Chapter Twenty-Four:
The Unnecessary Bickering.
— I know who I am when I'm alone.
I'm something else when I see you !
For the first time, camp felt like torture.
Tantalus had wanted everyone to understand that if it was punishment to be an activities director at a camp for demigods, the campers would feel his own disdain for however long he was going to be there for. Annabeth Chase wasn't the main target of his punishments, and she was slightly grateful. Seeing her best friend, no matter how much bad tension lingered between them, be the main subject of Tantalus' fury hurt her more than she'd like to admit. Not only that, but Percy seemed to be angrier, too. She assumed it was because of the spectacle Tantalus had made of Tyson's claiming, but she was too concerned for him to ask. She wasn't willing to admit it, but she cared about him and his feelings. She tried to push down the instinct to care, but then she'd see Colette and she knew she couldn't fight it. She winced every time someone made a joke about him, wanting to wrap an arm around his shoulders or get Colette to comfort him, but things were different. Colette avoided the pair of them like the plague, Percy was more temperamental, and Annabeth was stuck trying to be a buffer.
Annabeth saw how crestfallen Percy looked whenever someone asked him how the relation between him and Tyson worked. She tried to make him feel better. She suggested they team up for the Chariot Race to take their minds off their problems. (Normally, she would've teamed up with Colette, but she figured that wasn't the bear she wanted to poke yet.) They both hated Tantalus and they were beyond worried about the camp, but they didn't know what to do about it. Until they could come up with some brilliant plan to save Thalia's tree, she figured they should just go along with the races. After all, Athena had invented chariots and Poseidon had created horses. Together, victory wasn't doubted — they would be the ones to win.
One morning, Annabeth and Percy were sitting by the canoe lake, sketching chariot designs when some of the Aphrodite kids decided they had jokes to share. Drew Tanaka, Annabeth had heard her name was, asked Percy if he needed any eyeliner for his eye ... "Oh, sorry! Eyes." Before either of them could say anything, the group with her walked away laughing boisterously at their joke.
Their laughter came to an abrupt halt when a blonde girl stepped in front of their path. Colette stood with crossed arms and an arched eyebrow; She'd heard what they said.
Drew seemed to flush in embarrassment. Her head ducked down in her shame. "Hi, Sunny," she mumbled quietly.
"Drew," Colette gritted. "'Lena told me what you were saying last night. And now this?" Her nostrils seemed to flare slightly. "Enough of the bullying; Grow up."
Drew swallowed audibly at the glare, nodding tentatively with her lips pursed.
"Go," she jutted her head toward the cabins. "I'll talk to you later." Her hands fell from her sides, limply hanging.
Annabeth felt her jaw drop, then clench when she saw the way Drew's hand brushed gently against Colette's, pinkies lingering. "No fucking way," she scoffed. The blonde only looked at her blankly, expression exhausted. "Drew Tanaka of all people. Really?"
Colette arched an eyebrow expectantly. "What's wrong with Drew?" Annabeth could only open and close her mouth, floundering for an answer, but coming up empty. Colette's eyes flickered to Percy, a flash of empathy shining before they returned to their dull state. "Don't let them bother you, Percy."
