ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ᴛʜʀᴇᴇ : ʏᴏᴜ ᴛᴡᴏ, ꜱᴛᴏᴘ ꜰʟɪʀᴛɪɴɢ

The look on my cabin-mate's faces were priceless.

"You get to go on a quest?" Izzy questions in exasperation. She crosses her arms angrily."Yeah. What's wrong, you're jealous? You weren't even chosen as one of Percy's options," I diss. The other girls chuckle at Izzy.

"Ugh, whatever. Don't forget your emergency supplies though," Izzy mutters. I nod, holding up my backpack.

"Take this Serena. It's a gift from mom," Savanna, a friend of Izzy, says. She gives me a ring with a little heart in the center. "It's going to be very important in the future." I thank Savanna. All of the girls come and give me a hug, even Izzy.

"Thanks girls, see you soon." I release, pick up my backpack, and leave the cabin. I feel like I might miss them a little bit, even though they might be the worst sisters ever.

Before I leave, I stop off at Ares cabin. At this point, I'm an honorary member since I always hang out with Clarisse.

"Hey girl," Clarisse says, giving me a hug. "Good luck going on that trip with the blondie and Grover."

"Thanks. Grover is chill, but not Percy. Surprised he even picked me," I explain.

"Maybe he knows that there's something special about you," Clarisse adds. I see Percy and Grover waiting outside of the cabin. "Well, love you Serena."

"Love ya too," I say in response, blowing her a kiss. I walk out of their cabin and leave camp.

~

Percy, Grover and I are sitting in a taxi on our way to the bus. I shift uncomfortably in between Grover and Percy.

"Why am I the middle seat?" I ask annoyed.

"I'm sorry," Grover says.

"The middle seat goes for unlikable things. Since you're unlikable, and rude, and bit-"

"You two, stop flirting. It's annoying," the taxi driver shouts. He turns up the radio station to hear Long Island news.

"No, it's not like that sir-" I glare at Percy after.

"I wish I could put your head in a bear trap," I mutter.

"I wish I could've pushed you off the ledge during Capture the Flag," Percy mumbles. Grover looks at us, concerned. The taxi comes to a stop and we hop out. Percy reaches for the brown box and closes the yellow door of the vehicle. We walk to a bus terminal that will take us to our destination.

On the bus, it's tight and disgusting. I feel extremely claustrophobic and cramped. Someone walks out of the bathroom as the toilet flushes.

"There is no way this is what sacred smells like," Percy utters. Him and Grover are sharing a seat while I have my own. I peer at the ring my cabin mates gave me. It's really beautiful. I notice that Grover has a hat similar to Annabeth's and Percy has a random box. The bus slowly pulls to a stop and I stand up to get snacks.

"Alright, I'm going to go get us snacks," I say to the boys.

"I'll come with you," Percy notes, grabbing my shoulder to help him stand up.

"Uh, no. You'll stay put, blondie," I reply. He glares at me.

"Why? It smells like shit back here," Percy explains. I do have to agree, it smells like feces and cigarettes.

"It's just safer, trust me," I say. "Unless you want me to kill you again, stay with Grover.""I want to vote. Who thinks we should all go get to breathe fresh air and buy our own snacks?" Percy asks.

"Yea, there's no voting. I'm going," I say. He raises his hand anyway. "Chips and soda good for yall?"

"I don't think it's fair that you get to decide who goes outside to get food," Percy retorts, crossing his arms. His face is really close to mine, and it feels disgusting.

"Oh, so sad so sorry. Cry about it, bitch. Grover, can you please-" Grover starts clapping. We both turn to look at him.

"I really don't want to be a tiebreaker. I have a better idea," Grover starts.

"Don't you dare sing that stupid song," I mumble, annoyed.

"Oh golly, the road's gettin bumpy cause they got me some friends who just can't get along. Oh dear, when the team's gettin grumpy, the trick to gettin through it is singing this song," Grover vocalizes. I shake my head.

"Dude, what are you doing?" Percy asks. I roll my eyes at the stupidity of two guys."Chips and soda okay with you guys?" I repeat.

"Sure, whatever Serie," Percy agrees.

"Oh, never call me that again." I walk out of the bus to get snacks. I look for anything spicy since I've craved it for months. I see spicy tortilla chips and grab them. I get regular cheese chips for the other two guys and a 6 pack of soda. I put the food on the register and the lady gives me a weird look. I watch as she rings up the food and a weird voice starts talking to me.

"I know what you really want, Serena Lee. You want to prove to Izzy and all of them that you can beat a quest. You also want to show to the gods that you are beauty and brain, right?" I look around as the cashier asks for my money. I hand her 10 dollars and she searches for change. She hands me my change and I thank her.

"You can betray them and do this quest on your own. Perseus will be no help and Grover is always on Percy's side more than yours," the voice says. I turn and look for anyone, but no one is talking to me. I rush back on the bus, hoping it's not anything that will kill me.

But no.

I see a fury slowly approaching the three of us.

"Pull the emergency exit! We need to escape!" I whisper-shout to the guys. Grover hits the emergency button on the bus and everyone evacuates. I stand up and start sweating. People are blocking the fury. I take a deep breath and look behind me to see that it has flown in the back window. The fury lunges for Percy and I grab my sword. I throw it at the fury and it dissolves. I pick up the sword I threw and run out. Percy stands there.

"Percy, get out of here before I'm the reason you fucking die!" I whisper, yanking his shirt a little. He grabs the box and I help him get out of the bus with my hands.

"Thanks, Serie," Percy says. I give him a look. He puts his hands up in the air to surrender.

𝔱𝔥𝔞𝔫𝔨𝔰 𝔣𝔬𝔯 𝔯𝔢𝔞𝔡𝔦𝔫𝔤 🫶