Hope y’all are enjoying the story so far!  If you love Percy Jackson like I do, check out my UnKnown trilogy.  I’m four chapters into the second book of the trilogy :) Anyways, have fun reading!

Chapter Quote:

“Welcome to the modern world.”

~Luke Castellan The Lightning Thief movie

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Chapter 4: She Stoll My Heart

Luke

I’d forgotten how fun these campfires could be when you actually participated in them rather than scheming to take down the gods.  I stuck next to Shiloh, Annabeth, and Percy throughout the night.  We sat in the front; the Stoll brothers, Juniper, and Grover sat behind us.  I felt secure having them around me.  The only thing that worried me was Grey sitting on the other side of Shiloh.  He seemed infatuated with her.  I couldn’t blame him.  Truth be told, Shiloh had really grown on me too.  I wouldn’t allow myself to get too attached to her though.  In a month’s time, I’d be back in the Underworld, probably on my way to the Fields of Punishment.

“Oh my gods,” Shiloh breathed.

“What?” I asked, getting ready to defend her.

“I’ll be right back!” she exclaimed, getting up and slipping away from the campfire.  Not many people watched her go.  I wondered why.  Surely the guys here had a crush on her.  Then again, she probably scared them.  After all, she’s a daughter of Poseidon, meaning Percy is her half-brother, and I could already tell the two were close.  Mess with her, not only do you have to endure her wrath, but Percy’s too.  I’m not sure whose wrath would scare me more…

I watched her go up to the Hades cabin which was in the process of being built.  A slim shadow leaned up against it.  Shiloh hugged the figure.  The person was a little smaller than her, but seemed, even from this far away, powerful and intimidating.  Leave it Shiloh to not be scared.  In another minutes, she came back over, this time holding the shadow person’s hand.

It was Nico di Angelo.

His expression proved he didn’t want to be here, but I don’t think he could say no to Shiloh.  I understood.  I’d become the same way.  I don’t know if it was because she was one of the few people who accepted me or what, but when she gave me one flash of those blue eyes, I gave in.  I had a feeling Nico was like that too.

“What’s he doing here?” Nico scowled upon seeing me.

“Long story, but don’t worry.  He’s not going to kill any of us,” Shiloh said kindly. “Just stay for a little bit.  I’ve missed seeing you.”

“At least someone has,” he grumbled before plopping down on the bench between Shiloh and Grey.  The latter looked pissed he’d been separated from his crush, but he took it gracefully, conversing casually with Nico.  Shiloh joined in with them.

During the last thirty minutes of the campfire, the campers decided to stray from the typical campfire songs and go for more modern ones.  The Apollo kids took out their guitars, lyres, flutes, or whatever instrument they played.  The first song was ‘The Fox Song.’  I’d never heard of it and stared confusedly at everyone dancing to it.  Shiloh, upon seeing my face, started cracking up before explain a pair of Norwegian brothers had created this.

“I’m going to assume marijuana or something heavier is legal there,” I muttered.

Next came ‘I Won’t Say I’m in Love’ from the Disney movie “Hercules.”  This prompted a grin onto my face.  The girls from Apollo sang.  Shiloh joined in.  Everyone was great singers, but Shiloh blew them out of the park.  It’s almost as if her voice changed to match the part she had to sing, which her part was Meg.  The others sang for the Muses.

“Never have her sing you a lullaby.  She gets to the second word, and you’re already out,” Connor whispered drolly into my ear.  I looked over at Percy and Annabeth.  Annabeth was mouthing the words.  Percy was looking at Shiloh, an unreadable expression on his face.  He looked proud of her, but at the same, very sad.  I couldn’t understand why and refrained from asking.

When that song was over, they played some more.  Shiloh didn’t sing to any afterwards although she mouthed the lyrics.  At the end of the campfire, with time to play only two more songs, the campers decided to make the others dance.  First up was Gangnam Style.  Shiloh and Percy stood up.  Annabeth got dragged up by Percy.  She glowered at him but stood there.  Nico made no attempt to move; Shiloh tried to convince him but seemed to know what her limits were to convincing him.  Instead, she turned her attention to me.

“Come on,” she said cheerfully, holding out her hand.

“I don’t think it’s a good idea,” I told her, holding up my hands in defense.

“Why not?”

