Chapter Text
Seeing his friends running with their hands full of boxes of iron for the Forge it is less fun than what Drew believed, she is already bored. After three hours fixing the Aphrodite’s cabin for all her stepsiblings that are supposed to arrive in a week from now, she not only is tired of working but also of waiting for his gay-ass friend to get there to gossip. He is late to the weekly gossip meeting, probably kissing his gay-ass boyfriend or something like that.
This would not happen if she got a girlfriend, but Drew does not really know how to pull so now she must wait for her dumbass friend. Nico is always late for the meetings that they hold, never brings anything that complements the tea flavor, once he had the audacity to bring a damn Happy Meal to the tea reunion.
—Drew, are you there? — Nico’s voice breaks her trance, while his hand moves before her eyes. — In my country it is rude to space out while someone salutes you. —
—Well, in my country it is rude to arrive late at a meeting. Did you know that? — She says while she gets up to let him into the carefully prepared cabin. — Nyssa is bringing the iron tea set that she and Leo made last summer, she will be here for the next meeting. She keeps insisting on bringing her brother to try the set. — Drew continues to talk while she pours a cup of tea for Nico with the set that Chiron lets them have, a shitty one, since porcelain and crystal are too dangerous for demigods. Bullshit.
—Talking about the next tea party, Percy told Clarisse that he is going to bring some of his blue cookies. And Clarisse told me during an Iris message that ‘Prissy won’t be out winning her’ so she will be bringing some muffins. So, I told them to join us since my Big Macs are not good enough for you. Are you okey with that? — Nico asks while lowering his voice into a murmur and looks at Drew directly, that is what she likes about him, he is direct.
—No problem, some cookies and muffins are really a good tea companionship, and Percy always has good ‘tea’, Clarisse on the other hand barely catches gossip but never ever loses the opportunity to clock someone shit so she is cool. But please, no Annabeth and no Chris. They are such vibe killers. — She rambles while putting a teaspoon of honey in her cup.
—RIGHT? Like, I do not want to know how much Percy drools while he is knocked out, or how Chris hates Luke Castellan. Like dude, HE’S DEAD. He has been dead for years now. — Nico responds without any doubt and gesturing with his free hand. — They really got stuck at their ‘prime’, and not to be mean or anything, but that prime was given by their couples. — He finishes with a harsh hand gesture and brings the teacup to his mouth.
— Say it brother, they did their shit badly, and without their lovers they would be dead and unknown. I am not sure if they know this, but it seems that they forget it. — She quickly leaves her cup in the tea plate and moves her hands to act to her words. They talk until they hear the dinner ring bell.
— Anyway, if Percy and Leo are going to be in the same room as Clarisse you should talk with your boyfriend to be in there in case of spear made wounds. — Drew says with a slick smile to the other one.
—If I talk with Will, then you should talk with Miranda about the beautiful garden that cabin four keeps in secret to have peaceful breakfast. It will be easy for you to get it since just by asking her pretty please, she will give it to you. — The tea is long gone, Nico has a faint sarcastic smile while saying this. Grabs her favorite ho-t pink marker and makes a circle in her calendar for next Saturday.
—I will try it, now let’s go before Chiron does that stupid head count. Sometimes I believe he is a vampire, he loves to count everything. — She responds before grabbing his hand and walking out of the cabin. Slowly walking towards the dining hall, the sun setting slower than usual since the days are getting longer.
The half starting week becomes a fade of light and shadows since she barely acknowledges the colors that her stepfamily gives her, the loud sounds that campers make gives her terrible headaches. Then on Wednesday the worst happened, Piper and Annabeth decided to have a ‘friendly’ discussion, so she ended up tripping with their books and breaking her new set of nails, which sucks because they were made by herself after nine months of practice.
She had to ask Miranda about the little garden on Thursday, it actually went down road pretty fast. It was Travis’ fault practically, trying to impress Katie with his ‘inhuman force and speed’ Travis forgot to tie the manure bag properly so Drew slide on that and fell into a pile. After three showers and a very quick crying session she decided to ask Miranda after eating dinner, who very mindfully accepted and said not to damage any plant or else she will bite Drew. Cute.
