Kate,
"I can't remember, did we ever stop in Charleston?" Noah asked as I savored the beautiful city, not that he was really letting me.
"No, Columbia," I stopped to read a sign, and Noah moaned.
"We're not sight-seeing, Kate," Noah reminded me.
"You're right. If we were, you would be on that boat over there," I pointed towards the water, "And we would be listening to a lecture over Fort Sumter. Now, just indulge me and shut up."
"You are just like Annabeth," Noah rolled his eyes, pushing his sunglasses up his nose as he looked out to the busy streets of people here for the summer.
"You always say you love Annabeth. Is that what you're trying to tell me?" I flashed a smile back at him, straightening Noah's Braves cap on my head.
The sun was high in the sky and reflecting off the water, and it blanketed me with warmth, which I partially accounted for Apollo's presence in the city. With the small breeze, you could be perfectly comfortable. But it was a good ten degrees hotter here than in New York, if not more.
Even in shorts and a tee shirt, I was beginning to sweat.
I had no clue how Noah was so comfortable, but then again, he never ceases to amaze me.
Including how he remained perfect after driving for about twelve hours.
Noah's black hair was wavy and messy, but it was in a cute way. His eyes were as blue as the ocean and shone in the summer sun. His khaki shorts were wrinkled, and his tee shirt carefully had no logo on it. He had an adorable smile, and he his skin was flawless. His cheekbones were high, and his lips looked perfectly sculpted.
I couldn't even say, "Well, this guy is hotter than Noah," whenever I tried to move on from him…
"Come on, Kate," Noah told me.
I rolled my eyes but followed after him anyway, leaving behind the beautiful sea to go deeper into the city. The roads suddenly stopped being so perfectly paved and became uneven cobblestone. More tourists in tee shirts and fanny packs packed the sidewalks.
Stores, hotels, and restaurants lined the streets. Once again, I felt tempted to stop and look, but I decided against it.
As we neared the market, I noticed it was packed with people ready to shop.
I was about to ask if we could go in, but Noah was already off to go deeper into the street. He was walking fast, and I had to do the same to keep up with him. When he finally slowed down, we were surrounded by beautiful homes and people stopping to take pictures.
We just kept walking.
Our silence was a comfortable silence, one that can only be between friends. But I couldn't really be comfortable with it. I had spent the last twelve hours, if not the last year, wondering what he had been doing, and now I had a chance to ask.
I was opening my mouth to ask the question when Noah spoke up.
"So," he began, "What have you been doing?"
I looked over to him as if to ask what he meant.
"You know, this year, I mean. We didn't really talk much…"
Noah's eyes darted to the ground, and I understood why this was a touchy subject. It was for me, too.
"Oh, um," I pushed my hair behind my ear, "school I guess. And I have to share a room with Adriane, you know how she can be. She's been kind of on a binge recently where she thinks I need to get out there and get life."
I looked away.
Adriane was my roommate. She was the daughter of Iris, and we had been in different circles at camp. But things changed when we were paired to share a dorm room our Freshman year. We became like sisters, and she had been a big help whenever I tried to start over without Noah.
When it came to Noah though, we hadn't been so close anymore. She was one of the few who believed I didn't love Noah because she had never seen me with him. So, when she met him, she fell for him, too, and, even though I didn't want to be with him and wanted to get over him, I hated it. Especially she tried to have "girl talk" about him.
Adriane most definitely wasn't ugly, and Noah had even seemed to show an interest in her when they first met when she came with me to Thanksgiving Break. Adriane had curly black hair and black eyes, and her skin was tan with the tattoo of a rainbow in honor of her mother. She wasn't as tall as me, but running track made her leaner than me.
"Yeah, Sam is the same way."
"So, uh, soccer is going well for you, I guess?"
"Yeah, I love it," Noah smiled, "I mean, I kind of wish I had gotten a chance to go to college and everything. But I just love my job."
Soccer had always been Noah's baby, and it was adorable to hear him talk about it.
Even though I wasn't exactly fond of the way things turned out for us, I did love that he got that. He had always wanted to be where he was, the star of a smaller team and working his way up to his dream of Manchester United.
That was another reason I had tried to let him go.
It wouldn't be long until he was packing his stuff up to go across the pond, and I would still be here…
"That's great," I smiled his way, pushing my hair behind my ear.
"We better work our way back in," Noah motioned for us to start walking to the way we came from.
I nodded, and I smiled to myself as we got near the market.
Despite how it made me turn the shade of a tomato, I wrapped my hand around his, and, while he was still shocked by that, I pulled him into the market before he could object.
Charlie,
It wasn't until now that I finally understood how Sam had enough focus to be a professional soccer player.
