I sighed and rolled over. It was hard to sleep in the Apollo cabin. It was always bright and sunny. Not that I minded, but I did need sleep every once in a while. It was probably breakfast by then. Whatever. Yawning, I stretched my arms above my head. I supposed he was kind of hungry, but also too tired to get out of bed. Finally giving in, I sat up. It took me barely any time to pull on my orange Camp Half-Blood shirt and jeans, and head to the dining pavilion. I always left my camp necklace on, with two beads on it. The first was dark blue with a pink, tiara-wearing dragon painted on it (don't ask), and the other was brown with a simple rose.
It was fall, but inside Camp, it was still warm and sunny, like a nice spring day. I was one of the few campers that stayed year round, since my mother wanted nothing to do with me, and my father was, well.. a god. Apollo, obviously, didn't stick around. I didn't hold it against him, though. Gods were busy. Maybe occasionally I wondered why my father hadn't stepped in when my mum would hit me, but I didn't consider myself the type of guy to hold a grudge. My father'd been nice when we'd met last year.
As I walked, he noticed someone leaving the Athena Cabin, and my heart leapt slightly. It was Nico Shiskin, who'd come to Camp Half-Blood the same year as I had. His brown hair was sticking up all over the place, rubbing his smoky, quartz-coloured eyes. I sped up a bit, almost running to catch up.
"Hey! 'Morning, Nico."
The Athena kid jumped. "Oh, good morning!" He grinned.
The pair of us had been close friends since the day we met. It had taken us ages to get claimed, and for a while, I'd had been scared it wouldn't happen. But then I had learned who my godly parent was, and even though Cabin 7 was packed with all my half-siblings, it felt lonely not falling asleep giggling about something stupid with Nico.
I was only 15 at the time of being claimed, and now, even at 17, I sometimes missed sleeping on the ground of Cabin 11 in an old sleeping bag next to my best mate.
"Did you finally get some sleep?" Nico was studying my face intently. Trying to hide my blush, I nodded.
"A bit. I think Ash was singing in his sleep, though."
Nico laughed, and it was such a cute, bubbly, fairy sort of laugh. "How does he do it?"
I shrugged. "He might be a bit mad, I'm afraid." I smiled at my friend. "Then again, I might be, too."
"Well, I like you that way!" Nico pulled on my elbow. "Now hurry up, I'm hungry."
He likes me that way? Sure, he probably meant as just a friend, but still. My face was burning. Gods, I hate what he does to me. And yet, I still loved him, more than a friend sometimes. It almost scared me, but I couldn't help myself.
The two of us made it to the pavilion, then said goodbye and went to our respective cabins' tables.
On weekends, campers could wake up whenever they felt like. And I often felt like having a lie-in. I always wondered how Nico, however, could possibly wake up as early as he typically did. That morning, he'd slept in, too, which was very uncharacteristic. I yawned again. My cup had filled with light, sugary coffee as soon as I sat down, without me even having to ask. Ahh. Taking a very long sip, I sighed contentedly. It was sunny, I had my coffee, and from where I was sitting, I had a good view of Nico eating something and doodling on a piece of paper.
What could possibly go wrong?