A/N:Please Read Note At Bottom!
Chapter 7
Damn it. Some rather painful cramps had woken Carter at an incredibly ungodly hour – nearly four in the morning. She'd gotten her period the previous night, and she had always gotten the most awful cramps because of it. And today, of all days, those idiot boys had decided to train the camp in "fighting." I don't
think I can even hold a sword up today, she grumbled to herself. Hopefully Annabeth or Clarisse would understand.
They didn't, as it turned out. Neither of them suffered particularly painful cramps during their weeks – in fact, Clarisse didn't get cramps at all (none of Ares' daughters did, since they needed to be combat-ready at any given moment. Lucky girls.) After two hours of sparring and getting yelled at by Annabeth for not holding her sword right and Drew for not combing her hair right, Lily was developing a massive headache and felt herself losing her temper.
Soon after, she and one of Apollo's daughters, a fifteen-year-old girl named Jessie, were practicing archery when Jessie suggested they try to hit a target over by the forge, which wasn't particularly close to the arena.
"Uh, you know what," Carter said, eyeing the hammer lying on the ground that they were aiming at, "You go first. You're better at this than I am anyway."
Jessie laughed – she really was the better archer, and with a father like hers, it wasn't surprising. "Sure. Watch and learn, amateur." She winked at her new friend and pulled an arrow out from her quiver.
As Carter returned her gaze to the target, her face suddenly drained of the little color it had. She had seen a familiar head of silky dark hair behind the wall of the cabin, and pressed up against him was…Drew. They were kissing, that much was obvious, and the Aphrodite girl's arms were wrapped tightly around his neck.
"Your turn," Jessie announced, having nailed the target perfectly in the center. If it was a monster, she was sure it would have died from the single shot she had released. "Carter?"
"Oh, sorry," Carter mumbled, her mind still reeling. She absently fitted an arrow to the bowstring, and released it.
"ZEUS!" Jessie shrieked, diving to one side as the arrow hurtled towards her head. "Carter, PLEASE try to aim! I'm too young to die!"
Carter just stared at her in shock. "I didn't mean to – are you okay?"
"Yeah I'm okay, my dad left me some pretty awesome reflexes, you know?" Jessie grinned. "Hey, are you feeling okay? You're pale, and you didn't get much sleep, obviously…Oh, is it that time of month?" Giggling at the other girl's surprise, Jessie lowered her voice. "Daughter of the God of Medicine right here, baby. It's okay, I get awful cramps too – and you look like you're in pain every couple minutes. Just go take a nap – I'll cover for you."
"Are you sure?" Carter asked, more than grateful that she had been paired up with Jessie. She really liked the girl, who was outspoken but ultimately sweet-tempered.
"Positive. Get going before you pass out and I have to waste energy healing you. Shoo!"
Smiling for the first time that day, albeit briefly, Carter practically ran towards the cabin, trying to erase the image of Nico and Drew kissing from her mind. She almost made it, too, when she heard someone calling her name.
"Carter, can I talk to you?" Percy asked, jogging up to her.
"What?" Her comment came out harsher than it was supposed to be
He raised his eyebrows. She was normally never this brusque. "Well, you weren't fighting like you normally do, you haven't combed your hair, and you look like a raccoon. What's wrong?"
"Nothing." So she looked like a raccoon, did she? Well, let's give him menstrual cramps and see how much sleep he gets, she thought.
"I'm serious," he said, grabbing her shoulder when she tried to turn into the cabin. "You can tell me what's bothering you, if you're worried about if your and Nico's fighting styles are compatible or something then –"
"It has nothing to do with him!" she hissed, jerking her shoulder from his grasp. The pain of seeing him with another girl, even though he had never directly expressed an interest in her, flooded her frame again. "But you know what, I don't even know why Clarisse put me with him! Everyone here likes him because he's hot and he's polite and he acts nice, but that can't be what he's really like! He acts like he's oh so perfect, but I don't think he is. I mean, he has every girl here practically chasing after him, and I bet he just loves the attention! And do you even know if you can trust him at all? Look at his father! I bet he's just like him – creepy and violent and untrustworthy." She blinked her eyes rapidly – she was NOT going to cry over someone as worthless as Nico di Angelo. Never again. "And I have a headache, and I'm going to take a nap. See you."
She slammed the cabin door behind her and collapsed onto her bed, falling asleep almost immediately as physical exhaustion overpowered her racing mind and heart.
Percy stood outside the cabin for a moment more and then turned and returned to the arena. Neither he nor his sister had noticed the Italian boy who blended in perfectly to the shadows, his eyes betraying his anger and his broken heart.
A/N: I just wanted to tell everyone that I really appreciate your reviews, whether it's constructive criticism or plain positive feedback (which always makes me smile). For those of you who have critiqued, I am taking into account what you've told me, but this is my first fic and I'm still working on my writing skills. HOWEVER, I will do my best to change/improve the things you think I could. Special thanks to Phoenix1592, who always makes me smile with her reviews, and to all of you just for reading and being awesome, and also everyone who Favorited and alerted. On with the story!
