I'm so sorry that I haven't updated but I do have a reason why I haven't updated. Recently I moved and everything was hectic. Once I settled into my new place, I didn't have internet connection. Everything was plugged in but something was wrong and had to have someone come in. I begged/pleaded my mom to call the company etc. Until final someone came and fixed it.
I appreciated all the reviews that were made and I wanted to say thank you! This chapter is 7,200+ words (if you take away everything that's bolded). There are some surprises that you guys will be shocked at and something you guys have begged all along but I've only given a small tasted.
Anyways, enough of my prattling and enjoy this story.
"I'm the not the girl who always has a boyfriend. I'm the girl who rarely has a boyfriend."
-Taylor Swift
"What do you wanna do?" Jason asks Alison.
Alison shrugs as she said, "Doesn't matter."
"Anything you wanna do?" Jason asks Nick.
"I'm fine by whatever," Nick said between sighs.
"How about Kota?" Alison asks as she looks at Dakota.
"No," Jason buts in, "Kota is gonna want to chug down a gallon of Kool-Aid with you guys.
"No, diet Kool-Aid," Dakota corrects.
"Is that even possible?" Nick curiously asks.
"Anything is possible," Dakota said in a deep raspy voice.
"I'll get Gwen over here," Jason threatens.
Dakota narrows his eyes towards Jason, "You wouldn't."
"Try me," he said.
"Okay, you would," Dakota believes.
"I have an idea," Jason said.
"Speak up," Alison said.
"Baseball," Jason said in awe.
"Do you have a baseball bat with you?" She asks.
"Yeah, why?" He asks.
So that I can swing at you. "Nothing," she said.
"No one let Alison have the bat," Jason warns the others.
Dakota laughs. "I would like to see that."
Jason glares at Dakota as he said, "I would like to see Gwen pound you."
"Well, I'll tell you that you let me drink two gallons of Kool-Aid," Dakota threatens.
"Who's Gwen?" Alison asks.
"Jason, where's the baseball bat?" Dakota ask.
"Besides Alison, you don't get the bat," Jason said.
"Okay, that will be boring," Alison confesses.
"Would you like some groupies with that?" Dakota ask in would-you-like-some-fries-with-that.
Jason scowls. "No," he said.
"Jason," Dakota said flirtatiously as he twirls his black curly hair.
He smiles. "Kota, you're worse than Leo," Jason said in annoyance.
"Flame on!" Dakota yells in a high pitch voice.
Alison pats Jason's shoulder, and said, "You know you love him."
He rolls his eyes. "No, I don't."
"You worry about my health," Dakota said smiling.
"I did that because of─" Jason said.
"I'm one of the few who can put up with your sorry butt, and because you love me as a brother," Dakota said then fiercely hugs himself.
"No─" Jason said.
"You call me by my childhood name," Dakota chimes. He knows Jason like the back of his hand; they've been through thick and thin and they're still best buds.
"Well, what Ali─" Jason said.
"We swore to be brothers," Dakota said. He remembers how annoyed he was with Jason following him, but now, he's glad Jason did it because their friendship blossom.
"Okay, that was because─" Jason said.
"We got stung by bees," Dakota reminds.
Jason laughs. "That was─"
"One of the most stupid things we've ever done," Dakota finishes.
"You guys were childhood buddies?" Alison asks.
Dakota slings his arm over Jason's shoulder. "I've put up with Jason ever since we were 6 years old."
"Wow," Nick said.
Jason nods in agreement. "I've put up with him," Jason said.
"I feel sorry for you, Kota," Alison sympathetically. Dakota burst out laughing.
"Okay," Jason said grumpily.
"I know you love it," Andrew said then winks.
"Nope," Reyna said.
"Goody two shoes," he mutters.
Reyna remembers:
Jason and Reyna were huddles together on the couch from a rainy day in New Rome. Reyna had on purple silk pajamas, while Jason had on marine blue colored pants with a gray hooded sweater under his purple Camp Jupiter shirt. Together, they watched a sappy movie that Reyna put on to just annoy Jason.
"I just noticed something," Jason said.
"Which is?" Reyna asked.
"It's always a good girl who falls for a guy that others believe don't suit her," Jason said.
"You didn't break your head from thinking of that right?" Reyna asked him.
Jason chuckled. "You're like that," he said.
"A good girl?" She asked.
"Yup," he said.
"I am not," Reyna retorted.
"You are a goody two shoes," Jason taunted.
"How?" Reyna challenged.
"You follow rules," he said.
"I don't always," Reyna said.
"Like?" He asked.
"I helped delay the Romans," she said. She risked her neck to delay the Romans because if it was discovered that Reyna was delaying them the word would've quickly spread to Octavian and he would've charged her from treasury.
"Only one time," Jason said.
"Whatever," Reyna grunted.
"Goody two shoes," Jason said under his breath. Reyna punched him in the arm.
"Have you dated?" Andrew asks.
"I see this is a personal question," Reyna said.
"Indeed," Andrew agrees.
"This is a question that I am not implied to answer," she said.
Andrew crosses his arm and pouts. "Any boyfriends?"
Reyna quickly thinks of Jason, but then shakes it off. Jason was her first everything: first crush, first time she held hands with a boy, the first guy that ever flirted with her, first kiss…
"What time period are you referring to?" She asks.
"Let's start from the beginning," he suggests.
