Wahoo! Chapter Three! I really think I did good on this chapter. Review if you think so, too! Hope ya like it! :D

The days at Camp Half-Blood began to blur together, one big mixture of confusion and happiness. Katie made friends, found lots of time to visit the strawberry fields, found out she was pretty good with a sword…after the first week, Camp Half-Blood was her new home and she couldn't imagine not spending her days yelling at Hermes kids for stealing her toothbrush, hacking the life out of dummies with a large sword, or gawking at all the magic and mythical creatures she saw. She felt…she belonged here.

But, of course, with every good there, there had to be one dark spot to even it all out.

And, for her, that dark spot was a certain brown-haired boy…

Katie quickly found out what Travis had meant when he said he could do a lot with her name. After that first day, he refused to call her by her name. Instead, he made up nicknames, like "Katie-Cat" or "Kit-Kat" or just plain "Weirdo". He followed her everywhere, teasing her, pulling pranks, making random animal noises, or flicking her in the back of the head if she tried to ignore him. In the end, she was usually yelling at him to leave her alone. And he would just smirk and walk away, only to come back ten minutes later with Silly String. And it was around that time she realized that she had somehow gained the full attention of Travis Stoll. About ninety percent of the time he spent with her, all Katie wanted to do was punch him in the face. But she restrained herself by reasoning that she would probably want to stay on the god of thieves' good side, and that wouldn't happen if she punched one of his kids lights out. So she put up with him as best she could.

But, on her second Monday at Camp Half-Blood, Katie saw the other ten percent of him that she hadn't really seen before. Afterwards, she thought that putting up with him wouldn't be so bad.

Katie woke up from a nightmare, one she had frequently, one of finding that demonic arsonist finding her new safe place and burning the camp to the ground, with her and all the other campers still inside. She woke up to find she'd kicked her sleeping bag off of her. She quickly pulled it back to her, because she knew if she left it there someone would have stolen it by morning. As she slid her legs back into its warmth, she leaned back against the wall, staring out at all the other sleeping campers. She was wide awake now, and there was no chance of her being able to coax the drowsiness back. So, looking out in the shadows caused by four a.m. darkness, she listened to the deep breathing of the many other sleeping bodies surrounding her.

She looked out at all the other unclaimed kids in sleeping bags or available bunk beds. Suddenly she noticed that some of them were pretty old, maybe sixteen or seventeen years old. Had probably been here a while.

Unclaimed.

It was then she recognized the one fact she hadn't let herself think about. The probability that she would ever be claimed was very, very slim. Her mother may still not want her, may still not care about her.

Tears welled in her eyes at the sudden realization. She could very well end up like half of these kids- unclaimed and unwanted. She closed her eyes tight, trying to keep the tears from spilling from her eyelids, but to no avail. They trickled down her cheeks, dripping from her chin and onto the sleeping bag. She opened her eyes and looked with blurry vision at the other kids again. She could very well be one of them, always wondering who their other parent was.

A strangled sound escaped her throat, and she quickly pressed her fist against her lips to prevent any other sobs from becoming audible. She didn't want to be unwanted. She'd been that for too long at all her schools, never accepted, always looked down on, always laughed at because she was different.

A dark thought entered her mind. What if my mother wanted me to die in that fire?

Another sob made its way through her lips, loud even through her fingers. Quickly she looked around the cabin with teary eyes, hoping, praying, that no one had heard her and woken up. She didn't want anyone to see her like this.

Then she caught sight of one of the kids close to the door sitting up and looking around for the noise. Katie closed her eyes, feigning sleep and hoping she didn't shake as much as she thought. Please don't let them notice me, she thought.

She heard the sound of a mattress squeaking and the soft thumping sound of socked feet hitting wooden floors. The footsteps came closer and closer and, soon, she heard a voice whisper, "Katie-Cat?"

Oh, gods. Of all the people to wake up and find her like this, it had to be him.

Katie kept her eyes closed and hoped he would just go away. But she heard the footsteps come a little closer and he whispered again, "Katie-Cat? You okay?"

Keeping her eyes closed, Katie mumbled in a shaky, quiet voice, "Go away, Travis."

But he didn't move. Instead she heard him come even closer until she could feel him directly in front of her. "Are you okay?" he repeated, and she heard him crouch down in front of her.

Katie almost snapped at him to go away again, but she didn't. Instead she mutely shook her head and put her hands back over her eyes as more tears threatened to escape her closed eyelids. She heard him sigh and expected him to go away, not wanting to deal with an emotional girl. But he surprised her. She felt him sit down beside her, his back against the wall like hers, his shoulder just brushing hers. Part of her wanted to shove him away and tell him to leave her the heck alone, yell, "Can't you see I want to be alone?" But another part of her whispered that she didn't want to be alone. She wanted to be comforted. So she sat still and let her tears fall, Travis sitting quietly beside her.

When Katie finally stopped trembling, Travis ventured to ask her another question. "What's wrong?"

Katie didn't answer instantly. Then she whispered in a less shaky voice, "H-How…how long was it before you were claimed?" She peeked at him through her fingers, wanting to see how he reacted.

Travis sat there for a second. "I was claimed my second summer," he said finally. "Claiming? Is this what this is about?"

Katie closed her fingers again as he tried to see her eyes through them. Staring at her palms, she admitted, "I'm scared I'll never be claimed."

They were both quiet for a long time. Then, suddenly, Travis said, "Don't worry about being claimed, Katie. Some people may not get claimed, but I have a good feeling that you aren't one of them. Trust me." And with that he stood up and made his way back to his bunk, never looking back at her.

Katie lowered her hands as she watched him walk away. She realized that that was the first time he'd ever used her real name. And even though her face was tear-stained and she had a horrible headache from crying, she felt a small smile form on her lips.

Maybe Travis wasn't so bad.

And, within a few minutes, Katie was fast asleep again.