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chapter forty. ☄︎. *. ⋆
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I GUESS I SHOULD be glad I made it to camp without dying a gruesome death. Thalia's driving sorta made me doubt whether we'd be back in time for breakfast or not.
I spent the entire sun ride from Maine to Long Island sitting with Bianca and the Hunters—they had all shot towards the back of the bus, forcing Percy, Grover, and Nico (in other words, the gross boys) to sit at the front, at least six rows away from them. I was fine with it. Bianca was nice company. Better than Percy.
When we got to camp, the Hunters split off pretty quickly and headed to their cabin. I stuck with Thalia. Percy hovered around like he wanted to stay with us, but knew he wasn't welcome. Grover wandered off to "housekeep" around the Hunters' cabin—which, knowing Grover, probably meant stalk some of them.
"I'm off," Apollo told the rest of us. He hadn't spoken to me once—the closest I got to communication with my father was back on the bus when Thalia accidentally pushed the brake instead of the gas and Apollo was thrown back to land on the floor at my feet. He'd offered an apology over his shoulder, then rushed back to take control of the wheel.
"Take care," he said to us three. Finally, he looked to me. It was more of an uncertain glance, but nevertheless, I took it. He pursed his lips, then said, "Watch out for those prophecies, Theodosia."
"What's that mean?" I asked.
"Just that they can be tricky. Don't take 'em so seriously all the time, you know?" Apollo winked. He hopped back in the bus. "Later, Thalia," he called. "And, uh, be good!"
He gave her a wicked smile, as if he knew something she didn't. Then he closed the doors and revved the engine. I turned aside as the sun chariot took off in a blast of heat. When I looked back, the lake was steaming. A red Maserati soared over the woods, glowing brighter and climbing higher until it disappeared in a ray of sunlight.
"C'mon, Nico," Thalia said, nodding towards the Big House, though she seemed as confused as I was. "Let's go talk to Chiron."
As they headed off, I could hear Nico asking questions about who Chiron was and how he didn't have Chiron's figurine and does Chiron have any cool powers?!?!?
My lips twitched in a suppressed smile. Then I turned around and remembered Percy Jackson was in my vicinity, so my smile quickly dissipated.
He opened his mouth to probably say something stupid that I would've found something to get angry about, but he could barely get the first syllable out before someone cut him off—a familiar voice, shouting my name and running up behind Percy. I couldn't help the grin that grew on my lips at the sight of Connor.
