You think I'm pretty without any make up on

You think I'm funny when I tell the punchline wrong.

I know you get me, so I let my walls come down...

~Teenage dream~

~Katy Perry~

The days went as quickly as they had come, and Luke and Kaia trained together, day after day. She'd wake up, and run, for what seemed like hours and hours and, in reality, was indeed many hours. She'd get up from her separate small cabin, (which she and Luke had steadily been adding onto) that had been assigned to her by Chiron, the Camps activity director, and indeed an old friend of Kaia's (Because no way was he letting her stay in Luke's room).

Any way, she'd get up, get dressed, throw her chocolate hair into a messy ponytail and run for what seemed like forever until she reached a big oak tree stump a few hundred yards behind the tree house, sit down; and think. And the more she thought, she didn't want to, and the more she didn't want to, the more she discovered. She thought about Clarisse, and why she could empathise with her, when she couldn't with anyone else. She thought about what she'd said. No one can help me. She thought about it, but held herself back self-consciously, until two weeks later. She'd been getting along well with Clarisse, training and hanging out with her as well as Luke, but not usually together. She'd talked to Clarisse about Luke, but knew she wasn't in love with him. She had a thing, with guys, where she couldn't help but fall for the first guy who was nice to her. Anyone else, and Kaia would've laughed. But not Clarisse. She sat patiently, as patient as she ever was, and listened and laughed with her and helped her. She talked her out of Luke, told him he was a jerk sometimes, but not mentioning that he was usually a great guy. She hung around him at tea and before and after training, she talked to him at night, but for some reason, she still hadn't talked to him. They'd talked about movies and computers and fighting, and dating history (that was an awkward conversation) and generally bitched about some other campers. They'd talked about the Gods, and although Kaia didn't let on at first how much she despised them (not that she'd told him why) he showed the same reluctance to talk about them, and an awkward silence ensued. To which Luke blurted; "I hate them." And that's when they really started talking.

They had too much control, he said, and he wasn't power crazy, but he admitted that, if they went down, he could do a better job. He said they killed innocent people, and all though they were nowhere near as bad as what they used to be like (Luke, here, using the example of when Zeus raped some chick) they still didn't care about any mortal or even demi-god. Kaia totally agreed with him, but held back her own reasons of why she loathed them more than she was letting on. Luke noticed that she was hesitant as soon as he opened his mouth, but he didn't push her.

It was a Sunday, and the sun was already temperate as Kaia got up for her early morning run, and by the time she got back she was sweating, which was unusual, because she never usually got tired, even when she sprinted for over an hour. Her endurance was spectacular, it was how she was trained. She undressed and hopped into the shower, bringing some clean clothes with her that she'd bought while shopping with Clarisse. A mini skirt, a plain white tank and some white pumps she took from the drawer to the side of her room in her cabin, which was extremely lush. She took some inspiration while building it with the other campers, and heightened on huge columns of Earth that she had pulled up from the ground. Her unique power for the elements labelled her as special back home, but here, it made her extraordinary. Only a couple of campers had been there when she'd done it, the least that were there all day, because she didn't feel like being the freak show. Neither Luke or Clarisse were there when she did it, either, because she'd told them to go away. They'd understood, although the quizzical looks on their faces had made sure that she'd have to tell them sooner or later, if the people who'd been there hadn't spewed their mouth off already, despite the fact that she'd told them not to. She knew that Luke and Clarisse would guess about her affinities, since, you know, there were 9 huge freakin' pillars of Earth sticking up forty feet in the air. But she just didn't want them to see her do it. Like that made any sense.

She let Luke (after an argument of 'you really don't need to go to the trouble') carve out slots for a set of stairs that stuck right out of the Earth pillars, carved down from rich mahogany that grew in the woods. They were beautiful and cool, and wound around the pillars three times before arriving at a mahogany door. The cabin itself was more of a house, three stories high, each floor one large room, divided only by the big squishy arm chairs and comfortable sofas that littered the down stairs, and a medium sized bathroom with a hot tub and a power shower taking up the majority of the space in a room on the second floor. The other half of the second floor was kitted with flat screen TV's attached to the walls, guns and knives and other weapons littering the desks that ran around a corner, and the latest PS's and games equipment that she'd ordered to the nearest house outside of camp. There was a big armchair in one corner, and a leather swivel chair that was in front of the desk. Yeah. It'd been a big order. The third floor was her bedroom. She didn't know what Clarisse had put in the order, but the bed was, like, a triple bed, with a huge thick duvet and great, soft pillows. It was a rich red, not maroon, and Kaia loved it. She loved the house. She loved the window seats that Luke had secretly made, and the kitchenette with its island that Luke loved, and the fireplace that took a long time to get sorted. She loved it, and she was starting to love being here. Which was a huge, huge problem.

