I am the worst author in the history of authors. I'm so sorry for not updating! But this chapter is pretty long, so, forgive me?
The warm breeze around the vast land gave off a fresh mountain smell with the hint of sweet strawberries that made anyone's mouth water with the craving for the delicious delicacies. The sun gently rose and peaked its head over the horizon, beaming its inquisitive rays over the camp.
Very few campers walked through the cool air that remained from the night while many others were still bundled up in their blankets, dreaming of their once safe camp and their seemingly endless summer. Only this season seemed to have ended more quickly than some had anticipated.
During the last few days the sun seemed to have grown weaker and the heat and humidity had decreased which could only mean that the end of summer was drawing close. Summer would only last another few weeks then the majority of Camp Half-Blood would disappear for a good four and a half months until Christmas vacation came around.
Still, no one talked about how they would have to return to their homes, some living in fear while others had enough confidence to believe that they could protect themselves. Some campers had decided to stay for different reasons. Whether they wanted to fix up Camp Half-Blood to what it used to be or because they didn't have anything better to go to, they made up their minds long before Chiron had a chance to hand out their papers asking them if they were to stay or come back the next season. Though one camper in particular had a tough time deciding.
The dying nineteen year old girl weighed her options while she sat in her empty cabin. She switched her position between sitting crossed legged on her bed to sitting up right in an uncomfortable wooden chair with her head resting on her knuckles as her elbows were digging into her knees. This wasn't a simple question that she can make in a second. No, this needed some thinking.
On one hand, if Apollonia were to leave she'd be forced to face her selfish father and her family who probably had no idea that the youngest sibling of the giant bunch was practically in her death bed. She'd have to explain what her situation was and why she was still suffering. But she wouldn't say that her father refused to help her in her most desperate stage. Despite his down falls and selfishness, Apollonia couldn't let herself hate her father. That was her flesh and blood (her only real relative in that house, anyway) and she knew how important that was.
Then on the other hand, if she stayed at Camp Half-Blood she would be with Chiron, Mr. D and few campers she was well accustomed to. Her friends would be gone, she didn't want to be around Elsa and Anna (especially Elsa) and chances were that she would die in the medical ward, alone. But this place was her home, too, and everybody in it was her true family.
She sighed in frustration and stood from her cold mattress to pace back and forth on the wooden floors. This wasn't fair. None of this was. No one deserved to be alone while they were about to perish into nothing. She wouldn't even wish this kind of isolation on Stacy.
Apollonia shivered. Even though Stacy was no longer welcomed at camp, she left her mark on Apollonia with the arrow that she shot at her side and head. Apollonia reached a shaky hand up to her eye. The bandage wrappings protected Apollonia's head in a horizontal tilt. She had other bandages wrapped tightly around her torso, specifically where Stacy's arrow lodged itself.
*Knock Knock*
"Abby? Are you awake?"
The sudden voice startled the brunette and made her cease her movements. Apollonia knew it was too early for many people to be awake, especially for one of her friends. But she invited the person in and she was taken by surprise when one of her best friends walked in.
Her eyebrows knitted together and her mouth formed a deep frown.
"What are you doing here, Victoria?" She asked a bit too harshly.
"I came by to see if you're okay." She shut the door behind her and walked further into the cabin. Victoria looked around the inside and admired the beautiful designs of winter that were painted/carved into the wood. Snow capped mountains were illustrated on the wall behind Apollonia's messy bed. A crystal clear chandelier hung over the very center of the cabin with a light blue tint being emitted from the window's gleam. There was a pierce glare being emitted from an object in the far corner of the cabin. Victoria tilted her head and saw a block of crystal clear ice safely preserved in a glass case. Odd . . .
The inside of the cabin was painted white with the beds having blue sheets. It was unusually cold inside. A little too cold , even if summer was ending.
"Well, other than the fact that I'm dying at a very slow and painful speed, I'd say I'm fine and dandy." Abby sarcastically replied. Then she turned to the other teen and all her sarcasm melted. "What about you? How are you holding up?"
"My best friend died." Victoria deadpanned. She sat on the disheveled bed and stared at the sick teen. "Nicole is dead and you didn't even show up when her flag was burned. We even postponed the event because she was your one of your best friends, too, and you were in a coma." Victoria's usual soft brown eyes hardened with every word she spat.