Reyna thinks for a minute that she's insane that she's going to answer a few of Andrew's questions. "My birth?" She jokes.
A small chuckle escapes from Andrew's thin lips. "Who was your first boyfriend?" He ask as he raises an eyebrow.
Jason. "He was a blond," she said, then takes a sip of ice coffee.
"He had luscious blond hair, okay," Andrew said.
Reyna feels she's choking from the ice coffee and puts it down as she reaches for a napkin to wipe her mouth. "You twisted my words," Reyna said, but with a very small smile.
She might have a beautiful smile if she were to smile widely, Andrew thinks. "Go on," he encourages.
"He has electric blue eyes," she whispers. Remembering Jason's eye color is extremely painful for her.
"That make your heart swoon, and girls drool," he said.
She rolls her eyes, but continues as she said, "He was well-built."
Andrew flexes his bicep─ he's well-built. "Are you describing me but with other physical characteristics?" He teases.
"You wish," she seriously said as she throws her napkin at him.
"Remember when Bobby dragged us to the Baths to see the girls," Dakota said while laughing. Jason's face darkens, but Dakota doesn't notice. "You were convinced to see her." Thunder booms from the sky.
"What the heck?" Alison said with confusion.
"The sky seems to perfectly match his mood," Nick observantly said.
"Didn't you see the weather report today?" Dakota asks. "There's a 73% of thunder." He doesn't even watch the weather, but it sounds good.
"It hardly ever thunders here in Cali," Alison suspiciously.
"It does thunder," Nick said, but suspicious as well.
It's probably a coincidence. "You mean her?" Alison asks. She looks at Jason, and sees a wistful expression on his face.
"Yeah," he whispers.
"Wanna go get a soda?" Dakota asks. He hates seeing Jason down like this.
"Sure," Alison said.
"I don't want to go to the pizza shop," Jason said quickly.
"Dang it," Alison said as she snaps her fingers. He chuckles.
"There's a nacho stand," Nick suggests.
"I want nachos," Alison declares.
"We must do what Miss Bossy tells us," Nick said with sadness in his voice. Jason snorts to avoid laughing.
Alison glares at Jason, and said, "'I'll do anything, anything.'"
"Shut up," he said. Jason doesn't want to remember the waitress.
"You and Nick can go get the nachos, while Alison and I go to a nearby store to buy some cans of pop," Dakota tells Jason.
"Pop?" Jason asks.
"Soda," Dakota clarifies.
"Are you okay with this?" Nick asks Alison.
She nods, and said, "I am. What about you?"
"I'm good. Please, don't do anything I wouldn't do," Nick pleads.
Alison feels slightly touch from Nick's word, but she shakes it off. He's my amigo. "You ask too much," she said.
"Kota, nothing stupid," Jason said.
"Okay, Alison and I will just have a serious discussion," Dakota said as he wraps his arm around Alison's shoulder.
"I'm not looking forward to this," Alison said.
"Kota─" Jason said.
Dakota loops his arm around Alison and pulls her away. "Bye!" He yells.
"I have wished," Andrew said sarcastically.
"That's nice to know," Reyna replies with the same sarcasm.
Andrew locks his eyes on Reyna with deep concentration as if her life depends on it. He quickly shakes his head. "I'm guessing you don't have much of a love life."
Reyna knows if Andrew would've told someone else what he told her he would've gotten a nice slap in the face. "Yes," she said. "I'm alone but with my daughter, but I'm fine with it."
"Well said," Andrew said as he shakes his head in agreement.
"Thanks," she said. Reyna looks out the window and sees the sun setting down to finish a day. She thinks of Apollo, and imagines him on his chariot. It's getting late.
"I know that it's getting late," Andrew said as if he read her mind. Reyna is a bit taken back. "It's just you a look on your face, and I knew you were going to say that it's late."
"We should get going," Reyna said.
"Why?" Andrew whines.
"You're such a big baby," Reyna said as she shakes her head.
"I'll take that as a compliment," he said.
"I had a good feeling you would," she said.
"See? We're getting along," Andrew said cheerfully.
"Ha-ha, no," she said seriously.
"Do you hear that?" Andrew asks.
"What?" Reyna asks with concern.
"That's called my heart, that's breaking," Andrew sadly said while being dramatic.
"Whatever," she said.
Nick is very quiet and Jason feels uncomfortable. Nick chuckles. "Does the silence make you uncomfortable?" He asks.
Jason chuckles. "Yup," he admits. The two of them were walking to the edge of the park to a nacho stand.
Nick chuckles too. "How long do you know Alison?"
"A couple of days."
"Really? You guys get along so well."
"Yeah, we do."
"It's almost like a daughter and father thing."
"Like Alison is my kid?"
Nick shrugs. "I guess."
Jason feels a chill run down his spine. He doesn't have children. Alison's temper truly reminds Jason of Reyna. Reyna. Jason longs to see talk to her, or to just have a small glimpse of her. Jason remembers when he and Reyna would sometimes talk about having kids one day; he doesn't want any children of his own, but only if she's the mother of his kids. "We just bumped into one another," Jason said.
"Oh," Nick said as if it makes a lot of sense.
"You got a girlfriend?" Jason asks.
"Yup. Do you have a girlfriend?"
Jason has dated a few girls, but only because he was practically held against his will. Sure, the girls were nice, but they just weren't what Jason wants. Girls do capture his attention, but only when they either have glossy black hair, dark color eyes or the tan skin Reyna has or had; the few girls only have his attention for a few minutes until he really looks at them, and realize it isn't Reyna. "I've only dated. What's your girlfriend's name?"