That unlucky strike only lasted until the damn Friday, so Drew had to spend all the evening re-doing her nail set so she can look cute for the tea party, cleaning all her clothes until they smelled like roses again and seeing the best tea options for the meeting.
Everyone can call her rude, but it is only because they cannot say that her taste is awful. With every detail ready she started going to the garden, and said hi to Miranda, who very nicely helped her set everything up for the morning. After half an hour kissed her on the cheek and parted her way to the strawberry’s field, of course Drew was very mature with it, she only bushed a little bit.
—Girl kisser. — Nico has a damn thing with appearing while she is thinking.
— Better than being a boy kisser. — It actually is very weird way they have to say hello. —Where is your boyfriend? —
— He is actually bringing Leo and Nyssa, who were with Jake since he burned his face while sleeping. — Nico said while sitting on her left on the circular table.
—I arrived before Prissy, I won. — Clarisse’s voice broke Nico explanation. She appeared with an extremely cute Hello Kitty plate full of muffins and a big grin.
— YOU PUNCHED ME IN THE NOSE. — Percy shrieked. — You clit sucking parasite. —
— A fag will not be talking to me like that. — Clarisse said while putting the muffins on the table and sitting next to Nico. — Are you there or have you run away? —
— I am here. — He says, he appeared with a plate decorated with little hearts made with pearls. His nose was bleeding for the supposed punch. He let the blue cookies stay at the table and sits himself in front of Clarisse. —Anyone has a tissue so I can keep my blood away from the food? —
— I have a spare one. — Nico said while he gestured towards his jacket and pulling out a packet of tissues.
— EUCALYPT? CRAZY BITCH. — At this point Percy was screaming.
— THE ONES I HAVE. — Nico said without any grace in his voice.
—I have one without smell. —Will, may the gods bless him, appeared to help. Behind him was Nyssa protecting the tea set and Leo trying to grab the set. No one knows why, since he will be the one seeing the durability with his fire powers.
— I will be setting the tea set to start brewing, Leo you are going to be the fire, Percy when you stop bleeding you are going to be the fire extinguisher. Clarisse do not punch more friends, or I will personally call Grover, so he sings his dumb ass song of friendship. — Drew said with a brand-new tone, a strong one. Not Charmspeak but worked even better. She believed she heard some ‘yes miss’. Are these the monkeys she calls friends?
— Why Am I here? I doubt it is only to be a fire extinguisher. — Percy asked while watching that Leo doesn’t burn down anything.
— Usually, Nico and Drew meet to talk like old grannies do. —Nyssa responded. — Maybe they want new stories or something like that. —
— We actually wanted the cookies. — Nico said while grabbing two cookies. — But I will appreciate any story by the way. —
— I bet you had never heard that time when Clarisse let Silena dye her hair, just because she had a fat crush on her. —Percy said while grinning ear to ear.
— That is why she had pretty red hair during two long summers? — Will asked with genuine curiosity, Clarisse was looking ready to break the only rule she had.
— That is a lie, and you know it, Prissy. — The older teenager said with a menacing look. — I let her dye my hair just because it made me look more terrifying. —
— Liar, Liar, Leo is on fireeee. —Leo sang while bringing the teapot to the table and seating next to his stepsister.
— You are lying Clarisse, I was there to help her with the mixes. When she showed you the final look you said, ‘I love you’, blushed and put an extra ‘AS A HAIR STYLIST’— Percy said while grabbing a muffin and giving it a bite. — And if my memory doesn’t fail me, you ran away from the unisex bathroom crying. — He adds while smiles even more, if it is possible.
— You confessed to my older sister like that? — Drew cackled while serving tea to everyone at the table.
— FIRST OF ALL, I was not confessing anything. She was just an exceptionally good hair stylist. — Clarisse insisted while grabbing her cup of tea and drinking a little bit before leaving it again. — SECOND OF ALL, no one on this damn table can say shit. —
— What do you mean? — Leo asked with his eyes sparkling with the purest joy a person can hold.
