A/N- Here you go! I didn't have any homework tonight and there were some ideas rattling around in my head, so here's chapter 4! Thanks to everybody who reviewed, favorited, etc!

Disclaimer- you know the routine. I don't own PJO, etc, etc, etc.

Chapter 4: Thoughts and Climbing Walls

Naomi's POV

A week had passed since I'd told the truth about my past. A week since Connor had rejected me. A week since everybody in the camp started doubting my loyalty. Well, not everybody. There were a few who stuck by me.

Khristi- She accepted who I was with little question. An Athenian through and through, she knew all the reasons. And still stuck by me anyways.

Michael- Okay, so part of this might be because he'd follow Khristi to the ends of the earth. Silly lovebirds. That reminds me of a couple days ago when they came back from the lake dripping wet and angry…never mind. I'm getting off track here. He still trusted me. It's hard for him to give up trust in someone just like that.

Travis Stoll- His brother might have left me, but Travis said he'd forgive me and he stuck to his word. Pretty surprising for a son of Hermes…

Chris Rodriguez- A traitor turned good. He knows how I feel. Enough said.

JJ Rossenburg- Another Hermes kid. Again, kind of surprising. Then, he's good friends with Travis and Chris, so maybe it's not that surprising. Still, he sticks up for me with that ever-sarcastic thing he calls a sense of humor.

In all, a small group. Khristi, Michael, Travis and I spend a lot of time together. Chris and JJ prefer defending from a distance. That's more then I can say for some people. Most of the campers? They never really hung around me anyways, and this just gives them another excuse to stay away. The ones who are the biggest, well, for the lack of a better word, tormenters…

Connor Stoll- I think he hates me now. I'm kinda sad about that- okay, I'm really upset. I thought we had something special, but I guess it was nothing. I get the feeling he talks about me behind my back, and whenever he's around me he makes a point of being stonily silent.

Skylar Hughes- A girl from the Aeolus cabin. Turns out, she was the one who blew Khristi into a tree because she asked for an air mattress. She hangs out with Connor a lot now…

Drew from Aphrodite- enough said.

There's a couple other people, but those three are the bane of my existence. I was thinking about them, okay, I was thinking about Connor, when Khristi ran into my cabin, interrupting my reverie. "Hi Khristi," I said.

"Hi Mimi. Why so glum?" She said, sitting down on the bed by me.

"Oh, nothing," I tried to sound normal, but it must not have worked, because Khristi just looked more concerned.

"Naomi, I can tell when something is bothering you. I know you too well for you to be able to pull one over on me." Oh. And I thought I was getting better at lying, I thought ruefully.

"Okay, fine," I said. "I was thinking."

"About what?" Khristi gently queried.

"You're not going to leave until I tell you, are you?"

"No, I guess not."

"I was just…thinking. About, well, life in general."

"It was about Connor, wasn't it?" I nodded.

"How do you know me so well?" I asked. Khristi laughed.

"I don't. I just know you well enough." I started laughing too, but it was a forced laugh, more to make Khristi think I was okay then anything else. "If you're okay now, I've got archery in-" she checked her watch, "-five minutes."

"I'm fine," I assured her, even though I really felt anything but fine.

"Then I guess I'll see you later. Hey, do you want to race me on the climbing wall after lunch?" she suggested. I immediately perked up. Races are really my sort of thing.

"Sounds good! Twenty drachmas says I win!" I said, trying to weasel her into a bet. I rock at the climbing wall. Hey, rock, get it? Get it? You know…ah, never mind.

"I really shouldn't be doing this, but…yeah. Sure. You're on." I grinned. This is really more my sort of thing. "Oh, I've got to go! Michael's gonna kill me if I'm late for archery today!" She ran out of the cabin. I sighed and sat back down on the bed. I miss hanging out with Connor, pulling pranks on the Ares cabin with him, laughing together…I miss Connor. What happened to him? I told him the truth and he goes cold and harsh on me. What happened?