"Mackenzie," Nick proudly said, but with a very small ting of bitterness.
"Does Alison like her?" Jason notice the look Alison had when she said Nick has a girlfriend.
"They really don't get along."
"Jealousy?"
"Alison is an easy-going girl. She's bright even though it really isn't shown when you first look at her."
"Mackenzie just doesn't like her."
"Why not?" Jason demands.
"I have a few theories," Nick said. What Nick said reminds Jason of Annabeth when she's going to talk smart or when Percy imitates her before Annabeth finds out and makes him sleep on the couch until they kiss and make-up.
"Enlighten me," Jason said. He thinks Nick is an okay kid.
"Any boyfriends?" Dakota asks.
Alison chuckles. "This is a conversation I should have with my mom."
"Have you had the birds and the─"
"I don't want that conversation," she interrupts.
"Answer the original question," Dakota said.
"Or what?" She challenges.
"You will feel the wrath of The Bobby," Dakota playfully threatens.
She smiles. "I'd like to know Bobby someday."
"A day will come," Dakota said.
"Oh," Alison said.
"Answer the original question," Dakota said.
"No, I don't have a boyfriend," she confesses.
"I thought Nick was your boyfriend," he confesses.
Alison scrunches her nose at the thought of her and Nick dating. No. "You guessed wrong."
"How about a love life?"
"Why do you have a sudden interest in that department of my life?"
"I need to hear some romance."
"Why?"
"Those Nicholas Spark's books aren't doing it."
"You read them?"
"Gwen reads them."
"Is she your girlfriend?"
"No, she is not my girlfriend. We're just dating."
"That makes her your future girlfriend. How long have you guys dated?"
"I asked her out when we were 18."
"How is it possible that you haven't asked her to be your girlfriend?"
"I almost pooped in my pants when I asked her because I was afraid of rejection."
"You're fine on how things are?"
"Yeah," he said. Dakota really is fine on how things are going with Gwen; they act the same way when they were young, but a few tokens of affection are involve.
"Who is the girl who has Jason's heart?" She really wants to know more about the girl because she made Jason fall for her, but hard.
"She's a girl Jason has known ever since they were twelve."
"They were childhood lovers?"
"No, they wanted to rip each others heads of at first." Dakota remembers that Gwen had to hold Reyna down when she wanted to strike Jason, and how Jason really pushed it to tick her off.
"What's her name?"
"Ask Jason." Dakota knows that Jason doesn't like hearing Reyna's name because he feels guilty.
"Tell me," she pleads.
"Knowing you, you'll tell Jason her names when you get mad at him and he'll ask you how do you know her name, and my neck will be on the line." Dakota grabs his neck as if checking it's still there.
"Can you at least tell me how she looks like?"
"She's a girl."
Alison rolls her eyes. "I didn't know that," she sarcastically said.
"I'll tell you when we get to the liquor store."
"Why not now?" she complains.
"I need to think what's on the line when I tell you."
"Your neck," Alison innocently said.
"I know," Dakota grumbles.
"My first theory is that she's probably jealous of Alison," Nick said.
Jason bites his bottom lip. "Explain."
"Alison is a carefree sort of person, and she really doesn't care what people think about her."
"I'd like to hear the other theory," Jason scientifically said.
"Alison is the only girl who Mackenzie hasn't broken her spirit, but really is trying."
The boys make it the nacho stand. The man working at the nacho stand is a chubby African-American with yellow teeth but has his two front teeth missing, a flat nose, and gray wispy curly hair. He has on a yellow apron, dirty blue jeans, and a white shirt.
"What can I do for you?" The man said in a New Orleans' accent.
"We'll have four baskets of nachos," Jason orders.
"For your lady friends," he said then winks.
"No, I don't have─"
"Hot nachos coming up," the man said. He goes to his metal stand, grabs four paper baskets, nachos, and he grabs pours hot cheese. Nick takes out his wallet, but Jason stops him.
"I'll pay," Jason said as he fishes out his wallet.
"I'll pay," Nick insist.
"We'll pay half," Jason said. Jason and Nick equally pay for the nachos.
"Drinks?" the man said.
"Kota did this on purpose," Jason said with realization.
Nick shrugs. "He likes Alison."
Jason devilishly grins. "Do you like Alison?"
"I could die this evening, and you wouldn't care," Andrew dramatically said.
"You're not bad," Reyna comments on his acting skills.
"I hear Oscar bells ringing," Andrew chimes.
"You're probably hearing your death bells," Reyna said.
He shakes his head. "Nope."
"We should go," Reyna said.
"I have to use the big boy bathroom," Andrew announces.
"Why did I want to know that?"
"I just wanted you to know."
"I can imagine you telling your date that you have to use the bathroom."
"Would you like to know what I'll do?"
Reyna rapidly shakes her head; she doesn't want to know about his business. "No, I don't want to know."
"I'm very good at descriptions," he said while smirking.
"I'm very good at flipping you, and giving you a possible black eye," she icily threatens.
Reyna's comment wipes off Andrew's smirk. "No thank you."
"You're dismissed," she said as if she's a teacher.
Andrew salutes her as if he's a soldier and she's a general. It reminds Reyna when she was praetor of Rome. "See you in a bit." He walks away. Reyna reflects the time she just spent with Andrew, and she admits that it's going well.
