Hey guys, long time no write. I'm so sorry I went so long without updating, but here's one for you all. Hope you enjoy (:

I stepped out of the woods and into the main stream of camp life.

I looked around for Lyra, and upon not immediately seeing her I walked up to Jillian, who I assume must have been going to her cabin. Catching her attention, I said "Hey Jill."

"Oh, hey Cynthia; what's up?" She asked me, smiling while she pulled her long blonde hair into a ponytail.

I shrugged, saying "Nothing really. But hey, have you seen Lyra? I really need to talk to her right now."

"Yeah, she's in her cabin. Not sure why, Apollo kids are scheduled for Pegasus riding right now. But I need to ask you something." She said hesitantly, her face displaying a slight worried expression she'd had every time she talked to me since she found out about Kieran abusing me.

I sighed. Thanks to some ambrosia the bruises were healed and it no longer hurt, so I was good… For now. And even though I knew what she was about to ask, I still said "What?"

"Have you told anyone else about… Um… Yeah. Y'know?" She said, biting her lip.

"Yeah, Thalia found out. Same way you did. But I need to go, so we can talk about it later if you want I guess, alright?"

"Alright," She said, still looking worried.

I smiled. "Thanks Jill."
"Don't mention it." She said softly as I ran off in the direction of the Apollo cabin. Upon getting there, I knocking quickly and barged inside before anyone answered.

Lyra was laying on her bed, reading a book. She looked up when I came in, and I sat down beside her on the bed, saying "Skipping shortie?"

"I could say the same to you." She said with a smirk.

"Except I'm not short." I replied with a smirk of my own.

She rolled her eyes, which was her way of saying she had no comeback whatsoever.

"Anyway," I said, remembering why I'd come here. "I, uh, overheard you earlier… I wasn't eavesdropping; I was just walking by… And… Ah hell, I overheard someone say they liked me and I eavesdropped on the rest of the conversation. You would too. And I won't kill you for telling whoever it was about Kieran abusing and raping me if you tell me who you were talking to."

"You don't know?" She said with a surprised look on her face. "I'd figure you'd have figured it out by now."

"But I didn't, so who is it?" I asked again impatiently, crossing my arms.

"Who do you think it is?" She asked me, smirking.

I hesitated. "Was it… Nico?"

She got this weird look on her face before she replied, "No Cynthia, it wasn't Nico. What would give you that idea?"

I shrugged, ignoring the sadness that was washing over me. "It just sounded kind of like him, that's all."

"Well, it wasn't him. And I'm not gonna tell you who it was." She said, hopping off of her bed. "But I have to go, which means you have to go."

I rolled my eyes before getting up, saying "Fine, but I will find out who it was."

"I'm sure you will." She said sarcastically as we walked out of her cabin, and before I could reply she sprinted off to the Pegasus stables.

I rolled my eyes and bit my lip, wondering who it could have been. I looked down and kept walking, almost instantly bumping into someone. Before I could say anything, I heard the other person say, "Always a klutz, Cynthia."

I looked up to see Nico with a smile on his face, and with the knowledge that he was kidding, I smiled back. "Tell me about it. I can't do anything without bumping into someone or something."

He laughed before saying, "Well at least you've learned to take a joke."

I shoved him softly as we walked on our way, and jokingly said "Maybe I always knew, and just didn't apply that skill to you."

"It's possible." He replied, laughing.

"So, are you going to New York on Friday?"

"Yeah, I am." He said, running a hand through his hair. "Why?"

"Just wondering." I said with a smile, trying to figure out if I should ask him to hang out or not.

Before I could, he did. "Well are you going?" I nodded. "You wanna hang out while we're there? I mean, if you're not doing anything."

I pretended to think about it for a second, before I said "Well I don't think I have anything planned. Sure, let's hang out. What do you want to do?"

"Don't know." He said with a shrug and a smile. "How about we figure it out Friday?"

"Alright." I said, returning the smile. "Where are you going now?"

"I'm going to go see Percy; he wants to help be with my fighting. I survive a Titan war, and the kid still doesn't believe in me enough to trust I won't get killed."

"He believes in you." I replied with a laugh. "She just doesn't want you to get hurt. And hey, for the record, I believe in you too."

He tucked his hands in his pockets, and began to walk backwards, saying "Thanks. But I'm already late to see him, so I'll talk to you later, alright?"

