𝑻𝒐𝒈𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓/𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐲 𝐉𝐚𝐤𝐬𝐨𝐧

𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 07

The sun was slowly setting. The sky was orange. The last rays of the sun reflected off the river. I sat on the edge of the pier and looked deep into the Water.

There was a nice silence. I didn't want to think about anything. I tried to relax, but it didn't work. Everything I was going through couldn't be put out of my head so easily. What about my father? How is mom? What about my sister Sarah? All these questions kept coming back to me.

I felt stuffy and had a hard time breathing. Every time I remembered my father, I felt sick. The anger in the blood flowed faster. A tear dropped from my eye. I didn't cry. I was just angry. I held onto the edge of the pier tightly with my hands.

I wanted to pull my hair out and chitch something and just throw it around. A foreign hand touched my shoulder. I wasn't scared, I  felt good. Next to me on the left side of the pier sat Red.

"It's nice to be here alone at this time." I looked at her with one eye. She knew I wasn't feeling well, but she still didn't ask me about it. She knew I didn't want to explain it to her.

"I loved sunsets when I was little." Her beautiful brown eyes glistened. She was in tears. I put my hand around her neck. "Now, not anymore?" she looked me in the face. I looked into her beautiful eyes and she into mine.

"When we were kids, me and Luke, Annabeth and our friend Thalia ran away," she took a short break, "Thalia sacrificed herself for us on the way here to Camp half-blood. Just to get to safety. She allowed herself to be transformed into a tree."

Red was friends with Annabeth? Who was thalia? I hugged her tightly. She rested her head on my shoulder and started crying. "I'm not going to let you go, Red. I'll be there for you as your best friend. Always."

I still held her in my arms. I'll be there for her. I won't be like my father. He wasn't there for a loved one, but I will. For Red.

She slowly walked away from my arms. She washed tears into her sleeve.

I know it wasn't appropriate, but I still wanted to ask her something. "Do you know anything about that expedition Percy is going on?" she slowly turned to me and smiled. "Why are you so interested in Percy?"

"No, I'm not. I just want to know more. About that expedition, not about him." Was I really interested in him? Not. That cannot be true. I can't deny Lae. Don't see me badly, I just don't know if we could be together. Maybe he doesn't like me. I'm nasty, after all. Who on earth would I like?!

"Come on. It's getting dark and it's already quite cold." Red and I stood up and walked to the cabins.