A man sits on the chair that Andrew previously was in. The man is bald, has white skin, a parrot like nose with a green shirt, and white pants. "Hello beautiful," the man said.
Reyna smirks. Great, the first time was with Bianca, and those two dorks who were hitting on us. "Hello," she formally said. Reyna likes to be polite, but when someone upsets her she has no hesitation to snap at them.
"How come you're hanging out with a loser like him?" She knows he's referring to Andrew.
Reyna icily smiles as if he's a clown that's trying to amuse her, but is failing miserably. "The only loser who I see is you."
The man smiles as if satisfy with her answer or was expecting it. "It's sweet how you're defending him."
Reyna looks out the window and takes a deep breath before she's about to lose it. "He is not my boyfriend. I don't want a boyfriend. I rarely have one."
"I can be it."
"Leave me alone before I do something about it."
"Well, you said you were─"
"That I don't have a boyfriend and rarely has one," Reyna finishes, but with an edge to her voice.
"You heard the lady," Andrew said. He stands in front of the table as he glares at the man.
"You heard him," Reyna said. The man quickly glances at Reyna and gets up, and walks away. "I can take care of myself," she said as stares at her ice coffee cup.
"I know, but it doesn't change the fact that I was annoyed by him," Andrew said.
"You heard?"
"I heard towards the end."
"If it helps, I was really annoyed too."
Andrew chuckles. "I can tell because you threatened him."
Alison and Dakota walk into the liquor store. The liquor store has dirty plywood floors, aisles of goods, freezers on two sides of the store fill with dairy products, soda and juice, and in the center of the store is a lit light bulb with a fan attach to it. They walk to the freezer and open it by pulling the handle.
"What do you want?" Alison asks.
"Is there any Kool-Aid packets?" Dakota asks.
"Jason is not gonna be happy with this," Alison said.
Dakota half heartily waves at her. "Jason can't confess the brotherly love he has for me."
"He did confess that you guys are best friend when I first met you at the pizza shop," she remembers.
"True."
"I don't want Coke."
"Why not?"
"I had an ice cream soda a while ago."
"With Nick," Dakota said as he wiggles his eyebrows.
"Shut up," she said.
He smiles. "How about you and Nick get Gatorade?" Dakota suggests.
"I don't want that," Alison said as if she's a five-year old.
"Snapple."
"What kind?"
"Apple."
"Grab two."
Dakota grabs two bottles of Snapple, and hands them over to Alison. "I still want Kool-Aid," he wistfully said.
"At least get something else," she pleads.
"Monster."
"It has way too much sugar."
"Redbull."
"Sugar," she reminds.
"Rockstar."
"Kota, either you select or I will."
"Well then," he said as he grabs a bottle of water.
"That's it?"
"Well the Kool-Aid has to leave my system somehow," Dakota said as if it's obvious.
"How about Jason?"
"Are there any drinks that taste nasty?" Dakota innocently asks. Alison laughs.
"I don't think so."
"I'll get him a Coke."
"Okay."
Alison and Dakota walk to the counter for a Hindu guy that has on dark pink turban, an orange button down shirt, and flow-y white pants to ring them up. The man places the drinks in a small plastic bag, and hands it to Dakota. "Have a nice day," he said.
They walk out, but in silence. Alison would've usually said that it's an uncomfortable silence, but it feels comfortable with Dakota.
"Look what the cat dragged in," a female voice said. Alison freezes from shock, but then turns to face Mackenzie. Mackenzie is at the entrance of a Starbuck's store. She has on peanut color UGGS, white pants, a blue wool sweater with a black scarf around her, and her hair tie into neat bun.
"It dragged in you," Alison said.
"Alice, who's this?" Dakota whispers.
"Mackenzie," she answers.
"Who is he?" Mackenzie demands.
"He's my friend," Alison fiercely said.
Mackenzie mockingly laughs. "Goth Queen, you can barely make friends with kids our age, so you make friends with people older than you; that's a new low."
"A new low for you is showing off yourself. Have you ever heard of self-respect?"
"I do have self-respect for myself. Is he your babysitter?" Mackenzie asks as she smirks.
"Listen kid, I'm just a friend of Alison. Why do you talk to her like that?" Dakota asks Mackenzie.
"Do you have any boyfriends? Are you alone? Poor baby," she coos.
Alison walks up to Mackenzie, and looks at her dead in the eye. "I don't have a boyfriend. I don't want a boyfriend. I think you probably have a ton of them waiting for you. Mackenzie, how do you think Nick would feel if he ever finds out you have a ton of followers following you? I'm actually surprise that he puts up with you."
Mackenzie bitterly smiles as she said, "It's not like you can get a boyfriend," she taunts.
"'It's not like you can get a boyfriend,'" Alison imitates. "Are we in a who-can-get-more-boyfriends competition? What have I ever done to you so that you hate me so much? I've never talked to up until you started saying those nasty comments to me," she demands.
"No, we are not in a competition. Leave Nick out of this if you know what's good for you," she said then pushes Alison's shoulder away.
"I'm not sure you want a nosebleed," she threatens.
"I dare you," Mackenzie challenges.
Dakota gently touches Alison's shoulder. "You're not even worth the hassle," Alison snarls.
Mackenzie evilly laughs and said, "Tootles."
"Witch."
"Emo."
"Troll."
"Wanna be."