Apollonia sighed and opened her mouth to speak but was immediately cut off.
"We honored Nicole's death and where were you? Sitting in your bed, wallowing in self-pity while the rest of us were trying to find a way to break the news to her father. So I ask, why are you spending your last days in here, alone? Do you want sympathy? Do you want us to feel sorry for you?"
"That's not it."
"Then what in the names of the gods are you trying to achieve, Apollonia?" Victoria yelled. She stood to her feet and stomped toward Abby. "I want to help you, Abby, I truly do but I can't if you're pushing yourself away. Is it something one of us did?"
"No." Apollonia sighed, rubbing her temples. She didn't want to have this talk. Not now, not ever. It was too damn early and she didn't want to be around anyone.
"Then what is it?!" Victoria yelled, flailing her arms. "Is it because you still like Elsa? Does it have something to-"
"What did you say?" Apollonia stared at her friend and knitted her eyebrows together.
Victoria gasped and cupped her hands over her mouth. Her eyes grew to twice their natural size with new droplets of sweat forming on her hairline. The girl's heart beat quickened as Apollonia stood from her wooden chair, giving her one of the most terrifying glares Victoria has ever seen.
"What did you say about Elsa?" She asked a bit slower.
'Shit . . .' Victoria swallowed and backed away by a few steps. She's been meaning to talk to Apollonia (or Elsa) about the scene she witnessed at the night of Apollonia's birthday party but there was always something blocking her. Elsa was always with Becca and Apollonia was too busy isolating herself from the group.
Victoria slowly breathed in and out and stared into the once vibrant irises of her old cabin mate/friend. "I saw you in Elsa's room during your party. You were crying and you were throwing away candles and all these overly romantic stuff. I don't know what that was about but I wanted to wait for the right time to ask about it. I know it's none of my business but . . ."
"Elsa and I . . ." Apollonia's voice trailed off. This could be her chance to finally come clean and lay every secret out on the table. Apollonia let out a shaky breath and began to tell every secret that was related to her affair with the Snow Queen.
Abby didn't know what she would've felt when she confessed every secret but she certainly didn't expect to feel empty and hallow. She certainly didn't think she'd get closure or remorse when she came clean but she didn't know if she, herself would feel anything, either. Anger? Sadness? Anything could have flooded her body and Apollonia wasn't so prepared.
During all the stories and confessions, the once close friends sat at a safe distance from each other just in case one of them said something the other didn't like. It was ridiculous because they've know each other for years but they've learned that even the closest friends drift apart.
When everything was said and done, Victoria was the first to speak.
"Why didn't you say something sooner?"
Apollonia snorted, "I probably should have. It would've saved me a lot of time." She sprawled herself out on her wooden chair. "Probably would've saved a lot of people a lot of heart break, too."
"How do you mean?"
Apollonia groaned in an over exaggerated way and hid her face in the palms of her hands. "I'm an awful person, that's what I mean!"
Victoria said nothing.
"I cheated on Anna with hersister! I yelled at Elsa for no reason on the night of capture the flag and Anna said she loved me! And I practically tore her heart out! Oh gods, I wouldn't even blame her if she hates me."
"Whoa, hold on there, Abby!" Victoria waved her hands in front of her to stop her friend from talking anymore. "Anna said she loved you?"
"Yes."
"And you rejected her? What the name of Olympus did you say to the poor girl?" Victoria demanded.
"I told her to love someone else . . ." Apollonia muttered, staring at her bare feet.
A creaking sound went off from where Victoria was sitting and before Apollonia could react, her arm was being pounded by two fists very hard.
"Why couldn't you leave that poor girl alone?" Victoria yelled as she continued to mercilessly pinch her friend.
"Ow! Ow! I know! I'm a complete and utter bitch, I know!" Apollonia tried to cease her friend's punches but it seemed as though Victoria was hell bent on getting revenge for Anna.
But soon enough the punches did cease and the sick brunette was left with a throbbing arm. She was certain that she would develop a bruise later on but considering what she's done, she deserves it.
"Okay, now that I got that out of my system, I can tell you something that I've been dying to say." Victoria said.
Apollonia gave her a dull glare and tilted her head to the side.
"What?" Victoria said. Her friend said nothing but soon Victoria did find the reason for Apollonia's look. "Oh . . . Sorry, Abby. Bad pun." She mumbled.
