Holy schmoltz this week has been busy. o_o I've been applying for school photographer so I had to leave writing this chapter until today... when I had to do my latin too, thanks to my crazy teacher who assigns lots of work and brings a lumberjack saw to class (no kidding). So I'm sorry this chapter is short and not the best. I would work on it more but I've got drawing lessons to go to.

Disclaimer: _ (Fill in something witty here)

Enjoy!

Just When Everything's Okay

By the campfire of the second last evening before our trip to Olympus, our numbers had increased by at least ten people, which meant we had to fight for front row seats to the campfire again. So once Chiron dismissed us after announcements, I hopped from my table and sprinted for the front row log seats along with half the other campers, much to the disapproval of the centaur. Thanks to my mad sprinting skills, I claimed a log for me and my friends to sit at, smirking at a scowling Mark.

"Over here! I called to my friends. Cailey towing Atalanta behind her got to me first. I sat in the middle and they seated themselves on my right. Each log could hold four people. I looked around for the last person.

"Hey," Nico greeted. "Can I sit? Rachel came back from Clairon. Percy, Annabeth and Grover kicked me out."

Cailey smiled.

I frowned. "Actually… Brenton's sitting with us." His grin slipped off his face. "But Atalanta can sit on your lap, right, Cailey?" I hurriedly added. Unfortunately, Cailey looked horrified at the thought of letting her hyper little foster sister sit on her lap. "Or she can sit on my lap!"

What did you just say.

"What?" Nicio looked blank.

"What?" Cailey echoed. "You hate Atalanta."

I scowled. "I don't hate her… she just shouldn't have knocked me into the river yesterday."

"It was an accident," Cailey sighed.

"An accident all three times?"

Nico rubbed his gloved hands together. "Look, if you really want to save the seat for this Brenton dude then I'll just go and find some other place –"

"Atalanta!" I commanded. "Sit here." She plopped down on my lap happily. "Plenty of space – stop pulling my hair!" I took Atalanta's wrist and pushed it away.

"I can take her if you want," Cailey offered.

"I'm fine!"

Nico sat down uncertainly. Ever since a few days ago when I got 'initiated into womanhood' he'd been very careful not to piss me off. Same with Brenton. Right now, I was a fuse dunked into gasoline a hundred times over.

"It's cold," Atalanta moaned.

"That's because the fire didn't start yet," I said as patiently as I could. "When it does, we'll be really warm."

She didn't believe me and reached to the fire to warm her hands. I slapped them away. Nope, little kids weren't my thing.

"Saved a spot for me, I hope," Brenton said. "Sorry, Paul forgot how to tie his shoelaces again." He looked down. "What are you doing here?"

Nico mistakened his surprise as hostility. "Campfire. No duh," he said coldly which was pretty damn cold for a son of Hades. "Are you going to sit or no?"

Brenton asked him to move over. Just to get on his nerves, he did. Towards the middle where Atalanta was pulling on my hair again. Brenton's eye twitched.

"You're so cruel," I said.

"I am who I am." He scowled. "Anyway, it's just fun to see what he'd do. You know he –"

"Sorry we're late!" the Stoll brothers shouted and interrupted whatever Nico was going to say. Everyone turned to look at them jogging over. Katie Gardner seemed to realize they came from the direction of her cabin and dashed off, away from the campfire. Travis and Connor pushed a kid off – comically, of course, and announced that we could stop waiting for them. So we started passing out marshmallows and the tension eased, thankfully.

Once we were done 'By the Aegean Sea' Katie Gardner disrupted our happiness turning fifteen feet high flames to two feet high ones by screeching, "Travis and Connor Stoll!" She looked absolutely murderous. "You decorated our cabin with plastic mistletoe!"

Travis leaned over and muttered something into Connor's ear. Connor said something about Plan B. Then as we all watched, he walked over to Katie and kissed her.

The flames grew higher with shocked silence.

Katie bunched her fists.

We cheered as Travis pulled back and all our marshmallows set on fire.

But Katie just stomped the ground and stalked off.

The flames crackled with disappointment, slowly quietening down and we tried not to look at Travis, but out of curiosity, we did. He was disappointed. "I think it's the Easter eggs from two years ago," he hypothesized.

"Definitely," Connor agreed, patting his brother on the back. "Well it was worth a shot." They sat down, whispering among themselves.

Will Solace strummed up a tune to liven things up. I looked down at my charred marshmallow and took a bite out of it although it tasted like ashes. Then I fished out another marshmallow from the bag and poked the stick into the flames as everyone sang in an off key tune.

Enter Katie.

She was trailing the branch of plastic mistletoe behind her. Her cheeks were bright red and she tapped on Travis's shoulder. He turned around and raised his hand instinctively. The campers fell silent.

"Stand up," Katie ordered.