“If I accidentally step on someone’s toe, they’re going to think I’m purposefully trying to hurt them,” I informed. “Do you really think this is a good idea?  I mean, come on.”

“If they try to hurt you, they’ll have to go through me and Percy and Annabeth.  Now come on, it’s fun!” Shiloh had a surprising amount of strength as she pulled me up.  I stood timidly next to her.  When the dancing started, I quickly tried to learn the dance since I’d never really learned it before.  Thankfully, it was pretty easy.  I found myself laughing throughout, mainly because I couldn’t believe Shiloh had convinced me to do this and that someone had come up with a dance like this.  Seriously, who comes up with this stuff?

Finally, the last song came on.  It turned out to be a slower song yet a fun one.  I didn’t know it but for the most part, the couples of camp started dancing.  Some of the guys asked girls to dance with them, usually a single daughter of Aphrodite.  I’d been so busy staring that I hadn’t realized I’d been standing alone.  Shiloh had sat down.  However, Grey pulled her back up.  I felt a bubble of jealously rise up in me.  Why hadn’t I asked her?  I sat down on the bench again, watching everyone dance.  My gaze kept returning to Shiloh though.  Connor plopped down next to me.

“Where’s Travis?” I asked.

“Dancing with Katie.  He’s been crushing on her for years.  Wimp finally got enough courage to ask her to dance with him after all these years,” Connor laughed. “Now he has to get enough courage to ask her out!  Shiloh’s helping me hook them up.”

“I see.  Do she and Grey have a thing?” I inquired as casually as I could.  I didn’t want him getting the wrong idea, even though it was the right idea, but naturally Connor picked up my drift.

“Oh, does someone like Shiloh Carter?  Wouldn’t surprise me.  All of us do at some point.  Thing is, she doesn’t date anyone.  Won’t tell anyone why.  Last few times she’s almost dated someone, the guy ends up dating another girl.  Poor girl probably thinks she’s cursed.  She just needs this guy” -he pointed to himself with his thumbs- “to prove her wrong.  Unless you want her.  I won’t get in your way if you do.”

“Uh, why wouldn’t you get in my way?”

“I wouldn’t want you killing me,” Connor joked, giving me a wink.  I looked at him sheepishly.

“I wouldn’t do that.  I’m done with the ‘Let’s-tear-down-Olympus’ phase,” I told him.

“Thank the gods for that!”

“Hey y’all,” Shiloh greeted, plopping down in front of them.  Grey had disappeared.  Luke wanted to know where so he could avoid him.

“So you and Grey MacGregor, huh?  Lucky man, lucky man,” Connor remarked.

“What do you mean?” Shiloh questioned innocently.

“You two were getting cozy in the dance.” My half-brother smirked. “I saw him whispering into your ear.”

“I think you’ve hit your head too many times.  There’s nothing going on between me and Grey.  We were having a conversation he didn’t want people to hear so he whispered.  Is that so bad?” Shiloh defended, her tone a little snappish.  Connor backed off, holding his hands up in surrender.  He was grinning, but I could tell he was wary of her now.  She might not look like it, but I concluded Shiloh was not one to mess with, and not just because Percy was her brother.  I think she could open up a can of whoop-ass if she wanted to.

“Let’s head back to the cabins,” she suggested.  I helped her up.  We started walking back.  Travis lagged behind with Katie.  He was smiling and grinning, but not as if he was about to pull a prank, as if he was truly happy to be with her.

“Good night, Luke,” Shiloh said.  She started walking away, but I called out her name to stop her.

“Thank you for today.  For… well, everything,” I admitted.

She smiled. “You’re welcome.”

“Um, I’ll see you tomorrow, right?”

“Of course.  Oh, and don’t worry about Grey tonight.  The Stolls have created a plan for him.”

“Should I be worried?”

“No, but Grey should,” Shiloh chuckled. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

She went into her cabin.  Percy wasn’t far behind her.  I entered my old cabin.  They’d cleaned it up.  It was starting to look pretty decent.  With a few more touch ups, it’d be really great.

Maybe a project for me to take on… Luke thought to himself.

“Luke!  You’re bunk is over here!” Travis shouted.  I looked at the farthest end of the cabin.  Travis sat on my bunk.  I walked over to the brothers.

