My Boyfriend is a Dead Roman Hero | Jason Grace

I Save Friends From Ant Bites

Sally drops them off just outside the camp borders and sends them away with a hug each. Annabeth and Percy are still bickering the whole walk up the hill, so as soon as Camp is in view, Julie ditches them. She makes a beeline for the stables. Cabin 10 should be just about wrapping up flying lessons right now.

Sure enough, the moment she approaches, Silena comes sweeping down on a white pegasus. She lands smoothly and leaps off her saddle, racing towards Juliette with open arms. Julie lets out a girly scream of excitement and bounds up to her so they can hug.

"Oh my gods, you've gotten so tall." Silena gushes. She pushes Julie back by the shoulders and looks her over. She gasps in delight. "Your hair is longer! And you're wearing makeup! And your skirt, oh my goodness that's adorable-"

"I missed you too, Silena." Juliette laughs. She pauses in thought and then strikes a pose. "Also, it's from a boutique in Manhattan. They're having a sale, so we should definitely make an outing soon."

Silena beams. "I need one. We will. Now, tell me everything."

The two of them chat nonstop through cabin inspections and dinner. Silena tells Julie about her first year of high school while they share chocolates from her father's shop. Juliette runs Silena through the lists of people at her school that she likes and hates, explains all the background of who's dating who, and finishes off the conversation by explaining what happened at Percy's school (with heavy emphasis on the Annabeth vs Rachel situation).

By this point in her storytelling, several of Juliette's siblings are listening in as well, leaning in in intrigue. Juliette has a sudden onslaught of butterflies ramming themselves against the inside of her belly at the attention.

Thankfully, a new girl Julie doesn't know yet pipes in, "Which ones are Percy and Annabeth?"

The whole table groans.

"Lacy, if you value your mental health, pray you never meet them." Mitchell sighs dramatically. "I've never seen two people so desperately in love, yet so determined not to admit it in my life."

--

Julie runs into Clarisse on her way to bed. Literally. They smack into each other turning a corner by the staircase and stumble apart in surprise. She starts to apologize, but chokes on her words when she sees the red rimming the older girl's eyes.

"Watch it." Clarisse grits out. She ducks her head from Juliette's line of sight and pushes past her before she can say a word. It takes Julie a moment to recover from the shockwaves of grief and anger the short contact sent searing through her nervous system.

The first night back in her own bedroom isn't nearly as bad as she expected. Mostly because she passes out as soon as her head hits the pillow (probably from not listening to Percy snore). But also, the room feels less isolated than it did the previous year for some reason.

As she's getting ready the next morning, though, her eyes linger on the blue nail polish still sitting out on her desk and lead settles in her stomach.

Which is fine, apparently, because Chiron wasn't planning on letting them eat comfortably anyway. He and a new instructor (Quintus, Juliette learns) step in front of the campers at breakfast and announce that the Apollo cabin spotted an Aethioppian drakkon in the woods nearby early this morning. They warn them that its's still alive, and to be vigilant, but war games are still on for the evening.

Whispers follow Julie after that, and the siblings that had opened up to her the night before go back to pretending she doesn't exist. She doesn't know whether to be sad or irritated. She's not a drakkon. Is this going to happen every time something even vaguely serpentine attacks camp? Because, if so, they are gonna flip when they hear about Medusa.