Only Time Will Tell (Solangelo)

11

All of my friends left me.

Okay, maybe not all of my friends, but Percy, Annabeth, Frank, Hazel, Jason, and Piper. They decided to return to Camp Jupiter to talk with Reyna about Leo, and I was supposed to go with them. Seeing that I've been in the infirmary a lot lately, they thought it was best to leave me at Camp Half-Blood.

On the bright side, I got to sleep in this morning. These past few nights sleeping in the Zeus cabin was not fun with Jason waking up at ungodly hours to get ready for the day. Who gets up at seven o'clock to do anything?

Today should be the last day of cabin remodeling. All they had left was to paint a darker shade of black on the outside of the cabin. Nobody believed me when I told them that the black they originally chose wasn't black enough.

Like always, I start the morning in the strawberry fields. I feel kind of bad for not being here more often to water the strawberries, but I have been stuck in the infirmary quite often lately and I'm not getting nearly as much sleep as I used to.

I could be easily going crazy, but there seems to be a lot more people here strawberry picking than usual. Now that I think about it, I see kids from the Hecate cabin here, which is really weird. Most of the time, it is me and the few Hypnos kids picking strawberries every morning.

"Hey, Clovis," I walk up to the head counselor of the Hypnos cabin, who is laying in his normal spot in the fields. "Why . . . why are there more people with us today?" I don't mean to sound so anxious, but people do make me nervous.

He yawns, "Chiron had to switch some schedules around, but if you are like me, I would find a nice quiet spot and take a nap." Clovis turns over to face away from me.

"Actually," I give a little awkward cough, "I do have a question for you, if you don't mind me asking." Very slowly, Clovis turns back around. He doesn't look too angry, but I can tell that he is disappointed in me for disturbing his sleep. "My friends had this idea about contacting Leo through dreams, if you remember our conversation the other day with all of the other counselors, but I have no clue how to go about communicating with him."

"You just do it," Clovis shrugs his shoulders, or at least it looks like he's shrugging his shoulders. "I can help a little, just tell me when you want to do it and I'll help you out."

I knew if I tried asking him another question, I wouldn't get an answer. Clovis is out like a light. At least he will be some help in the future when we want to talk to Leo. I'm only hoping Leo is going to respond to me.

It doesn't take long to get lost in my thoughts in the strawberry fields. I'm staring at the ground spacing out with the watering can in my hands. Oh gods, the ground is soaked. I am standing in mud. This is gross.

The Hypnos and Hecate kids start to group up with each other and move in the direction of the dining pavilion. This is exactly one of the things I have been dreading today. With all my friends gone, I'm stuck alone once again. Just like the old days.

"Nico di Angelo," a girl shouts from behind me. Maybe if I ignore her, she will go away and bully someone else. I don't need this today. "Hey, mind if I walk with you?" Lou Ellen, a girl I recognize as Will's friend, is standing right before me.

"I'm guessing I don't have a choice."

She turns around to stand next to me as I begin walking down the hill. "Will was right, you are sarcastic! This is great," Lou makes a squealing noise, but calms done rather quickly. "Okay, okay, I thought I could properly introduce myself to you, and since it has been a few weeks, Will won't yell at me for embarrassing him!

"My name is Lou Ellen Blackstone, I'm the head counselor of the Hecate cabin, and I'm one of Will Solace's best friends. Will has told me a lot about you in the last couple of weeks." I stop dead in my tracks to face Lou Ellen. Will has talked about me to his friends. This is news to me. "It is nothing bad, I swear," she reassures. "He talked about how you like eating McDonalds, you sleep with a thousand blankets, and your favorite color is black. My favorite color is black too!"