"One peppermint mocha, please." Katie punched the man's order into the register and passed the order onto Thalia.

"Take a seat and Thalia will bring you your drink," Katie said, smiling kindly. She then ducked into the back room to check on her biscuits. Setting the timer for two more minutes, Katie left the kitchen and returned to the counter.

Juniper was out on a surprise date with Grover. She was delighted when he woke her up with breakfast in bed and plans to go sledding down Half Blood Hill-which was a really steep hill on the Jupiter University campus where many people go to sled. She became less enthusiastic when she found out why they were going on a date so early in the morning. Katie couldn't blame Grover for being nervous that one of his friends would see them. Juniper, however, begrudgingly left with Grover after telling Katie to take the register.

"Hello again, Katie," Will said upon seeing Katie walk up to the register. His blond hair was windswept and his bright face was warm. He was summertime in the dead of winter. Katie smiled, thoroughly sick of the cold.

"Hi, Will. Is it the usual?" Katie asked, cheeks feeling warm. After coming to Juniper's consistently for seven days a week in the mornings, Katie got to know Will a lot better. He was the kind singer that came in on her first day working the register.

"Yes, please," he said, handing her his money. "Are you trying out a new look?" he asked, nodding towards her curled hair and striking red lipstick.

"I am!" Katie said, impressed that he would remark on it, "I'm trying to get more into the holiday spirit." Katie motioned towards her red lipstick and her deep green dress.

"It looks good on you," he smiled, "The green dress makes the green in your eyes pop." Katie felt her cheeks turn red, adding onto her red-green color scheme.

"Katie." Thalia poked Katie on the shoulder, getting her attention. Handing her Will's lemon tea, Thalia raised an eyebrow and winked. Katie rolled her eyes at Thalia and turned back to Will, handing him his drink.

"So, I was thinking…" he said, leaning forward on the cherry wood counter.

"Yes?" Katie asked, leaning forward also. The woman behind Will let out a deep sigh, but when he turned around and flashed a smile at her, she got silent.

"You should visit me at one of my recording sessions," he said, flashing her a smile.

"Ooh, I don't know…" Katie said. After getting off work, Katie usually went back home and started writing, preparing for her job at Olympus M. After a few hours of writing, Katie either went to dinner with Thalia and her friends. However, when Thalia was on a date with Luke- yes, they started dating- Katie usually had a movie night with Travis.

"Fine. If you can't visit me, at least listen to my music," he said, passing a CD over to her. On the case, 'KATIE' was written in thick, black marker. The third one he'd given her.

"I will," Katie said. She smiled at him and tucked the CD away in her bag. "Oh! Ha! I will, Will!" she repeated, realizing what she said. She giggled and he couldn't help but smile at her.

In the kitchen, Katie heard the timer go off. Waving a goodbye to Will, she ran back in to the back room and reset the timer. Putting on an over mitt, she transferred her biscuits from inside the oven to the countertop to cool. Fanning with the biscuits with her oven mitt, Katie heard a series of yells coming from the main room and some loud crashes. Dropping the oven mitt, Katie ran over to the door separating the back and main rooms. However, just as she was about to push the door open and find out what was going on, she got a glimpse of Travis' face from one of the circular windows on the door. Ducking down, she bit her lip, praying that he didn't see her.

There was another crash and Katie heard Travis' laugh. What is he doing here? Katie wondered. Peeking over from behind the window, Katie saw Travis throwing an armful of snowballs at the guests and at the walls. Narrowing her eyes, Katie had half the mind to run out there and drag him out her coffee shop from his ear. Travis chucked a snowball behind the counter. Katie heard a crash and a rattling noise that sounded like spilled coffee beans.

"Ooh, Travis," Katie hissed. She was seething and absolutely livid. Connor entered the coffee shop with even more snowballs, and passed some on to his brother.

"What do you think you're doing? STOLLS! Get out!" Thalia hollered. Ever since her small makeover (blue hair streaks, leather jacket, combat boots, silver earrings) Thalia has become quite the intimidating woman. However, despite Thalia glaring lasers at the brothers, Travis and Connor didn't even flinch.

"Just you today, Thals?" Connor asked, sending a snowball towards her neck. Thalia slapped it aside like the Stolls having impromptu snowball fights were a normal occurrence. Thalia responded with a growl and stomped towards the two. Together, they barreled snowballs at her body, making her unable to see. At first, she tried to duck and dodge, but the brothers' aim was too good. She then tried the aggressive approach, but after a snowball smacked her in between the eyes, Thalia became less and less aware of her surroundings.

"Ah! Help me!" Thalia screamed, shielding her face, "Help me, Ka-" Before she could finish her sentence, one of Travis' snowballs landed in her mouth.

"Who are you calling to?" Connor asked, while chucking snowballs at her.

"I don't see Juni around here," Travis laughed. Most of the customers had trickled out, and the others were huddled in the bathrooms.

"Wait!" Connor said, pausing in his throwing rhythm, "Are you calling out to the new girl?"

"Is she here?" Travis asked, spinning around. Just when Thalia was about to say something, Connor threw another snowball at her face.

Katie quickly ducked behind the door, away from the window. She jumped when there was a thump on the door.

"Is she in there?" Travis' muffled voice said.

"Shoot!" Katie hissed.