Alison looks at Mackenzie with disgust. "Insecure," she finally said. Alison loops her arm around Dakota and said to him, "Let's go." He looks back, and sticks out his tongue.
Nick's cheeks very faintly turn pink. "Define like," he said.
Jason can't help but smirk. "How about romantically?"
"I have a girlfriend," he reminds.
"You like her," Jason said.
"Who said I do?" Nick said.
"You didn't say no."
"She's my friend."
"Do you see her as more than a friend?"
"I don't know."
"How long have you liked her?"
"I sort of liked her from a distance, and liked her a tad bit more when we started talking," Nick grumbles.
Jason chuckles as he remembers that he liked Reyna from a distance and like her more when they started talking:
Jason was sword fighting against Bobby at the Fields of Mars who thought was better at sword fighting than Jason. Dakota sat on the dirt as he was the speaker.
"Bobby, son of stupid, is about to disarm Jason Grace's sword by knocking it out," Dakota said.
"Son of what?" Bobby asked as he glared at Dakota. Jason took advantage of the opportunity and took away Bobby's sword by grabbing the handle and pointed it at Bobby's throat. "Cheater!" Bobby exclaimed.
"Well taking away my Mac and Cheese isn't fair now is it?" Jason asked him. Earlier during lunch, Bobby was way too lazy to order Mac and Cheese so he punched Dakota in the gut to get Jason's attention and Jason's grabbed the food for himself.
"I didn't do that," Bobby denied.
"You did," Jason said.
"Who said I did that?" Bobby demanded.
"Bobby, that's Bobby like of you to do that, and we saw the cheese sauce on that fat horse mouth of yours," Dakota said as he bit a bagel that he smuggled out of the mess hall.
Bobby had a shocked expression and looked at his two friends with surprise. "I did not," he retorted.
"Bobby, give it up, we saw you," Jason confessed.
"Jason, you need to see an eye doctor," his hand flew up in the air, "because I didn't do anything."
"Dakota saw," Jason said.
"Dakota claimed he saw Bigfoot once," Bobby said as had his hands on his hips. "Never mind you Jason, its Kota that needs to see an eye doctor."
"Hey, I saw him with my two eyes," Dakota said as he pointed at his two blue eyes.
"Yeah, and I saw the tooth fairy," Bobby rolled his eyes.
"You probably saw an old granny dressed up as the tooth fairy at Halloween," Dakota said. Jason smiled from how odd the conversation was.
"I was being sarcastic," Bobby plainly said.
"I know, I just wanted to tell you that it was a granny who you were hollering out and calling cutie pie," Dakota plainly replied too. Jason laughed while Bobby blushed.
"I did not," Bobby shyly said.
"Umm, you did," Dakota said. Bobby tackled Dakota to the floor and started to pull his hair until Jason intervened, but got pulled in himself by Bobby. Jason ended up on the bottom with Bobby on top.
"Bobby, get off," Jason growled.
"Where's Kota?" Bobby said as if he was a hungry animal.
"Gwen is coming," Dakota squealed relieved. Jason turned his head sideways and saw Gwen coming with the girl he didn't recognize. The girl wore a blue pants, a Camp Jupiter purple shirt, long raven black braided hair, tan skin, and piercing dark eyes. She was okay looking, but there was something about her that intrigued Jason.
"Is there something I should know about?" Gwen asked Jason.
Jason looked at the girl next to him and saw that she looked prettier up close. "Bobby," Jason said then flipped Bobby so he can be off him.
"Ouch," Bobby moaned.
"Yes, it's at an early stage," Dakota whispered that resulted with Bobby smacking his arm.
Bobby licked his hand and slicked back his hair as he got up and approached the girl. "What's your name?" He asked her. The girl glared at him. Bobby reached over to touch her arm but she grabbed his wrist and back flipped him to the dirt floor.
"I probably should've said something about not touching her," Gwen said as she knelt and touched Bobby's forehead. His tongue was out from his mouth and it looked like he wasn't breathing. "Is he dead?" Gwen asked. The girl shook her head and knelt with Gwen and whispered in her ear. "I'll have to do CPR," Gwen said as she cringed.
"Over my dead body! I'd rather do it than you," Dakota announced as he knelt where Bobby lay dead on the floor.
"I don't recommend it," Jason said.
"Well I'm not gonna let Gwen do it," Dakota said.
"Why not?" Gwen asked.
"You wanna do it? Please go ahead and do it," Dakota said as he pointed at Bobby.
"No," she scrunched her nose. Jason had a hunch feeling that Bobby was faking it, and thought that Dakota wouldn't do it; Dakota wouldn't do it.
"Where's the fish when I need it," Dakota muttered. He pinched Bobby's nose and said, "Here I go." Bobby's eyes shot wide opened and sat up. "Thank you," Dakota bowed and slapped his forehead. "What is wrong with you?" He demanded.
"I wanted some action," Bobby said in his defense. Gwen slapped his arm.
"I was worried about you," she angrily said. Jason looked at the girl next to Gwen and saw amusement in her eyes.
A couple of days after the incident, Jason strolled to the steps of his father's temple but saw the girl he saw days ago walking towards Bellona's temple. Jason remembered that she didn't say a word the first time he met her. She entered Bellona's temple and Jason made the decision to follow her. The floor was pure reddish soil. The balusters were made of white lime stones with carved torches. The walls were covered with a blood-red cloth that slightly moved against the wind. The statue of Bellona was made of gold with a red cloak, and a lit golden torch.
