siblings cheered when they saw me, but I pushed past all of them. Tears stung my eyes as I grabbed a change of clothing.
The good part about being a child of Ares is you can cut the heads off of training dummies and no one thinks that it's due to extreme anger and emotional frustration because of a boy. The bad part is that they joke to their friends about how manly I am, or about how my shoulders are broader than other girls'. Yeah, thats right, I hear all the things you say.
The training arena cleared out pretty quickly once I got there. I liked it better that way, I told myself. I heard them all whispering as they stored their weapons and retreated. I tried not to care, because they'll pay later when I kick ass and take names like usual.
There's something soothing to me about seeing my sword flash and feeling it strike its target. With weapons, I felt superior, something rare for me. Maybe I take it too far sometimes, but everyone has those moments.
But today, all my feelings weren't draining out like usual. Something was still there, gnawing at my stomach, an all too common experience nowadays. With a growl, I sliced my blade faster. Fire filled my muscles and limbs, and before I knew it, I was moving faster than I ever have.
One dummy managed to stay intact no matter how I inflicted damage on it. The other remaining figures loomed around me, taunting. Telling me I'm not good enough, and there's nothing I can do about it. My breathing got harsh and ragged, with soft sobs breaking them every now and then. A voice called my name, but my brain didn't let me stop. I hacked at the mannequin relentlessly, like a maniac, until its head came off and I dropped my blade. Shaking, weak, and out of breath for the second time in less than 24 hours, I almost collapsed on spot with all the emotional and mental pain that finally flowed out, mixing with the physical.
Hands laid themselves on my hips, turning me around. I knew from the scent of sea water that it was Percy. His arms wrapped around me tightly and I rested my forehead in the crook of his neck. I shook with sobs that I finally allowed to flow freely. I could feel my tears soaking his t shirt, but he just rubbed circles on my back and murmured "Shhh. It's ok" over and over in a slightly panicked voice.
I don't know how long we stayed there, in the dusty arena with me crying into his chest. But the insane waterfall of emotions eventually slowed to a trickle. My chest stopped heaving with sobs, but neither of us moved away. I could feel his heartbeat under my cheek as he lightly kissed my forehead. He tilted my chin a bit and pressed his lips to mine.
I leaned into him and squeezed my eyes shut. No more hiding. No more pretending. Right then, all I wanted to do was kiss Percy Jackson, and just breathe.