𝐇𝐀𝐕𝐄𝐍° ! percy jackson

𝐢𝐢.𝐢𝐢𝐢 - 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐞𝐭 (𝐩)

The sun was setting behind the dining pavilion as the campers came up from their cabins. The four demigods—well, the three and Tyson?—stood in the shadow of a marble column and watched them file in.

Annabeth was still pretty shaken up, but she promised she'd talk to them later. Then she went off to join her siblings from the Athena cabin. Annabeth wasn't the oldest, but she'd been at camp more summers than just about anybody. You could tell that by looking at her camp necklace—one bead for every summer, and Annabeth had six, like Aurora (Luke would've, but... haha, awkward!). Therefore, no one questioned her right to lead the line.

Percy was expecting Aurora to ditch him as soon as she saw Gracie, but instead, she stood still next to Percy, as though rooted to the ground by regret. Gracie eagerly waved to her sister, and Aurora gave her a quick, fleeting smile back, but she didn't rush over to the Demeter cabin. It was strange, but he didn't question it. You learn not to question what goes through Aurora's mind. 

Next came Clarisse, leading the Ares cabin. She had one arm in a sling and a nasty-looking gash on her cheek, but otherwise her encounter with the bronze bulls didn't seem to have fazed her. Someone had taped a piece of paper to her back that said, YOU MOO, GIRL! But nobody in her cabin was bothering to tell her about it. Clarisse stuck up her middle finger at Percy and Aurora, to which the girl blew a kiss in response and winked flirtatiously. Percy never understood how his friend could ever be close with that monstrosity of a human, but again, you don't question Aurora.

After the Ares kids came the Hephaestus cabin-six guys led by Charles Beckendorf, a big fifteen-year-old African American kid. He was nice enough once you got to know him, but no one ever called him Charlie or Chuck or Charles—except for some of the long-time campers, like Aurora and Silena Beauregard. Percy had no idea how, but she knew everyone at camp, and most of them, especially the older kids, were extremely fond of her. Besides them, most just called him Beckendorf. Rumor was he could make anything. He was so cool.

After the satyrs filed in to dinner, the Hermes cabin brought up the rear. They were always the biggest cabin. Now that Luke was gone, the Hermes cabin was led by Travis and Connor Stoll. They weren't twins, but they looked so much alike it didn't matter. Percy wouldn't have remembered who was older if Aurora wasn't glued to the hip with Connor, who's as closer to their age than Travis. Percy found himself absently comparing himself to the younger Stoll. Connor was good-looking enough, Percy could see what girls saw in him and Travis, but he wasn't, like, exceptional or anything. At least, he hoped not. Percy didn't know if it was the camp air or something, but unlike himself, Connor was tall, with a mop of brown hair that was actually manageable hanging loosely over his bright eyes and clear skin. He had those elfish features all Hermes's kids had: upturned eyebrows, sarcastic smiles, a gleam in his eyes whenever they looked at you—like he was about to drop a firecracker down your shirt. From a girl's perspective, he was cute, and really funny, if that got him any points. He had the Hermes smooth gene, too. Percy knew because he would constantly jokingly attempt to charm Aurora: tilting her chin, lacing their fingers together, etcetera, etcetera. It made Percy nauseous to think about.

Instead of Aurora bouncing over to her cabin with the excitement and enthusiasm as she usually did, she slowly peeled herself away from Percy with a glower and sat herself next to Connor without making eye contact with anyone—and most campers were staring at her confusedly, including Percy. Percy had so many questions in his head—the Hermes cabin wasn't even her cabin! And she couldn't like Connor that much—but as he led Tyson into the middle of the pavilion, he could hear whispers that slightly answered his question.

"Let her sit with the unclaimed kids. She doesn't belong to our cabin anyway." One girl from the Demeter Cabin hissed. Percy felt like a knife plunged into his gut as Aurora shrunk into Connor's larger shadow.