I is for Icicle
There was no doubt about it. The gods were mad.
The camp was freezing, and the magical borders did nothing to keep out the icy wind and chilly frost. At the very least, the gods had enough mercy to keep the snow out, but that was it.
The first thing everyone did was send accusatory looks at Percy Jackson. When he held up his hands in surrender, explaining that he had no idea what was going on, and that the only god he had recently ticked off, humiliated, or outright disrespected lately was Dionysus, but he'd apologized.
Then all the heaters in every cabin broke.
At last, Chiron was forced to let the campers sleep in the Big House, which was the only place in the whole camp that was warm.
It was a cozy sight in the living room, with the crackling fire as high as it could go without burning the entire house down.
Percy and Annabeth were sitting on the only couch together, wrapped in a blanket, and Jason and Piper were leaning against the wall next to the fire. Frank and Hazel were stretched out in front of the fire. Leo, being Leo, was grinning at everyone from inside the fireplace.
Everyone else was sitting or lying by people from their own cabin.
The door slammed shut, and everyone lazily looked up to see a shivering Katie Gardener enter the room.
"It's c-c-cold." She stuttered, moving toward the fire.
"Hey, baby." Travis yawned. "What were you doing outside?"
"Shut up." Katie's cheeks flamed red, because she knew Travis would provoke her into screaming at him in front of the entire camp.
"What were you doing outside?" Will Solace asked curiously.
"Checking on my plants." Katie answered curtly.
Instantly, the room was filled with groans.
"Katie! It's negative seven degrees outside!" Percy cried.
"So?" Katie rolled her eyes. "It wasn't that bad."
"They're just plants, Katie. Gods, you're so stupid." Drew snapped.
Katie whipped her head around and glared at her. "What?"
"I said, you're so stupid. Now it looks like you're deaf, too. Who goes to save plants? They're just freaking plants!" Drew barked.
Katie's face turned a bright pink, which anyone intelligent knew was her way of trying very hard not to explode.
After counting to ten three times, she took a deep breath and turned to the Aphrodite nightmare. "Drew, I suggest you go back to painting your nails and leave me to my plants."
Drew smirked, obviously pleased that Katie was giving up. "That's alright, hon, no need to get jealous. We can't always be perfect. You're a strange case, though."
Katie didn't answer, and Drew took it as an invitation to begin speaking.
"I realize that spending all your time in those dumb fields doesn't give you much time to work on your nails – no wonder they're in horrendous condition – and of course, I suppose you can't get many fashion magazines to realize how you should dress. Still, one thing I don't understand is why your face is so ugly. I mean, with all that dirt, you think the mud pack you're in everyday would clear out the wrinkles, and pimples, and at the very least smooth out your hair, if not add a glow to your skin, but you're just plain ugly."
Katie gaped in shock. Had Drew just listed every single insecurity she had ever had about herself? Could she read minds or something?
But it was true, wasn't it? Katie took a second to muse over everything Drew had said. And suddenly, Drew was right. She was ugly. She was the foulest camper there was. Even the Ares girls were pretty compared to her! And it wasn't because she just didn't try to glop on make-up and wear the best clothing. It was because she was just grotesque.
Biting her lip to keep from crying, Katie pushed out of the shell shocked living room and out to her strawberry plants. They were the only thing that ever made her feel better these days.
As the door shut, the living room instantly came back to life.
Everyone rounded on Drew angrily, but she just fluttered her eyelashes indifferently.
No one noticed as the door creaked open and a slender figure slipped out, wearing a coat and holding a blanket in his hands.
Katie burst into tears as soon as she reached the lifeless strawberry field. Even as they froze on her red cheeks, she refused to listen to the little voice of reason in her mind, and stayed out.
As Drew's hauntingly sweet voice came back to taunt her, Katie buried her head in her heads and wept bitterly.
"Katie!" Someone shouted. "Katie Gardener!"
Katie lifted her head to see Travis Stoll enter the fields.
She bit her lip in desperation. Of all the people! Did the fates truly hate her?
"Katie Gardener, you get your butt here right now! It's freezing, and you're going to kill yourself!" Travis yelled at the top of his lungs.
Under his breath, as he continued to search for her, he added. "She's going to be in so much trouble as soon as she's safe."
A moment later, a small whimper escaped Katie's mouth. The fates must have really been against her that day, because the wind seemed to latch onto it and drift the noise over to Travis. He was by her hiding spot in an instant.
"Katie!" Relief colored his voice, and Katie's tearful eyes met his. Could it be possible that he was actually concerned?
"Come on!" Travis wrapped the big blanket around Katie's shoulders and lifted her up so that no part of her chilled body was exposed to the wind. She buried her face in his shirt and dissolved into tears once more.
"Shh, it's gonna be okay, Kit-Kat." Travis comforted absently. "Everyone's really mad at Drew."
Katie didn't answer. She didn't voice her thoughts, but she was dismayed that Travis Stoll had to be the one to see her reduced to…to this. Not to mention, he was CARRYING her back…back to her own personal Tartarus.
Quietly, she began to curse the fates, curse the gods, and curse her life.
As they walked, the wind began to let up a little. Soon, it was gone completely.
"Is it getting warmer?" Travis wondered incredulously.
Katie pulled herself away from Travis to look around.
She tentatively pulled her hand and held it out. A small, white object landed on it.
"Snow." She breathed.
"What's going on?" Travis asked.
Katie shook her head to signal her confusion.
"Let's just get back." Travis decided. He walked on, still staring fixedly at the sky.
Katie yawned, and sleepily resolved that she would apologize for making Travis carry her in the morning. Her eyes began to close of its own account.
They entered the living room, and Travis laid Katie by the fire, re-wrapping the blanket around her.
"She's sleeping." He quickly reassured everyone when he saw their horrified expressions.
"Travis?" Katie mumbled, not quite awake, not quite asleep.
"I'm here." Travis squeezed her hand in assurance.
"Am I dreaming?"
"No."
"Then why is Leo in the fire?"
