You guys are probably wondering what I'm doing writing again. Well, because of my new partner, Lightning Punk, this story will be continued! We're working together to bring these chapters to you, so I just want to thank her for taking time to do this with me :) Anyway, I hope you enjoy our hard work!
Rowans POV:
"You cannot seriously tell me that hot dogs are better than hamburgers Maya, There is no competition between the two! Hamburgers are just the shit, accept it," I told Maya as I walked from my closet to the suitcase lying on my bed. It was Saturday morning and, like any legit teenage guy would, I hadn't packed anything yet.
Since I would miss her over the weekend, not that she knew that, I had invited her over to my cabin. Currently, we were debating which one was better; hot dogs or hamburgers.
"Uhg! Whatever you say Rowan, you're just upset because you will never fully understand the amazingness of the hot dog," she sighed, sprawled out on my bed, watching as I tried to stuff the content of my cabin into my suitcase.
My response was to roll my eyes and turn away, walking across the dirty clothes on the floor to the dresser to get some boxers. Over the years I had learned that when Maya has an idea she's not one to admit your right for a long time.
I heard the bed creak behind me and Maya ask, "So, don't you find it at all strange that Chiron is just randomly letting you and Dane out of camp boundaries for a few days to go home, even though you just got here?"
I twisted towards her, with a pair of black boxers covered in white smiley faces in my hand. She was now sitting up, looking me in the eyes as she fumbled with my bed sheets trying to somewhat make them look decent. "I don't know and I don't really care," I replied, "All I know is that camp is already stressing me out and I need some time to just relax at home. Lately, all I can think about is…"
That's when I heard the door open and high heeled footsteps echo off the walls of the cabin. For a moment, I thought it was Victoria and went back to my packing, until I realized they were headed up the small stairs for my room.
Before I could yell 'Who's there?' Mallory burst into the room, eyes red and blotchy from either crying or, preferably but not likely, burning her face with acid. From the sob and tears she let out when she saw me, I crossed out the acid. I looked over at Maya to see her crossing her arms over her chest, staring at the wall not looking at me or Mallory.
"Baby, I heard you were leaving soon and I just had to apologize before you left. What I did- it was wrong and completely-"she started to blubber before being abruptly cut off.
"Can't you just see you've already hurt him enough?" Maya exploded, now standing, "All you do is play with him, if you really loved him, you would just except that you're a bitch and would let him find someone who wasn't going to stomp all over him every chance she got. Seriously, leave him alone!"
The room was silent, shock written across everyone's faces. It wasn't at all like Maya to do stuff like that. Usually, when Mallory was around, she would be deadly quiet and it would take all I had just to make her smile again.
Mallory's shock turned into an oh-no-you-just-didn't face and smugly said, "Well, you see hon, I didn't realize you were there and I wasn't really talking to you. If you didn't notice, I kind of want some alone time with him."
She then turned back to me gave me her classic I swear to the gods I love you and I'm sorry speech. By now I've heard it so much I swear I could recite it word for word, even better than I can recite Superbad. Short version: Apparently she needs me and would pick me over any guy in this whole camp. How I'm perfect and have everything a girl could ever need. Oh and how if I ever leave her she won't be able to go on. You know all that type of happy lovey dovey stuff.
I thought about all the stuff she had put me through and about the night she had broken my heart… for the second time.
*Flashback from 5 nights ago*
Mallory and I had been back together for five days and, as far as I could tell, completely happy. The past few days had been totally Olympus worthy; we kissed between activities, made out on Zeus' fist just that morning, laughed, talked, and something about all of it made me feel like everything in world was right.
That night, I was sitting in my cabin ignoring Victoria, doing a crossword puzzle, like any cool chill kid would do, when I got a weird message. It was some long, random number I didn't recognize saying to go out to the beach ASAP. I was kinda alarmed, I mean wouldn't you assume someone was going to lead you where they wanted you and kill you or something too if you got a message like that?
I ignored it until I got a new one, saying "I promise I'm not going to lead you out here to kill you. It's about Mallory and you need to see this". That's when I knew it must be a god or goddess, seeing how they had just read my mind. Plus who knows, Mallory might've been hurt… or cheating on me, but that wasn't something I wanted to think about.
So I put on my converses (black) and left the house, all the time thinking about what I might find when I got there. It was a beautiful night. There were no clouds in the sky to conceal the bright full moon, the stars were splattered across the open expanse of sky, and it smelled like pure summer. If the circumstances had been different, I might've actually enjoyed the quiet walk along the worn path.
When my feet finally hit the sand, I searched the beach for any figures. As soon as I started getting embarrassed and angry for believing in some random god's message, something caught my eye. At a first glance it looked like it was just the remnants of a sand castle, but a further look clarified my suspicions.
I walked over and saw my girlfriend underneath some guy. He was kissing her neck, making a small trail up to her lips, both of them giggling. The guy, some 17 year old child of Apollo whose name I really didn't care about at the moment, saw me first, his eyes widening right before I punched his lights out. Mallory let out a small gasp and looked me in the eyes, sorrow filling her face. I turned on my heel and left, listening to her screaming behind me about how it was all a misunderstanding.
I can't explain the feeling of someone breaking your heart in one short paragraph, but I do know that every time she pulled a stunt like this, I feel it. It was like I was in one of those scary movies. I was running a dark path, no one around, screams rushing through my head, but when I opened my mouth nothing came out. I would turn around every other second to see if she had caught up with me, to try and brainwash me into loving her again.
When I had finally made it to my cabin, I was breathing hard; partially from sprinting and partially from holding in tears. Once I closed my door, I slid down the nearest wall and put my head in my hands.