Before now, I hadn't really been able to see exactly what brought my brother and Sam together. Sam was a guy who knew he could get anything he wanted, and he was actually kind of lazy as well. His usual position was on the couch or with a girl under his arm.
I loved Sam. We were family.
But I didn't exactly respect him though.
Now I was seeing a new Sam, and I would have liked this new side to him.
He was professional, on topic, and a genius. He was strategic and good at what he did.
I could suddenly see the Athena blood we both shared, and I should have felt excited that we had something in common. In the last few years, we hadn't shared any similarities. Apart from being different because of our ages, we were just different people.
Today was a refreshing change.
But it was hard to admire this moment when it was really happening.
This was our first stop of quest, and it felt unreal.
I needed to process it.
And Sam was moving fast and refusing to give me the time I needed.
"You can slow down, Sam," I crossed my arms, but Sam just kept walking.
"We need to find Apollo."
"He's immortal, he's not going anywhere."
Sam let out a smirk and ruffled my hair, which just made me steam.
Sam seemed to be convinced I was three years old, not thirteen.
It was annoying when my dad did it. Funny when Aunt Rachel did it. And unbearable when it came to Sam.
I fixed my hair, and Sam checked the address Noah had written down earlier for Apollo's vacation home in Charleston.
I was kind of shocked by Apollo's choice to be here. Yes, it was beautiful and grand and full of beautiful women for Apollo to woo. It just wasn't exactly his type, I guess…
He was known for his to-die-for modern apartment in the center of the city. He was into urban and modern and definitely a good party. Usually, you would find him in the hottest clubs, talking up the hottest girls. Or in the most-wanted apartment in the city. Or enjoying his godly privileges.
Charleston was more sedate, more beautiful, and less party-oriented.
It wasn't exactly his thing…
"What time is it?" Sam asked, and I looked down to my watch.
"Four."
Sam nodded, and he walked faster.
"Why? What are you thinking?"
"Well, Apollo is known for being the cool guy at the parties, right? And the cool guy isn't there from opening to closing. So, he's probably not there yet. But he's probably about to leave if he wants to stop for a bite and some waitresses to hit on."
I stopped and stared at the tall blonde, and Sam had to stop along with me so he wouldn't lose me.
"What?" he cracked a smile.
"Nothing, that was just… really smart," I smiled.
"You seemed shocked. We share the same grandmother, you know," Sam laughed.
I could suddenly see why so many girls had fallen victim and fallen in love with Sam.
For years, I always thought it was just his good looks, popularity, or his family connections.
I had never seen exactly the personal appeal, but I saw it now.
He was witty and funny. He was handsome and brave. He was at top physical condition and had a great ambition. He was also loyal to his family friends. If you didn't know that you weren't the only girl he had loved and left, you might have just fallen in love with him on the spot.
But I did know, and I also knew that we shared the same grandmother, which was too much for me.
"You don't always show it."
"Just because I don't run a big company or save the world with science or anything doesn't mean I'm not smart. I am just a little different from the rest of my family…" Sam smirked, and he turned back into his focused mode and kept walking.
"I thought Noah said it was nearby," I complained.
Then all of a sudden, Sam stopped.
"It is," Sam smiled, and he started walking up the walkway to one of the many beautiful homes on the water.
The house looked old but definitely taken care of. Everything was manicured, and, if anything, it looked empty except for the Jaguar in the driveway.
"You sure this is it?" I raised my eyes at Sam, and he shrugged.
"We'll just have to find out," he smiled at me as he started up the sweeping stairs to the Charleston home.
After a moment of staring at the door, Sam finally pressed the button for the doorbell.
We stood in a nervous silence, wondering if we were walking into a trap, and then I heard a voice.
"No, I got it!" there was a faint male voice, and it began to get closer, "Coming!"
"Is that Apollo's voice?" I turned back to Sam, and he shrugged.
Before I could really think about it, the door was open, and my jaw almost dropped.
Standing at the door was a 6'1 boy who looked to be in between fifteen and eighteen.
He looked… angelic though I couldn't figure out why. His sandy blonde hair was wet and falling in his ocean blue eyes. His body had taken training to get, and his face definitely did not show that of innocence. But there was something about him that just made me think angel…
"I think we have the wrong house. I am so sorry to bother you-" Sam began, turning away, but the boy stopped him.
"No, you don't. You're looking for my father, Apollo, right?" the boy raised his eyebrow, like this was a regular occurrence.
"Yeah," Sam nodded, a little shocked.
"He's out. But he'll be back soon. You guys can wait."
I looked to Sam, who thought about it for a moment.
Finally, with his hand carefully on his dagger, he nodded.
"Sure. I'm Sam."
"I'm Aiden."
Aiden looked to me.
"Charlie."
Noah,
"We're supposed to be in the park in thirty minutes," I reminded Kate, letting out a moan, "We don't have time to eat."