She ran into the kitchen and tried to find a place to hide. In the corner, behind some boxes, was a backdoor. Katie quickly shoved aside the boxes and heaved open the door, stepping out into the cold. The door closed just before Travis and Connor entered the kitchen and Katie was left in the silent, snowy alleyway. Feeling her toes get numb, Katie contemplated on reentering the coffee shop from the front and pretending to have passed the shop by chance. Quickly deciding against that idea, Katie wrapped her arms around her body and stayed where she was. Snowflakes stuck to her curled hair, and she felt the wetness on her head when they eventually melted. Katie bit her lip. Is it safe? She thought, Should I freeze to death or potentially have to explain to Travis as to why I am here?

Katie sneezed and sniffled. When her nose started running, Katie decided to just take her chances. Opening the back door up again, she entered an empty kitchen. Katie sighed and shivered, a reaction she got from going from an extremely cold environment to an extremely warm environment. Surveying the kitchen, Katie found a couple of cold puddles and some unmelted snowballs. Katie growled when she found most of her biscuits were stolen. There were crumbs all over the counter and the only biscuit the Stolls left had a bite taken out of it.

Katie then heard the sound of running water. She ducked behind the corner of a wall, preparing to find Travis washing his hands in the employee sink. However, when she took a peek behind the wall, she found Thalia pressing a cloth against her face and steam coming from the running faucet.

"Who were they?" Katie asked, deciding to play dumb. She walked up next to Thalia and shut the running faucet off. Thalia dropped the towel off of her face and stared at Katie with her red, puffy eyes.

"Don't you dare ask if I was crying," Thalia threatened, "Because I wasn't. Ice is painful when it gets in your eyes." Her nose was also pinched red and her face was covered in splotches of pink. "Those were the stupid Stolls. They work for The Flying Shoes. It's another coffee shop nearby. Those immature little freaks do this every so often to drive our customers away. And before you suggest calling the police, we've tried that before. The Stolls always find a way to weasel out of trouble."

"Were the customers driven away?" Katie asked. Thalia sighed.

"Not all. Luckily, we have some regulars that know what is going on. The nice ones offered to help us clean the place up," she said, dousing her towel in hot water.

"Oh goodness," Katie said, her hand covering her mouth, "What's the damage?"

"Go see for yourself," Thalia said, coldly. Katie was unsure if Thalia was mad at her for not coming to her rescue when she called.

"Look Thalia, if you're mad at me because I didn't come help you-"

"I'm just peeved because of the Stolls. I'm probably going to shut up until I can get my emotions in check," she cut in. Katie nodded quickly and pushed open the door to the main room.

Katie's mouth fell open when she saw what had happened to Juniper's. Jars of coffee beans were spilled onto the ground. Some of the glass containers were cracked. Cookies, scones, sandwiches, and other pastries littered the floor. However, that was only the damage behind the counter. The rest of the room was just as much of a mess. Some chairs had flipped over when customers scrambled to get out of their seats and leave the shop. Other chairs were wet from melted snowballs. Magazines were pushed to the ground and so were mugs full of coffee. The flower and tree paintings on the walls were splattered with snowballs. The chalkboard near the door had fallen down.

Katie brought a hand up to her hair and sighed at how much work she had to do to fix the place. Grabbing a dustpan and brush, Katie got to work, sweeping up the spilled coffee beans from the ground, suppressing her anger towards the Stolls for a few hours.

When Juniper found out what happened, she was not happy. By that point, it was well over the time Katie should've clocked out, but she stayed behind to continue cleaning up the mess. The other employees arrived and were baking new pastries and restocking the coffee beans. Juniper insisted that Katie should go home and get some rest, after apologizing fifty times for not being at the shop to handle the situation.

Katie jumped out of the taxi and stormed into her apartment building. She did not see Travis or Connor in the lobby, so she relaxed, deciding to save her anger to when she sees them. Katie strolled past her apartment and went right up to the Stolls' door.

"Open up!" Katie said, banging her fists on the door. When Connor opened the door, she shoved past him and walked right in.

"Where's Travis?" she snapped. Connor pointed towards the bathroom and at the moment, Katie noticed the sound of the running shower. Katie grunted. Whatever, she thought. Walking up to the bathroom door, Katie banged the door twice. She then turned the handle and found that it was unlocked.

"Dude! I'm in the shower!" Travis called out over the running water.

"It's pretty typical of you to shower with the door unlocked," Katie said, crossing her arms and leaning against the doorframe.

"Katie!" There was banging sound like a shampoo bottle fell to the ground.

"Get out. I need to talk to you," Katie said through her bared teeth.

"Can you leave?" Travis asked. He tugged at the shower curtain, blocking the smallest of cracks. Katie rolled her eyes.

"Travis Stoll get out of the shower right now," she demanded. Travis sighed.

"Fine. But do you really want to see me… as in all of me?" Travis asked. Katie rolled her eyes.

"Just change," she said. She crossed her arms and leaned against the door.

"C-Can you leave so I can get out?" Travis asked, nodding towards the towel hanging from a rack. Katie walked out of the humid bathroom and slammed the door shut. She then sat down on Travis' bed, ready to grill him. She heard the shower turn off and she crossed her arms. Connor's head poked into Travis' bedroom.

"Katie? Did you accidentally walk into Travis showering?" he asked, his eyebrows furrowed, thoroughly confused.

