Anti-Hero || Leo Valdez

20 - Pat Scats and Calypso Lets Go

"Don't be stupid, okay?"

Pat rolled his eyes at Via, though she wished he wouldn't — she wanted her last moments with him before he left to be sincere, in case something bad happened.

A few days after Apollo and Meg summoned Grover the satyr and disappeared to continue their quest, Pat was ready to go. His pickup truck, which he'd inherited from their uncle David (who claimed a good pickup truck was the mark of a classic Texan man, whatever that meant), had been rigged with a little pulley-and-lever system that would set up a tent right in the bed of the truck where he could sleep at night. There was plenty of food and fresh clothes in the backseat, and the gas tank was completely full. He was only stalling on Via's behalf.

"Funny," Pat said. "I was gonna say the same to you. If you ever end up leaving, that is."

Now it was Via's turn to roll her eyes. "Be nice. They're still trying to work it out."

By "they," of course, she meant Leo and Calypso. Leo was still willing to take Via to Camp Half-Blood so they could consult Nico di Angelo about what exactly was going on with her and what to do about it. The problem was that Calypso was less than willing to go, much less allow her boyfriend to go. She didn't want them to miss out on her first day of high school.

Leo had tried reasoning with her.

"Hey, mamacita," he'd told her consolingly. "It shouldn't take that long. A week, tops, and I'll be right back here. I'll miss a little bit of our first semester together, but you can help me get caught up on homework!"

It hadn't worked.

Jo and Emmie had also tried reasoning with her, trying to invoke her sympathy for Via's situation.

"Can't she just wait until Pat gets back from warning the Romans?" was all Calypso had said.

Unfortunately, Pat had heard that and muttered, "Coming from the girl who's lived for a bajillion years."

Calypso wasn't too happy with either of the twins after that. She'd started avoiding Via like the plague, which kind of sucked since Via had been eager to have her as a friend. It was especially awkward at night, since they shared a room and Calypso now liked to pretend that Via wasn't even there.

At the end of the day, it was clear: Calypso would not willingly let Leo take Via to Camp Half-Blood without a fight.

And nobody wanted a fight.

"I'll just have to wait until you get back, like she said," Via told Pat.

Pat scoffed and lowered his voice. "So you're just gonna let her have her way like everyone else?"

"I don't have any other choice, Pat!" Via whispered. "I can't drive without a body, and it's not like I can just steal the dragon —"

"Then remind Leo that Calypso is not in charge of him! He can go whether she likes it or not. What's she gonna do? Get mad at him? She does that every day already!"

"Pat!" Via hissed, looking around. She wasn't sure whether anyone would stop by to say goodbye to Pat — he'd decided to leave at a time when everyone would be busy on purpose so he didn't have to deal with "sappy stuff" as he said. But she didn't want to gossip in case someone walked by.

"What?" Pat demanded, lowering his voice to a heated whisper. "I don't get why she's making such a big deal out of it. She can barely stand to be in the same room as him. Why's she so desperate to keep around her boyfriend that she can't even stand? She's always putting him down and telling him to shut up and stop joking around, as if joking around isn't his entire thing."