Hands
Katie sat on the Demeter cabin porch, drinking her lemonade and soaking in some vitamin D. A soft breeze blew by and strands of her hair went along with it. Katie smiled and took out her ponytail, letting her brown hair fall freely. She leaned back and puffed out her chest, letting her bare shoulders catch some rays. Katie closed her eyes and let the warm, satisfying feel in her stomach settle down. These were one of the good days at Camp. The weather would be nice, but not too hot. The sun would be delicately shining, but not blazing down, shriveling anything in its rays. A gentle breeze would flow by every few seconds. Campers would naturally be in a good mood. The Camp would smell of strawberries and grass, a delicious combination. When they would feel nice, the harpies would hand out cold lemonades to anyone that stopped by the Mess Hall. Yeah, it was a good day. These kinds of days made Katie's chest swell with a sense of satisfaction. She felt so at home. The feeling was almost as nice as the feeling of being in Travis' arms, him telling her jokes, her trying hard not to laugh at the corniness of it all…
Katie took a deep breath and caught the scent of Travis in her nose: dirt and a hint of cologne (mostly dirt). She opened her eyes to see two brilliant blue orbs, an inch from her face.
"AHHH!" Katie yelled, startled out of her mind. Upon instinct, Katie used her free hand and pushed the body away from her. The person gave an "Oof," as they hit the ground. Katie's hand flew to her heart. She gave a startled laugh, but her face was set in a glare, directed to the person that had surprised her.
"Travis, what were you thinking?" Katie asked, setting her cup on the porch, "You made me spill my lemonade!" She wiped the lemonade droplets off of her hand and onto her shorts. Travis stood up, a hand rubbing the lower part of his back.
"It's encouraging to see how much you care about me," he said. Katie rolled her eyes and patted the space beside her on the porch.
"I'm sorry I pushed you over. Am I forgiven?" she asked. Travis sat beside her and wrapped an arm over her shoulder. Following their usual routine, Katie leaned her back against him and he pulled her in closer.
"Perhaps," he said in her hair. Katie grabbed his hands and started fiddling with his fingers.
"What's with the paint?" she asked, fingering the green paint that had transferred onto her fingers. Katie heard Travis swallow.
"That? Oh, that's nothing," he said, nonchalant. Katie sat up to look at his face. Travis quickly pushed her back down and hugged her tight. Katie blushed, but didn't let herself get distracted. She squirmed out of his arms and turned to look at him. She gripped his arms at his sides in case he tried anything.
"Travis, did you do another prank?" she asked. Katie could practically see her perfect day slip between her fingertips. Katie would have to clean up whatever mess Travis made before Chiron found out. She could practically feel the backache she would get from having to scrub so much. Katie sighed. "Travis, you know if Chiron finds out you're going to be in big trouble. Even worse- if Mr. D finds out. You're going to have to clean this mess up on your own. Your puppy dog eyes will not make me clean up another one of your messes- I learned my lesson the last time."
"No, it wasn't for a prank. It's just… a surprise," Travis said. Katie raised an eyebrow.
"Really?" she asked.
"Yeah. Where are your siblings? I was supposed to take you guys to the surprise right now," he said.
"They're at the fields," Katie said slowly.
"Hades! Really?" Katie nodded, eyeing him. "Then we've got to hurry!" Katie hesitantly released his arms and he grabbed her hand, pulling her off the porch. "Come on, Katie! Run!" Katie rolled her eyes and ran along with him. As they started to near the strawberry fields, Katie's sister Miranda grabbed Katie by the shoulders and stopped her.
"Katie, who knew Travis could be nice?" she asked, genuinely surprised. Travis reached over and flicked Miranda on the shoulder.
"Wait, I don't understand. Miranda, Travis, what's going on?" Katie asked. Miranda squealed and took Katie's hand out of Travis'.
She led Katie through the crowd of campers that blocked their run-down gardening shed. Or at least, it used to be a run-down gardening shed. Now it was a light blue shed with drawn on grass and colorful flowers on the bottom. Fluffy clouds decorated the light blue walls. The roof of the shed was redone and replaced with sturdier wood. The roof was a bright red color. Hermes campers stood by the shed wearing proud smiles, their faces streaked with paint.
"Do you like it?" Travis asked from behind her. Katie whirled around and gave him a hug.
"I love it! Did you do this for me?" Katie asked. Travis was in mid-nod when Chiron spoke up.
"Actually, this was a punishment for the Hermes cabin after playing a surprisingly elaborate prank on Mr. D and me." Chiron said.
"There's nothing surprising about it!" A voice spoke up in the crowd of Hermes kids, "We're trouble makers, not stupid."
"That could be debatable," Miranda muttered, loud enough for some Hermes kids to hear. Chiron gave each of them a glare before a fight broke out. Katie raised an eyebrow at Travis. He put on a face of mock innocence and placed her hand on his heart.
"They fixed up the shed unwillingly. I did it willingly for you," he cooed.
"Hmm," Katie said, "Sure." She pat his chest and turned her back on him. She caught Connor making gagging motions to his siblings. "Can we check it out?" Katie asked Chiron.
"It's still drying," Travis shot it, answering for Chiron.
"Actually, I think it is dry enough right now. I think we can bring everything back in," he said. Chiron then galloped off to the Big House.
"He's not going to help?" Katie's sister Jemma asked.
"I don't think he can fit in the shed," Miranda responded. Simultaneously, all of the Demeter campers turned to the children of Hermes.
"What?" Connor asked.
"Are you going to help us?" Katie asked. The Hermes campers looked at each other, exchanging a silent conversation. All at once, they dropped their paint buckets and brushes and left in a chorus of "Nah", "Nope", "No way", "Forget it", and "Do it yourself"'s. Katie sighed and looked at her siblings.
"I guess it's just us," she said. The campers gave shifted glances at one another.
"Actually Katie, all of us have to get back to the fields. Since you're the only one that wasn't working…" Miranda said.
"You guys want me to do this myself?" Katie asked.
"Great! So you get it!" Jemma said. The Demeter campers walked over to the fields and left Katie behind with all of the equipment and heavy seed bags.
"Ugh," Katie groaned as she walked over to a basket full of trowels and brought it inside the shed.
She then brought a rack to place the basket on. She put the rack in the corner of the shed and noticed a dash of green paint. She leaned over and touched it. The paint transferred onto her fingers. Katie walked over to the light switch and flipped it on. The light hanging from the ceiling turned on. Katie walked back to the corner. The paint spelled out the words Travis + Katie. Underneath the Travis was a messy green handprint. Katie guessed that it was unintentional. She smiled and shook her head. Katie walked outside and grabbed a green paint can. She stuck her hand inside and pressed her hand up on the wall, beside the other handprint. Katie stepped back to marvel at her work. The green paint coming from her handprint started to drip, but Katie didn't really care. Her hand was small compared to Travis'. The hands were slightly pointing towards each other, as if they were about to hold hands.
Katie took a bite out of her pizza, blank faced. When she caught Travis' eye a few tables away, she winked at him. He got up and started to walk over to her, confused. When he got close enough, he saw her green hand. He started beaming and walking faster. Without having to say anything, the couple raised their green hands and gave each other an epic high five. Travis didn't even have to stop walking.
Now that's a legendary relationship.
I'm craving pizza. That's all. What are you guys craving? Doughnuts? Fruit? Candy? Another chapter, perhaps? Remember to Review! Eskimo kisses! P.S. 100+ reviews? YOU GUYS ROCK!
~ xhiddendreamx