"Alright." I whispered to his back as he ran for my cabin. "Sounds good."

I rolled over on Friday morning to bright light. I groaned, realizing that I hadn't closed my window, and pulled a pillow over my head before closing my eyes once more. A few minutes passed before I woke up a little bit more and remembered that the camp was going to New York for the day, which woke me up fully. I practically jumped out of bed and ran for my dresser, grabbing a black undershirt and plaid long sleeved shirt. I went to a different drawer and grabbed an old pair of jean shorts before proceeding to get changed.

Percy was already awake and gone, which is what alarmed me to how late I must've been. I looked over to the clock to confirm my suspicions, seeing that it was almost two o' clock, which was when the vans were leaving. I grabbed about thirty dollars and put it in my jeans pocket, walking over to the door. I threw on my oldest pair of black converse and rushed outside, running to the strawberry fields, where almost everyone was. I found Nico after a few minutes of looking for him, and he apparently saw me at the same time, because he smiled and waved me over. I walked over to him and said, "When are the vans leaving?"

He pointed to where people were already getting into the vans. "Right now. You woke up just in time, but you missed breakfast and lunch. You must be starving."

Almost on cue, my stomach growled. Smiling weakly I said, "Yeah I guess I am. Could we go somewhere to get something to eat? I have money."

"Sure, whatever you want." He replied before we got into the vans.

It didn't seem to take that long to get to the heart of New York, maybe about fifteen or twenty minutes, but I was really bad at telling time so who knows. After we got into New York Nico and I headed to look for somewhere to eat. I spied an ice cream shop, and looking over at Nico I said, "How about ice cream?"

"You haven't eaten a solid meal all day and you want ice cream?" He said, laughing a little bit. I nodded, and he continued to say, "Eh, why not. Let's go."

We went into the shop to get our ice cream, and we ordered. I got wet paint, which tastes kind of like bubble gum with a few other flavors thrown in, and was actually quite delicious. Nico got mint chocolate chip, telling me that it was his favorite. We went to find somewhere to sit, and once we did we sat down and started talking. Nico seemed kind of upset though, so I cocked my head and stared at him for a moment before saying "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." He said quickly, a little too quickly if you ask me.

"Bullshit; I can so tell something's wrong."

"Just thinking about…" He trailed off and hesitated for a moment before saying, "This girl I like."

"Do I know her?"

"Sort of."

"Well, what's she like?" I asked, licking my ice cream cone.

"She always wears some type of jeans, whether its jean shorts or skinny jeans. She doesn't wear any other type of bottoms; in fact I don't think I've ever seen her in a skirt." Not a child of Aphrodite, I mentally noted. "All of her friends think she's a little crazy, but they love her nonetheless."

"That doesn't narrow it down, or tell me much Nico. So tell me more." I said with a fake smile. It was killing me to hear about some girl Nico liked, but I'd just have to live with it.

"Well," He began. "She's been through a lot, and she can be quite the bitch sometimes, but at the end of the day she really is a good person. She always tries to make everyone else happy, and sometimes she forgets to make sure she's happy too. I wish I could make her happy, but I can't. She believes in me, and I think she trusts me, but she won't let me in enough for me to help her. And, well, I think I may be in love with her."

"Mmhmm." I said, my heart cracking into pieces. Let it go, I told myself. "What's her name?"

"Uhm… Er… Savannah?" He said uncertainly, obviously lying. I probably did know her. Well, two can play at that game.

"Well, I like this guy."

"Really?" He asked me, looking a little surprised, maybe even a little sad. But I was probably just imagining the sad part.

"Yeah."

"What's he like?" He asked, just as curiously as I had, if not a little bit more.

"Well, he's extremely attractive." I replied, finishing off my ice cream cone.

"I don't care."

"Of course you don't." I said, smirking. Oh, he'd care if he knew I was talking about him. "Well, he likes for people to think he's all tough and a bad boy, but really he's not. He's actually quite nice, almost sweet once you get to know him. But, like this Savannah he's been through more than a person should have to, even if said person is a demigod. He really is amazing."

"Think he likes you?" He replied.

Looking down, I whispered. "No, no I don't." Raising my eyes I said, "Do you think Savannah likes you?"

He hesitated, cocking his head to the side slightly. He ran his hands through his hair before replying "I don't know. I really don't."

I smiled sadly. "Well, I hope it works out between you two."