Khristi's POV

Naomi seemed to be in a better mood when I left her cabin. Still, you never really could tell with her. To tell the truth, I was kind of worried about her. Maybe I'll ask Michael if there's anything we can do…

Archery that day was pretty fun. Michael promised me he'd show me how to use a fart arrow. He held to his promise, even though it meant everybody else leaving the archery range in disgust because of the smell. Finally, as I was about to leave, I remembered to ask him. "Michael?"

"Yeah?"

"Have you seen Naomi lately?"

"Yeah. What about it?"

"She's been really down. It's just not normal for her to be this depressed. Is there anything you can do?"

Michael shook his head. "I can't heal a broken heart. And I can't silence rumors either. All we really can do is keep standing up for her and trying to keep her spirits up."

"I challenged her to a race on the climbing wall after lunch."

Michael laughed. "Did she trick you into a bet?"

"Twenty drachmas."

"Get out your money. The girl's a phenomenon on the climbing wall."

"I don't care if it means losing twenty drachmas. As long as it snaps her out of her mood."

"Hmm. You're right about that." We'd walked all the way to the pavilion without noticing. Everybody was gathering for lunch. Naomi was sitting alone at the Nemesis table like usual. She looked so lonely sitting there that I gave in to an impulse.

"Chiron?" I asked, going up to him.

"Yes child?"

"Can I sit with Naomi today?"

"Hmph. I guess so." I cheered inside and went over to Naomi's table.

"Hey Mimi."

"Hi," she said without looking up.

"Something wrong? Did Skylar do something again?"

"Oh, no. Just the usual. You know, whispered traitor as I walked past her table. Drew tried to trip me on the way over to here. Nothing they haven't always done." I took a closer look at Naomi and realize she's been crying.

"Naomi. Tell me the truth. Are you okay? Really?"

Naomi was quiet for a minute. "No. It's just all…too…much," her voice started to crack. "They're all acting like I just killed their best friend and admitted that I was giving information to Kronos during the war and betrayed the whole camp all rolled into one." I knew that by they she really meant Connor. The other two, Drew and Skylar, were never Naomi's friends to start with.

"Hey, it'll be okay. You've got me, and Michael, and Travis, and Chris."

"And she has me," JJ says, coming up behind me. I jumped and nearly spilled my soup. "And we all know that if I'm on your side, it'll be fine."

"Jay! What are you doing here?" I asked. "You nearly made me spill my soup!"

"Oh. Sorry," he said, although he didn't look too sorry. "I just wanted to say that after finally finishing 'thinking it over' the Athena cabin has decided that Naomi is 'innocent of any wrongdoing and should be treated as one who has done nothing traitorous.'" I gaped at him.

"JJ! You used a big word!" I said sarcastically.

"No, I didn't. Angel did. I was quoting," he said like it was the most obvious thing in the world, which it probably was - to him. Jay had a mind that nobody else really understood. I sighed and turned back to my soup. Jay went back to the Hermes table and sat down between Travis and Connor. He turned toward Connor, and I could see his usually happy and carefree face turn serious as he spoke.

At the climbing wall…

Naomi and I stood at the bottom of the climbing wall. Travis and Jay stood at the top. "On your marks! Get set! GO!" Travis yelled, and we started up. The wall was in full lava and earthquake mode. Naomi sprang up it like she was having fun. I immediately lagged behind, but saw a chance and caught up when Naomi tripped on a rock.

Naomi reached the top a split second before me. "I win!" she yelled, her face full of pure exhilaration. I dug twenty drachmas out of the stash I had up in a tree. As I turned to give it to her, I saw Jay hand something to Travis.

"Were you betting on us?" I asked.

"Um…yeah?" Jay said. I shook my head. They're hopeless.

"Anybody else up to a race?" Naomi asked.

