JAWBREAKER

𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙚𝙣

An hour later they were headed west, feeling the sway of the train as it rumbled along the tracks.

There were tons of luxury cars to choose from. Zoe opted for a sleek Lexus on the top deck, and Grover was playing race car driver behind the wheel of a Lamborghini. But Warren went for the Mercedes minivan at the back of the train. It wasn't as flashy as some of the other vehicles, but she could recline the three rows of seats and lay down for the first time since leaving camp.

A deep breath in, a deep breath out, and Warren finally began to feel the stress of the day melt away. Well, the stress of the night, really. She'd gone from one terrible dream, to a last minute quest across the country.

Luckily she'd felt pretty steady so far. Chiron had explicitly forbidden her from high intensity situations, and this definitely qualified. But it was strange, Warren thought, that she didn't have many incidents during the few months she'd been away from camp. There was the occasional monster attack, or fight with her mom, but nothing to make her blow her top. All she did was goof around with Percy.

And speak of the devil...

There was a thump against the bumper of her Mercedes. "Picking up the kids from carpool?"

"Hey, don't knock the minivan until you try it."

"Don't mind if I do." Percy jumped in and spread out like a starfish, taking up almost all of the room in the backseat.

Warren tried to kick him away. "This isn't what I meant!"

"Too late," Percy threw his arm to the side, half-smacking her in the face. "I'm comfy."

"Will you be comfy with a broken wrist?"

"At this point your threats mean nothing," he scoffed. "You're not gonna do it."

Warren's eyes glinted in the dark, immediately making Percy regret his words. "Wanna bet?"

"No, actually I—" But it was too late. Warren grasped his wrist and yanked him across the backseat, squeezing tight. "I was kidding! Warren, uncle! UNCLE!"

"That's what I thought," she chuckled.

It wasn't until Warren went to release Percy's hand that she realized how close they actually were. She was suddenly very aware that they were face to face in the back of a dark car. Percy was looking at her with his stupid floppy hair and his stupid dimples, and her stupid heart thudded in her chest like the betrayer that it was. Why did she feel all warm and nervous and ugh! She didn't understand things like this. It irritated her.

"You have a very punchable face," Warren muttered.

"Uh...thanks?"

"Not a compliment."

"Oh, um, then sorry."

"You should be."

"You're so weird sometimes," Percy said, and his sweet breath washed across her cheek. Warren pushed him away.