Ocean Magic (PJO x KC x HOO)

3. Assassination Station

The three of us (or, should I have said the four of us?) stood still as the person continuously knocked at the front door. I was afraid to look at my mother -- Hecate -- because she was fuming. Dad looked sad as he cleared his throat. Maybe if I looked at him, I wouldn't have to answer the door. That proved to be a bad thing.

"Did you invite Jackie over?" Dad asked, looking at me. He looked exhausted, his eyes dark as he stared at me. "Because I don't think right now is a good time." He motioned toward my mother, the woman who only came around a few times a year, who never, really was my mother. "Tell her to go away."

I squeaked out a response before running over to the door. Your mom is angry. I decided to ignore Ama for right now, wishing she wasn't inhabiting my body. This was going to be hard to keep a secret from Jackie. Unless I could tell her, but then she'd probably think I was crazy. I thought I was crazy, for goodness' sake. 

Swinging the door open, I sighed when I saw Jackie standing there, a wide grin on her face. My relief washed away like a wave when I saw a cute boy standing next to her, his hands stuffed in his front pockets. The boy was looking out toward the water beyond my house, his dark brown hair on the longer side, blowing in the soft breeze. Early morning sunlight shone on him, glinting off of the chain wrapped around his neck that held a few pendants, one of a blue flower, and my breath got caught in my throat. 

And then he looked at me with sparkly brown eyes. I nearly melted into the doorway to my house, totally forgetting that my parents were standing behind me, wanting me to get rid of my best friend. She shot me a knowing grin before saying, "Hello, Ariel."

"What are you doing here?" I asked, hoping I didn't look like I just woke up thirty minutes ago. Surprisingly, Ama was silent as I died inside while the boy looked me straight in the eye, and it looked like he knew what effect he had on me. "And . . ." I faltered as the boy smiled. Clearing my throat, I said, "Who is this?"

"Pepe Khan," the boy said, his voice on the deeper side. I also detected an accent. He held his hand out, and I quickly shook his hand, noting the electricity that passed between us. My hand burned as I dropped it to my side, and I wished I put makeup on earlier with the way he was looking at me. "It's nice to meet you, Ariel Murphy."

With that, I was snapped out of the trance I was in. How did he know my full name? My gaze flickered over to Jackie, who still had a wide smile on her face. There was something behind her eyes that made me frown. She nodded toward him and said, "He was there when you nearly drowned on the beach last night."

I recognized him. He nearly got in the way when I was saving your life.

Shut it. It's hard enough to have a conversation with Jackie and a random boy, and I'm afraid I'll speak my thoughts for you aloud. 

That's rude, Ariel. Maybe I should have let you die.

"Hey!" I said aloud, doing exactly what I warned Ama about. In my mind's eye, I saw her facepalm at my slip-up. In front of me, Jackie and Pepe stared at me, both wearing confused looks on their face. I had to fix this somehow. "Um, do you two want to come in? My mom is here, but I don't think she'd mind it if you came in."

I felt my parents' glare on my back, but I gave Jackie and Pepe a shaky grin, ignoring the anger that radiated behind me. This isn't a good idea. I don't trust the two of them. Wow, all three of them didn't want Pepe and Jackie in my house, but I didn't quite care at that moment. I wanted to know why Jackie brought Pepe to my house and told him my name. I wanted to know why Jackie was here in the first place. And lastly, I wanted to tell my best friend about the crazy things going on in the last thirty minutes.