Hiya, whoever's gonna read this in the future (probably no one).

This is my first fanfic, so please don't judge me too harshly if it isn't that brilliant. I look forward to constructive criticism, so if you have any advice or anything, please write it in the comments. I am quite a novice at writing so I'd really enjoy some help at making this fic decent.

This fanfic takes place after HOO in a universe where TOA doesn't exist. Katie and Travis are both 16 (not canon; I just couldn't find their age anywhere).

———

KATIE POV

"I know, I know, I'm an idiot." Travis told me after the orange spray-paint prank. I groaned in annoyance. It was already the fifth prank of the week. And it was only Tuesday.

"Too right you are." I told him sternly. "You really need to stop pranking our Cabin."

I severely hoped him and his brother would stop playing their childish jokes, but no such luck.

In fact, as early as the following day, I woke up to a shriek.

It was a mild March morning. The sun was still hiding behind the Pine Tree on Half-Blood Hill, merely glistening through its thin needles, making the Golden Fleece glow in an orangey sort of way.

But I didn't get to enjoy any of that.

The cause to this was that someone (and I had a pretty good idea who) had decided it would have been a good idea to prank my sister Miranda Gardiner, who was currently dripping wet from head to toe, soaked in some green dense substance.

"STOLLS!" I shouted, groaning.

The two brothers were about the most mischievous Hermes children I'd ever seen. Ever since they'd pranked the Demeter Cabin by putting chocolate Easter Eggs on our grass roof, they had enjoyed pranking us even more.

"Ugh, I swear I'm going to get back at them someday." I turned to Miranda. "What even is that stuff?"

"I have absolutely no idea." Miranda answered. "And I really don't want to know."

I nodded, rolling my eyes at the Stolls' usual childishness.

"You'd better take a shower. See if you can take off that slime. I'm gonna deal with the brothers." I sighed and made my way out of the Demeter Cabin.

———

TRAVIS POV

Ok, ok. You might think that I shouldn't have smuggled that much green slime from the nearest Walmart. Much less used it to prank the Demeter Cabin again.

But, please, you gotta cut me some slack. Angry Katie is what I live for.

I was hiding behind a bush when I saw her stomp out of Cabin 4, her brown curly ponytail flying behind her.

She probably was more angry than I thought, though, because my little hiding place bent over, completely revealing me.

Curse Demeter kids and their wicked bush-bending abilities.

"Oh there you are, Stoll." She walked over to me as I smirked. "And where is your other half?"

"Oh, Connor is sleeping." I answered.

Yeah, he had decided to stay behind to plan out some spider prank on the Athena Cabin. I had strongly advised him against it, but he had declared that nobody in Cabin 6 scared him. Except maybe Annabeth. But she wasn't here now.

"Like I'm supposed to believe that." Katie scoffed. "You'd never play one of your stupid jokes without him."

"I'm an independent prankster, Gardner." I smirked. "I can easily smuggle some slime from Walmart and throw it on someone on my own."

"It was slime?" She asked, disgusted. "And you stole it from Walmart?"

"I Stoll it from Walmart, yes." I confirmed.

"That was a horrible pun."

"Oh, come on, it wasn't that bad!" I defended my puns. "I've got others if you want them. For example-"

"Stop changing the subject!" She interrupted me. "Why did you do that to Miranda?"

"Why, because it's fun!" I told her. "You should try to prank someone too! How about Clovis from the Hypnos Cabin? I've been looking for someone to prank him with for ages! We could douse him with coffee together and hide his reserve pillow! I'd say we prank him tomorrow afternoon, since he'll sleep right through the day, and then see how he shows up at dinner."

I somehow got a weird feeling in my gut at that. I have no idea why, but I was strangely really excited to do something with Katie. Why would I even care?

"I would never play a so-called prank on someone, much less with you!"

My face fell with that. Katie didn't want to hang out with me. My smirk twisted itself into a slightly hurt expression.

Get it together, Travis. I told myself. What in Hades is wrong with you?

It took a few seconds to put my usual troublemaker look back on. But I couldn't bring myself to answer back.

Katie, on the other hand, still looked annoyed.

"Look," she said, breathing hard to contain herself. "I need you to stop playing your jokes on our Cabin. The situation is really getting out of hand."

Somehow, I couldn't help but agree. Her forest-green eyes were filled with sternness, but somehow, I could see her pleading behind her usual glare.

"Alright." I told her.

"What?" She asked, probably not believing her ears, believing that this was going to lead to an ultimate trick.

"I said I'd stop pranking your Cabin, Gardner." I repeated. "On one condition. You will play that Clovis prank with me."

———

Soooo, that was my first chapter. Hope it wasn't too bad.

Bye,

- Melania