I couldn't tell you how long I stayed like that; you don't really think about stuff like time when someone cheats on you. At some point in the night, I gathered up my energy to grab my iPod and turn on my 'Mallory broke my heart again' playlist. By 10am the next morning, I had received probably 20 knocks on my door, at least half from Mallory, who I had nothing to say to, and the others from my best friends, trying to drag me out to eat or something horrible like that. Finally, I heard the one soft voice I could trust to not laugh at me in my horrible state.
"Rowan," Maya coaxed, "please let me in. I heard what happened and I know this is hard for you. But you need to talk to someone"
I unlocked the door from my position on the floor and waited to hear the familiar clanking of the Hades cabin door open. I refused to look her in the eyes as she closed the door behind her and slid down on the floor beside me.
"Look, you already know what I'm going to say after all this time. Not that you ever listen, but anyway, I want you to know you're not her prisoner. You can move on from this Hades she puts you through, all you have to do is believe in yourself. I mean come on Rowan she does this every time, you have a choice in this."
"Promise you'll," I hiccupped "help me? I really want to," hiccup," just tell her no this time. I'm so fucking tired, "hiccup," of this going on and on."
She gave me a hug and laughed at my hiccupping. We talked for a while, not actually about anything, mostly just enjoying each other's company. I even broke into smile a few times.
*Flashback Ended*
That's what so great about me and Maya's friendship. We could be ourselves with each other and not have to worry about being totally embarrassed. I mean, I'm crying like a three year old girl, not able to complete my thoughts coherently, hiccupping every 5 seconds and it's all good with her.
I looked at Maya and I knew she remembered her side of the promise. For her, I had to keep up with my end.
I turned around, closed my eyes, and sent Aphrodite a silent pray before saying, "No, you don't love me and I don't love you. Why don't you go hang out with all the guys you've cheated on me with? I'm sure they would be happy to have you back."
After the words left my mouth, I felt amazing, like I was free, didn't have to put up with her crap any more. I would never have to think about her cheating on me and being hurt ever again. Maya was right, somewhere out there, there's a girl perfect for me who wasn't going to hurt me over and over again.
Mallory's face contorted into a mixture of shock, grief, and anger. She blinked at me, as if to say 'are you serious?' then turned back and left the room without another word.
When we heard the front door finally close, Maya jumped off the bed and ran to hug me, nearly tackling me to the ground. "Oh my gods, I can't believe you finally did it! Congrats!"
Her smile was huge and her eyes sparkled, I had a feeling my face was nearly identical to hers. All of a sudden, something just came over both of us. My arms wrapped around her waist, and her hands went up around my neck, staring into each other's eyes. I wanted to kiss her, just a soft peck on the lips, almost like I did to my mom when I was younger nothing more
As soon as the thought crossed my mind, we both flew off of each other, blushing deep red. I ran a hand through my hair as she looked at her feet.
"WELL I guess I should go meet Dane at the tree. My mom will be here in….15 minutes," I announced, looking at my alarm clock on my bed for assistance. I kinda just wanted to get out of the awkward situation.
"Right, well, I guess I'll see you later. Have a nice weekend and text me, maybe, if you have time," she waved at me before walking out the door. I listened to her footsteps as they went quickly down the steps, through the foyer, then out the door.
I sighed, grabbed my bag, and then followed in her direction. I left the cabin and strutted through the camp, saying goodbye to practically everyone I passed. Being at camp for almost eight years, not including the first couple of my life, allowed me to get to know pretty much everyone here. Most of my closest friends though, are ones that are grandkids of the gods. Our parents had all been friends so ever since we were little we had been hanging out at cookouts and birthday parties together along with our parents.
Once I was finally at the tree looking out over camp, I realized I had a lot of time to myself. Dane was usually 'fashionably late' and my mom wasn't supposed to be here for another 10 minutes. I fed our guard dragon, Peleus, (sorry if I spelt it wrong) some strawberries from the farm and then sat underneath the tree the camp calls "Thalia's Tree" or what I like to call it, mom.
From the very beginning of my life, I had heard stories of my parents past. My favourite story, well the one that disturbs me the least, is the story of this tree and my mom. When she was about thirteen, she was almost killed in battle getting Annabeth and Luke safely back to camp, but because Zeus felt sorry for her, he decided to turn her into a tree for eternity instead. She would always tell me about how she would sit, day after agonizing day, watching the campers play while she couldn't do anything. Until the day Percy Jackson, my god-father and Maya's dad, brought back the Golden Fleece and turned her back into human.
Now, those stories just seem like myths and legends me and my fellow campers will never get to experience. I know I should be glad for the peace in my life, very different from my mom and dad's, but I can't. Adventures like the ones I've heard countless times seem amazing. Sometimes, Maya and I come out here after dinner just to talk about all the adventures we would go on. How we would slay every monster, finish our quest for the gods, then come back and be heroes to the camp, to our parents, to everyone.
But each year that passes uneventfully, I can't help but get a little more discouraged.
My thoughts were interrupted when I saw a struggling silhouette out of my peripheral vision. I turned to see Dane, carrying two huge suitcases up the hill where I was sitting. Laughing, I ran to help drag one of them up the rest of the hill.
"Dude, I thought you were a son of Nemesis, not Aphrodite!" I joked, grabbing one of the bags from his hands.
He rolled his eyes and said, "Well most of these are weapons. We're going to New York; it isn't safe there for demigods.
"NOT New York, somewhere close by." I replied.
A horn honked and I turned to see my mom in her Explorer, waving at me to come on. I waved back then turned to Dane, "Race you to the car," and then took off for a weekend away that I was totally not prepared for.