Double Life? Make it Triple

Chapter 14

A/N

An actual quick update! Yay! The start of this chapter may seem rushed, but I kinda just wanted to get it up and...yeah. Hope you like it.

Enjoy!

Percy's POV:

Turns out, summer camp can be fun when you don't have people trying to beat you up waiting for you in every corner. Especially when you have friends. I put on my wig and headed out of my cabin towards the dining pavilion. Yup, a pavilion.

Now, I'm not an architecture nerd like Beth, but I could still appreciate the buildings with their white columns and sloping roofs. The places here were seriously awesome.

"Hey, Perry!" I slid onto the bench in between Connor and a dude named Will, opposite from Beth.

"Hey, Lizzy!" She scowled, and pointed her fork up at me. As she flicked it up, a dollop of syrup flew onto my face. I swiped at it.

"I'm under assault!" I yelled. "Back up squad, attack!" I glanced at Will and Connor expectantly, but they just stared blankly at me. "Wow, such traitors."

Beth turned back to her pancakes as if nothing had happened. "Shoot me in archery if you really want revenge," she said simply. I narrowed my eyes at her and dug into my own pancakes after pouring nearly the entire bottle of syrup on them.

Katie stared at my plate with wide eyes. "Syrup, much? Jeez!"

I shrugged as I shoveled down another mouthful. "Hey, I like syrup, okay? Don't make fun of me for it."

Will rolled his eyes. "Maybe if I get lucky, I'll manage to hit all of you with one arrow."

"Aw, you wouldn't!" I said, poking his shoulder. His pointed his knife at me, and I raised my hands in the air. Although I hadn't anticipated that I was still holding my utensils, and the piece of pancake I'd just speared fell to the floor. I watched it in dismay. The others laughed at me. I punched Connor in the arm, and he shut up.

"Archery," I told myself. "I'll get them back in archery."

That didn't happen, either. The six of us walked over together, and found Chiron taking practice shots He hit the bullseye every time.

I nudged Beth. "Bet you can't do that," I said, pointing toward our camp director. She shrugged.

"You got me. I'll be aiming at you, remember?" Then she walked faster and picked up a bow, which didn't help my confidence one bit. Travis walked past me and grinned.

"Ooh, you're so dead, dude."

"You wish." I nocked an arrow in my bow and aimed it at the target. Will beat me to it and let his fly, hitting the target dead centre. I dropped mine and gaped at him in awe.

"How-"

"What-"

"Dude!" Travis exclaimed. "That was awesome! Johansson, you're so going down."

I scowl and aim my bow again. I'll prove them wrong! I let it fire, and Beth aimed hers and released it just as quickly. My jaw dropped when her arrow hit mine, sending it to the ground, and hers embedded itself in the wooden target.

I turned to her. "Hey! That actually would've made it!"

She smirked. "Sure, Perry. In your dreams."

"Trust me, you've got the starring role." Why did I say that?! That was such a Percy Jackson thing to say, and now she'd think I was a douche! I added a wink at the end and tried to make it sound not as bad. She just raised an eyebrow, and gestured toward the target again.

"Go on, big shot. Hit the target, if you're so good." I raised the bow again, and concentrated hard. Then I let go of the string.

And immediately wished I hadn't.

Somehow, my arrow had managed to go sideways, and it hit Chiron right in the back. I winced, dropped my weapon and hid behind Beth. She gave me an unimpressed look, before she started laughing. Chiron spun around and saw everyone laughing their asses off, while I stood there, trying to hide behind Beth.

Wow, Percy. I wonder who it was.

"Okay, who was it?" Everyone pointed to me while I pointed at Katie. She just stared at me.

"Pierre, I'm literally the only one of us not near a bow." Hmm, good point.

"Well...whatever. Uh, sorry, Chiron," I apologized, because that'd get me off the hook, right? Chiron just stared at me, shaking his head, then turned away. "Yes! I'm off the hook!" I pumped a fist in the air.

"Oh, and Mr Johansson?" He added over his shoulder. "I'll put you on dish duty tonight. That means lunch, too."

"Well, s**t," I swore. The others had the nerve to laugh. I'd show them.

Volleyball. I couldn't suck at this, right? I was fast on my feet due to running away from people who wanted to kill me, so I should be alright at this.

Jeez, what a sucky reason to be good at something.

Beth and I had teamed up, and we were versing the Stolls. I pulled her aside for a 'team talk' before the match.