Jason saw her knelt before the Bellona's statue and stayed in that position. He stood at the doorway of the temple. He played with the dirt by kicking it until he went face flat to the floor. Her head shot up and turned to glare at Jason. Jason quickly got up and brushed off the dirt.
"Sorry," he said.
She shook her head disapprovingly, and walked out of the temple with Jason following. "I said I was sorry," Jason said. She stopped and looked at him.
"Leave me alone or I will slice your head off and don't think I won't because I will," she threatened and walked away. Her voice had authority but yet it sounded musical to Jason, and he like it.
"Why haven't you told her?" Jason asked. He and Nick are walking back to the hill with two baskets of nachos in both of their hands.
Nick shrugs. "I have Mackenzie," he said.
"Does Alison have a boyfriend?" Jason asks.
"No," he said.
Jason grins. "So you've done your research?" He teases.
"I've hung out with her," Nick said as he chuckles. The two of them are on the hill, and sit on the green grass as they wait for the others.
"She rarely has a boyfriend or never has had a boyfriend," Jason assumes.
"Maybe."
"So you got a long list of girlfriends?"
"You also annoy me," Reyna said.
"Does the guy annoy you more than me?" Andrew asked.
"Can I say both?"
Andrew shakes his head as he chuckles. "Wow," he said.
Reyna grabs her bag and reaches for her phone. She looks at the time and decides to call Alison. "I'll be back," she announces and get up from the table. She walks outside the coffee shop and calls Alison.
"Hello?" Alison answers the phone.
"What are you doing?" Reyna asks.
"I'm at the police office," she said.
"You got arrested," Reyna angrily said.
"I'm just kidding," Alison said. "Shut up or I'll dump that water on your head, Count Weenie Boy." "Oh gosh, Mom, that wasn't for you."
"Count Weenie Boy?" Reyna said confuse.
"Well my friend acts like a weenie," Alison said.
"Hey!" A voice defensively said in the background.
"Where are you exactly?" Reyna asks.
"I'm at the park," she said.
"I'll pick you up in half an hour or so," Reyna said.
"I'm a big girl, I can go home by myself," Alison said outrage.
"Either you let me pick you up or when I pick you up I'll show baby pictures of you that I have in the car to your friends," Reyna said.
"Go ahead," Alison said nonchalantly.
"I have a baby picture of you with makeup horribly applied that you did on yourself," Reyna seriously said.
There's silence on the line until Alison said, "Okay," with defeat.
"I'll be there in like half an hour," Reyna said smiling.
"Okay," Alison said with a sigh.
"Bye," Reyna said.
"Bye," she said. Reyna hangs up and returns to the coffee shop.
"Get away," Alison said as she pushes away Dakota's head. Dakota put his head against Alison's head to hear her conversation with her mom; the voice sounds vaguely familiar to him.
"I wanna see a baby pic of you," Dakota said.
"Let me think about it," she taps her fingers against her chin, "no."
"Were you a cherubic baby?" He coos.
"Shut up," Alison said while smiling. They're climbing up the hill where they see Nick and Jason already there.
"You did it on purpose," Jason tells Dakota.
"What did I do?" He asks in an I-did-it voice.
"What don't you do?" Jason asks.
"I don't fart on your face," Dakota said defensively. Alison and Nick bite their tongues to avoid laughing.
"You're the only one that goes on a Kool-Aid fiesta," Jason said.
"Partying is in my blood," Dakota and pats his chest in a what-now expression. Jason knows Kota has a point.
"You took Alison to the liquor store," Jason said.
"What's wrong with that?" Alison asks. She sits next to Nick and grabs the basket of nachos that he hands her.
"He knew that the nacho stand had drunk," Jason said.
"Well I want some one-on-one time," Dakota said.
"Why?" Jason asks.
"She's funny," Dakota said. "I also wanted some hot scoop, right Ali?"
"You guys have nicknames for one another?" Jason asks.
"You can be Blond Superman," Dakota said. Alison laughs.
"Shut up," Jason said as he hands a basket of nachos to Dakota. His comment reminds Jason of Percy when Percy called him a blond superman once.
"Plus, Alison and I got into a serious discussion," Dakota dramatically.
"Like?" Jason asks as he gets the bottle of coke from the small plastic bag.
"About love," Alison said then stuffs her mouth with nachos.
"Let's hear about this," Jason said and looks at Nick.
"I heard about Kota's love life," Alison said.
"So you know about Gwen?" Jason asks.
"Yup," Alison said.
"Then we changed the subject on you," Dakota said. He takes out the two Snapple from the plastic bag and gently throws them Alison, and Nick.
Alison catches the bottle and feels that she's choking on nachos. Curse you delicious nachos. "Thanks, Kota," she sarcastically said.
"What section of the love life was talked about?" Nick asks.
"Nothing," Alison said. "Can we just move to the next topic?" She feels awkward that she's having this type of conversation with 3 guys. There's something wrong with them.
"Your girlfriend is Mackenzie right?" Dakota asks Nick.
"Yeah," he said.
Dakota frowns and shakes his head. "I don't like her," he said.
"You haven't even met her," Nick said. Alison gives Dakota a please-don't-tell look, but he ignores her and continues.
"Me and Alison saw her and she wasn't very nice," Dakota said.
"Is this true?" Nick demands from Alison. She cringes and wishes she isn't haven't this conversation with Nick.
