New Year's Day ✸ Percy Jackson

002. what a weak

THE ONLY THING KATHLEEN MANAGED TO SAY WHEN THEY ENTERED: "Wow, what a wake."

   There were black and red balloons all over the gym floor, and guys were kicking them in each other's faces, or trying to strangle each other with the crepe-paper streamers taped to the walls. Girls moved around in football huddles, the way they often did when Kathleen had a dance at school.

   But in Vegas, everything seemed to be a little more . . . enthusiastic.

   Some of the older guys looked a little uncomfortable, hanging out at the edges of the gym and trying to hide, like any minute they might have to fight for their lives.

   Kathleen was fighting for her life once she noticed the mood in there.

   "There they are," Grover nodded toward a couple of younger kids arguing in the bleachers. "Bianca and Nico di Angelo."

   The first thing that flashed in Kathleen's mom when she saw them: her and Camden.

   Kathleen had always been some kind of Camden's angel guardian, a role she stepped into naturally, with the quiet intensity of someone far older than her years. She was the one who soothed his fears and patched up his scrapes, more a protective force than a mere older sister. Their bond was forged in the crucible of a fractured family, where Kathleen's care filled the gaps left by absent parents, giving her a presence both fierce and nurturing.

   When they arrived at Camp Half-Blood, their paths diverged by lineage but never by bond. Different gods claimed them, but it only deepened their connection, as if the challenges of this new world couldn't touch what they had built. Kathleen and Camden moved through their lives like twin stars in orbit, their relationship unshaken by divine differences, each still the other's constant in a world where nothing else was.

   Of course, she had also Pollux and Castor, but they were more likely spending time with each other or trying to flirt with some girls.

   Kathleen would never admit it, but she'd like to know what it's like to feel when someone took care of her.

   "Hey," someone's murmur snapped her out of her thoughts. "you good?"

   Kathleen blinked a few times, her eyes drifting to land on Percy. He was watching her carefully, eyes glued to her features as if she were a book he wanted to read.

   But he had dyslexia so he couldn't.

   "Yeah," Kathleen mumbled. "It's just . . . the party's lame."

   She glared at the di Angelos again. The girl (Baila?) wore a floppy green cap like she was trying to hide her face. The boy (oh, his name Kathleen didn't remember) was obviously her younger brother. They both had dark silky hair and olive skin, and they used their hands a lot as they talked. The boy was shuffling some kind of trading cards, meanwhile, his sister seemed to be scolding him about something. She kept looking around as if she sensed something was wrong.