"Okay, Charman, this is getting serious. We may have our differences, but I'm pretty sure we both wanna beat the crap out of the Stolls. Are you in?" She raised her eyebrows at me, but shrugged her agreement.

"Whatever. You better not let me down, Johansson."

"Oh, believe me," I said, grinning. "I'm sure my volleyball skills are very up to par with what you-" I was cut off by something hitting me in the back of the head. I whipped around, my hand shooting up to my head, readjusting my wig out of habit. I hated having to wear the thing, but for all I knew, Luke could be at this camp. I narrowed my eyes at Travis.

"Hey!" I yelled as the others snickered at me. "Don't you know it's rude to hit someone from behind?"

Connor snorted. "You actually expected him to have manners? Where have you been living this morning, under a rock?"

"Well, technically, yes,because the buildings here are all made of stone!" That was a pretty fair point. I grinned at him, feeling incredibly smug. He just shook his head, and gestured to the ball at my feet.

"Well? We're waiting, dude."

I offered it to Beth. "Ladies first?" She gave me a sour look, and I turned back to face the net. "Right. I'll go first." Then I hit it over.

I won't detail the next ten minutes, because Beth and I totally kicked the Stolls asses, and you don't need to hear the same thing over and over.

"Did you see Travis' dive? He totally ate dirt!"

"And when Connor fell onto him trying to get the ball? That was hilarious!"

"How do you even accidentally jump your brother during volleyball?" I glanced over at where Beth was standing. She was laughing loudly, and her eyes were sparkling. I had the feeling she didn't laugh much.

"Beth," I said, stopping and meeting her eyes.

"What?" She questioned, curiosity showing in her eyes. What had I wanted to ask her? I'd just said her name, and now I looked like a weirdo.

"Um..." I glanced around for something to talk about. The weird-looking trees! "The trees here look kind weird. Like, there's faces in them or something." Great save, really, man. People'll be using that for decades to come.

"Uh, yeah," she said, looking amused. "They do, actually."

I threw up my hands. "You suggest a subject to talk about, then!"

She grinned at me slyly. "How about dish duty?"

I pointed a finger at her. "You, my friend, are evil."

"Oh, I know."

Canoeing. The one thing at camp that I was actually really good at. And that meant I could seek my revenge.

"Hey, Bethy," I said, paddling beside her. She looked incredibly shaky, and I thought she'd tip at any moment. Easy target.

"Go away, Johansson," she said, trying to paddle away from me. My boat 'accidentally' bumped hers, and she had to grab my shoulder to keep from tipping out. I smirked down at her.

"Having fun there?" She scowled at me and righted herself, nearly pushing me over. I lifted my knee to stop myself and smiled widely at her. Her glared hardened. "Hey, don't hate me because I'm good at something!"

"How are you so good at canoeing?" She muttered, trying to move her boat away from me. I stayed with her.

"My, uh, my dad taught me when I was little," I paused, scrunching my nose. "Well, at least I'm told he did. I believe it, because what else explains it?"

Her eyebrows furrowed. "You don't remember?"

I shook my head. "No, he, um, left when I was a lot younger. I don't really remember him that well."

"I know what you mean. My dad didn't want me, so I ran away. I was seven," her voice hardened, and she smiled wryly. "Luckily, my mom found me, so now I live with her. But I know what it feels like to have a sucky dad." Even though I did slightly resent my dad for leaving, I still loved him. I felt a strong need to defend him.

"He was a great dad," I snapped, and her eyes widened. "He had to leave, he told me...he had no choice," I finished quietly, looking down at the water. "Sorry for snapping, but...he wasn't a bad person. Sometimes good people make bad decisions, too." Kind of like my life story. We'd analyzed this book in English (which I hadn't read, but the teacher gave us these worksheets and explained them in class because she knew most of us wouldn't do them), and there had been a quote about that and my teacher asked us to compare it to a bad decision we'd made. I'd written two lists, one which completely filled my page and another with an answer that landed me in detention. Maybe I used to be a good person, but now I was just...a shell of who I should've been.

Okay, that went deep. Beth was staring at me weirdly, and I focused my attention back to her. She looked kinda regretful.

"Yeah, I can relate to that."

I snorted. She stared at me, obviously confused. I understood that. I even confused me sometimes. "You? Doing dumb stuff? It doesn't fit."

"You're right," she replied. "I don't fit."

