CHANCE | luke castellan

FAR FROM THE HEART

I've been avoiding Luke for a week now. It seems to me that he does that too. Clarisse and I spend all our time together. Being with her makes me very happy and fulfilled. I can't explain to you how wonderful she really is.

-Arthur invited us to hang out tonight. I didn't answer him, I said I would ask you first. There will be several children. I heard that Chris got his hands on one of Mr. D's wines. Could be fun tonight. But if you don't feel like it, we don't have to go.; Clarisse suggested over lunch.
- I would like to go.; I said.

That evening, Clarisse and I went to the forest to hang out. We hung out around the campfire. Clarisse and I arrived first, and there was only Arthur and a few other children I didn't know.

- I am very glad to see you.; Arthur greeted me.
- I'm glad to see you too. Thank you for the invitation.; I greeted him.

I sat next to Arthur and Clarisse sat to my left. We had a great time, talked, laughed, joked and got to know each other. Maybe half an hour later I saw Chris join us, but he wasn't alone. That's what I was most afraid of. I just managed to successfully avoid him, and now he was right there in front of me. He was standing next to Chris. Chris came to say hello. He didn't even look at me, he was looking away the whole time.
- Are you still in an argument?; Arthur asked, whispering in my ear.
- We simply don't talk anymore.; I replied also whispering.
- That's not healthy.; he told me.

- Why don't you try to talk?
- We tried, we only made it worse.
- Did he apologize?
- No, he didn't.
-Asshole.
- Don't call him that.
- You're defending him again after everything?
- I don't know what to tell you.
Arthur and I were whispering in each other's ear the whole time. I didn't even realize that. I saw Luke get up and go somewhere, honestly at that moment I didn't even care that much. I was having a great time and I realized that I don't need Luke to be happy.

The evening was really nice and I didn't want it to end, but Clarisse and I had to go back to Ares's cabin, because they have a strict rule about closing the door.

The next week was pretty much the same. I slowly returned to normal, and it seemed to me that Luke was slowly returning to his own.

Things at camp were normal, I hung out with Clarisse, Chris, Arthur and made some new friends.

- The moron hasn't apologized to you yet?; Arthur asked as we practiced archery.
- No, but it doesn't matter. I see that he can do without me, so I can do without him.; I answered.
- You know, Luke has some strange attitudes of his own. When he first came to the camp, some kids from Ares cabin teased him, since then he hates all the people from Ares cabin. Luke is like that, that's his problem.; Arthur told me.
- I didn't know that, he never told me that.
- Luke is like that, he keeps everything to himself.
- But that's not good for him.

I didn't know that about Luke. There are probably countless things I don't know about him. The problem is that I thought he was open with me, I thought he trusted me.

Thinking about Luke always makes me remember all the good times and it makes me really sad.

Seeing him every day was really hard.

Yesterday Mr. D made me clean Zeus' cabin, it took me almost a whole day. Zeus' cabin is empty and full of dust. But there were some boxes inside that I had to carry and that took the most time.

Today I have the task of cleaning Poseidon's cabin, but he assigned me some help. I have no idea who it could be, so now I'm getting ready and thinking about who it could be. I hope it's Grover. He is really hardworking plus I love spending time with him.

Unfortunately, my predictions were not correct, I realized that when I saw Luke in front of Poseidon's cabin.

-Hey.; I said.
-Hey.; he replied.
That was it, we just said hello and started cleaning.The cleaning went much faster than when I cleaned alone.

But the awkward silence was killing me. I realized that I would never laugh with him again as much as I did before we had a fight.

-Are you finally going to say something?; he asked out of nowhere.
- When you finally stop ignoring and avoiding me.; I answered. I didn't really want to say it, but I had to. I waited for his answer. Honestly, I was hoping to get it.
- I'm not avoiding you.; he said rather quietly.
- I must have mistaken you for someone then.; I said sarcastically.
- Helen, if only everything were so easy. I really want everything to go back to the way it was, but you don't make any effort to make it easy for me.; He said. I was so angry, I wanted to say everything to his face. I wanted to scream, I wanted to tell him that I hate him and that I wish we had never met. I didn't do it, because I couldn't. I couldn't say it because I didn't really mean it.
- It is not my fault that you are traumatized by Ares' children.; I snapped and told him to his face. I immediately regretted it, but it was already too late.
- How do you know that?; he asked looking straight at me. I didn't answer him, I just looked away.
-Helen, where did you get that information?; he asked again, this time grabbing my hand to pull me closer to him. His grip wasn't strong, just enough to pull me close and give him the attention he wanted.

We stood like that for a few moments, he didn't let go of my hand, and I didn't want to answer his question.