"No. I intentionally walked in on Travis showering," Katie said without missing a beat. Internally, she heard how strange that sounded aloud, and the blush rushed to her cheeks. Connor made a face and smirked at her. Before she could yell at him, he shut the door quietly. Katie huffed, too mad to even acknowledge what had just happened. She crossed her arms and scanned the room. It was no different than when she was here two days ago. Well, it might've gotten messier.

"Katie," Travis' voice said from the door. His hair was damp and he was wearing a shirt and shorts. Katie turned to face him and said nothing, glaring daggers at him. "You look… really nice," Travis said, moving towards her. She stood up from the bed, not responding. "Um…" Travis began, "I'm not sure if it's safe to bring up what just happened a few seconds ago…"

"How about what happened a few hours ago?" Katie snapped. Travis blinked.

"What?" he asked, confused, "A few hours ago, I was at work…" Katie started strutting around him, staring him down.

"Do you know what I don't like?" Katie asked him. He stood there for a few seconds, unsure what to do.

"Um," he began.

"Immature people," Katie interjected.

"But immature people are the most interesting people," Travis said, cracking a smile. Katie was not amused. She grabbed his shoulder and gently sat him down on his bed, creaking the springs.

"Do you know what I was doing a few hours ago?" she asked. Travis slowly shook his head. "I was in the park… writing," Katie said, "Like I do." Travis nodded once more. "And you know what? There I was, minding my own business, writing a story. Suddenly, these two college kids come out of nowhere and start throwing snowballs at me! College kids! I was pelted with ice and snow. Travis, it was so cold! I had to move away to keep my journal from getting wet. Did I tell you that I had cookies with me?" Katie asked, stringing her lie along even more, which wasn't really a lie at all. More of an extension of the truth. "Well, I did," Katie answered before Travis could even shake his head. "And when I got back to my bench, all of my cookies were gone. Those immature college kids took my cookies and pelted me with snowballs! Do you know what'd be even worse than immature college kids pelting people with snowballs and stealing cookies?"

"Immature college kids pelting people with snowballs and stealing pizzas?" Travis asked meekly. Katie gave a sour smile and finally sat down beside him.

"Immature, out-of-college kids throwing snowballs at people," Katie answered. Travis' face then brightened up and he held up a finger.

"One second, Katie," he said. He ran out of the room and Katie smiled triumphantly. He's probably going to call Juniper and apologize, she thought, And it's all thanks to me. Travis reentered the room a minute later with a large smile and a hand behind his back.

"I know it's not a cookie, but I hope this makes up for it," Travis said. He brought what he was holding in front of Katie. It was a biscuit. Her freaking biscuit from that same morning. Katie was seething. She gently plucked it from his hands and smelled it. It was cold and barely smelled of anything.

"Where did you get this?" she asked him. Travis shrugged.

"I made it," he said. Katie paused.

"What?"

I made it at work," Travis said simply. Katie stood up to be at eye level with him.

"You made this? You made this?" she repeated. Travis slowly nodded. Wow, she thought, his poker-face is good.

"So, are you feeling better now?" Travis asked. Katie didn't respond. She stared at the cold biscuit in her hands. "What movie do you want to watch tonight?" he asked, "I know it's my turn, but since you've been having such a bad day-"

"Actually, Travis," Katie interrupted, "I can't make the movie tonight. I'm going to a recording session." Without another word, she stormed out of his room and left his apartment- not forgetting to chuck the biscuit in the trashcan on the way out.

"Hey, Will," Katie greeted once he picked up the phone.

"Hi, Katie!" Will said, "I was surprised to see you on Caller ID!"

"Yeah," Katie said, tucking a curled lock behind her ear, "I'm sorry I haven't been calling. But anyways, is the offer for the recording studio visit still open?" There was a pause on the other line and Katie stopped pacing. "Will? Are you still there?" Katie asked.

"Yeah," he said quickly, "My manager was just talking to me." He seemed flustered but Katie ignored it.

"Oh, alright," she said, "So, can I come listen to you?"

"Um, actually, Katie… I'm not recording today. There was a mistake," Will said.

"Oh, really?" Katie asked, "Didn't you say that you were talking with your manager?"

"Um… yeah," Will said, "I was talking to him… on the other line!" Katie could practically hear him wincing. She nodded slowly.

"Alright," she said, "I guess I'll see you tomorrow."

"Actually, Katie," Will said, "I'm going away for two weeks."

"Oh," Katie said, "And where are you going for the fortnight?"

"What?" Will asked, totally out of the loop. Travis knows what fortnight means, Katie thought We've watched enough Shakespearian movies together for him to know. She pouted when Will didn't get her feeble attempt to be cute. Travis would've thought it was cute, she thought bitterly, Wait what?

"Fortnight means two weeks," Katie said dryly.

"Ooh! I learn something new every day," he said lamely. He paused, seeming to wait for her to say something. "I'm going on tour," he said, answering her question. Katie made a face when she heard his excuse.

"For two weeks?" she asked, "That's a pretty short tour."

"Well, it's actually my friend's band's tour. I'm just going with them to the last two concerts," Will answered. Katie nodded.

"Well," she said, "That's… logical."

"Yeah," he said awkwardly, "Pretty logical." They let the silence ring between them. Katie started to feel the regret in being so harsh on Travis a few minutes before. NO! she yelled in her head, He deserves this! Remember all of the damage he did to Juniper's. Poor Juniper…

"I'm going to hang up now," Will said. Katie nodded, but noticed that he couldn't see that.

"Alright," she said, trying to keep her voice bright, "See you in a fortnight."