"The weather looks nice," she comments as she looks at the almost night sky.
"What did she say?" Nick asks.
"A few words were exchanged," she said as she pushes away her nachos and hugs her legs.
"Like what?" Jason asks.
"You know how she is," she tells Nick. "She said who is he, which is Dakota, and I said he's my friend. Then, we got into a conversation about boyfriends and she said to stay away from you."
"Is the tension that bad?" Jason asks.
"Yes, she bothers me even though I haven't done anything to her," Alison said. Jason looks at Nick with a knowing look on his face. Alison is about to open her mouth to say something but her phone rings.
"Hello?"
"Sorry that it took a bit more than half an hour to come but I'm coming," Alison's mom said.
"Are you here?"
"Almost, but I'll be there in a few minutes."
"Okay."
"I'll see you soon."
"Bye."
"Bye." She hangs up her phone.
"Is that your mom?" Jason asks.
"Yeah," she said.
"I wanna see those baby pics!" Dakota exclaims.
"No!" Alison said.
"Why? Am I going to see a chubby baby?" Dakota coos.
"I wanna see that," Jason said amuse.
"Well those pictures are on lockdown," she said. Nick looks at Alison and smiles. "What?" She asks.
"I'm just imagining you with chubby cheeks and huge big blue eyes," Nick said smiling. She playfully pushes Nick and Nick lies down on the grass.
Alison laughs. She becomes quiet and realizes that she still has Nick's jacket. "I got your jacket," she said and offers it to him.
"Are you cold?" He asks her.
"Okay Nick, you know how Alison isn't the gushy mushy type," Dakota in a motherly that results the others to laugh.
"We know," Jason said.
"Good," she said. "I don't like gushy mushy romance."
"No passionate kiss in the rain?" Jason asks.
Alison sticks out her tongue from disgust. "No."
"Boyfriends?" Jason asks.
"Again with the love department? No. No boyfriend," Alison said.
"Kota, what are you doing?" Jason asks.
"Nothing," Dakota said. He's pouring red powder into his water bottle.
"Is that Kool-Aid?" Nicks asks.
"Yeah, it is," Alison said.
Jason gives a sigh of frustration. "Give me the bottle," he orders Dakota.
Dakota hugs his bottle in a greedy way and flares his nostrils. "No," he defiantly said.
"Give me the bottle," Jason said then tackles Dakota. Alison and Nick intervene by trying to pull them away.
Reyna is driving in the car with Andrew beside her. On the way to the park, there's an awful traffic because of a car trash so she and Andrew are stuck together.
"We're stuck together again," Andrew huskily said.
"Oh," Reyna said. She has the temptation to bang her head against the steering wheel because of the way Andrew said his words. "Don't do that."
"We're gonna pick out Alison right?" Andrew asks.
The word, we're, caught Reyna a bit off guard but she quickly dismisses it. "Yup," she said.
"Okay," Andrew said. Reyna finally makes it to the park and parks her car in a parking space. She leans back into her seat and sighs. "My best guess is that you call her so that she can get her sharp tongue of hers over here."
"True," she agrees and takes out her phone and dials. The phone rings and rings until it gets to the voicemail box. "She isn't answering."
"Do you want me to go and look for her?" He offers.
Reyna shakes her head and said, "No, I'll go get her." She looks out her window and sees that it's nighttime. The park looks empty and the park lights are dimly lit.
"Okay," he said and nods in approval.
Reyna steps out of the car and looks at Andrew. "You better not steal my car," she warns.
He devilishly smiles. "Never," he said.
"I'm taking the keys," she said and takes off the driver's key from the engine.
"Come on," he complains.
"I'll be back," she said and shuts the door.
After Alison and Nick accomplish pulling Jason and Dakota apart, Alison checks her phone and sees one missed call from her mom.
"What's so wrong with me drinking Kool-Aid?" Dakota demands.
"Do you want diabetes?" Jason asks.
"Do you want me to rink wine?" Dakota slightly slurs.
"How many packets are in the bottle?" Jason eyes Dakota.
"One," he whispers. There's actually 11 packets of Kool-Aid inside the water bottle.
"I'm not sure if it would taste good with multiple packs in one bottle," Nick said.
"You should try it," Dakota recommends and offers his bottle of Kool-Aid.
"Nick, don't take the Kool-Aid. Kota, you poured more than one packet didn't you?" Jason asks.
"Why do you have a Kool-Aid addiction?" Alison asks.
"Oh, I see how it is. I'm being attacked by all y'all," Dakota said as he points the bottle to Nick, Jason, and Alison.
"You're not," Alison said.
"The horror," Dakota said as he pretends to faint.
"We're not attacking you, Dakota," Nick said.
Dakota sniffs. "Okay. Good." Jason shakes his head. "Shut up, lover boy."
"What did I do?" Jason asks with surprise.
"You had the shake," Dakota said.
"That sounds terrifying," Alison sarcastically said.
"What shake?"
"The why-is-he-my-best-friend shake," Dakota said.
"No, it was the I'm-going-to-smack-you-later shake," Jason confesses.
"Oh," Dakota said.
"Alison!" A female voice yells.
"Who's that?" Jason asks.
"My mom," Alison said.
"Oh," Jason said.
"Alison!" The voice yells again. The voice sort of sounds familiar to Jason, but doesn't know why.
"Nick, wanna ride home?" Alison asks.
