Chapter 9:
Percy's P.O.V.
After Leo went to wash the dishes, I went to the lake with my guitar. I don't really know why but the lake seems like a perfect place to go to after dinner. It's quiet and you have a perfect view of the stars. I also brought a blanket so I can sit on the ground. I carefully placed the blanket near the lake and sat down, guitar by my side. The second day of camp was fun mostly because Drew wasn't there. Our trainer told us that Drew had other matters to attend to so she couldn't make it. I was relieved because I really did not want to see Drew today. Annabeth and I haven't talked all day, mostly because she was busy helping our trainer with the new campers.
I strummed my guitar, not really singing anything. I wasn't in the mood to sing because I sang the whole time in the music room. I just needed time to think about a lot of stuff.
Like how I missed my mom.
I've never been away from her this long. She said she'd visit me when she had time but since she's busy writing her new novel, she must be so busy. I wonder what she's doing right now. I wonder if she's sitting by the window, thinking about me. I wonder if she misses me.
"Hey." Annabeth seated beside me, with a bag of chips in her hand. Her blond hair was up in a ponytail and she was wearing a blue shirt and jeans "What are you doing here?"
I placed my guitar beside me "Oh, I was just thinking about stuff."
She offered me some chips (and I gladly accepted it) and just remained quiet for a few minutes.
"Do you miss your family?" she asked.
"A little, why?"
She looked at the lake in front of us. I took the opportunity to stare at her and memorize her face. Her gray eyes were the most beautiful thing I have ever seen.
"I'm jealous of you." She said, still not removing her gaze from the lake "You have a family to go back to. My dad and my step-mom think of me as a nuisance. My step-brothers are annoying. My real mom's too busy. Camp is where I feel like I have a real family."
I wanted to ask her why her dad and her step-mom think of her as a nuisance but I stopped myself because the answer was pretty obvious.
"Oh." That was all I said. I didn't know how to respond to her confession.
"It's okay. I know you want to ask questions." She said looking at me
"Why are you here by the way?" I asked her
"I like it here." She said casually while finishing her bag of chips. She folded the plastic and shoved it into her pocket "I stay here all the time."
"I can leave if you want to be alone." I said as I stood up.
"I actually like your company." she said "You're not as bad as I thought."
I sat down again and we spent the whole night just staring at the lake and talking about our lives. I learned a lot about Annabeth, like how she met Reyna and how she discovered camp. The only time we stopped talking was when it was time for curfew.
I hated most of the people at camp. They were practically worshipping Drew ever since she stepped in the music room. Piper told me that our trainer was absent because he attended a funeral so he assigned Annabeth and Drew to handle us for today. Apparently, Drew took this chance to tell others how beautiful and talented she is. Annabeth wasted no time though and decided to give the new campers the basics. Some of the old campers helped Annabeth. Hazel and Piper tried telling Drew to stop being a distraction but it only resulted to a fight. I found it funny that Drew was being praised; she's not even as talented as Annabeth, Piper or Hazel.
"Drew, can you please stop applying that eyeliner for the 50th time today and help us give out the lessons to the new campers." Piper pleaded.
"No can do, honey. If they want to praise me, let them." Drew said while sitting on one of the chair "I need to be pretty all the time. Come on, Piper; let them have their free time."
"But they've been having their free time since you sat there!" Hazel exclaimed.
Drew put her eyeliner back into her purse, stood up and looked at Piper "Look, Dumpster Queen, I don't need all this bullshit. I don't really know why Jason stayed with you. You're obviously not worth his time."
Piper clenched her fist but before she could punch Drew, Hazel stopped her.
"Don't mind her, Piper." Annabeth said
"And the spotlight stealer speaks!" Drew shouted "Look, honey, the only reason why Jason likes Piper is because her dad's famous."
Most of the campers circled around them, some muttering something about a fight. Piper looked like she wanted to kill Drew and Hazel was trying to calm her down. I didn't know why I was there, just standing still when I should be defending my cousin. I ran out of things to do to save Piper from Drew. I can't hit Drew, of course. I can't shout random insults at her because I was never good at that. So, I couldn't help them.
"Drew," Annabeth said "Stop."
"Why should I?" Drew taunted "My parents own half of this camp? You're completely powerless in my territory."
"Your parents own it." Hazel said "Not you."
"But I will inherit it when I'm older. So basically, I own half of this camp already!" Drew laughed.
"That doesn't change the fact that you're not talented and you used money to join camp. You can't even sing." Annabeth said.
"And you're not that talented either without Katie." Drew said "You're depending on your silly little girl group to win competitions."
"You're just jealous because we didn't have to pay our way in here and we made it here because we have talent." Hazel defended.
"Oh Hazel, you're just jealous because my mom isn't a lunatic like your mom." Drew put her hands on her waist "You're wasting my time."
"I can see why Josh dumped you." Annabeth said "You only cared about yourself."
Drew looked extremely angry now. She raised her hand to slap Annabeth and Annabeth was too busy comforting Piper to even noticed. I did the only thing I could think off at the moment.
I stopped Drew's hand from hitting Annabeth.
Annabeth seemed to notice because she was looking at me with a shocked expression. I looked around to see that everyone was also looking at me, expecting me to say something.
So I did.
"Don't touch her."