"What?" Will asked again. Katie sighed loudly and was about to hang up when he said, "Fortnight! Two weeks! Oh yeah!" He laughed shortly and then the line went dead.

"Wow," Katie said, turning off her phone, "That was… terrible." She fell down on her couch and pulled her feet up on the table, regretting having shot Travis down on his offer for a movie night. A movie night did sound good right now. Watching The Breakfast Club in the dark, eating warm popcorn, curled under a blanket, close to Travis… wait what? She shook her head and laughed nervously, pushing the thought out of her head. She dropped her feet from the table and stood up from the couch, ready to head back to her bedroom and write the entire afternoon. Probably start on that fictional novel she started a couple months ago… She looked at her cell phone out of boredom and as if on cue, it rang.

"Zoë?" Katie asked.

"Hey, Katie," she said. To be honest, Katie wasn't sure if Zoë was her friend or if Katie annoyed her with all of the questions about Olympus M. It was reassuring to know what Zoë had called her.

"What do you need?" Katie asked.

"Do you want to hang out?" she asked. Katie's face immediately brightened. This is so great! She thought, When I don't have anything planned, Zoë comes up!

"I'd love to! I seriously was just about to wash up and go to bed," Katie said.

"… It's 7 in the afternoon," Zoë said. Katie sighed, shaking her head.

"I know."

"Well, Bianca and Nico are going to be hanging out too," Zoë informed. Katie nodded and she started grabbing her coat and purse.

"What about Luke and Thalia?" she asked.

"They're going on another date," Zoë said venomously. Katie could practically hear her eyes rolling over the phone.

"Alright. I'll be there," Katie said, "May I ask where there is?" Zoë let out a short laugh.

"Bianca's apartment. Nico lives in the dorms at Jupiter University, but he's pretty much moved into his sister's apartment," Zoë said, "I'll text you the address."

"Alright," Katie said, "See you there."

"Later," Zoë said, hanging up. Katie pulled on her scarf and rested a hat over her head. Just when she was about to leave the apartment, her phone buzzed with Bianca's address. Katie smiled and hurried down the steps.

She flagged a cab and showed the driver the address. He grunted in response and took off. Katie stared out the window at the falling snow, thinking about the near future, namely Christmas. It's only a week away, she thought, And yet, I haven't begun shopping for gifts. Dear Katie, you just love torturing yourself. She contemplated on whom she should buy a present for. Obviously I'm going to mail a present to Kayla, Katie thought, thinking of her sunny friend in Indiana, And I'm probably going to find something for Silena too. Maybe even Beckendorf, Katie thought, I don't want him to feel left out. Katie checked her phone once more out of boredom. I'm definitely going to get something for Thalia, Juniper, Zoë, Bianca, and Nico, Katie thought. Also Grover. Should I get something for Percy? And Annabeth? I don't know them quite well… Katie ended up deciding that she would buy small things for the two, therefore, if she didn't get anything from them, they wouldn't feel bad because they only received small gifts. Now… who am I missing? Katie pondered, Will? Katie quickly shook her head, remembering their phone call. Maybe a free drink, but nothing big. Who else? In the back of her mind, there was one name she was avoiding. Travis, it whispered. Katie crossed her arms. She was still really mad at him for the morning snowball fight. I'll decide later, Katie thought, I don't want to deal with Travis now. And Connor… same as his brother. What about Clarisse and Chris? I kind of went on a double date with them… Katie thought for a moment, completely forgetting Travis and Connor. I'll get them gifts like Percy and Annabeth, she decided. For the rest of the trip, Katie panicked about what she was going to get them and how she was going to get the gifts in such a short amount of time.

When she arrived at the apartment complex, Katie paid the cabbie and he sped away. Katie checked her phone again. 36D. She walked over to the 'D' building and walked inside, getting away from the snowflakes. Katie wasn't really bothered by the cold anymore. She didn't bother taking off her coat or scarf; instead, she walked around looking for 36D. Walking to the second and finally, the third floor, she found 36D. Upon knocking, Zoë opened the door and greeted her quite warmly.

"Katie!" she said, letting her in, "Come on! We're about to start dinner! After we're done eating, Bianca was thinking of hitting the club. How does that sound?"

"That sounds great," Katie said, "I totally need to loosen up right now." Katie walked into the living room and froze. Nico was squatting in front of the TV, playing a racing game. Bianca was sitting on the couch, hunched over a laptop, deep in concentration. Those two scenes were pretty normal. The only thing out of place was the person sitting next to Bianca. He had messy dark hair, like a skater's. He looked tall, even though he was also hunched over the laptop. Katie breathed slowly. Maybe it's not him. Maybe it's not him, she said, repeating reassuring words.

"Oh, Katie," Zoë said, pushing her towards the couch, "This is Percy. Percy Jackson." Percy looked up from the laptop and smiled, his green eyes gleaming.

Katie's face turned red and she had an inner panic attack. She was used to keeping her two groups of friends in separate boxes. There were her friends associated with The Flying Shoes: Travis, Connor, Silena, Beckendorf, Clarisse, Chris, Percy, and Annabeth. She had her friends associated with Juniper's Tea and Coffee: Juniper, Thalia, Bianca, Zoë, Nico, and Luke. The only person that was in both was Grover. Katie was not prepared to let her two boxes mix together!

"Actually," Percy said, speaking up, "Katie and I have met before." Bianca looked up from her laptop, curious.

