CHAPTER TWELVE: I Meet The Best Pranksters At Camp
DISCLAIMER: I do not own the Percy Jackson and the Harry Potter series or any of its characters. They belong to Rick Riordan and J.K. Rowling respectively.
After Ancient Greek, I approach Annabeth as she cleans up her desk. "I'll help you with that," I wink at her as I take the eraser from her desk. "Oh," Annabeth says, smiling at me. "Thank you, Ally." I smile. "No prob, Annie."
"So," I say, starting a conversation. "You're close to Luke, right?"
She nods. "Yeah. He's like my brother, you know?"
"Since, they're his brothers, do you think he knows Travis and Connor Stoll?" I ask. Annabeth burst out laughing. My brows furrow, and I let out a sigh, making loose hair from my face fly away. "What is so funny, Ms. Annabeth Chase?" I say, a little but angry.
Annabeth wipes the tears that had gathered at the edges of her eyes and slowly, her laughs turned to giggles, and then she was only smiling. She never got to answer the question, though. A scream pierced the air. I looked at Annabeth, and she looked at me, her face suddenly serious. But the serious face soon broke into a smile when, "STOLLS!"
"Come on," Annie says, grabbing my wrist and heading for the door. "I'll show you who they are,"
We reach the cabins as an Aphrodite girl—I'm assuming she is an Aphrodite kid 'cuz she had make-up all over her face…and powder all over her hair. I'll admit, the sight is funny. Annabeth chuckles, and I let out a smile. "Travis and Connor Stoll, this is the last time you will put powder in my hairdryer!" The girl screeches, but the two tall, lanky, and skinny dudes with brown hair—probably Travis and Connor—only laugh at her.
"No way, Brooke! You're not the boss of us!" The taller of the two—Travis, I think?—says. Campers from all around us react. I hear, "Boo!" and "Burn!" and "Oh, snap!" and a lot more others. "We're not done yet, Brooke, just you wait," the smaller of the two—I suppose that's Connor—snorts. Jeers and cheers erupt from the crowd, and I am among them.
Brooke just screams and storms away. People cheer and clap and flock around the brothers. Great. How am I gonna approach them now? But as quick as the campers came, it was a quick as they left, and soon only the Stolls were there.
"Hey, Travis! Connor!" Annabeth says, and that gets their attention.
"How come they always say your name first before mine?" Connor mumbles to his brother and elbows his ribs. Travis chuckles. "I thought you always knew! 'Cuz I'm older…wait, I think it's because I'm better-looking, aren't I, Annabeth?" he asks Annabeth when they come into hearing range. Annabeth snorts. "Don't answer, Annabeth," Connor interrupts. "It'll make his pride grow even bigger," Connor mumbles.
"Whatever, guys—" Annabeth starts, but they hold up a finger.
"Wait for it…and 3, 2, 1,"
"STOLLS!" An even louder screech pierces the air once more. This time it was that damned Carrot-Top—I've changed the nickname. But, if you didn't recognize, it was Rebecca Smith. "What did you do now?" I ask, a hand on my hip. Travis grins. "We replaced all of her weapons," He says excitedly.
I raise an eyebrow. "And…? That sentence isn't finished…."
"With rubber," Connor finishes. At that, Carrot-Top marches out of her cabin with her hands full of rubber swords and daggers. "Damn you!" She curses and throws all of the things in her hand at the twins. Then her eyes land on me. I raise an eyebrow. "What?"
But she just screams again and storms away, cursing me and the twins all the way. I make a face. "The heck is your problem?" I grumble. My eyes follow her until she enters her cabin, where a certain figure stands, grinning at me. Rebecca gives him a harsh push and my brother stumbles, but laughs anyway. I raise my hand in greeting. "Hey, Ty!" and he goes jogs over to us.
"Anyway," Annabeth says suddenly. "Al, they are the Stoll brothers. The best—and maybe sometimes annoying—pranksters at camp."
The two grin. "Pleased to meetcha, Allie!" Travis says. We high-five. "'Ey Travis, Connor," Tyler says from my right. "Hey, Ty,"
"My sister, Allison, doesn't know who you two are yet," Tyler says. "Mind taking her under your wing for a day?" I stare at him incredulously. "What? I mean—"
"Only one question," Connor says, serious face on. "Yeah?" I ask.
"Are you a fan of pranking? Or well, love pranking?"
A grin makes its way into my face. "Are you kidding?" I exclaim. "I…I cannot put into words how much I love it!"