"Hey, lovebirds!" A voice yelled out. Beth and I turned too late, and Connor and Travis rammed us from both sides, and even I couldn't stop myself from going over.

I came up underneath my boat, and glanced around for Beth. She'd gone to the surface and I could faintly hear her chewing out the Stoll brothers. I liked being underwater, because you could relax and drown out everything else in the world. I saw Beth's leg hanging by my boat and pulled her under the water. I heard her shriek as she was submerged, and her head popped up beside mine. She glared at me.

"What the hell was that for, Johansson?" I shrugged. I had no clue myself, actually. Why did I do that? As I pondered this she sighed in exasperation. "You are the weirdest person I've ever met."

"Really? Cool!" She swatted my arm, and she suddenly tensed. I realized why a second later. Since we were stuck under a canoe, we were pretty close together. Did I just unintentionally set myself up? Wow, go me! Finally doing something good for myself! I silently reprimanded myself. Percy, you've done yourself a favour, now don't mess it up.

Beth arched an eyebrow. "So, do you have an explanation?"

"Good people make bad decisions, right?" I held the rim of the boat with both hands to steady myself. "So I'll make up for it. Tell me, Charman, is this a good decision?" Before she could reply (and before I could chicken out), I leaned forward and pressed my lips to hers.

Annabeth's POV

"Good people make bad decisions, right?" Pierre adjusted his hands, and I watched him curiously, wondering where this was leading. I was acutely aware of how close we were, and I felt warm despite the cold water seeping into my clothes. Then he continued. "So I'll make up for it. Tell me, Charman, is this a good decision?" Then he closed the gap between us and connected our lips. A part of me thought that this was weird, because we barely knew each other. But the other part of me, which was way more dominant, told me to just go with it. Which I had no problem with. I reached up to support myself so I didn't fall under the water and leaned closer to him. Something about this seemed familiar...but I couldn't figure out WHAT. I'd never kissed Pierre before. The only guys I had kissed recently were...Luke and Percy. But Pierre wasn't either of those. Was he?

In alarm, I banged my head on the top of the boat and lost my grip on the plastic. That caused Pierre to panic, and we both fell into the water, mouths still together. I broke away and kicked up towards the surface, breathing in deeply once my head was above water. I grabbed onto my canoe and took deep breaths. Pierre still hadn't surfaced, and I was about to go under again to look for him when I saw his hand grip the side of his boat. He grinned at me, and I couldn't help but smile back at him. No. He wasn't Percy or Luke. He was too nice. Then I noticed our friends, who were staring at us cryptically.

"I guess you two didn't drown after all," Will deadpanned. Travis smirked at us, then looked at Connor.

"Hey, bro, we should be professional matchmakers!" At my dignified glare, he waved a hand at me. "Please, Charman. Don't think we don't know what you were doing."

"It'll be strangling you, soon," I replied, only half-joking. The brothers exchanged a glance before paddling away at lightning speed. Will and Katie sighed, glancing at each other.

"Why are our friends idiots?" Katie asked him. Will shrugged.

"Normal people need dumb people to make them feel smart?" Pierre and I glared at him. "I mean the other two. Obviously," he added with a cough. "Well, I'll be going now..."

Katie glanced at the others, who were now putting their boats away. "I'll leave you guys to it."

I turned to face Pierre again, to find him already watching me with one eyebrow raised. I lifted one back at him.

"I believe we were interrupted before," he stated needlessly. I put my elbows on his boat, staring at him. "Take care of your head, alright?" I laughed, and didn't protest when he leaned in over the boat. And this time, I wouldn't bruise my head.

It took all my willpower to not finish Dan's diss track after writing 'okay that went deep'. But I repressed it (god, I'm so punny. I'm a loser) and managed to write this stuff. It's kinda Percabeth, but they don't know it's each other so...Bethierre? I dunno. Anyway, hope you enjoyed it, because I'm about to screw up their lives majorly. I feel so evil. Also, I've just bought a copy of The Dark Prophecy, aka Trials of Apollo 2! I'm so excited and ahhh!

Reviewer Replies:

Psyche Castle - You will probably regret saying that once the next few chapters are uploaded but I hope you still enjoy it!

neyongreen - Well, here ya go! Hope you like it!

Jules - I agree, but don't worry, she'll get her revenge!

Today's question: how much more camp stuff do you want me to write? Because I've got something planned for after camp, but not the actual camp, so...yeah.

Until next time,

HV