"Really?" she asked, "How?"

"A coffee shop," Katie quickly interjected. She scanned the faces of everyone around her. They seemed to like Katie's answer and she sighed. Percy thought that she was talking about The Flying Shoes and everyone else thought she was talking about Juniper's. Katie, she commended herself, you are amazing!

"Percy's helping Bianca find a job," Nico said, not looking up from his video game.

"A job?" Katie asked, sitting down next to Bianca and leaned forward to get a better look at the laptop. "Oh yeah! I remember how you mentioned that you were looking for a place to work!" Bianca nodded and scrolled down the page she was looking at. Nico paused his game and turned to look at the people on the couch.

"Percy promised that he would protect Bianca," Nico said. Katie's eyebrows scrunched together. Protect her from what? She asked. "He would keep her away from any jobs that were too far from Campton," Nico said, elaborating, "And kept her away from me." Katie turned to Percy and he nodded.

"Yeah," he said, "I'll protect her." He patted Bianca on the shoulder and she squirmed away. Zoë looked at Bianca proudly, which confused Katie.

"Alright," Katie said, "So, Percy, are you staying for dinner?" Percy looked at the faces of everyone in the room before smiling.

"Yeah, why not?" he said, "That's only if I'm welcome."

"Of course you're welcome!" Nico said cheerfully, "You're helping Bianca find a job!" Percy nodded once more.

"You bet I am, buddy." He ruffled Nico's bed-head and Nico paused his game.

"I am a college student!" Nico announced.

"But you're so cute!" Bianca said. Nico made a face at his sister and returned to his game.

"So," Percy said, typing something into the laptop, "What do you like to do?"

"I like to garden, write, read, and-"

"Actually, Katie," Percy interrupted, "I was actually talking to Bianca, but that's nice to know!" Percy said kindly. Katie blushed and she got up from the couch.

"I'm going to prepare dinner," she announced.

"I'll go with you," Zoë said. They walked to the kitchen and Katie pulled out flour and some eggs. "Actually, we already prepared dinner," Zoë said, "All we need to do is heat it up."

"Oh. Alright," Katie said, putting the eggs and flour back. Zoë stood silent for a few moments, staring at the door to the kitchen.

"I don't like Percy," Zoë said finally. Katie raised an eyebrow but continued heating up some chicken for dinner.

"And why is that?" she asked.

"He reminds me of Luke and Herc-" She stopped herself before saying the final name.

"What's wrong with Luke?" Katie asked, curious. Zoë shrugged.

"I know Thalia is dating him, but I can't help but think he isn't trustworthy," Zoë whispered. Katie remembered the incident in the Golden Apple. She shuddered when remembering his quick and cold glare.

"I don't know," Katie said, "If Thalia likes him, there must be something good inside. He might be a bit rough around the edges-"

"Katie," Zoë interrupted her and Katie jumped. Her voice was urgent and forceful. Zoë could be intimidating, but Katie had never seen her that scary. "Don't trust Luke. I don't like the feel of that guy. He's going to hurt Thalia." She then mumbled something that Katie couldn't hear. Katie didn't push Zoë on it though. Whenever the name 'Luke' was said, Katie felt a tugging on the back of her mind. I know that name, Katie thought, Why is it so familiar? She was totally blanking and she hated the feeling. Luke. Luke. Luke.

"If you think he's going to hurt Thalia, why don't you tell her?" Katie asked. Zoë grimaced as she pulled a bowl of egg salad from the fridge.

"I did," she said, "Thalia wouldn't listen." She glared darkly at the salad as she mixed it and Katie backed away from the topic.

"So," Katie said, cutting through the awkward silence, "Clubbing, huh? Do you know where we're going?" Zoë shrugged and set her salad aside, moving onto taking a pie out of the oven.

"I don't like to club. Too many drunk boys."

"Oh," Katie said. Travis brought her to a club once, and though Katie protested most of the way there, she actually had a lot of fun. Granted, Travis had to drag her back to her apartment because she had a little bit too much to drink. Travis, Katie thought sourly, remembering her morning and the snowball war aftermath, I just wish he wasn't so… immature!

"Who was immature?" Zoë asked. Katie's eyes widened and she quickly pulled out the warmed up chicken, occupying herself. As she plated and set the bird, Zoë stood in the side, tapping her fingers.

"Katie?"

"Huh?"

"Did you hear me? Who is he? Do you have a boyfriend? Trust me, Katie. Boys are bad news," Zoë said passionately.

"What about men?" Katie asked, teasing Zoë, attempting to lighten up the mood.

"I have yet to see a real man on this earth," Zoë muttered. Katie frowned and turned away from Zoë, mouthing: Yeesh. Talk about a downer.

"Even your dad?" Katie asked, turning towards Zoë quickly and giving her a sheepish smile. Zoë tensed and looked to the kitchen floor, eyes pressed shut.

"Especially my father," Zoë muttered, "Trust me Katie. Boys are no good."

"Is this everything?" Katie asked, feebly trying to change the subject and find a way off the live minefield she was on.

"You know, Katie," Zoë began, not answering her question, "You should hang with my friends and me."

"Aren't I already friends with your friends?" Katie asked, pointing a thumb towards the living room.

"-My other friends. Closer ones. I've already talked to Bianca about them," Zoë informed, "We travel the world and have fun, just us girls. We're called the Hunters." Katie laughed nervously and tucked a curled strand of hair behind her ear.

