Today's my birthday...I was bored...I had a computer...all this equals a new chapter. Hope ya like it!

Travis was right.

Maybe lots of kids wouldn't get claimed…but Katie Gardener was not one of them.

Her third week at Camp Half-Blood, she was claimed as a child of Demeter. As she stood in the center of the camp, staring up at the strange symbol flickering above her head and somehow understanding what it meant without all the other campers shouting it out, her first thought was, Well, that explains why I like the strawberry fields so much.

Then, in a flurry of excited activity, she was pushed from the Hermes cabin (quite literally, she might add) and into the Demeter. And, she had to admit, she liked it a lot better here. But she also had to admit she might miss the craziness of the Hermes cabin a little.

But only a little.

She made even more friends there with her half-siblings as they conversed daily about their love for the outdoors and gardening, and got to spend just about every day in the strawberry fields, learning how to help the fruits grow with her own magic, something that thrilled her to no end. She still got to practice sword fighting and, sometimes, if the Apollo kids were nice enough or thought she was pretty, she got to try her hand at archery. She almost shot a few kids in the back, so she was quickly deprived of her bow and arrow, but she also hit the target close to the center. She was excited. She at least knew she wouldn't be a hopeless case in the world of demigods. She could hold her own.

But as the days flew by, she noticed she saw less and less of Travis Stoll. He'd seemed to fade back as she took on her new role as a child of Demeter, not pestering her quite as much, using her real name instead of the nicknames. Even though she acted like that made her day all the better, it actually made her a little sad. He'd grown on her a little bit after that one night and, even though she still wanted to punch him most of the time, he did occasionally make her laugh. So he was….okay.

Katie saw him around camp a lot (mostly running in terror from Ares kids with his brother, Connor) but by the time she reached her fourth week at Camp Half-Blood, he didn't even look at her anymore. It bothered her.

So when she saw him waiting outside the Demeter cabin door with a few cans of Silly String, she was the most surprised out of all the Demeter kids, because he and his brother usually didn't target them for whatever reason. Probably because their mother could make his early morning cereal a nightmare. Who knew why when it came to the Stolls?

Katie frowned through one of the windows of the cabin, peering down at Travis- by himself- shaking the cans of Silly String and grinning like a loon. After a minute or two and realizing nothing was changing, Katie stepped away from the window and over to the door.

As she reached for the doorknob, one of the younger Demeter kids started shaking her head really fast. "Don't!" she hissed, her eyes wide. "He'll spray you with that stuff!"

That made Katie hesitate. Even though they had shared that really sweet moment, she didn't put it past him to shoot the sticky foam at her. Though he probably didn't even remember her name by now. The thought made her ticked off, so she just shrugged and said, "He doesn't scare me." And she opened the door.

"Travis, what do you think you're doing?" was the first thing out of her mouth when she saw that he had resorted to jumping up and down to shake the can instead of just pumping his fist up and down like a normal person.

Travis froze at her voice. He looked up at her slowly. Then he hissed, "Crap!"

The anger flashed up again inside of her. He hadn't spoken to her in a week and "crap" was the first thing he said when he saw her? Way to make her feel special. "What are you doing?" she repeated in a more ticked-off tone, putting her hands on her hips.

"Uh…playing with Silly String," he said, gesturing to the can and raising his eyebrows in a way that said duh!

Katie narrowed her eyes. "Okay. Sure."

"Really! I'm just playing!"

"Let me tell you why I'm suspicious- one, you are never 'just playing'. Two, you usually never come near the Demeter cabin for reasons unknown…"

"If you must know, the smell of your flowers give me a headache."

Her eye twitched. Was that why he'd stopped teasing her? Because her cabin's flowers gave him headaches? Her eyes narrowed even further, almost into cat-like slits. She clenched a fist. "Gods, Travis Stoll….I swear I will kill you!"

Travis frowned. "Why ever would you do that?"

"You are so annoying-!"

"You mean hot."

"You are arrogant-!"

"Ah." Travis grinned, crossing his arms across his chest. "I get it now."

Katie paused. "Got what?"

"You like me."

"What?"

"You think I'm hot, don't you?"

Katie stared at him for a second, openmouthed. How did she ever miss this annoying, cocky, infuriating boy? "Gods, one of these days, you'll regret ever coming near me, Travis Stoll. I will hurt you."

Travis's grin seemed to get a little wider. He just grinned at her angry expression for a minute. Then, suddenly, he said, "Nice to have you back, Katie-Cat."

Her anger fell to confusion. "What?"

Travis shrugged and smiled again. Then, without another word, he turned and sprinted off towards the Hermes cabin.

Katie watched him go, her brow creased with a confused frown. What did he mean, nice to have her back? Where had she gone? Then she realized he called her "Katie-Cat". And although part of her groaned, "Here we go," another part started to smile.

Travis Stoll was one mystery she didn't get.

But, darn it, she couldn't stand unfinished puzzles.

So she'd just have to find the pieces. Which meant letting him stalk her again.

Good or bad thing? She wasn't sure yet. But she was sure she'd find out soon enough.

Sooo...? Watcha think? Review please!