"Come on, Kaia, it's fun! It really, really is. And I know you wouldn't miss a chance to roast some more marshmallows." Luke said as he smirked, referring to an incident a few days back when the two of them had trekked out past the boundaries of the cam and made a huge bonfire in the clearing. Kaia's marshmallow roasting had ended up with sticky crap all over her fingers, and them having to find the nearest stream to wash it off.

"Ha, ha, hilarious." Kaia said in a monotone from her place lounging in one of the armchairs that she'd dragged over to Luke's room, because, apparently, 'there's not enough comfy things in here'. She dangled one leg over the arm of the chair and lay her head back, listening to the music coming softly through the surround sound.

Roll away your stone, I'll roll away mine.

Together we can see what we will find.

Don't leave me alone at this time;

For I am afraid of what I will discover inside.

It sounded very a light to her situation, and she sighed. Going to tonight's party was definitely not on the top of her priorities list. Apparently, they were fun, a bit of alcohol, but not pissed-of-your-head alcohol, because Chiron would be popping in and out of the clearing where everyone was gathering. Food-which apparently there was plenty of-was provided, and if Luke thought it fun, then surely it had to be okay. But Kaia-she didn't want to go. Not because the other campers didn't like her-they adored her, and practically worshipped the ground she stood on (which Luke never ceased to tease her about) because they all came to watch her practice, and when she defeated eight or nine demi-gods at once, the loved her. When she defeated thirty of them at once with only one scratch on her elbow from where she smashed a guys shield too hard, they adored her. When she defeated Luke three times in a row, well, that was when the started to worship the ground she walked upon. No. It definitely wasn't that the others didn't like her. It was more the fact that she would just attach herself more to these people, these people from another dimension, that she hardly knew. Two months ago, her trust issues were way, way above 'issues'. And yet here she was, making friends. She'd never had friends before, bar her brother, so why was she pushing them away so badly? Why wasn't she letting them in? Because you think they'll turn their back on you. Didn't you promise yourself that no one would ever turn their back on you a long, long time ago? A small voice at the back of her head whispered. And her self consciousness finally caught up to her. And she started to reach deep, deep down, and see herself, for the first time in, well, forever. When her father had remarried, shut her out, shut her down, she hadn't looked inside herself. Hadn't shown emotion. When her step-bitch had hit her across the cheek, and her father had stood there, turning a blind eye, she hadn't cried. Hadn't screamed. Had walked calmly back to her room and deadlocked the door, blasting up her music. When her brother died-and that was when she realised that something was wrong. He'd died, and she'd stood there, and she'd know; there were two paths that she could go down, but only one choice. Cry then and she'd loose herself in despair. She'd never let go. And so she turned her back, and at that précised moment, her heart had been ripped out of her chest. So why could she feel it beating now? She cut that thought short, and jumped up from her armchair, startling Luke so bad that he flipped back his blond hair and his eyes turned from ice blue to eye-of-the-storm grey.

"Kai-Kai! What the hell's wrong?" Luke whispered, stepping forward to grasp the top of her arms. He gripped them tightly to support her slightly swaying form, and she leaned into him.

"I-no! Get off me! I-I need to go. Just, just leave me alone." She hissed, and then he started to really worry.

"Kaia! Hey-hey," he said gently "calm down. What's wrong? Hey-hey!" he said as she backed off and he grabbed her hand. "Sit down. Talk to me. Please Kaia, I'm begging you." He sounded so sincere, so caring, that she looked into his eyes. Big mistake.

"I'm sorry." She said. And ran.

Hey guys, next chappy's gonna be Kaia/Luke slightly, and it'll get better from there PLEASE read and review thanks, hope you're enjoying it! x