"It sounds like you're trying to recruit me to this 'girl gang'," Katie joked. Zoë frowned and her eyebrows scrunched together in thought.

"Huh. I guess I am." Katie gulped and her eyes scanned the tile floor of the kitchen, desperately searching for something else to look at instead of Zoë's face.

"So… you guys travel a lot?"

"Yup."

"… Is it a cult?"

"God Katie! No! There are no 'initiation' ceremonies or whatever you're thinking. All you have to do is swear off boys, no big. You know… girl power or whatever," Zoë said, waving her hands dismissively, "Anyways, we just travel in a group having fun! Staying young!"

"But… don't you have a job at Olympus Magazine?" Katie asked.

"It's… complicated. Artemis- the leader of the Hunters- is also an editor of Olympus M. Part of our- sorry- my job is to travel around with the Hunters."

"That sound amazing," Katie said, "It sounds a bit like the job I want under Demeter's section of Olympus M."

"Yeah?" Zoë asked, breaking out into an enormous smile, "So is that a yes?" Katie bit her tongue and looked away from Zoë.

"I don't know… about the swearing off guyspart." Zoë sighed loudly and muttered something that sounded like: It's always that part.

"How about this," Zoë said, "I'll give you a tour of Olympus Magazine Headquarters and let you meet Artemis. Then you can make your decision."

Katie nodded slowly, agreeing to Zoë's plan. There really wasn't an obvious downside. She would get to travel the world, like she wanted to. Perhaps she would get to work under Artemis and still be able to write for Olympus M! Plus, it wasn't a guarantee that she would even get the job under Demeter, and Zoë was practically handing Katie a job on a silver platter!

Though… she didn't want to give up men. I don't even know why I'm holding back on that, Katie thought, I don't even have a boyfriend. Her thoughts traveled to Will and she shook her head. I don't have a boyfriend. I guess it's just the possibility that I could find love in the future. If I do, I don't want to be sworn off boys.

"Come on," Zoë said, smiling triumphantly, "Let's eat."

"-And then, I kicked the apple towards his mouth and he took a giant bite out of it!" Percy laughed, retelling the tale of how he, Annabeth, and Grover were playing hacky sack with an apple at a train station.

"Grover is hilarious," Katie said, cheeks hurting from smiling so hard.

"How do you know Grover?" Nico asked.

"Uh, the coffee shop," Katie answered. That's probably going to be my answer from now on, she thought, Where did you meet them? The coffee shop. Why do you think they smell? The coffee shop. What's is that on your nose? The coffee shop.

"Who is Annabeth?" Bianca asked once Percy was done with his story.

"She's my girlfriend," Percy said fondly, "But back then, she hated my guts."

Nico leaned back in his chair and patted his stomach. "Ah. Well, I'm full. Do you want to join us, Percy? We're going to go to The Party Ponies. Before Luke and Thalia went on their date, Luke pulled some strings and we got on the list," Nico explained.

"I don't know," Percy said, "I kind of promised the night to Annabeth."

"Bring her along!" Nico said, "We won't mind, right?" Katie gulped and bit her bottom lip to keep from screaming 'NO!' Too many boxes mixing! Katie thought, panicking.

"And your friend Grover can come too! He sounds fun!" Bianca said. Zoë glanced at her disapprovingly, but quickly looked away. No, no, no! Katie screamed internally. Boxes mixing! Boxes mixing! Well, at least Grover will be there to back me up.

"Yeah? I can?" Percy asked.

"Sure, whatever," Zoë said, giving up, "Invite your friends." Percy smiled and pulled out his phone to call Annabeth and text Grover.

"I'm… going to skip out on this one," Katie said, quickly standing up, deciding that she didn't want to risk being outed.

"What? You were so excited when I first told you!" Zoë said.

"I know, but I'm feeling pretty tired," Katie lied lamely. Zoë stared at her, disbelieving.

"Just come," she said, "We'll have fun."

"I'd-"

"Annabeth and Grover said they would meet us there," Percy said, coming back to sit at the dinner table, "Katie, Grover said he wanted to speak to you."

"Oh."

"See? Now you have to come!" Zoë cried. Katie sighed, glancing at all of the eyes looking at her.

"Yeah, let's go," she said, giving up. Grover this had better be good.

"Well? What do you want?" Katie asked, pulling Grover into a secluded corner near the bathrooms.

"Good news!" Grover said excitedly, "You know how Percy knows that I'm dating Juniper?"

"But he doesn't know that I work at Juniper's… yeah, Grover. We've gone over this," Katie said, speeding him along.

"Well, I told Annabeth about my relationship with Juniper and she's cool about it too!" Grover said, smiling brightly. Katie stared at him, blank faced, for a while.

"Is this just good news for you?" Katie demanded.

"Well, kind of, but not really!" Grover added when Katie started to glare at him.

"How so?"

"There's a chance Annabeth and Percy might accept your association with the enemy," Grover explained.

"You're the one that's fondling the enemy!" Katie cried, "I can't believe I came here to know that."

"Relax, Katie," Grover pouted, adjusting his crutches, "Percy and Annabeth are cool. Plus, Annabeth has been wanting to spend some more time with you. She really likes your writing. Come on. Let's have some fun!" He then walked off to find Juniper, leaving Katie alone in front of the bathrooms.

"Ew," she muttered as a couple drunkenly stumbled into the handicap bathroom.

