Learning to Trust (A Leo Valdez Love Story)

Chapter 34

KYRA

    Kyra enjoyed eating dinner with Harley, Leo, and the rest of the Hephaestus cabin. Harley had convinced her to try pizza, which Kyra had never had before. The boy seemed pretty shocked to hear that but refrained from asking questions after Leo sent him a look. 

    The three of them sat at the end of the table, Kyra on the end with Harley to her right and Leo across from her. Leo's sister Nyssa sat beside Leo, alternating between joining their conversation and having her own with the rest of the campers. It seemed that, like Leo, the Hephaestus kids were severely ADHD. Kyra found it difficult to keep up, but the siblings could change subjects faster than Kyra could blink without missing a beat. 

    "Kyra, will you come with us to Bunker 9 tomorrow? We're finally going to start building the structure of the Argo II!" Harley spoke excitedly. 

    Kyra smiled, she found the energy Harley brought to everything he did to be refreshing compared to what she's been used to. 

    "If you'd like me to," she responded looking between Leo and Harley. "I'm helping Audrey in the infirmary tomorrow morning but I can come by later if that's okay," she finished. 

    Audrey was one of Will's sisters who had welcomed Kyra with open arms when she arrived at camp. Will often had Audrey and Kyra work together in the infirmary so she had gotten to know her pretty well in a short amount of time. She felt like Audrey was the first friend Kyra made by herself. All her other friendships were made because of her previous circumstances in life: Leo, Jason, and Piper were her friends because they rescued her. Will and Annabeth were her friends because they had scared her when she awoke in the infirmary. But Audrey made an effort to befriend Kyra all on her own accord, Kyra appreciated that. 

    "Yes!" Harley exclaimed, pumping his fist in the air. Kyra tensed and slowly moved away from the boy, his sharp movement making her nervous. She met Leo's eyes across from her and gave him a nervous smile. It seemed like she always found herself seeking him out when she was uncomfortable. 

    "Easy there Harley," Leo spoke, causing Harley to look over at Kyra. He put his arm down sheepishly.

    "Sorry, Kyra," he spoke quietly, his face dropping. 

    She gave him a warm smile back. "It's okay, Harley. You're excited, that's good. I just get scared when people move too fast," she explained, not wanting the young boy to feel ashamed.

    "Why?" he asked curiously.

    Kyra froze, her gaze once more landing on Leo's who for once, looked to be at a loss for words. 

    She cleared her throat, thinking of how to explain her situation to the young boy. 

    "Harley you shouldn't ask that, it's rude," Nyssa said, now intently watching the interaction between the group at the end of the table. 

    "It's alright," Kyra sputtered, noticing Harley's face fall quickly at Nyssa's reprimand. 

    She turned to look at Harley. "Remember when Leo came back from his quest and I was really sick? He told me you brought him to see me in the infirmary, right?"

    Harley nodded, looking at Kyra intently.

    "Well, before I came here, I was with some people who weren't very nice to me. They did mean things to me and would hurt me. So now, sometimes, if someone moves too fast or yells I get reminded of those people and get scared for a bit. Does that make sense?"

    Harley nodded. "I'm sorry, I didn't know," Harley spoke. "But, you're okay now, right? The bad people can't get you anymore?" he questioned worriedly.