Day 3: Surprises

Travis POV

Day three. OK. We were one day away from being done. I was glad that I wouldn't have to keep cleaning for Chiron, but I also felt a little disappointed. Why? Well, hanging out with Katie wasn't all bad, and it was easy to talk to her. Once this was over we would go back to our regular lives, and probably never talk to each other again. Oh well. At least there were two days left.

I pulled on shorts and a T-shirt and jogged through the early morning mist towards the Big House for the third time that week. When I entered, it was eerily silent. I walked into Chiron's office and switched on the lights. Chiron wasn't there.

I looked around at all the stuff littered on Chiron's desk. Shiny black records, lots and lots of papers, and an ancient computer. As I was about to turn away, I saw the corner of a CD. Curious, I pulled out the plastic CD case. There was a stick-note on it that read "To Dear Chiron, This is one of my favorite movies. If you find time to watch it, please do! From Your Friend, Iris" Upon closer inspection, I saw that the movie was called 'Tangled'. It was an animated Disney movie- not really my type, but I knew who might like it. I shoved it under a cushion right as Chiron walked – I mean, cantered - in. He shot me a suspicious look, but didn't question me. A moment later, Katie walked in, her ponytail frizzled from the mist. She gave me a quick smile, and then sat down on the couch. I did the same, and Chiron cleared his throat.

"Thank you for being here. Today, you will be cleaning the windows of the Big House. And," he continued with a pointed look at Katie, "You are not allowed to use magic. The hose is right next to the stone centaur on the right wall. A basket of soap is right next to it. When you are done, come to me for inspection, and you may leave."

Katie shot me a why have we been cursed like this? look, and I shrugged. We hurried out of the room. "Clean the windows of the Big House?! Without magic?! That could take hours! It's like all he does is sit around and think up torturous things for us to do!"

I nodded in agreement. "We should probably get started then."

We found the hose and started with the West side. We pointed the hose at the glass, and all the dirt rubbed off. Then, I had to hoist Katie onto my shoulders for her to reach some of them.

After about an hour, the campers came out to see what the heck was going on. When they saw Katie and I washing the windows, they laughed. I gritted my teeth.

Katie groaned and wiped the sweat off her forehead. It was getting hot outside, and Katie's cheeks had a cute little pink blush to them from the sun….wait, WHAT?! No, no, no, Katie was NOT cute. She was just my friend. Not even that! I mean, for pete's sake, I just met her! I shook my head violently, and Katie gave me a strange look like my brain was going funny or something.

"Is the sun getting to you, Travis?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. I realized with a shock that this was the first time she had called me by my name. "Uh, yeah. Fine. Totally."

"Okaaaaayy…" Katie nodded, but she still looked at me skeptically. "Well, I'm baking out here, literally."

I grinned evilly. "Oh yeah, well, I think you need some cooling off." I grabbed the hose and pointed it in her direction. She screamed as the icy water poured over her, getting her soaking wet. She turned to me. "Oh, it is SO on!" She grabbed the other hose, and just like that, I was freezing cold. I gasped as the water splashed me headlong. Katie laughed.

"Come on, show me what you got!" she taunted.

I made a grab for her hose, but she was too fast and swiped it out of my reach. The Good News: I sprayed her in the face. The Bad News: my flip flops didn't grasp the ground, and I slipped and fell into the mud.

"Uuuurrgg….." I groaned as I picked myself up. At the sight of me, Katie started laughing so hard that she slipped backwards into the mud. We were both laughing so hard that we sat down and took a deep breath. "Wow, you are sooo muddy, Stoll," Katie gasped. I snorted. "You looked at yourself lately, Gardiner?" Katie turned to look at me, and I couldn't help but notice that her eyes were bright green, and right now they were sparkling with laughter. I didn't know that it was possible for someone's eyes to sparkle, but that's what Katie's eyes did. They sparkled.

