Chapter 11

Ellie’s POV:

As promised, I met up with Clarisse in the morning after breakfast. I was wearing a camp shirt that I cut up into a tank top and a pair of tights, I was ready for whatever she wanted to throw at me.

Clarisse scooped my hand into hers, a smile spreading across my face as we walked in silence, after the small talk of how we were doing and the I missed you’s.

I notice Clarisse pulling me past the training area and frown.

“Where are we going?” I ask the girl, and she grins at me.

“I wanted to train you in private today. Do you mind?” She asked softly, caressing my knuckles with the pad of her thumb.

“No.” I mutter, letting her pull me to an open area through the trees.

“Its beautiful.” I say, looking around at the large terrain. It was an open area, filled with green grass surrounded by thick trees, making a perfect training area for us. Clarisse hums in agreement before kissing my lips quickly and taking a few steps away, releasing my hand.

“I want to see what you can do and work from there.” I nod at her words and bounce on my toes a little.” Do you have any experience working with weapons?” Clarisse asks, and I shake my head.

“Besides the short lesson, you taught me about swords.” I tell her, and her lips quirk up at the ends.

“And what did I teach you in that lesson?” She asks. I grow nervous seeing how seriously she was taking this.

“Keep my weight balanced, stick them with the pionty end and don’t let them corner you.” Clarisse nods.

“Good, today we won’t use any weapons.” I frown at her words.” We’re gonna do some hand-to-hand combat, today you’ll learn how to properly fight and dodge.” I nod.” To start off you need a good stance.” Clarisse walks towards me and enters my space. She kicks my feet apart and then places her hands on my hips.

My breath stutters, nose level with her lips as she looked down at what she was doing, she shifted my hips straight.

“Keep on the balls of your feet, always be ready to move and deflect blows.” She says softly, looking up into my eyes, and I nod with a pink hue to my cheeks.

She takes a step back.” You won’t be fighting bullies at school who don’t know how to throw a proper punch. From now on, you will be hunted by monsters who want to kill you, not make fun of your hair.” I reach up for my hair subconciesly and she slaps my hand down with a roll of her eyes.” Fight to maim and kill.” Clarisse tells me sternly, and I hesitate before nodding.

“What if I cant do it?” I ask her softly, hesitantly and her face softens.

“You will because you have to. Just like the minatar, he attacked you and your family. What did you do?” I frown, my jaw clenching as embarrassment fills me.

“I ran, Grover and my mom told me to run, so I did.”My words came out filled with disappointment.

“Hey, it’s okay.” Clarisse strokes my arms.” If you had tried to fight, he probably would have killed you. Running in that moment was smart.” I frown at her words.” Im trying to teach you to fight, so next time you won’t have to run.”

I nodded, this time more sure of myself.” Then let’s get started.” I tell Clarisse, and she smiles proudly.

I grunt as the air escapes my lungs, and my back hits the ground once more. Clarisse stood over me evenly as I lay on my back, panting to catch my breath.

“How did Marcus let me kick his ass?” I ask, groaning as I sit up.

Clarisse smirks.” I told him not to hurt you. Besides your not that bad. We’ve been training to fight monsters for years, while you’ve been fighting bullies at school.” I huff, climbing back to my feet and squaring my shoulders once more, raising my fists. Clarisse shakes her head and pushes my fist down.” Lunchtime, baby.” She tells me softly, and I sigh in relief.

“Thank god, Im starving.” I tell her, and she chuckles, bumping her shoulder into mine playfully.

At lunch, we sat with each other. I noticed she liked to watch me. Even now, as I ate, her eyes were on me as I stared at my plate.

“Do you ever get bored?” I ask her. I mean, all Im doing is stuffing food down my throat, it couldn’t be that fun to watch.

“Bored with what?” Clarisse asks, glancing over at her plate for a second as she picks at her food. I smile, noticing her eyes went back to me quickly.

“Of watching me.” Her eyes widen in surprise, and she quickly looks down at her own half-eaten plate of food.

“No, I like to try and guess what’s going on in your head sometimes. Does it bother you that I watch you?” Clarisse asks, glancing my way.

“No.” I think more on it.” It makes me feel safe.” I answer honestly, she looks back at me, shamelessly staring once more.” You watching me means nothing can sneak up on me. So I won’t get hurt.” With a smile, Clarisse leans in and kisses my cheek.

“I’ll always protect you, sunshine.” Clarisse’s words come out soft.

We finish our food, then go back to training.

“You’re going easy on me.”I pointed out to the other; she continued to dodge my blows, sending weak punches my way that I dodged and avoided.

“Why?” I ask her, and she steps back, putting a pause on our training. Her eyes land on a bruise on my arm, from earlier when I lifted my arm to block a blow, and it landed punishingly on my arm.” It’s just a bruise.” I tell her with a small grin, my heart warming, and she sighs, placing her hands on her hips.

“You soften me.” She mutters gruffly, not exactly upset, but it came out a little bratty.

A giggle leaves my lips as I walk over and hug her around the waist.” You make me stronger.” I tell her fondly, pressing my lips to hers, she easily kissed back, and instead of training, we spent the next hour kissing, lying across the thick green grass of the meadow.

(Edited)