Author Notes: Updating again! Please review! :D

10

Teasing To Please.

For some reason, just the mere fact at being at camp made me tired. I was sleepy all the time, even in the morning. I was exhausted and never really had the life to participate in any of the activities. And when I did, I usually just gave it up after ten minutes. I mean I knew who I was. I wasn't a quitter. I didn't just throw things away like that. No. Sure, I wasn't the type to stick to something long-term, but this camp just was draining the energy out of me. Just watching all these kids train, and get hurt, and work their asses of to do better, just made me feel like I was actually doing what they were doing. I was only here a week and my body was already giving up on me.

I ran—well, more of crawled (long story. I got tired after 3 minutes of walking and resulted in crawling the rest of the way) over to the archery range where all the other Apollo campers were. They were all picking up bows and bundles of arrows.

"Here." A younger boy handed me a bow, then continued to distribute to the others. "Oh and be careful, the arrows are celestial bronze."

I stared at the weapon in my hand. This wasn't my first time to try archery. I had done it once with a couple of my friends. The bow was big and unsteady in my hand. It was large, wooden and heavy. It just didn't feel right as I held it. One side felt huge and was weighing down the whole thing.

I didn't argue. I picked up and inserted an arrow, raised it up and pulled the string backwards. The target was lined with my eye. Still, the bow didn't feel like it was the one I should be using. I probably needed a lighter one. The things that amazed me the most were the arrows. They were thin and heavy, the tip: sharp and triangular. Was this what they called celestial bronze?

Suddenly, I felt a hand on my shoulder and one on my elbow.

"Here, let me help you."

I stole a glance at the person holding me into position. It was a boy with blonde hair, bright turquoise eyes and scatter of freckles around his nose and cheeks. It was none other than Dean Collins. Of course.

I jerked him off.

"I know how to do this." I snapped.

"I do too." Dean replied.

"I'm way better…I'm the daughter of the god of archery…and what are you doing here anyway?"

"Doing my friend a favor."

"I am not your friend." I said.

"You're about to be."

"Go away."

"Come on, why do you hate me so much?" he asked.

"I don't. You just piss me off really quickly." I answered him.

"Why?"

"You're too cocky for your own good." I said.

"Am not! I tease to please."

"It's not pleasing anybody."

He rolled his eyes and smiled. The sun got beamed overhead and beat down against my head. My shoulders hardened and I felt stronger. The bow suddenly didn't seem so heavy in my grip.

"Oh just let me help." Dean insisted.

"I'm doing just fine!" I pushed him off as he tried to straighten my shoulders.

"I can make you do better than just fine."

"I'm not really aiming for perfect."

Before I knew it, I socked him in the face and Dean let go of me, stumbling back with the arrow shooting off.

"γαμώ το!"

"Logan! You didn't just say that!" some girl scolded.

"I just got shot in my fucking arm!" Logan yelled.

I could see him in the far side of the property. He was jumping up and down yelling foreign curses everywhere. Dean's jaw dropped.

"Oh my gods…Bull's eye!" he celebrated.

"What? Dean! I just shot him!" I screamed.

"Nah. Owens'll get over it."

Judging by the way he was talking about Logan, I concluded they were friends, or at least close enough for him not to mind. Or probably they hated each other.

"Dean, I just shot Logan. Oh my God. I'm gonna get kicked out of camp on my first week." I panicked. "I'm dead. I'm so dead. Tom will ground me. Oh wait. Never mind that. I'm gonna go to juvie!"

"Dude…Breathe." Dean said. "Everyone gets hurt here."

"Not accidentally!"

"Well, yeah. We're usually in battle but…it's okay."

"OKAY? You think this is okay?"

Dean frowned then nodded. Why wasn't he freaking out? I felt guilty and embarrassed, and all he did was nodded, shrug his shoulders occasionally, and smirk.

"You're a demigod now. Get used to it."

He patted my shoulder and that oddly did the trick. I calmed down and stared at the bow in my hands. I shook my head and bit my lip. I wondered how he did that. I felt the real me settling in.

"By the way," Dean said. "I never got your name."

"Oh, right. I'm Nikki."

Dean grinned, squeezing my hand and taking a few steps back.

"See you around, Nikki." He waved then ran off to join the Hermes campers.

I smiled and shook my head.

A camp with a free pass to hit anyone?

I think I was going to like Camp Half-Blood.

After archery practice, I went to the mess hall for a glass of water. I found Dean there too, just hanging around.

"Hey." He said to me. "Gonna go to the infirmary. Wanna come?"

"Why?"

"Oh come on, I was right there when you shot Logan in the arm."

"Correction, you shot Logan in the arm. And aw…you care?" I made a cutesy tone with my voice, one that I rarely use unless I talk to boys like Dean when they were being mushy.

"N-No!" he stammered, stumbling back. "I just…well, since it's partly my fault, I guess th—"

"Hah! So you admit it was your fault!"

"No! I don't admit to anything. I'm just saying that it wasn't completely your fault."

"And that it was partly yours." I nodded. "Okay."

Dean dropped the subject and sighed.

"Let's just go?"

W

We walked our way to the big farmhouse. As we approached, I took a random glance at the top window. There was a neon-green light, barely escaping the curtains. It wasn't my first time in here and I was actually nervous. I didn't know why. It was just some unnerving feeling. I felt like something…someone…powerful was here.

