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SEVENTEEN, the flower shop
❀ ✿ ❀ ✿
WHEN ASTER ARRIVED AT their new home, somehow she knew she made the right decision. They couldn't go back to their hometown for obvious reasons, so Andrew had found him and his daughter a nice apartment over a flower shop in a bigger town: Salem, Massachusetts. It would be an adjustment, but Aster knew they would be alright.
The ride home from camp was long and quiet. Soft alternative rock played on the radio, barely filling the silence. As she watched the flat grasses of rural Connecticut roll by, Aster was reminded of her journey with Luke, Thalia, and Annabeth.
Luke had come from Connecticut. He'd brought Aster, Annabeth, and Thalia to his home once after they had run into a monster nearby. Though he really didn't want to, they went inside. His mother greeted them warmly, but there was something off about her. She smiled so widely that it looked unnatural, and her eyes were more electric than Thalia's. She rejoiced when her son had come home, but Luke just grabbed what he needed to leave as soon as possible. Aster, Annabeth, and Thalia sat in the kitchen with May Castellan, who told them stories about Luke's youth. Aster looked around the kitchen and noticed there were piles of Tupperware containers filled with what looked like peanut butter sandwiches. Some of them were moldy, like they had been sitting there a long time. At the time, Aster tried to be polite and ignore the smell they were giving off, out of respect for Luke and his mother. Although it didn't seem like he respected his mother very much.
Hermes came to visit the home while they were there, which Aster learned later was a big deal. He was shocked to see the three girls in the kitchen, sipping on Kool-Aid and trying to ignore the burnt cookies that were placed in front of them. Eventually, Luke came tumbling down the stairs—at the worst possible moment. He and his dad exchanged a few choice words, which escalated into an argument. They moved into the living room so they wouldn't disturb the girls, and Aster couldn't hear what they were saying. She wasn't sure exactly what they had argued about, but it had been pretty bad judging by the expression on Luke's face.
"Thalia, Annabeth, Aster, come on! We're leaving!" Luke said, a stormy expression on his face as he raced out of the room he and Hermes were arguing in.
Aster looked between him and Thalia, who'd just finished having her leg bandaged by May Castellan. She'd been urging them to eat more cookies, which were burnt to a crisp, and Annabeth had kindly declined for them four times already. She must've had a terrible memory.
Luke then had walked out the screen door, with Aster, Annabeth, and Thalia scrambling behind him to keep up. All he told them was that he'd had an argument with his father about his mother. Annabeth disliked May Castellan from that point on, her little crush already developed, seeing Luke as her hero.
Aster had been skeptical at the time, but now knew better. May had been trying to do too much, becoming the Oracle of Delphi. It wasn't her fault that it backfired—she couldn't have known.