— She means like that time that Nyssa tried to flirt with Pollux. It was embarrassing. — Will remembered with a terrified look on his face. — Three and a half days in the infirmary. —
— Okey, that was my mistake. Proud? I just thought that he may need an automatic strawberry picker. — Nyssa exclaimed before grabbing a cookie, Drew was laughing like never before.
— Your mistake? I SEWED YOUR THORAX. — Will screamed while pointing at her with an accusatory finger.
— Oh, come on, don’t be harsh with her. I remember you asking Lee if all the boys are usually cute. — Drew sneered.
— I WAS FIVE DREW. — He responded, not in a very mature way.
— Yeah Drew, you literally got the permission to make here the tea party by asking to your crush. — Nico discussed back with a faint smile.
—You like this place Di Angelo? IS IT YOUR TYPE? — Drew tried the best to defend herself.
— She totally got your ass there. — Leo said in between laughs. He knew what a dumbass he was in love, but he also knew that they do not know.
— Totally got you. — Percy affirmed while drinking tea.
— SHUT UP PRISSY. — Clarisse said with a very… wild look on her face. She got up and pointed at the boy. — I NEVER FORGOT ABOUT YOU. —
— Forget about what? — The rest asked with pure curiosity.
— Clarisse, for our friendship, which is more than six years old. You would not dare. — Percy said with a very hurt face.
— You were the one who brought the dead in here, Prissy. — The most inhumane satisfied smile runs across all Clarisse face. — Prissy in here, the strongest hero of our moment, had a thing with several men in AND out of camp. —
— Explain yourself there La Rue. — Leo asked.
— I caught him, with LUKE. Kissing in the stable, in between Pegasus. — She replied while grabbing a cookie. — And if you do not know that name, it was Luke Castellan. The traitor. —
— YOU KISSED THAT MAN? — Nico finally broke his façade. — By several men, you mean that are more? —
— I DID NOT KISSED HIM. — A very strawberry-looking Percy screamed. — He kissed me, I just responded. Which is different. —
— You took the ‘keep your friends close and your enemies closer’ to heart. Huh? — Leo said with a surprise tone.
— SO, when you and I went to make a map of Princess Andromeda, how exactly were you distracting him so I could trace? — Nyssa asked with teary eyes.
— Yeah Prissy, how were you distracting him? — The victory tone on Clarisse voice was loud.
— FUCK YOU LA RUE. I will never forget this. —This was all that he could say without throwing hands. — La Rue actually kissed a runaway Apollo girl who was with Kronos and screamed ‘DISTRACTION’ while doing it. —
— I never knew that we all thought that you two were straight as a ruler. — Nico said.
— Percy, when you got out of my cabin with Michael. You two weren’t praying to God? — Will asked with a very scared face.
— You believed that lie? — Leo asked while grabbing her stepsister hand.
— WILL, we are demigods. Why would we pray to Jesus? — Nyssa said with some laughs.
— Don’t laugh about the Texan cowboy, he is ‘gonna’ end ‘yall’ with a shotgun. — Drew commented.
— I WAS A KID. Also Drew you literally said ‘SMASH’ when Nyssa showed you a hammer. Have you forgotten? — Will pointed with an accusatory finger to her.
— In my defense, it was a particularly good hammer. But we are forgetting the point, how come Clarisse and Percy are not straight? — Drew grabbed the last muffin and gave a big bite.
— Never were. — Percy said before drinking the last sip of tea. — I have like, more than one hundred notes in my bedroom. They change depending on who sent them, I mean, more than half are death threats. —
— Death threats? — Leo questioned carefully.
— The problem of being a known face. I had some too. — Clarisse responded with a relaxed face. — But Prissy in here has his favorite with him. Like ALWAYS. —
— That doesn’t sound pretty healthy. — Will murmured.