“We stole some stuff for you since probably most of your stuff got exploded into bits on the Princess Andromeda.  You’ll have to go into the city at some point to get some new clothes.  We got enough to last you a week though.  Maybe Shiloh could take you out or something,” Connor suggested, giving me a wink.  I rolled my eyes.

“Thank you for the clothes.  I really appreciate it.  I’m going to go take a shower,” I said, grabbing a pair of pajamas.  I headed out to the bathroom.  A few other kids were there but thank the gods the builder had the sense to build private stalls.  The showers were separated into girls and guys, but I remember once in a while, if the girls’ stalls were all occupied, a girl would take one of the boys’ stalls.

The hot water felt good.  I hadn’t realized how dirty I was until I saw the black streaks going down the drain.  I turned off the water and slipped on my sweatpants.  I forgot how comfy the pajamas the camp offered were.  I’d been so hell-bent on my hatred for the gods I didn’t realize the small things that made the camp so great. 

I left my shirt off.  The water had made me really hot.  I threw it over my shoulder instead.  I was aware that as I walked back to my cabin, I received a few stares from people, mainly girls.  I started becoming self-conscious.

“They wouldn’t be staring at you if you had a shirt on,” Shiloh’s voice teased.  I turned around.  Her blonde hair was pulled back into a ponytail.  She had on a sweatshirt and sweatpants.  Shiloh looked like the epitome of comfort.

“I was… hot,” I said, embarrassed.  I felt my face flush.

“You look hot,” she commented.

I couldn’t help but smirk. “Enjoying the view are we?”

“Girl would be crazy not to.  I forgot to tell you, all but one of your classes has me, Percy, or Annabeth in it.  I think the Stolls are in it though.”

“What class is that?” I queried, trying to hide my worry.

“Sword-fighting.  Oh, and for the record, if you want the girls to support you being here, just keep walking shirtless.  It’ll do wonders.” Shiloh winked at me before heading off to her cabin.  I chuckled to myself.  Even though I was going to get sent back to the Underworld, at least all my memories of camp wouldn’t be of people hating me.  I’d at least have some good memories of Shiloh, Percy, and Annabeth.

I continued walking into my cabin.  When I reached my bed, I exclaimed, “What in Hades’ name is all this?”

Connor and Travis looked up at me. “It’s your alarm system.  If someone tries to sneak into your bed to kill you, you’ll hear them.  I mean, who doesn’t wake up to bubble wrap.  And then there’s the bells here just in case you don’t hear the bubbles.  Oh, and thumbtacks at the foot of your bed.”

“Is all this really necessary?” I inquired. “Listen, I know Grey hates me and all but, uh, I don’t think he’s going to do anything.  Besides, someone else other than him could hurt themselves.”

Travis pondered this. “Fine, we’ll put the thumbtacks on the step ladder.”

“No thumbtacks, Stolls,” I admonished.  They gave sighs of defeat as they collected all the thumbtacks.  I helped them before hopping up onto my bed, ignoring using the step ladder.  I knew I wouldn’t be able to convince the Stoll brothers to get rid of the bubble wrap and bells, at least not tonight.  If they tried to do that every night, it might be a different story.

“Oh, Luke, before I forget, here’s your laptop.  We actually saved this thing for you.  We might’ve used it once in a while when ours crashed. We created a Facebook page for demigods so we can stay in touch.  I think you-know-who is on there,” Connor told me.

“There’s a kid named Voldemort on here?” I looked at him in confusion.

“Never mind,” he grumbled.  I shook my head as I opened it up. “Oh, in case you forgot your password, it’s: tgac2008.”

“Do I even want to know how you two figured that out?” I asked.

“Nope.”

“Thought so.” I turned on my laptop and logged in.  I went to Facebook immediately.  The only friends I had on there were from Camp Half-Blood, but it was only half of what I used to have.  I guess a lot had unfriended me due to what I’d become and done.  Didn’t blame them.  I went to the search box and typed in: Shiloh Carter.

Her profile turned out to be the first one on the list.  I clicked on it.  Her profile was of her at the beach I think.  It was a close-up of her face, and she wasn’t looking directly at the camera either.  Her smile reached all the way across her face.  She looked extremely happy and really beautiful.  Her cover photo consisted of her kneeling on a dock in front of a lake.  The wind blew her hair across her face as she looked at the camera.  Even on the computer, her eyes bore into me, attempting to find the secrets swirling around in my head.  I swear Shiloh could look into someone’s soul and see everything inside them.  I hope she couldn’t do that with me.