Tyler grins. Annabeth looks at me with an eyebrow raised, but she was smiling. Travis puts an arm around me. "We'll teach you the basics, then!"
Tyler and Annabeth smile and then walk away. I can see that they were yelling at each other and kept pushing each other. I'm not sure if they are playing around, or if they're serious. "Sooo…" Connor starts. We starts walking. Where to, I have no idea…yet.
"You're Tyler's sister from another mister," says Travis. I smile, and say, "Excuse me?" and I chuckle. "But, uh. Yeah. It's exactly, like that," I say, nodding my head. Connor ruffles my hair. It's in a ponytail today, just simple, old ponytail. But that doesn't save it from getting messier. "I think your hair is awesome,"
I grin. "You do? Thanks!"
Okay, so first of, I had such a fun day. We robbed the convenience store—I didn't like it at first, but…nyehh—pranked some naiads and driads, pranked some campers, and by the end of our itinerary—big word—we were soo tired and exhausted, but we all had grins plastered to our faces.
"Well, that was fun~" I chirp.
Travis ruffles my hair. "We know you did." I notice these two loves ruffling my hair.
We head to lunch and separate ways. After sword-fighting class with Luke,—I was…better than before…but I still suck—I head to my cabin and sit on my bed, contemplating what to do next. A grin makes its way into my face after an idea pops into my head. I take a towel from my duffel bag and an extra shirt, then I switch to my tank Camp Half-Blood shirt and shorts. I go around the cabin and head to the lake.
At first, I didn't want to jump in, so I sat at the dock and let my feet and legs touch the water. The water affected me because I wanted to feel the water, and not be dry.
But then someone pushed me from behind and I feel into the water.
Curses.
I realize I can breathe and see underwater, but I rise anyway, hair and shirt and everything wet. At first I was beyond pissed, but then I saw who it was, and my anger subsided a little. "Andy!" I yell. "What in the name of the gods was that for?" I ask, pushing myself up onto the dock. Andy bends down and grabs my arm, helping me up. "Thanks, but why?" My blue hair is all over the place. I ran a hand through it.
I was caught unawares then, and I also wanted to get wet, and so, I got wet.
"Nothing. Just wanted to try it." He says with a mischievous smirk.
I roll my eyes at him and take the towel to dry my hair, then I thought too late that I could will myself to be dry anyway, but nevermind. "You know I'll have to take my revenge on you, right?" He sits on the edge of the dock, and I sit next to him.
And idea comes to mind, and I push him from the dock, but he grabs my arm before I can retract it, and we both fall into the water. So much for revenge. I laugh underwater, causing an air bubble to escape my mouth. Andy makes a move to come up, while a stay down for a while. I decide that I want to stay dry now, and when I come up to the surface, I'm dry.
"Well…that's just unfair," He says, with a mock pout. I raise an eyebrow and tilt my head. "What is?" I ask. "You staying dry while I get wet." He says childishly. I laugh. "That's what's getting you worked up?" So I will myself to get wet. Immediately my hair plasters to my face. "Better?"
We laugh. Andy pulls himself up onto the dock first then helps me up. I will myself to be dry again and hand him the towel. "Here. Go dry yourself." I command. He takes it and dries his hair first.
"You know, you wouldn't be in this situation if you hadn't pushed me in the first place," I say. He shrugs. "I hear you did some pranking today." He says.
I smile and lay down on the cold wood. "Oh yeah, had a lot of fun with them. You'd never get bored with them." He grins. "My sisters hate them. Some of my brothers too, but I don't. Besides, they never do anything to me anyway, so yeah. We're cool, I guess."
He takes his shirt off and puts it above me, then proceeds to drying himself. We talk about random things, about him, about me, about camp. Whatever pops into our minds.
After a while, he head back to the cabins. I says goodbye and goes toward the Aphrodite cabin, but I head for the stables. Once in hearing range, I hear Dip speak in my head.
You didn't bring anything.
I laugh, petting his rough nose. He neighs as a sign of protest.
I hate you…temporarily.
I giggle. "Oh, I love you too, you hungry, greedy horse!" I say as I press his face into my own.
You better bring me apples or sugar cubes next time, Allie. I mean it. He stomps and neighs to emphasize what he is saying. I raise my hands in surrender. "Okay, okay, Dip. I promise, cross my heart," I cross my heart while saying, just to prove it. "So, how're the other campers treating you whilst I'm not here?"
He shakes his mane. Horrible! Some of them pull on my mane when they hold it. Some of them grip it to hard for the fear of falling. Ugh. It's like they don't learn anything from their horse riding lessons. It's terrible.