— He practically was writing the Blondie song ‘One way or another’ and left me a basket with fresh fruit. So, he is my favorite stalker. — Percy tried defending himself. — No one let me eat the fruits. —
— There are reasons. You know? — Drew responded while looking at Nico.
— OK, that is just pure stereotypes. — Nico sneered. — Also, we do not even know if it had pomegranates. —
— I have more tea, Leo brew it, please. — Drew quickly changed the conversation. — What had the basket? —
— It had figs, apples, nectarines, lemons, oranges… and had some pretty flowers, like lilies and tulips. If I remember. OH, and it had pomegranates. They looked so tasty. — He only extended his fingers with the sole purpose of enumerating. — Basically, all my favorites. —
— So, this mysterious person knew all your favorites and wrote you a letter that sounded like a Blondie song. — Nyssa tried to sound very peaceful. — Can we see the letter? —
— Sure. — Percy moving his hand to his pocket, took out his wallet, taking a paper, and handing it to Nyssa. — There it is. —
— I will drive past your house if the lights are all down. I’ll wait to see who's around you. I will follow your bus downtown to see who's hanging out with you. I'll walk down the mall, stand over by the wall just to see it all, find out who you call. Lead you to the supermarket checkout buy you some specials and rat food, get lost in the crowd with you. — Nyssa read, the color draining from her face.
— Sounds like the Blondie song, you know the one. — Percy said in the worst relaxed tone he could have used. — One wayyy or another…—
— Dude this is worst than expected, have you tried to tell someone? — Leo looked appalled.
Then, as fate made decision the lunch ring belled. Everyone should clean and go to the dining hall without discovering the decision of Percy, who very swiftly grabbed the paper and folded it before running away from his friends.
The rest of the day was tense for everyone, except Clarisse who keeps insisting on how normal that was for someone like him. They reunited without both of them as soon as they could, outside the dining hall Nyssa grabbed his little stepbrother and guided him until they found the rest.
— He never mentioned something like this, never. — said Nico with a very perturbed tone created by the situation.
— Who could it be? — Asked Drew with a very calculating expression on her face, probably making a list in her head.
— That is a great question Drew, why don’t we just ask him? — Leo tried to laugh, failing his own task.
— He said it was in his room, we should ask him if he got the same sender in his cabin. That narrows down the possibilities. — Will reasoned.
— Yeah, definitely, we should go to him and ask him ‘Hey, can you tell us if you were stalked on a daily basis by someone we know?’ Great idea Leo. — Nyssa told his young stepbrother.
— I’M TRYING MY BEST NYSSA— His stepbrother shouts back.
—We aren’t going to make any progress in the case if we continue in this state, we should separate and meet again tomorrow. I want you all to meet at 7 am in front of my cabin. No snitching, no confessing, and no telling anyone… Maybe Rachel since she knows more than us about him. — Drew commanded. — I will go for her. The rest go to your activities. —
Drew saw them disperse through the camp, she tried gathering all her courage she had to go to Rachel’s cave. After a solid minute she started to walk towards the hill, she didn’t say hi no one, feeling a hint of fear on her bones. When she finally arrived, she sighed, as loud as her lungs permitted. Gods, are these really her friends?
— I can hear you thinking from here Drew. — Rachels soft voice said.
— I know, I bet you had already foreseen my visit. — She knew that Rachel couldn’t see dumb interactions.
— Matter of fact, I did. Someone needed to stop this. — Her voice sounding louder, probably getting closer to her.
— Excuse me? — Drew finally opened the door that kept them separated.
— You are excused Drew. — The redhead laughed. — I am saying that I can’t see who this stalker is but I’m curious, since I know him, he has had all types of fruit, romantic flowers, random things, and notes from him on his bed. I want to know. —
— As her friend, do you know for whom I should start this madness? — She asked with a desperate look.
— The oracle has nothing to say, but I recommend starting by asking for all the notes. If he hasn’t thrown them all, they are a starting point. All of you should visit me when you have them, I will read them for you. — And with that Rachel closed the door.
Well, damn. Now she really needs to wait until tomorrow.