"Eww. No, of course not!" Drew said as she passed by. "I might break a nail. And anyways, what's the fun of beating a traitor?" Naomi's face lost all its exhilaration and turned red in anger. Jay clenched his fists and would have rushed forward, but Travis held him back. He whispered something to Jay and he calmed down a little.

"Hey, Drew," he said. I saw the corners of his mouth twitch a little and I knew he was trying not to grin. He must have had an idea.

"What is it?" Drew asked, rolling her eyes.

"Want to bet?" Jay asked, emphasizing the magic word (or at least for a Hermes kid) bet.

"On what? I don't want to be late for javelin throwing."

"On whether you can beat our little climbing phenomenon. 175 drachmas says she whips your sorry butt." Now it was Drew's turn to redden in anger.

"Oh, yeah? I could beat her easily! You're on!" Jay's face brightened, and the corners of his mouth twitched even more. He was obviously very pleased at this idea.

"Full lava and earthquake mode?"

"Sure." She doesn't know what she's getting herself into…but this should be fun to watch.

"Shake on it?" Jay pressed.

"Whatever." They shook hands.

"Swear on the river Styx?"

"I swear on the river Styx that if I lose this race to Naomi Nakamura that I will give Jay Julius Rossenburg 175 drachmas." Jay's face reddened slightly at the use of his full name. He's never liked the name Julius.

"I swear on the river Styx that if Naomi Nakamura loses this race, I will pay Drew 175 drachmas and let Drew give me a full makeover." Jay finished, adding the makeover for emphasis. He was really trying not to grin. Naomi and Drew headed down to the bottom of the climbing wall. "Wait!" Jay called after them.

"What?" Drew called back.

"No powers! I know you can charmspeak. This is sheer ability, okay?"

"Okay."

"Swear it on the Styx?"

"Okay, fine, I swear on the river Styx that I will not use my powers to manipulate this race." Now that Drew was at the bottom of the climbing wall and could no longer see him, Jay broke out into a full grin. His eyes crinkled up as his grin stretched even wider. Michael came trotting up.

"What's going on?" he asked.

"Oh, nothing," Jay gasped. "Naomi won the race against Khristi, and-"

"And you owe me fifteen drachmas," Michael interrupted.

"Later," Jay said. "Drew walked by as Naomi asked if anybody else wanted to race. She said it was no big thing to beat a- a traitor. I got mad and challenged her to a bet."

"For how much?" Michael asked, curious.

"175 drachmas. Plus, she gets to give me a makeover if she wins."

Michael whistled in appreciation. "Wow. You're really serious on this one, aren't you?"

"What?" Jay asked. "When am I not serious?"

"All the time," Michael, Travis and I said as one. Jay looked offended.

"And I thought you were my friends!" he scoffed before the haughty face he'd put on crumpled back into its usual grin. "Travis, my friend, would you do the honors of starting this race?"

"By all means!" Travis said. "On your marks! Get set! GO!" Naomi and Drew started up the wall. Naomi had a serious advantage, but she was a little winded from our race. When Naomi was about ¾ of the way up, I saw Drew's mouth move and saw Naomi stop and turn. She lost her balance and started tumbling down towards a patch of lava at the bottom. Drew resumed her upward climb, a nasty sneer on her face.

Jay's face turned white when he saw Naomi start to fall. "NO!" he yelled. Jumping over the edge, he started picking his way down, trying to get there before Naomi hit the lava. All Travis, Michael and I could do was stand and watch in horror.

A/N- There you go! Before you ask, this is not going to be Naomi/Jay. They are friends. Nothing more. 'kay? If I can engineer it, it will hopefully be- wait a minute. Why am I telling you this? Oh, yeah, and if you ask me what's going to happen, I will truthfully say that I don't really know. I have the basic plot line sketched out, but some things -like the climbing wall race- just pop in out of nowhere. Review? Tell me how I'm doing, give suggestions, anything is allowed, really.

-smartone101