Chapter 15

Ellie’s POV:

Grover and Annabeth were back, Percy… nowhere to be seen. I couldn’t talk to them, I hid in my cabin pacing back and forth, Sarah sat in her wheelchair watching me. Clarisse went to talk to them, though when she walked in with a somber look, I broke.

“He’s dead?” I ask, a cry breaking past my lips as my knees hit the floor harshly. Clarisse’s eyes widened as she moved quickly. She knelt beside me and held me to her chest.

“They don’t know, they got split up.” I sob as she moves my hair out of my face. Clarisse holds me close to her, rubbing my back and kissing my cheek.

“Just wait a few more days, let’s see what happens baby.” Clarisse soothes, and I nod clinging to her, hugging her back tightly.

That night, Clarisse surprised me. She set up a tent out in the meadow, and we curled up next to each other, keeping each other warm.

I lay my head on her chest, her arms wrapped around my waist, her fingertips tracing the bit of exposed skin.

Her fingers trail up my back, and my lips part as her fingers curl around the hair by my scalp, and I arch my back.

“Percy will be fine, he’ll probably be back tomorrow.” I nod, but I wasn’t so sure.

Tomorrow came, and Percy wasnt here.

I self-isolated, avoiding Clarisse and my siblings. I found a tree, and I settled in it in the woods, curled into the rough bark.

I should have known Clarisse would find me. It was night, I skipped dinner and lunch, and I heard the branches below me creaking.

“You’ve been hiding from me.” Clarisse speaks up as she stands between my legs from the lower branch. I kiss her lips quickly.

“I just needed to be alone.” I tell her softly, and she nods, rubbing her nose along my jaw.

That night, she stayed up with me as we fell asleep under the stars. In the morning, it felt different as we walked into camp; people were clapping.

I dropped Clarisse’s hand when I saw him. Percy, I took off in a run, when he finally noticed me, he smiled and jogged my way, and we met in the middle, our arms wrapping around each other. He lifted me off my feet as my face hid in his shoulder. I cried quietly.

He put me on my feet after a few minutes, and Annabeth threw her arms around him. He looked over my shoulder.

“What is she doing here?” He asks, and I look behind me with a frown, only to see my girlfriend, who stood in the middle of her siblings like a leader, arms crossed and spine straight.

She watched blankly until her eyes met mine, and they softened. I smile her way with a small wave, only to frown as Annabeth pulls me along with Percy.

“She didn’t steal shit.” I spit the words out.

“You weren’t on the quest, it has to be her, her father-” I cut Annabteh off.

“It wasn’t her!” I snap at her, and Percy eyes me with wide eyes.

” Why are you defending her so hard?” Annabeth asks with attitude. I glare at her, stepping up to her, and she looks at me, shocked.

“Ellie.” Luke warns, but doesn’t stop me.

“What’s going on?” Clarisse stands in the doorway, grabbing everyone’s attention.

She stood stiff, arms crossed. She glares at Luke, then holds her hand out to me. I push past Annabeth and curl into Clarisse’s side.

“What the fuck?” Percy asks himself, loud enough for us all to hear.

“Yeah, they’re dating.” Luke mutters.

“Let’s go, yeah?” Clarisse asks her eyes lazer focused on me and how uncomfortable I looked. I nod, and she walks me away.

“El!” Percy calls after me, but I ignore him; there’s no way Clarisse stole the bolt.

I don’t bring it up to her, not wanting her anger to surge. Together, we joined the festivities around camp, the celebration in full swing. Clarisse kept me close to her arm, wrapped around me at all times as we sat with her siblings, drinking beer, the Hermes cabin snuck in. I leaned into Clarisse’s side as the night went on, the alcohol making my body feel heavy as the cool air caressed my skin, causing goosebumps to form. I ignored Annabeth’s eye as Clarisse rubbed my arms, warming me up a bit.

The night went smoothly. I lost track of Annabeth, but when my brother and her rejioned the group, we learned that Luke was the one who stole the bolt, and he escaped camp.

Packing to go home was dreadful for me. Clarisse stayed by my side, helping me pack, as I moved slowly.

“I don’t want to leave you.” I tell the girl. She smiles sadly.

“We’ll write to each other, keep eachother updated till next summer.” I pout. Clarisse pulls me into a kiss, kissing the pout away, and I sigh, leaning into it. Clarisse walked me to my car, along with Percy, who avoided looking at her, feeling bad for wrongly accusing her of stealing the bolt. Mom jumped out of the car, happily pulling Percy and me into a group hug. I melted into her, taking in her warmth.

“I missed you.” I tell her, and she pulls away to kiss my forehead. I put my bag in the car and turn to Clarisse. I can hear Percy filling Mom in, explaining that she was my girlfriend. I take Clarisse’s hand in mine, and her eyes on me soften.

“Don’t miss me too much.” I roll my eyes as Clarisse smirks, and I pull her into a hug.

“Not possible.” I mutter into her shoulder, and her arms tighten around me.

“Can you guys stop being gross?!” Percy shouts from the passenger seat.

Clarisse and I pull away from each other, and she glares at him.

“Shut up, Jackson!” I smile up at my girlfriend and kiss her cheek.

“Don’t forget to write me.” I tell her as I pull away and walk towards the car.

“Never.” She tells me her face staying hard with Percy watching her, pouting in the front seat.

“Everyday!” I tell her with wide expectant eyes, and she shakes her head fondly with a small smile.

“Twice a day.” She tells me, and I smile as I climb into the car and roll down the window.

“Don’t let your hand cramp up.” I tell her, and she chuckles. She waves towards the car before turning and walking back to camp. I sigh, watching her figure retreat.

“So… you have a girlfriend.” I sigh.

“Mom, don’t even.” I tell her clipping my seatbelt on.

“Shes pretty.” Mom speaks up as she starts to drive.

“Mom!”