I chuckle and pet his head. "Not everyone could be as gentle as I am, Dip. Deal with it," I say gently, but he neighs. It's just horrible.
"Well, it's not like you can do anything, Dippy. Like I said, deal with it." I say a bit more firmly this time. He neighs once more, but doesn't say anything more. "There's a good horse,"
Hmph.
The next day was less active.
Today, I actually attended all my classes. No skipping classes, no distractions. It was about 5 o'clock in the afternoon when I finished. I decided to take a swim in the lake. So I head to my cabin to take a towel and extra shirt. I won't cheat. I want to actually get wet this time.
Fortunately, no one is around. No one to push me this time.
I chuckle lightly at the memory before I dive into the water.
I feel like the water splits up before me to let me through. I swim my way to the surface, and take a breath. I know I can breathe underwater, but it's like my mind and body knows that I want to be normal for once, and so I act like a normal person when underwater.
I do a few laps, stop for a while, and do some more. I feel tired then, so I sit at the dock, dangling my feet over the edge. The water that touches my feet helps me feel energized, since swimming takes its toll, you know.
"Hey," I hear someone say from behind. I tilt my head back to see Andy. He's holding an apple in each hand. "Oh, hey," I say back. He rolls his pant's leg up to just the top of his ankle. The water reaches up to half of my foot, but he was taller than me, so, yepp. He sits next to me.
"I hope I don't get soaked this time," Andy says lightheartedly. I playfully punched his shoulder. "Don't make me then, dude." After a while, I dive into the water again, and do a couple more laps. "You can join in, you know," I call out to him. "No thanks!" He calls back. I stick my tongue at him and swim some more.
Just before dinner, I stop. I push myself up from the water and into the dock. Andy helps me. He gives me the towel and I dry my hair. "I should probably cut my hair soon…It's too much of a hassle…both in swimming and when moving," I say. He shrugs. "You can just tie it into a ponytail,"
I shake my head. "Yeah, but the ponytail keeps moving with me, and it's…I don't know. I just really want to cut my hair. Even just a little bit."
He shrugs again. He takes a bite into one and offers me the other. I take it and bite into it eagerly. "Thanksh," I say, mouth full. Then I remember Dip, and his requests for apples and sugar. I make a mental note to take some to Dip later.
About time.
Dip speaks in my head impatiently. I chuckles. "Yes, your highness. I have a couple of apples. I also have sugar if you want," I pet his head. He neighs.
Apple.
I put the apple in my hand and hand it to him. He nibbles on it keenly. "Another?" and he gorges the other just as fast. Soon after that, the sugar cubes vanish from my hand as well.
"Well, aren't you hungry?" I say teasingly.
It's your fault. He stomps and neighs. If you've brought me some a while ago—
"You'll probably eat them just as fast. I know you, Dip," I smile, finishing his sentence for him.
Hmph.
At archery the next day, Will comes up to me just as I scored another bulls-eye.
"'Sup?" I say while aiming for the center again. Will smiles. "Yeah, Snowy arrived about an hour ago,"
I missed my mark. The arrow goes whizzing above it. "What?" I hiss. My hands let go of the bow and arrow and one of them grabs his wrist. I drag him with me toward the infirmary, then stop in my tracks. "Wait, is she in the infirmary?"
"Yup!"
"Then let's go!" Not letting go, we ran toward the infirmary.
One we reach the place, a squawk gets my attention and my head snaps toward the sound of it. "Snowy!" I exclaim and pet my owl. I notice a letter tied to her leg. I take the dagger from my boot and quickly hack at the rope. Once untied, I shove the letter in my pocket, saving the contents for later.
Will appears beside me, grinning. He pats my owl. "She's been squawking non-stop ever since she got here," someone says from behind us. We both turn around so see who it is. It's a boy, definitely older than both of us. His black hair stuck up in the middle and one on the back. His black, rectangular glasses sat in the middle of his nose. His mouth is closed, and I can see buck teeth right there.
"Ally, this is John, my brother. John…well, I think you already know her name," Will introduces us. I shoot Will a look at the last part. We say hi to each other then our subject returns to Snowy. "I'm sorry if she's caused any trouble!" I say.
He shakes his head smiling, crinkles appearing at the edges of his blue eyes. "It's nothing really," he says, waving his hand. I return his smile. "See, she's got a package…now where is it…" I say the last part to myself mostly. My hand is currently fishing my pocket for the letter. My pocket has a ton of things, see. "Oh, here it is!" My hand shoots up, holding a wrinkled paper. "She's got something to deliver, and—" I quickly backpedal. I was about to say 'Owls usually deliver it as quick as possible. She was probably trying to get your attention.
