THE HEALER| Heroes of Olympus

3.

"I regret everything I said. This was the worst idea ever." Arabelle groaned as someone left the bathroom of the bus. Which we were so lucky to get to sit next too.

"This is the best spot for us." I said. "The monsters can't smell us through that." I gestured towards the bathroom. "And we're right next to an emergency exit window so if we had to make a quick escape we could."

Arabelle crossed her arms and didn't look happy.

"15 hours of this." She mumbled, shaking her head. "I might jump out the window with that smell before we make it to New Jersey."

"Think of the bright side!" I said.

"What's that?" She muttered.

"15 hours of bonding and friendship building!" I grinned at her disgusted looking face. "My mortal father used to say road trips were all about bonding as a family and building emotional connections."

Arabelle put her hand up. "I'm going to stop you right there. I will not be emotionally bonding with anyone or becoming friends with anyone. Winners don't need friends."

"What happened to 'there's no I in team'."

"There's an I in win." She said, "And in Victor."

"And in failure."

Arabelle glared at me. "Listen, the first thing you learn when you're a child of Victoria is that you were born to win. And to be a winner you must plan to win, prepare to win, expect to win. And if you don't you are a disappointment. In my mother's eyes, to be a failure is the ultimate act of disrespect." Her eyes narrowed. "If I achieve anything but victory I'm considered a defect."

"That's -"

"Driving?" Arabelle suggested. "Makes you want to succeed and not give up?"

"I was going to say sad and depressing."

"There is nothing sad about standing among victors." She lifted her head a little higher than normal. As if she was proud. But I found the whole thing sad.

I mean I know how bad the gods could be as parents and I'd seen how much pressure they could put on their kids. Whether you were an Ares kid always feeling like you had to beat others down for attention or an Aphrodite child who had to break hearts just to be claimed.

But this was an insane amount of pressure. Too never lose? That's almost impossible. To put that kind of pressure on a little kid...no wonder she had worked everyday to prove she wasn't a failure. To her failing wasn't an option.

I wanted to offer her some words of comfort but she didn't seem like she was upset about the fact she wasn't allowed to fail. So instead I gave her a hug.

She stiffened up. "What are you doing?"

"Giving you a hug."

"I know that idiot." She pulled away from me. "I meant why."

I shrugged and smiled at her. "Everyone needs a hug sometimes."

She gave me a look that said: Don't do that again. She eyed how close I was to her. I scooted away from her to keep her happy.

We fell into silence and soon the sun began to set.

I yawned and as I watched the sun set. My father Apollo would be landing his sun chariot, and the Night would take over.

"You can sleep. I'll stay up and keep watch." Arabelle said.

"Watch...? Oh, right, the monsters." I said. "Okay, but wake me up after midnight so you can sleep."