I sent her a friend request.  I checked my email after that.  I had over a thousand messages, all from colleges and people trying to sell me stuff.  I just marked them as all read.  I didn’t want to go through all of them.  I went back to Facebook and scrolled through, just to see what people were up to.  Connor posted a status saying: “Being popular on Facebook is like sitting at the cool table in a cafeteria at a mental hospital.”  I let out a small chuckle.  I scrolled down and saw that Travis had posted something as well, just a few minutes ago.  I glanced down at him.  He was in the bottom bunk diagonal from me (Connor slept below me).  He was grinning; I assumed he was talking to Katie.  I looked back at the post and read it: “I think a girl just Stoll my heart.”

At that, I snorted.  A few people glared at me, some gave me curious glances, but no one asked me anything about it.  I hit the like button as I read the comments:

Katie Gardner: Do you not take anything seriously?

Travis Stoll: Of course I do!

Katie Gardner: Example.

Travis Stoll: I fought in the Titan War.

Shiloh Carter: You wanted to raid a candy shop during the war.

Travis Stoll: DO NOT SUPPORT HER OR I WILL PUT A SPIDER IN YOUR BED

Shiloh Carter: Do it and you’ll find yourself so far out in the ocean you’ll see Africa.

Katie Gardner: Let me slap him with some vines first, then you can.

Travis Stoll: HEY

Connor Stoll: Bro, I have an idea!

Shiloh Carter: This is not good…

Katie Gardner: No it’s not…

I grinned like an idiot at what was going down.  I turned my head and asked, “Connor, what are you going to do to Katie?”

“I thought you were watching this go down on Facebook.  Just stay tuned.  You’ll see.”

I turned my attention back to my computer just as Connor made a status saying: “Hey Katie, when were you going to tell my brother you married him?”

I scrunched my eyebrows up in confusion.  Apparently, Katie was confused too.  She replied quickly.

Katie Stoll: I don’t know what you’re talking about.

Travis Stoll: Oh my gods Connor hahahaha

Connor Stoll: You’re welcome :D

Katie Stoll: I don’t get what’s going on…

Shiloh Carter: I’m dying of laughter here haha Katie you might want to check your last name.

Katie Stoll: I’m going to kill you Stoll…

Travis Stoll: Well this is my cue to turn in for the night.  Love you Katie! :*

Katie Stoll: Hate you too

“Enjoy that?” Connor queried, his voice mirthful.

“Completely,” I admitted. “You do know the door is probably going to be blocked by poison ivy or something.”

“It’s worth it.  All right, time for me to go night night.  I have to be alert tomorrow because Katie’s going to kill me.” He turned off his laptop and went to bed.  I scrolled through Facebook some more.  A few minutes in, I received a notification saying Shiloh had accepted my friend request.  My PM box popped open with a message from Shiloh.

Shiloh Carter: Hi :) Welcome back haha

Luke Castellan: Hi :) and thank you haha

Shiloh Carter: Did you enjoy the Stoll vs Gardner conversation?

Luke Castellan: That was hysterical haha he’s still snickering under his sheets, I can hear him.

Shiloh Carter: He’s going to be sorry haha Katie has a vengeful streak in her!  So what did Connor and Travis do to your bed?  They told me they’d make sure Grey didn’t hurt you in the middle of the night

Luke Castellan: Oh, you know, just put bubble wrap and bells on my ladder and attempted to put thumbtacks around the floor.  I made them take those away.

Shiloh Carter: Oh my gods haha well I should probably turn in for the night.  I’ll see you tomorrow :) Night!

Luke Castellan: Looking forward to it :) Night! 

I shut off my laptop and closed my eyes, thinking: Maybe this punishment won’t be so bad after all.

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Hope you guys enjoyed!  I’m coming up with a lot of ideas for this story that goes into the Heroes of Olympus series.  I’m still debating about that though. 

For any of you reading my UnKnown trilogy, I have a tumblr blog for the characters.  If you’re interested in checking it out, let me know!

Anyways, review :)