So I say something instead. "it was important! Yeah," I say nervously, but I tried not to show it. John smiles again, "Oh, I see."
"Well, I better head back to archery now. Chiron's probably wondering where I've gone," I grin, heading for the door. "Nice meeting you, John! See you later!"
John pushes his glasses up his nose and waves "See ya!"
I head back to archery, and I must say I'm surprised to find my bow and quiver still there. No one picked it up, or put it out of the way. Actually, now that I think of it, it's not actually my bow. It's the archery class' bow. Since, my forging isn't going so well—I can hear how Beckendorf and Aesha laughed at me then. Nicolas tried to help, but still ended up laughing—and thus I haven't got my own weapon.
"Where in the world have you gone?" Chiron asks, appearing next to me. I almost jumped. "Oh gods, Chiron. Don't do that again…" I say, trying to get my wits back "Anyway, Snowy got back so I rushed to the infirmary and received this!" I say holding up the letter.
Chiron eyed me. "Fine," he says and he trots away. I shrug and start shooting at targets. Moving targets, still targets, whatever..
Later that night, I read the letter. It was from Aunt Natalya and Harry, again.
Aunt Natalya cussed and cursed my brother, prattling about why he didn't tell him, he was still family and all that. Harry's part was…kinder? And it was like, he was really talking to me. Unlike Aunt Natalya who looked like she was talking to herself while writing. Also, Aunt Natalya said that we would have to go to Diagon Alley once Ty sets foot in Britain, despite Harry's attempts at reasoning with her. (Since we would still have two weeks before the start of Hogwarts.)
I told Tyler about the letter the next morning. He was so confused and embarrassed that he demanded to see the letter for himself. He nearly barged into my cabin and messed up all my stuff just looking for it. We nearly fought. We could not have but he was being so stubborn. He read the letter and clicked his tongue and walked out. I said then "What's your problem?!" to which he replied, "My life!"
We made up after that afternoon and he agreed to Aunt Natalya's terms. I was so happy then that I hugged him and kissed his cheek. He smiled and ruffled my hair. Hey, at least I had someone else with me other than Harry. I mean, I know how to make friends and knew how to blend in quickly, but still. Harry's freakishly famous, so he's probably going to get mobbed by everyone, just like what happened in Diagon Alley, thus, you probably won't be able to hang out with him.
Anyway, my day was just so happy that I didn't care if the sword I did sucked (Nicolas: But it actually looked better. Just needs a little more straightening.)
But then, I bumped into someone, I nearly fell, but s/he grabbed my arm. "Hey, you okay?" I looked up. "Oh, hey John," I say with a grin. "Sorry, 'bout that! I'm quite in a hurry," he says, but takes his time talking to me. I raise an eyebrow. "Well, you probably should get going then. Seeing as you're in such a hurry and that it's probably something important," I say.
He smiles and something about his eyes makes you eye him curiously. "It's not actually important, and I'm not actually in a hurry," he says. "What would you lie?" I ask. He grins. "I know you love pranking so I guess it's safe to tell you this," at the work 'pranking', my ears perk up. "Yeah?"
He grins mischievously. "You up for pranking?"
I gasp. "No way. You're into pranking to?" I exclaim. He nods childishly. "Now, would you like to do some pranking with me?" He says poshly, kind of us British, but I take no offense. I actually find it funny so I say in a fake-real (What?) British accent, "I would love to dear sir," I chirp and take his hand that is outstretched. The British accent feels kinda weird in my tongue, after using an American one for so long.
"I have a friend who's British too, you know," He says while walking. My arm is looped around his, and I realize with a start that I barely reach his shoulder. "Than this kid who wants to be cool,"
I smile. "Cool~" He looks down at me and his eyes widen by just a fraction and his mouth open in a perfect 'O'. I begin to feel uncomfortable. "W-What is it?" I ask nervously, and I breathe a sigh of relief when he says, "Your hair color is AWESOME!" He says childishly. I grin back. "Thanks, John!"
He holds his hand up for a high-five. I frown at him. "I'm shorter than you, so," I apply weight to his shoulder to make him at level with me. He's brows shoot up but his hand stays the same. Once he's low enough, I oblige. "Better," He seems to realize the whole thing that had happened, and he smiles. "Now, let's get to that pranking, shall we?"
