Deep Water, Percy Jackson

MISTAKE SIX: I Snuck Out Of Camp

Step One: Act Natural.

Percy, Annabeth and Grover left late in the afternoon, like Luke had said they would.

We went to bid them goodbye at the top of Half-Blood Hill. Thalia's pine loomed over us; I couldn't tell if it felt protective or threatening. Luke gave Percy a pair of winged shoes, that he'd got as a gift from Hermes before his quest to the Garden of Hesperides. I didn't think he'd ever really used them. They'd spent the last two years sitting under his bunk in a shoebox.

I said goodbye to Grover first. That wasn't so hard to do, not after last year when he'd disappeared off to Yancy Academy. Besides, I was fairly confident that Grover would come back. The other two, I wasn't so sure about. I knew this goodbye was only temporary; within less than twelve hours, I'd be back with them, risking my life alongside them. That didn't make it any less awful. In fact, it only made it worse. Lying has never been a strong suit of mine.

"While I'm gone, make sure the dryads are good, okay?" he requested, "The other satyrs ignore them."

I nodded, swallowing the lump in my throat. "Of course, Grove. Stay safe, man." I didn't think much harm would come to the dryads in the next twelve hours, but I'd check on them anyway. That way, it wouldn't really be a lie. I tried for a supportive smile, but it fell flat. My stomach twisted, and for a horrible moment I thought I might puke right on Grover's Chucks. "Hey, when you get back, you'll finally have your searchers licence."

"Yeah." Grover gulped. "When I get back."

I pat him on the shoulder because I didn't know what else to do. Grover was a lot taller than me, so it felt weird. I moved on to Percy pretty quickly after that.

"Good luck, Percy," I said.

The expression on his face was unreadable. He held Luke's flying shoes in one hand, carelessly. "Thanks, Vikas."

I nodded, shifting my weight from left to right like that would make me feel less tense. Gods, this could not be going worse. Luke seemed completely normal, talking to Annabeth like this was easy. Act natural. How could I act natural, when I didn't know what natural was? Hermes' gifts had clearly been lost on me. I was supposed to be a natural liar, and I could barely even say "Goodbye" without giving up the act.

"I'm sure you'll do great," I continued, "LA will probably be cool. I've never left the Mid Atlantic, so..."

Percy shrugged. "I've never left New York State, so you're beating me."

I wasn't sure if I could believe that. Percy seemed like he knew so much more about the world than I did; it was difficult to think that I'd seen more of it.

I tried for a smile. He didn't seem like he wanted to talk with me. I figured that was fair enough; I'd ditched him to risk his life on a quest while I stayed at home, safe and sound. I hadn't meant to, but I didn't know how to put that into words. Instead, I moved on to Annabeth. Luke was talking to Argus now —— but of course Argus didn't have much to say back. Luke could talk to a brick wall so long as it had ears. I'd never had that skill.

Annabeth was bouncing up and down on her heels, a grin on her face. For once, she looked her age. She didn't have the hard set to her jaw of someone years older. She'd been waiting for this moment for years; I couldn't blame her for looking excited.

"Looking forward to it?" I asked.

"Are you kidding?" she replied, grey eyes sparkling, "It's finally happening. I'm going to bring back Zeus' master bolt from the Underworld, and I'm going to be made a hero. I'm going to make Athena proud."

She didn't need to say the rest of her thought; the words hung between us, palpable. I'm going to do it without you. I'd never wanted to go on a quest. I'd never understood Annabeth's yearning for it. In the past five years, this hadn't been a problem. Now, though, I could see the scrutiny in her eyes. She thought I was a coward, a traitor, for not joining them on this quest. I wanted so desperately to tell her that that wasn't the case, that I would be meeting them tonight, but every so often a few of Argus' eyes would move over to me, suspicious, and even though I'd never known him to talk, the way he was watching me made me think he'd be more than happy to rat me out to Chiron.