Katie walked back into the club and immediately felt out of place. Her modest green dress was nothing like the ones in The Party Ponies. Katie practically went blind from all of the colored lights that were reflecting off of every girl in the place's strapless, sequined dress. Katie weaved past the frantically dancing people with limbs flying in every single direction.

How did I even enjoy this last time? Katie asked herself, thinking of her club rendezvous with Travis. Katie sat down at a bar stool and started drawing on the bar with a lone drop of water.

Next to her, a guy in a black leather jacket with his hair swooping gracefully to one side leaned over and smiled at her. She gave him a curt smile back, and then went back to drawing out of boredom. I wish I had my notebook here, Katie thought. She heard the guy's stool scrape the floor loudly as he scooched towards her.

"Can I buy you a drink?" he asked, smiling at her. His teeth were a pearly white and his dark hair was soaked slightly in sweat. Katie's eyes fell on two other guys behind him and saw them staring at her intently waiting for her answer.

"No thank you," she said, turning away from him and scanned the room for a familiar face.

"Are you sure? Oh, excuse me. I'm Garret, by the way," he said, holding out a hand for a handshake. She smiled uncomfortably and hesitantly gave his big hand a quick shake.

"You know, I've got to go-" she began, hopping off of the stool. Garret glanced behind him quickly at the two boys who were high fiving each other. He quickly turned back to Katie and desperately grabbed onto her arm.

"Hold on," he said, also jumping off of his stool, towering over her, "I never learned your name."

"Katie," she said, moving away from him. She gave him a warning glare, staring pointedly at his hand, which was still holding onto her arm. He took the hint and let her go.

"Katie," he said, rubbing the back of his neck, "My ex-girlfriend is named Katie." Behind him, one of the boys face-palmed and the other burst into laughter.

"Look," Katie began, thoroughly uncomfortable, "I really have to go. And I think it's quite obvious that you're making a move on me because of some bet so…"

"Hold on!" he cried, still not giving up. He held onto her hand and started to pull her gently towards the bar once more. "Just have one drink with me. I promise it'll be worth it-"

"What's going on?" a strained voice said behind her. Katie sighed and closed her eyes, rolling them under her eyelids. She didn't even have to turn around to know that the owner of the voice was Travis Stoll.

My boxes are mixing! She panicked, Man, this town is way too small.

Katie felt Travis slide his arm around her waist and he planted a kiss on the top of her head. She blushed, but leaned in closer to him, playing along. She slid a slender arm inside his jacket and pressed her face against his warm body, smelling the coffee beans.

"I- I- I was just…" Garret stammered, staring at the couple.

"You were just…?" Travis asked raising an eyebrow. Garret looked back at his buddies who were practically on the ground from laughing so hard.

"You know what, babe?" Katie said, trying hard not to make the word 'babe' sound too artificial, "I'm in the mood for dancing. Let's get out of here." Katie pulled Travis towards the crowded dance floor. In the corner of her eye, she saw Travis give Garret a cheeky smile and a five-fingered wave goodbye.

Once Garret and the bar were out of sight, Katie pushed Travis away from her and crossed her eyes, staring him down.

"What are you doing here?" she asked.

"Um," Travis began, running a hand through his curly brown hair, "You're welcome." Katie rolled her eyes and pushed him a bit too hard on his shoulder.

"Are you stalking me?" Katie fumed. Travis Travis Travis. Everywhere she looked, BOOM! There was Travis!

"Stalking you? I just helped out get away from that… that jerk!" Travis yelled in order to be heard over the booming music. Katie sighed deeply and pressed a hand to her temple, trying to think over the loud music and the pushy, sweaty people that were bumping her closer and closer to Travis.

"I could've handled it, Travis," Katie mumbled, her head pounding from the loud music. And this is why sober people don't go clubbing, she reminded herself.

"What?" he yelled, moving even closer to Katie. Behind her, an aggressively dancing girl swished her hips a little too hard and pushed Katie into Travis' chest and arms.

"Ugh," Katie said, untangling herself from Travis' embrace.

"You're welcome… again," Travis said. Katie pursed her lips and glanced around the room for her other friends. "You know, you were a lot more fun last time," Travis said. Katie turned back to glare at him.

"Were you following me?" she asked.

"What?" Travis practically yelled in her face, "Katie, come on! Let's have fun!" Katie recoiled at the smell of alcohol in his breath. Okay… so he wasn't following her. Was it a coincidence?

"Travis, did you come here with anyone?" Katie asked, grabbing a hold of his jacket. He stared down at her small hands and seemed to forget to think for a few seconds.

"Uh… yes. I mean yeah!" he said, "With Clarrr-ise and Chris!" Katie did a 360 degree turn, scanning the room for her other friends. I might as well throw the boxes away, she thought, biting her lip. When she turned back to Travis, he was holding a drink in his hand, having already drowned down half of it.

"Are you serious?" Katie asked him, taking the drink out of his hands.

"Katie!" Travis protested. Katie stared at him pointedly. "Yeah, but we were leaving. Then, I saw you talking with that guy and he grabbed your arm and kept trying to pull you towards him and I…" Travis rambled on, his face getting redder and redder with each word added to his extensive run-on sentence.

"So they left?" Katie asked, interrupting Travis' rant. He nodded slowly.

"I think Connor took them home," Travis said.

"Connor was here?"

"Katie! Stop yelling in my ear!" he cried, yelling in her ear. Katie rolled her eyes and started to pull him out of the crowd of dancers.