"More like inappropriate. But what did you want to tell me?" Apollonia said, straightening herself .
"Right, well, as you told me, you broke up with Anna so you could be with Elsa, right?"
"Yeah, but she's with Becca."
Victoria shook her head. "Not anymore." She said. "Becca broke up with Elsa when she came clean about something that happened in the medical ward. Apparently Elsa kissed someone, she felt bad and came clean, but Becca started to yell, they got in a fight . . . Long story short, Elsa is single and on the rebound! Yay for you!" Victoria smiled.
Apollonia showed no sign of happiness. Only a face of worry. "They broke up . . .?"
"Yeah, now you can be with Elsa. That's great, right?"
"No," Apollonia muttered, "That's not great! My best friend is heart broken and I'm just sitting here in my own pity!"
"Well, not as much as before but-"
"Where's Becca? I need to talk to her." Apollonia said. She got up and began to pull out a t-shirt and pair of jeans from her dresser.
"I think she said she was going to the lake." Victoria said.
"Alright, listen, thanks for the talk but I need to change."
"Yeah, no problem, but aren't you going to talk to Elsa?"
Apollonia shook her head as she grabbed her sneakers. "Not right now. I've been an awful friend to everyone and I have a lot of people to apologize to. Starting with Becca."
"Hey, c'mon, it's not like you caused their break up." Victoria joked.
Apollonia suddenly froze and didn't say anything.
"Oh you got to be kidding me!" Victoria said. She walked to the door but before she opened it, she turned. "Abby, if you don't make things right, I am going to come back here with a whiffle ball bat and beat you in your lady bits until I'm certain you won't be able to have kids! Now get dressed, make amends with Becca, Anna, and Elsa before I find that bat!"
"Yes ma'am!" Apollonia saluted like a soldier and began to change when Victoria left. If she didn't have enough reason to make amends with her friends, Victoria just gave her the perfect amount of inspiration.
Most campers would agree that the naiads were some of the most bothersome creatures that inhabited the camp's lake. They splashed anyone on the shore, they sometimes acted like airheads, and some of the female campers even described them as, "terrible flirts". Apollonia never had an opinion on the seemingly harmless creatures, mostly due to the fact that she never hung around the lake long enough to encounter the naiads. But now that she's spent almost thirty minutes searching for her friend, she was starting to grow sick of them.
The naiads were currently swimming along side with the teen waving their hands, diving into the waters entirely just to splash Apollonia, and some were making sound affects, preferably sounds one makes when kissing. Apollonia cringed at their idiotic behavior. She could see why so many fellow campers found them annoying.
Another naiad dived into the lake again, making a massive splash. Apollonia jumped back seconds before a single drop could wet her clothes. But a far cry of anger showed that an unsuspecting camper was just victimized by the huge wave.
"You damn human-fish!" A familiar voice shrieked. "One of these days I'm going fry you up and eat you for dinner!"
The naiads giggled and waved before diving under the surface for the last time, leaving Apollonia and the other camper. She turned her head and was slightly relieved that her scavenger hunt for her friend was over.
Becca stood ten feet away, soaking wet with her long dark hair sticking out in different directions. Water dripped from her clothes and settled into the sand. She wrung out the front of her shirt then whipped her hair over her shoulder to do the same with the dripping locks. If Apollonia heard correctly, she could've sworn her oriental friend spurred a few swears in ancient Greek. And Becca usually preferred to cuss in her first language, Japanese. Mostly because the language was very unfamiliar around the camp and she could get away with saying anything as long as she lied and gave a bogus translation to anyone who asked.
The only times she would even mutter anything in Greek was when she was angry, like she is now, or if she was having an unusual dream. Having to had bunk with the soaking wet teen for years, Apollonia knew the patterns of her friend.
"Becca!" Apollonia called. She sprung into a jog when her friend turned to her.
"Well look who crawled out of their hole." Becca smirked. Abby stopped just three feet away from her in a desperate need to fill her lungs with oxygen. She doubled over and rested her hands on her knees.
Becca's smirked faded and morphed into a deep frown. She had forgotten about Apollonia's disease and allowed herself to be fooled that Abby was going to get better. And she guessed she started to believe it when she saw her friend break into a small run. Now she could see just how sick Abby was if she couldn't even run a few paces without getting light headed.