Katie cleared her throat, and I realized that I had just been staring at her eyes for the past three seconds. I looked down. "Sorry. Just spacing out. We should probably get back to work." I pushed myself up and offered a hand to Katie. Looking surprised, she took my hand and allowed herself to be pulled to her feet. "Thanks," she mumbled. There was nothing really to say, and so we continued cleaning the windows with minimal talking.

We moved to the front of the Big House. Then to the East side. There was one window that was stained so badly that Katie couldn't make a dent in it. "Hey, Stoll!" she called, "come help me with this!"

I nodded and hurried over. Katie was rubbing at a spot on the window that stubbornly refused to budge. "Here, let me help you."

I took my rag and mov3d to help her, and my arm brushed hers. It was the smallest contact; small enough to go unnoticed, but it was as if an electric current had gone up my arm. It felt warm where she had touched me, and the warmth spread all over. I glanced quickly at her, but she didn't seem affected at all. Did she feel the same thing I had? I blinked and frowned. Why was I acting so weird? What the heck was going on with me?

Katie was bubbly and cheery the whole rest of the time, and though I put on a calm and confident face, inside I was conflicted. Why was I noticing little things about Katie, like how her lips quirked up when she smiled, and how she fingered the frayed edges on her shorts. I felt a strong and sudden urge to tuck the little strand of reddish brown hair hanging in her face behind her ear, and I immediately scolded myself. "What the heck?"

Katie turned to me, and I realized with a shock that I had spoken out loud. "Huh?"

"Uh- I mean- why the heck aren't we done?"

Katie looked like she knew that there was something more to it, but thankfully, she just shrugged and said, "Well, we just have two more windows left, and then we're done."

"OK, how about you go to your cabin and clean up. I'll finish these last two windows, and then we'll go to Chiron together."

Katie tilted her head quizzically. "Why are you doing this for me?"

I made a mock sad face. "What, so you're surprised that Bad Boy Travis is a kindhearted human being?"

She snorted. "I wouldn't go as far to say that. No, I'm not surprised, just- well- interested." With that, she turned around and headed off to her cabin.

I didn't have time to dwell on her words, though. I hurried with the last windows and then snuck inside to The Big House. I peeked my head into Chiron's room, and I was relived to find that he wasn't there. I hurried over to the couch and pulled out the DVD and stuffed it into the waistband of my shorts. A moment later, Katie walked in with new clothes on and smelling like strawberries. I resisted the urge to sniff her and instead asked her where Chiron was.

"Oh, he's coming," Katie assured me. "He just went to inspect the windows."

I took a deep breath. "Well, we better cross our fingers for luck!" Katie laughed but crossed her fingers anyway. A few minutes later, Chiron entered and congratulated us on the windows and announced that we were free to go.

Once in the hall, Katie and I gave a silent cheer. "The finger-crossing thing actually worked!"

I laughed. "Don't sound so surprised," I waggled my finger at her.

Katie shrugged. "Finally, that's over."

"Yeah, ummm," I took a deep breath. "I was wondering if you would meet me by that tree we hid in on the first day ten minutes after campfire. I have a surprise for you."

Behind my back, I crossed my fingers. What if she said no? On the first day, she made it very clear that she hated my guts. Things had changed….but still….

"OK, sure! See you then!" Katie smiled and turned around and walked towards her cabin.

I watched her go with a feeling in my stomach…something that was indiscernible. Something he had never felt before.

Shrugging it off, I headed towards my own cabin. I tried the knob and realized with exasperation that it was locked. I took out my key and opened the door—and almost fell over. In the center of the Hermes room, Connor was making out with Allison. I cleared my throat loudly and they broke apart. Allison glared at me and stalked out of the room, muttering something about indecent people named Travis Stoll. Connor gave me a weak smile. "Bro, please don't tell anyone about that."

I smirked and clapped him on the shoulder. "Don't worry, man. I'm good."

Connor looked relived. "You're the best brother ever."

I rolled my eyes. "I'm your only brother."

Connor gave me his crooked smile. "Exactly! Hey, you with anyone for the dance on Friday?"

I shook my head.

"Well, bro, you need to get a girl soon. I bet tons of hot Aphrodite babes will be drooling over you right this minute. I'll find someone great, you'll see."