"Let's go home, Travis," she said.

"What? But we haven't even danced yet!" he protested.

"Travis, I'm not really in the mood for dancing," Katie sighed, pretending to be extremely tired. Travis stared at her for a while before slipping an arm around her waist, like she was the one that need help walking.

"Alright," he said gently, "Let's go."

Throughout the cab ride, Travis made sure to keep Katie close to him, even offering his shoulder up for her to lean her head on.

"I'm fine, Travis," Katie told him each time, but still he insisted. The ride was mostly silent, though Travis would blurt out a few lines that were running though his head every once in a while.

"You know, you always smell like coffee and vanilla," Travis mused. Katie nodded slowly.

"I drink a lot of coffee," she said.

"You smell like you've been spending hours in a coffee shop," he whispered. Katie laughed nervously, but didn't say anything. Travis let the topic drop and moved on to his next musing.

"I like your new hair," he said, twirling one of her cured locks.

"Do you?" Katie asked, staring out the window.

"Mhmm," Travis murmured, "Though I do like your old hair, too."

"Katie, can I confess something?" Travis began nervously. Katie turned to look at him.

"What is it, Travis?"

"I- Today, I started a snowball fight in Juniper's Tea and Coffee Shop. I'm sorry. A lot of things were damaged and I feel really bad," Travis said, owning up to his immaturity. Katie's heart swelled at his apology.

"Why would you ever do that?" Katie asked.

"I don't know," he said, looking away. "Actually, I do know. You know how much the Flying Shoes means to me, don't you?" Katie nodded. "Well, despite the love and effort I put into supporting the Flying Shoes, Juniper's still manages to steal all of the customers. I-I'm worried. Business hasn't been that great and I don't know what to do…" Travis whispered.

Katie stared at him in awe. She'd always thought Travis did things because they were fun, and did whatever amused him. Travis actually wasn't as immature and thoughtless as he seemed. Katie's heart swelled and she bit her lip to keep from crying. It was comforting to know something Travis truly, genuinely cared about, and that was the Flying Shoes. Without giving another thought, she gave Travis a big hug. They stayed that way the rest of the cab ride.

After making sure Travis was in bed, Katie decided to crawl out the fire escape and enter her own apartment from the window, just to get some fresh air. She took a quick shower and got ready for bed, sending a quick text to Zoë telling her that she had gotten home safely.

Katie curled up in her comforter and placed her laptop on top of the blankets. She turned it on and saw that Kayla was online.

Katie pressed the button that allowed her to video chat and awaited Kayla's acceptance. A box with Kayla's smiling face appeared and Katie waved.

"Hi!" Kayla yelled. She too was in her pajamas and her light blonde hair was slightly damp.

"Hey!" Katie greeted, "How's Indiana?" Kayla rolled her eyes.

"Warm. There's barely powder on the ground," she said. "How's Campton?"

"Freezing. Absolutely freezing." The two girls went on to talk about their friends who were also still in Indiana, Pollux, his brother Castor, and another close friend named Lacy.

"I JUST GOT THE BEST IDEA EVER!" Kayla screamed at her laptop, causing Katie the jump and the video to lag for a few seconds.

"Oh my god, Kayla, I think you just woke the neighbors!" Katie teased, placing a hand on her heart. Kayla waved away that detail dismissively and moved closer to the camera.

"I should totally visit you in Campton! We can do all sorts of touristy stuff!" She then gasped loudly. "Do you have any coffee shops? I can perform there and possibly get famous!"

"Kayla, I work at a coffee shop."

"Oh I know that, but are there any good ones?"

"Kayla!"

"I'm just kidding!" she said while laughing hysterically. "But can't you imagine it? Us against the big city? It'll be amazing!"

"When?" Katie asked, already feeling excited.

"Um, I'll iron out the details with my boss," Kayla said, "But I'll try and come as soon as possible!"

"This is going to be so much fun!" Katie squealed, jumping in her bed.

"I know!" Suddenly, there was a banging on Kayla's bedroom door and Drew's loud, angry voice came through the door.

"Kayla! It's past midnight! You better not be writing more songs!" Drew was Kayla's old roommate in college. They were... friendly-ish. Drew at times could be a little... controlling. Anyways, after leaving college, they decided that it would be too inconvenient to find a new roommate, so they've been stuck together since. Drew was an Asian beauty with chocolate brown eyes and perfect black ringlets that made Katie green with envy. She was working as a model, but it was difficult finding modeling jobs in little old Indiana. Drew banged on the door once more and Kayla jumped at the noise. Then the erupted in giggles and her sunny personality practically turned the night into day.

"Kayla! Seriously! I need my beauty rest!" Drew hollered. Katie then heard Drew stomp down the hallway and slam her bedroom door shut. Katie smiled in amusement.

"I've got to go, Katie!" Kayla squealed, still excited by their plans, "I'll talk to you tomorrow!"

"Bye Kayla!" Kayla then logged off and Katie went to sleep with a giant smile on her face.

Hahaha. Ha. Sorry for the wait. Um, I'm not sure what else to say but… sorry? I truly am!

My high school musical is over (which took a TON of time), so I guess I'll be updating more? Maybe? I'm not even in a rut or anything. It's just… time. But I guess all I can promise is that I'll be writing more, even though I may not post it all :D

Hopefully I'll see you all soon!

~xhiddendreamx