"You okay, Apollonia?"
Said teen lifted her head and met the worried gaze of her best friend. Despite her lungs needing more air, she straightened herself up and nodded while trying to control her breathing.
"I've been looking all over for you." Apollonia breathed.
Becca shrugged and went about wringing her hair out. "Well, I'm here. Is there anything you need?"
"Yeah," the sick teen said. "I heard about you and Elsa. You okay?"
Becca groaned and dropped her hair on her shoulder.
"Man, that's all people been asking me these days. I'm starting to wonder if I actually look as if I just crawled out of the Under World."
Apollonia knew she was kidding but now that she got a closer look, Becca didn't necessarily look bad, in a sense. Her friend actually looked fine. She looked healthy, well rested and she seemed to have gotten a tan. The exact opposite of how Apollonia looked.
"I'm just asking because I know you liked Elsa." Abby said.
Becca nodded and began to chew on her lip. She knelt down and sat on the shore. Apollonia followed her lead and took a seat next to her dripping friend.
"I've been okay," Becca said, "I mean, despite Elsa and I having a huge fight, we ended things on good terms."
Apollonia was surprised at that. "Really?"
"Yeah. I'm just as shocked as you are. But, let's be honest, my relationship with Elsa wasn't going to last." Becca then snorted, "For Olympus sake, the only reason we started to go out was because we slept together! She had to have known it was bound to end soon, too."
Apollonia fought the urge to cringe. She didn't want to be reminded of that.
"She wants you, y'know." Becca suddenly said.
Apollonia nearly snapped her neck when turning her head to meet the side of her friend's head. Becca looked out to lake, not looking to the other teen's baffled face and was seemingly in deep thought.
"W-What?"
Becca shifted her gaze to her friend and smirked. "Elsa wants you." She said, "I don't how you could be so clueless this long but it's pretty obvious she's smitten with you."
Apollonia stared at her friend with her jaw practically resting on her lap. "How would you know that?" She finally asked.
Becca half heartedly chuckled. "She stared at you when you and Anna were together, she looked and acted as if going out with me was the biggest crime could commit, and when you were in that coma she visited you almost every day. Oh, and when Stacy shot that arrow at you, she was hysterical and couldn't get a hold of herself." She then looked at the other teen. "Seriously, how could you not notice that?"
"I guess it's because I've been selfish lately." Apollonia muttered. "Becca, listen, I'm the reason you and Elsa broke up."
Becca raised an eyebrow.
"When I woke up, Elsa was there. She kissed me and I didn't stop her. I know a simple sorry isn't going to be enough, but I truly am sorry." Apollonia shut her eyes tight, truly expecting a slap to the face or a storm of swears. But none of that happened.
"I know," Becca said.
The other teen snapped her eyes open and stared at her friend.
"Elsa told me what happened, hence the huge fight we had."
"Becca, I kissed your girlfriend and you're not even bothered by it?" Apollonia asked.
"Ex-girlfriend," Becca corrected, waving her pointer finger at Abby. "And I was angry at first but I got over it. I think it's because I only had a small crush on Elsa. I mean, yeah, she's pretty and everything but we never had much in common. And you know looks don't matter very much to me, I like what's on the inside a whole lot better. To be honest, I think her looks is all Elsa had going for me."
Apollonia's jaw was once again let on her lap by her friend's confession.
"But thanks for coming clean about it." Becca said.
"You know, I was expecting you to slap me. . . or at least call me a bitch or something."
The oriental teen smiled and shook her head, making her wet hair swish and sway with her head movements. "I couldn't do that to my sister." She winked and brought her friend in for a hug.
'Sister . . .' Apollonia thought.
She believed she only had one sister her whole life but in reality, she had a wonderful group of 'sisters' here, at camp.
She felt a smile tug the corners of her mouth upward as she and Becca hugged on the lake's sandy shore. It was nice having her best friend back. Now all who were left were Anna and Elsa. Apollonia felt slightly less agitated to talk to them, now that she -unnecessarily- made amends with Becca.
She had a feeling things were going to be alright. Like she might actually be happy by the end of the summer.
Well, hoped you enjoyed reading it and if you have any suggestions, I'd be happy to listen to any of them. Leave a review or message me on tumblr.
My tumblr is: Dlira98, if you wanted to know.