"Fine," I grunted, secretly thinking about who I would want to ask, but probably never would.

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During dinner, I was jittery. There's no other word to describe it. Connor gave me a few funny looks, but I ignored them. I forced myself not to look over at the Demeter table, where Katie was laughing and joking with her friends. I was nervous about tonight. What if something went wrong?

The campfire was led by the Apollo's, as always. There was a really pretty girl standing in front of us. "Her name is Dillan Rose," Connor hissed in my ear. "Wouldn't she be a good girl for you to take to the dance?"

I wasn't listening. "What? Oh, hmmmm, yeah, whatever."

Connor nodded. "OK, I'll get her number."

I rolled my eyes and concentrated on the fire, which was roaring. Finally, I couldn't take it anymore. "Connor, I'm going to go back to the cabin early, OK?"

Connor nodded absently. "Yeah, fine."

I slipped out of my seat and walked silently under cover of the dark to the Hermes cabin. I grabbed a black backpack and put in a small portable CD player, a tiny bag of popcorn, and the movie 'Tangled'.

I snuck out to the forest while everyone was walking back from the campfire. I sat at the bottom of the tree and set up the portable CD player. I shook the CD out of the plastic case and slid it onto the CD slot. Then, I had nothing to do but wait.

I started to feel nervous. What if Katie didn't come? What if she decided that she actually did hate me? What if—

"Hey Stoll."

I looked up to see Katie standing above me, wearing a jacket and black jeans. "What's that?" she asked curiously, leaning down to see the portable CD player. "Is that….a movie?"

I patted the ground next to me, indicating for her to come sit next to me. "It's not just any movie, Gardiner. This is the Disney movie 'Tangled'."

Katie laughed. "Why 'Tangled'?"

I shrugged. "It was the only one I could find in Chiron's office."

Katie sat down next to me and lightly punched me in the shoulder. "Seriously, Stoll, why are you being nice to me?"

I had to think about that. Honestly, I had no idea, but I said, "Well, I thought, since we only ever spend time doing horrible things with each other, we could do something fun!"

"As in watching a Disney movie in the middle of the night outside? Geez, Travis, you really know how to treat a girl."

"Do you want to watch or not?"

Katie sighed and moved closer to me to see the screen. We were pleasantly squished next to each other, and I smiled and pressed PLAY.

The movie was about an hour and a half, but it was one of the best movies I have ever seen. Despite it being an animated Disney princess movie, it was hilarious. I mean, who else besides Disney can come up with a pub full of dream-loving tough guys, a killer horse named Max, and a love story so sweet that you want to scream like a fangirl reading percebeth? ( and NO, I do not read percebeth fanfiction… OK, maybe just a little bit)

When the movie was over, Katie sighed contentedly. "That was sweet."

I wiggled my eyebrows. "Possibly. It might possibly have been good."

Katie snorted. "Oh please. You were just about wetting your pants when the horse came in!"

I shrugged. "So what? I liked the Disney princess movie."

Katie narrowed her eyes. "I see blackmail in your near future."

I groaned. "All right, let's go back to our cabins."

Katie tuned to me. "Yeah."

One again, I was mesmerized by her green eyes. I was only partly aware that
I was leaning slightly closer to her. And was she moving slightly closer to me?

"HOO HOO!"

I almost fell backwards. An owl near us had hooted loudly. I saw Katie start blushing. "Let's go."

I nodded. "Good idea."

Later that night, I was talking to Connor, but I couldn't concentrate.

"Trav, what is up with you?" Connor asked.

I shook my head. "Nothing."

Connor smirked. "Is it a girl?"

"Wait- what? It might be. I don't know!"

Connor shrugged. "Well, if I didn't know any better, id've thought that the dark and mysterious Travis Stoll was in love!"

I shrugged. "Maybe."

When I was lying in bed, I thought about what Connor has said. Was I in love with Katie?

Was that the right word to describe it?

I turned over in my bed, and I realized, that it was eactly the right word.