Ocean Magic (PJO x KC x HOO)

7. Ranch Dressing Protection Squad

McDonald's stood in front of Pepe and me, looking so glorious, so heavenly. Jackie tasked us with getting food before we went to Camp Half-Blood for some reason (I have no idea why we never stopped for real food on the rest of this journey), and this was the first time I was alone with Pepe. I was a little nervous, but the smell of the unnatural yet incredibly delicious food seeped from the brick building, and my stomach growled loudly. I prayed that Pepe didn't hear that, and looking out of the corner of my eye, I saw him staring up at the building with disgust. Oh no. I couldn't be friends with a McDonald's hater. 

"Why do we have to get food from here?" Pepe asked, his accent slipping into his words. I had noticed in the car that he tried to speak without his accent, and I wondered why. He sounded much better with that accent than without it. "It's not real food, you know."

I cross my arms over my chest, turning to face him. "McDonald's is amazing. Jackie would definitely agree with me."

"How can you say that when you don't know what they put in the food?"

"Honestly, I don't care. There's something so addictive about the food, and it tastes great. Plus, I'm starving right now since someone didn't want to stop along the way to get food." I narrowed my eyes at Pepe, who rolled his own. "How are we going to pay for the food, though? I don't have enough money on me."

"I do." Pepe reached into his back pocket and pulled out his wallet. He flashed me a quick grin, one that lit his whole face up, and winked at me. I hated how much that made my heart thud against my chest. "Don't look too surprised, Ariel."

I tried to ignore the fact that my face was filling with color. "You had money all this time? You let Jackie steal things from that gas station when you had --"

"Yes, yes, I allowed that to happen. I just . . . forgot about my wallet for a second there."

Before I could stop myself, I hit him across the shoulder. He laughed in response, which made me even angrier. "I could kill you right now," I muttered to myself, turning away from him and heading toward the door. I grabbed ahold of the handle and was about to pull it open when Pepe placed his hand on the door, pushing against my pull. Looking at him, I was surprised to see how close he was to me. My breath got caught in my throat. "Pepe, what are you doing?"

"I wanted to apologize for the gas station thing," he said, surprising me even more. I searched his face to see if he was joking, but he looked honest, open. I blinked up at him, kind of glad I got to see this side to him. He smiled at me. "But I'm making up for it by paying for the McDonald's food."

"Good," I said, shoving him away from me. "Let's get it and get back on the road."

〰✦〰

The car was speeding down the highway as Jackie and I slowly ate our wonderful food. Pepe hadn't touched his, though he kept eyeing the bag warily as if he were actually hungry enough to eat the McDonald's food. When we first got in the car, Jackie excitedly grabbed at her food and nearly ripped the bag open, but Pepe kept quiet. I wondered what he was thinking about. 

"Ariel told me you liked McDonald's," Pepe said, finally speaking. "I was skeptical, but now I see it."

"If you didn't know, he doesn't like McDonald's, Jackie."

The gasp that escaped Jackie's lips was so loud and so surprising, and I grinned at Pepe through the rearview mirror when he jumped, nearly pulling the car off the side of the road. "How dare you?" she asked, holding her nuggets close to her chest. "Do you like ranch dressing?"

"No."

"Oh, good, me either."

"Excuse me!" I said, pulling a packet of ranch dressing out of my own bag that also held my nuggets and fries. "Ranch is the best dipping sauce out there! Back home, Dad has a whole slew of different ranch brands because I love them all."