Connor pushed his brother up. Travis rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Er… I didn't really… that was… uh… part of the prank."

Katie stared. "Really? I don't believe you." She took the mistletoe and wrapped it around Travis's neck and jerked roughly. Then she put her hand to one of the ends and I was close enough to see that the mistletoe lost its plastic texture. It was the real thing. "You did it wrong, you idiot," Katie said and kissed him.

We cheered again and the flames killed the marshmallows into black tasteless lumps.

~0~

Everyone was feeling pretty Christmas spirited after Katie and Travis got together. Sure, it wasn't exactly an ancient Greek holiday but everyone wanted an excuse to send and receive gifts. Chiron told us that Mr. D was forbidding us from celebrating Christmas but decorations went up anyway.

I helped hang up the bulbs for the tree. It was either this or going to the archery range as directed on my schedule, and as far as I remember, Cabin Seven banned me from the range two days ago after accidentally shooting a flaming arrow at a tree.

After the tree was fully decorated, I hung out at the armoury, not to learn how to forge a sword, but because it was freezing outside and the heat inside was one of my top priorities. Unfortunately, it was on the list of twenty other campers so I left without saying a word to Brenton.

For the rest of the day, I hopped around from place to place, counting down the hours until the bus would leave at nine thirty, which meant we'd arrive just in time for the winter solstice at midnight.

Somehow, I ended up in Nico's cabin. I was searching for heat, and Nico's cabin was lit with torches so I put two and two together.

And got five.

It was somehow colder in Nico's cabin. It was Hades's cabin after all. I shivered while Nico walked around in an orange t-shirt, completely oblivious to the temperature.

"We're seeing our parents," I said. "Nervous?"

"Sort of. Not really. You? How's things between you and your dad?"

I recited what happened at the fishing trip to him. "So I guess we're okay. But I'm still kind of nervous. Like he might think I'm a failure or something after I present my points about the demititan camp."

Nico, being Nico, said, "Yeah, he probably will." Which was very reassuring. I told him that and he shrugged. "What do you want me to say? You do well, don't worry! You won't believe it yourself. Unless you get Brandon to say it to you."

"Brenton," I corrected.

Nico kicked a wrapper into the garbage can. "Whatever. I don't like him. He's too sarcastic and smug."

"I'm sarcastic and smug," I said.

"But you're you."

"Makes total sense." I took out my notebook and switched the topic.

~0~

"You're getting me something for Christmas, aren't you?" Percy asked.

"Of course," I lied. Haven't thought of that yet. Then without another word, I headed off to the arts and crafts house to start on some handmade present before we were supposed to leave for Mount Olympus. But Percy called me back and told me to get my stuff. Turns out we were leaving earlier than I thought. I disappeared back into the cabin one last time to get my sword and dagger and some other things of mine just in case a monster decided buses with demigods were very yummy.

Annabeth was at the door of the bus, making sure everyone boarded the bus. She looked down at me. I was a few centimetres shorter than her. "You're sitting at the front with Diana," she said.

"What?" I protested. "Come on, Annabeth, she hates me!"

Annabeth was firm. "You go in and sit with Diana, or you go in and sit with Atalanta. Cailey needs the help. She's exhausted."

I ran my hand through my hair, recalling last night when Atalanta had ripped out more than a few strands of my hair. Would I rather sit next to a suicidal girl or hell? I chose Diana.

"But if she hurtles herself out a window –" I started.

"Then you sit next to the window," Annabeth replied briskly and told me to hurry up, there was a line behind me.

Diana sat next to me. I eyed her. "No tricks and I'll be nice to you. Okay?"

Diana nodded – one shake of her head – and looked down at her hands, absently tracing the scar.

I got my knees onto the bus seat and turned around to talk to Cailey. The bus drove off from Camp Half-Blood. I watched the strawberry fields disappear and listened to Cailey talk about a monster attack on Halloween night.

"Everyone thought it was just some guy wearing a lame costume," she said. "But they also thought my bow and arrows were part of my costume so –"

"What were you?" I asked.

She shrugged. "I put on some Robin Hood style stuff – boots, cape, but I was really in it for the candy." She fell quiet. "Wait, you have your speech with you, right?" she asked.

I reached into my pocket. "Ye…" Then I swore.

~0~

"Please tell him to turn back," I pleaded with Chiron.

"Sit down Elena," he replied. "I'm sorry I can't help you. We're behind schedule. If we turn around we'll be late and very possibly anger the gods."

"The gods need to take a chill pill," I muttered. "Please?"

"No. Sit down."

It took a bump on the road and a bump on my head from crashing against the roof to convince me to stay seated.

Diana asked me what was wrong. I dug my fingers into the seat, breaking through the plastic. "I am so screwed."

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Until next time! ~^^~