I'm a Coward
MALIAH
I could hear my friends, and Tyler, calling out for me while I stormed to my cabin. I also heard the perky blonde ask, once again, who I was. Good to know Tyler never talked about me, either. Must be nice to be able to run away and forget. So much for making it up to me when he got back. I can't believe I was ever so stupid. I went into my cabin, shutting the door behind me. Okay, so I actually slammed it if we're being honest. Maybe they'd all leave me alone for a little while.
There's a flash of blinding light in my bathroom and a moment later, Apollo walks out. His smile is bright as he looks at me, then it falters when he sees my expression.
"Not such a happy reunion, huh?" he asks.
I roll my eyes, wanting to tell him to shove it, but then I remind myself that we'd been working really hard on my anger management. I couldn't let all of Apollo's hard work go to waste.
"Nope. Stupid boy returns in tow with a stupid girl. Not happy at all." I huff.
Apollo chuckles, "Hey now, that stupid girl is my daughter."
I stare at him in disbelief, "That?"
He laughs again, as if I amuse him. He takes a seat next to me on the bed and pulls me into a sidearm hug. He doesn't say anything at first until he decides on, "My young demigod, you're still just a little girl. You're beautiful and powerful, and you will have many boys and men, mortal, demigod and gods alike, chasing after you in your life time."
There's a clap of angry thunder in the sky, reminding us both that my father monitored our visits, but he continued, "You can't let this hurt you the way it does. You either need to forgive him and move on, or you need to forgive yourself for how you feel and move on. You have to make a choice."
He was right. I'd felt so guilty about hating Tyler that I think part of me was hoping we'd fix everything when he came back, but now I didn't even want that. I think that made me feel worse. I didn't know where I stood with him, but I know nothing would ever be the same. We were both changed people and I had too many scars from our past. We'd never go back to being who we used to be with each other. Was this moving on? How do you move on when you barely began?
Not to mention, I was developing this not-so-great-of-an-idea crush on a god. How was I stupid enough to set myself up for this, again? I know what gods do. They never stay around, and here I was liking one? I had kept telling myself it's because I'm still a kid and I'm going to crush on people, including ancient eighteen year old gods, but I don't even think I believed that. Eventually, Apollo would leave me, too. I sighed.
"Apollo," I say.
"Yeah, demigod?" he asks.
He hadn't been looking at me anymore.
"You're going to leave me, too, aren't you? When the war is over and I no longer need training, I'm not going to see you again?"
He looks back at me now as he ponders his response. I feel my cheeks heating up. It wasn't rare for some demigods to crush on some of the gods, but this was pretty embarrassing. Not to mention I was basically spelling it out for him in the midst of all of my abandonment issues. No wonder my dad was so concerned. I can't be left alone for one minute without trying to find someone to make me feel better about myself. It was pretty pathetic.
He smiles at me.
"Maliah, I'll be here for you whenever you need me. I've come to consider you a friend."
I smile at him. I had always thought that he viewed me as some responsibility, but now I felt so much better. I wasn't just a means to and end, I was his friend.
"So I just have to ask, and you'll be here?" I ask him.
"Yes. But consider this, Maliah," he says, now standing and stooping down in front of me, "these feelings, are they even real? Don't you think you just want a distraction to move on? You should focus more on your task at hand, okay? Years into the future, when you're a lot older, if you still feel this way we may revisit it. For now, push it out of your mind."
I nod. He was right. I had to focus on finding my siblings and winning the war.
"Okay."
"Good. I'll be remaining here until tomorrow so I can spend a little time with my children after I claim Alison."
"So that's her name."
He laughs at me again.
Apollo had left me alone and I was in my cabin, laying down and trying to sleep. It had been hours since our last conversation and I didn't leave my cabin to go to dinner, either. I'm sure he'd claimed his daughter and everyone was celebrating. I was happy for all of them. It meant they'd get to spend some time with their dad, the ones who were here anyway. Most of the demigods had returned back to the fake world for school. Normally there were about fifty or more campers here, today there were only fifteen or twenty.
