Yeah, so Wednesday passed in a flash…then Thursday, then Friday. But the only thing I had to do today was get a haircut, so I can do this! I think this chapter has been way overdue…it was about time, don't you all think? I'm ready to step onto the train of unoriginality for one chapter. Who knows, maybe it'll come out more original than I'm anticipating. (I do write these before I actually start the chapter, just to let you know.)

Breaking the Rules

Katie was minding her own business. Or rather, she wasn't minding anything; she was sleeping. Sleeping calmly, peacefully, and innocently in on her bed in her cabin at Camp Half-Blood.

Until she felt a hand cover both her mouth and eyes, and toned arms yanking her from under her covers and out into the chilly night air. Naturally Katie's reaction was to scream, though they were muffled, kick and flail, and when that worked to no avail, bite the hand covering her mouth.

A masculine voice yelped, releasing his hand from her mouth, along with the hand covering her eyes, and every ounce of support she'd been leaning on. Because of the laws of physics, Katie fell to the ground with a thud.

Katie could pinpoint her captor without looking up. She'd know that annoying voice anywhere. He bothered her enough as it was, so why did he need to abduct her in the middle of the night? She'd much prefer having him prank her in some other obnoxious way during daylight hours.

"Why?" Katie whined. "Couldn't this wait until morning?" She demanded. Travis had failed to factor in the fact that Katie would be crankier than normal if she was deprived of her coveted sleep. Oh well, it was too late to turn back.

"We've been at this camp together for years." Travis started.

"I know. I can't help but weep for hours and feel sorry for myself."

"Please, we all know you wouldn't know what to do without me here. I'm pretty amazing, if I do say so myself. And I do." Travis defended. Katie huffed.

"What do you want, so I can go back to bed?"

"Right. You interrupted me before I could continue. But to address your new point first, you're not going back to bed. But as I was saying," Travis said as he shot her a playful glare, "We've been at this camp for so long. And not once have I seen you break any rules. So I decided I was going to change that. What's a better way to start than breaking curfew?" Travis exclaimed happily.

"You know that we have curfew so the harpies don't eat our faces off, right?" Katie asked, suddenly become significantly more awake.

"Yeah. But this is probably the simplest rule to break, so this is where we shall start!" Travis demanded.

"If we get eaten by harpies, it is totally your fault." Katie complained.

"Duly noted. But I have a place where the harpies won't get us."

"And where is that?" Katie demanded.

"On a cabin roof. Preferably Demeter's because it has a soft, grassy cushioning to it." Travis said.

"I am not sitting on my cabin roof in the middle of the night after curfew with a boy I don't even like."

"I never said you had a choice in the matter." Travis rolled his eyes, taking Katie by the wrist and somehow managing to force her to scale her cabin's walls and onto the roof. "Besides," Travis started as he himself climbed up, "We're laying down, not sitting." Travis punctuated his statement by laying down himself. Katie looked down at him from her sitting position, clearly not amused. Travis just pulled her down next to him. It was silent for a few minutes.

"At least the stars are out tonight." Katie said. Travis looked over at her, a smile on his face.

"I'm telling you Katie, breaking the rules almost always has its rewards." His smile had quickly gone smirky. Katie didn't reply, simply because every argument she thought of immediately became invalid once she glanced at the stars again.

"Where's your brother?" Katie asked after an extended pause.

"What?" Travis asked, confused and slightly hurt that Katie mentioned his brother. He was left out for a reason.

"I was just wondering why Connor's not here. Usually you both love to piss me off together." Katie rolled her eyes.

"Oh, yeah…" Travis rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "He doesn't know about this. I kind of hatched the idea this night after he fell asleep. Wouldn't want to wake him…" Travis said. Katie was confused, but didn't pursue it any more. One idiot annoying her was better than two, right? It was almost like Katie's filter had been taken out of her mouth. She swears that what came out of her mouth next was purely word vomit.

"I like it better this way." Katie almost clamped her hand over her own mouth as her eyes widened. Travis smirked outwardly, but smiled widely inwardly. His head was still turned towards Katie and he saw right through her and happily observed her inner turmoil.

She liked it better when it was just the two them. Every excuse she would inevitably use against her statement later would be completely untruthful, and would most definitely be disregarded by him.

He wasn't lying when he said good things happen when rules are broken.

So… that could have been worse. Not my best, not my worst. It's tolerable I hope. Oh and I have a question.

Does it bother you guys that my stories consist of so much dialogue? I was showing a story to someone and they read it and immediately go, "Wow, you use an insane amount of dialogue…"

Just curious.

Have a good morning/afternoon/evening, whichever you're reading this at

Mystery Morgan