"I can just─"
"No, you're coming with me," Alison said and grabs Nick's hands and pulls him up. "Bye Jace. Bye Kota."
"Picture?" Dakota hopefully asks.
"No," she replies.
"It was nice meeting you two," Nick politely said.
"Come on," Alison urges and pulls Nick down the hill.
Jason watches Alison and Nick go down the hill to a small figure that he can't see make out. The figure also looks familiar. Jason is about to go down the hill to meet Alison's mom, but Dakota decides to roll down the hill on the other side.
"Wee!" Dakota shouts. Jason laughs and follows Dakota the same way─ he rolls.
Alison and Nick go down the hill to Alison's mom, and Alison releases her hold on Nick's hand.
"Sorry I didn't answer the phone," Alison apologizes. "This is my friend, Nick."
"Hello," Nick said and holds out his hand.
Reyna takes his hand and firmly shakes it. "It's nice to meet you," she said.
"Mom, can you give Nick a ride home? It's just that it's late and I knew if I were to walk home you would say that it's late to walk home," Alison said.
"Well I was gonna show those picture," Reyna said as slightly smirks.
"Mom," Alison impatiently said.
Reyna smiles and said, "Sure, come on."
Reyna is relief when she saw Alison and her friend, Nick, come down the hill. She could've sworn that she saw a male with blond and another with black hair.
"Were you with other people?" Reyna asks as she walks to the car with Alison and Nick.
"Yeah, two other friends," Alison said.
"Is it a blond and a black-haired people?" Reyna asks.
"Yes," she said. Okay, I am not crazy. Reyna gets in the car, and Alison and Nick go into the back.
"Hi, Uncle Andy," Nick said.
"Uncle?" Reyna and Alison said in unison.
"Andrew is my uncle," Nick said as if it's obvious.
"Hey sport," Andrew greets.
"How come you didn't say anything?" Reyna asks him.
"I wasn't going to go into full detail," Andrew said.
"So all this time I've insulted Nick's uncle," Alison said with realization.
"Yes," Andrew said.
"No wonder. At school, plenty of girls drool over Nick, and plenty of ladies drool over Andrew. Nick's smart and I'm not so sure if I can say so about Andrew," Alison said. Andrew frowns as Reyna smiles and Nick laughs.
"This has been an interesting evening," Reyna comments.
"Indeed," Alison said as she sighs.
"Who will I drop off first?" Reyna asks.
"Me," Andrew said. Reyna looks at him strangely. "Just drop me off and I'll explain," he said.
"Hey, hey, I call the shots," Alison said with authority. Reyna lips slightly curl up. "Mom, drive Andrew home so he can explain," she orders. Reyna frowns and looks at Alison from the side mirror. "Please," she politely said.
"Buckle your seatbelts," Reyna orders. She pulls the car into reverse and she's off.
splendid123456789: Almost close.
Kushina-Reyna: Okay. Sure! I'll check out your story.
Jeynafanxo: Okay, okay, I updated. Stalker! *fake shocked face*
SailorMoonAddict: I will continue since many people love this story!
Heart Breaking 101: I'll update again soon.
Guest: I will update and I'm glad you love the story.
rjme 1006: Alost there to that chapter many are anticipating.
I am Bianca Daughter of Pluto: I hoped you liked the Gwen and Dakota part. I'm actually considering writing a fic about them.
Kittyhawk09: You're welcome.
IamAnnabethdaughterofAthena: Thank you!
beattle: I'm glad you do.
guest: Option A is a good idea. Well option B sort of happened but Reyna doesn't know that the blond dude is Jason and the dark haired one is Dakota.
Do you think he has godly blood? If you think he does have godly blood which parent do you think he'd have? I can't say if he does or not because I would be giving it away.
Guest: Jason might meet Andrew.
Guest: We're almost there to that part of Jason and Reyna meeting. Thank you, even though I think I sucked like Apollo.
Guest like this: Thank you, I still think I'm like Apollo on the subject on haikus. Almost there, just a few chappies more and the wait will be over. Hold on!
JAYNA4EVA: Thank you! I will update soon. Well, Alison doesn't a boyfriend and I'm not sure how she would react if Nick told her that he likes her. Reyna and Jason will meet but in a few chapters more. Yes, there will be more Jeyna, but in flashbacks. Luke, Bianca, and Beckendorf will probably tell Reyna their secret, but later on. No, they do not know about Reyna being a Roman demigod; they don't even know, except Luke, that Roman demigods exist. The time will come when Reyna tells Alison about her past. It's painful for Jason to say Reyna's name so it's unlikely. I don't mind the questions since I enjoy answering them!
Sea Swimmer XD: Thank you for loving the story! I'm glad you enjoyed the flashbacks. Jason might meet Andrew. Jason and Reyna will meet in a few chapters more. I know it should have to do something with Alison. I'll consider it to make Nick dump Mackenzie for Alison, but it's not a guarantee. Once again, I enjoy Andrew's character so I'm not sure if I can do that to him.
I updated!
JaynaPercyLuver4Ever: No, they do not know Reyna is a demigod, but they might tell her, eventually. Percy might/will make a special appearance. I might consider Jason and Reyna protecting Alison during a monster attack, but fighting scene isn't my best strength in writing. Jason and Andrew might meet. Agreed.
Guest: Haha, Alison doesn't realize it yet.
Pluto's fricking pauldrons: I'm waiting until you say that love the story.