I'm pulled out of my thoughts by two angry voices, arguing in hushed whispers as they got closer to my cabin.
"I don't know why you came back," Jase snaps, his voice getting closer.
"I had to bring Ali to camp," another voice answers. It's Tyler.
"No one asked you to do that, either," Jase responds.
Yikes. They were going to get into a full on fight if it didn't stop soon. They kept throwing snide remarks and Jase threw insults which Tyler in turn took offense and said rude things back. I groaned because now they were right outside of my door, having their argument loud enough for me to hear clearly. And they weren't leaving. So I had to suffer through it.
"Just leave camp and find your sister. Be good for something," Jase snaps.
"Can you just shut up? Be good for something? What exactly did you do during our quest this past summer other than waste space?" Tyler snapped.
Oh. Double yikes.
Jase laughed, almost coldly, "Doesn't matter. Just ask Maliah everything I did for her after. You know, after you abandoned her."
Tyler shut up. I could tell they were both angry with each other, and Jase honestly had every right to be upset. But he was taking it too far. Or maybe I just couldn't understand how much more hurt he was than I am. He had known Tyler for so long, and I'd only just met him when he left me. I could play myself and say I was pretending I wasn't as hurt as Jase, but I knew that I truly wasn't.
"I just want to see her, then I'll leave." Tyler said, softer this time.
"She doesn't want to see you, dude. I would know," Jase huffs.
Jase was right. I really didn't want to see Tyler. It would make everything more complicated and it would honestly just make me mad. I was so tired of being mad.
"Look, I get it. You two are like best friends now and it's all my fault. You both hate me. I get it. I still want to see her to tell her I'm sorry."
"We all know just how sorry you are, Ty. Good luck."
I heard Jase leaving, but oh I wish he would have stayed. I couldn't face Tyler by myself and I honestly wasn't even ready. He knocked on the door but I ignored it. He knocked again.
"Maliah?" he called, "It's me. I'm leaving in a few minutes, I just wanted to talk to you. I wanted to say bye."
Oh. This time he wanted to give me a goodbye before he disappeared? I scoff. I knew eventually he would remember the word to get in, and I'd be cornered. I decided that I wasn't brave and I couldn't face him. I grabbed my whistle and blew into it. A mere second later, a rottweiler type creature was panting happily in front of me. Elysium, or as I called her, Lysi. She wagged her tail and looked up to me, waiting. I went to my night stand, hearing Tyler knock again, and grabbed a treat for the hound.
She accepted it appreciatively and then I got on her back, hearing Tyler speak the magic word.
"Let's go, Lysi." I whisper.
Before Tyler gets into my cabin, I'm in the shadows. I didn't care where I went as long as it was far away from him. After spending what felt like an eternity in the numbing darkness, Lysi and I emerged in L.A. I sighed. I guess it was time that I went and saw my family. I hadn't been home in months and I wasn't really giving them any opportunities to check on me, either. I got off of Elysium and she walked beside me in the familiar gated neighborhood.
To anyone else, she was just a one year old rottweiler. I think that's why Hades gave me her. Tony and I had talked once before he visited his dad and I had mentioned how much I wanted a puppy. Hades gave me one. It was honestly one of the kindest gestures from any of the gods I'd received, but I wouldn't dote on it. I knew the more I pressed him about it, the more he'd regret it.
I pet the sweet pup as we walked until my eyes land on a familiar three story brick home, sitting on its forty acres of land. The black BMW was in the driveway, but the new Tesla was gone. I turn to Lysi, "You can go."
She skips happily into a shadow, then she's gone.
I stand still for a minute, debating on calling Lysi back and leaving, but I know I have to go. I walk up the brick pathway and the two steps leading to the door. I take a minute and gather my nerves before I ring the doorbell. I wait, no one responding. I ring the doorbell again. I'm just about to turn and leave when the door starts to open.
"It's been way too long, little sis."