Kate smiled back at me, pulling on my arm as she pulled me towards Fleet Landing, a restaurant by the water. I noticed that, in the sunshine, she was even more beautiful. And I suddenly wished she would wear my hat forever, though I hadn't been too ecstatic when she took it.
I pretended to be upset when she pulled me in anyway, but I honestly wanted her to do that.
This was the first time in forever that Kate was…Kate again.
Not quiet or walled up. Not staring at her cell phone to avoid talking to me. Not spending her time with my little sister so we didn't have to be together. Not making me wonder if she hated me…
It felt surreal to be honest.
It felt like yesterday that we were not talking to each other, pretending to be perfectly fine as we stayed as far away from each other as possible. We kept saying that we were still friends whenever our parents asked, but we never made any contact.
I wanted to. We were so close, but I knew we were also so far away. I didn't need to be around her. I was still fighting those feelings I had for her. I thought that, if I pushed her away, it was pushing my feelings way. I thought that, if I kept Kate away long enough, we could be alright again and I could bring her back in.
But I soon saw that things didn't work like that. I still loved her. Things would never be the same. And I could never bring her back.
When I pushing her away though, I never noticed that she was pushing me away, too. She was starting a new life, and it didn't take long before I got the hint.
So instead of getting back in touch with her, I sat on Facebook and watched as she posted things with the people she was in contact with.
Even when we went to camp together, we still weren't talking really. We were better, and we were friends again. But we weren't what we used to be, and I was beginning to fear that I would never have my Kate back again.
And now here she was, pulling me off to a restaurant by the water in the beautiful city of Charleston.
Since we had decided to pair off, I had completely forgotten about my worries. I hadn't thought about Charlie's prophecy or the quest we were currently on. I went shopping in a crowded market with Kate, making her laugh the entire time, and I even got to talk to Kate.
"Just French Fries, okay?" Kate smiled at me.
"Yeah, just French Fries."
"Hey, we can see from here. We're close to the house," Kate smirked, and I followed after her to the crowded restaurant.
Being New Yorkers, it wasn't that hard to push our way through the crowd to the hostess, a pretty college student who smiled at the two of us.
"How many?"
"Two."
"It'll be a forty minute wait."
Kate quickly worked it out where we could go to the bar, and we made our way through the restaurant slowly, despite how mad that made the people behind us. Kate and I made it through the main part of the restaurant, though I had to pull her away from the history on the wall, and I opened the door to the wrap around deck.
She smiled her thanks, and she went out, only to stop by the water.
She took a breath of sea air, and she looked back to me with a smirk.
"Beautiful, huh?"
"Definitely," I smiled in her direction, only it wasn't at the water…
Kate's eyes stayed glued to mine, and, all of a sudden, they flew back to the packed bar.
"French fries?"
"Yeah," I nodded, and Kate was beginning to work her way through the crowd around the bar when she suddenly froze.
Kate pulled me to her by my arm, and she pointed towards the center of the party.
"Is that…?" Kate asked, but she couldn't finish before he saw us.
"Noah! Kate! You've grown up!" he called us to him, and the crowd moved to let him get to us.
"Apollo."
Apollo was handsome, even I had to admit that. His skin was a golden tan, and he had a white cotton shirt unbuttoned to show his six-pack. His sandy blonde hair was messed up by the wind, but, while mine looked horrible, he looked perfect.
Apollo was the perfect guy who you hated.
He was nice and you could be friends if he wasn't so perfect. You felt inferior, and you hated having any girl you like around him.
And I had the girl I was in love with beside me…
"You've grown up so much. Great to see you. Thanks for winning that game, by the way. Great party," Apollo smiled, hugging me before turning to Kate.
He stopped, as if to marvel at her, and she blushed.
Oh great…
"Kate," he put his hand over his heart, "You look amazing. You've grown up to be a beautiful woman."
"Uh, thank you," Kate blushed, pushing her hair behind her ear.
"It is a delight to see you again, Kate," Apollo took her hand and kissed it gently, making Kate turn even redder.
"It's great to see you, too, Apollo," Kate smiled at Apollo, and he opened his mouth to say something back. But I said something first.
"We were looking for you, actually."
"Oh, this is a business meeting," Apollo shook his head, letting go of Kate's hand, "Hold on. Let's get a table and a few drinks."
Apollo made a gesture to a waitress, and she made her way to us.
"Three please, Darling," Apollo smiled at her, and she smiled.
"Come with me."
"I don't think we actually have time. Charlie is waiting at the house-"
"Oh, my son, Aiden, is there. It'll be fine. Come on. Have a drink with me. Besides, we have business to talk about, right?"
"Uh," I started, but Apollo was walking away with Kate and the waitress before I could.
Well, okay then…