The threshold was bigger on the inside than it looked on the outside. Lamps hung from the ceiling and the windows were shut tight. Everything was painted white with ancient pillars supporting the structure. Funny. From the outside, I almost concluded that it would all be wooden.

"Follow me." Dean said, heading in another direction.

I trailed behind him as he pushed open two swinging doors.

Logan was sitting in a chair, watching a thin, greenish-colored girl wrap his arm. What were they called again? Wood-nymphs?

"Hey." Dean said. "You okay, man?"

Logan looked up. It still scared me how blue his eyes were. They looked like deep pools of dark water.

"Oh, hey. Yeah, I'm fine. Some bastard shot me with an arrow. Gods, it hurt like hell."

I blushed and Dean smirked. "Yeah. You scream fuck pretty loud."

Oh, so that's what he was screaming about, I thought.

"Probably one of the Aphrodite kids. They were never good at archery." Logan shook his head. "Oh…um…hey Nikki." He said as if he just noticed my presence now.

I smiled. "Hey."

It was the first time we had spoken since I had arrived at camp. It was weird, actually. I felt like I was meeting him for the first time.

"I haven't seen you in a while. Did you see what happened?" Logan asked. "Gods, celestial bronze hurts."

"I'm so sorry…" I said softly.

"Don't be." Logan smiled. "It's not your fault."

I forced on a smile. "Right."

"Actually…" Dean said in a deeper voice, "The one who shot you…well…it was—"

"Dean!" I cut in. "It was Dean."

"ME?" he exclaimed. "I thought we were going to share the blame."

"As if! I could just sense it. You were about to say my name."

Dean narrowed his eyes at me. "Oh you're good."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Hold up." Logan said. "You guys…did this?"

He sounded more shocked than angry, at least, from my view. Well, you shouldn't trust my hearing. I was never a good listener anyway.

"It was an accident!" Dean blurted.

"No! It wasn't! It was—"

"It was all her—"

"His fault! I was—"

"Her fault! I was—"

"Doing fine before—"

"Just offering some help—"

"He came to 'help' me—"

"HEY!" Logan yelled.

We were both quiet.

I pursed my lips.

"He started it."

"Did not!"

"Guys!" Logan yelled again. "It's okay. Just breathe for a second, will you?"

I blinked. "You're not mad?"

"Well, sure. It hurt. But I mean, worse could've happened, right?"

"Uh. Right." I said unsurely.

Worse stuff could have happened? What's worse than this? Getting shot in the eye? Crap. People here must have a very high tolerance for pain.

Logan was being too nice. Normal people don't do that…or at least, I woudn't. I'd probably be ripping your hair out if you had done what I did to him.

"Hi Logan." A different voice joined the conversation.

We all looked back.

"Hi Bianca." Logan replied smiling.

In front of us was a thin brown-haired girl. She had soft, sad blue eyes. She had fair skin and a small smile on her mouth. She was wearing a simple white dress and a blue headband. Whoa, whoa, whoa. Back up. This girl was allowed to wear a dress, and I was stuck in an ugly orange one? God, it had to have something to do with my status here.

Once Logan said her name, she blushed.

"I heard you got hurt." She said. "What happened?"

"Oh, it's nothing. Dean and Nikki just—"

I shot him a glare. I didn't even know this girl and I seriously wanted a good impression. It wasn't going to help if Logan told her that I just shot him in the arm.

"N-Nikki and Dean…j-just was…er…with me…when I fell." He stuttered.

"I thought an arrow was shot in your arm."

"Oh…uh…" Logan was still staring at me. His cheeks had turned pink. "Actually, I...uh…tripped…and landed on an arrow. Yes, that's it. That's what happened."

"Oh. I hope you're okay."

"He's fine." Dean interrupted. "Really. He's fine."

"Um…okay. Bye Logan. Be careful next time." She said, smiling before leaving the room.

Dean twitched but put on a steely smile.

"Who was that?" I asked.

"She's Bianca." Logan answered.

"Aphrodite's girl. She's probably the only one who isn't a total ditz in their cabin." Dean said.

"She's kinda pretty." I remarked.

"The prettiest." The boys said at the same time.

I rolled my eyes. Men.

"Come on. We should head back. I'm not a big fan of staying in the same room as all these injured people."

I waved my hand around at all the kids in beds, gauze wrapped around different parts of their body.

"Right." Logan agreed.

"Oh and Logan?"

"Hmm?"

"You're a really suckish liar."

"Hey, I was under pressure; your pressure. Plus, I was covering for something you did to me."

"Okay, okay sorry." I muttered as we left the farmhouse. "By the way, who stays inside this place?"

"It's called the Big House." Dean told me. "Mr. D, Chiron and the Oracle's in here."

"The Who?"

"No, The What. Not The Who"

"I love that band, though." I said.

"Oh, me too!" Logan put in.

"The Oracle. Rachel. Well, Delphi inside Rachel." Dean said.

"Technically, it's the Delphic Oracle." Logan said.

"Yeah, I guess…since Delphi's the place where A—"

"Apollo was born." I finished. "I know that. But who's Rachel?"

"She's the Oracle." Dean said.

"The what?"

"The Ora—Oh never mind. She's just the girl that gives prophecies. Got that?"

"You should have explained that in the first place." I said.

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