LIAKÁDA, percy jackson

XVII. their old friend gets a real wake up call

0017. | THEIR OLD FRIEND
GETS A REAL WAKE UP CALL

Octavia awoke the day of her birthday to being shaken like an unmixed cocktail.

She burst upwards, her eye twitching from exhaustion but her body flooded with adrenaline. A thousand thoughts passed through her head. The Golden Fleece had been stolen. The Camp was under attack. A God was visiting. Someone was hurt. The Infirmary was burning down. The Harpies had eaten a misbehaving camper. Chiron was being fired again. She panicked and floundered around, searching for an answer. "What! Huh!"

The answer she found was nothing like any of the thoughts she had ran through in her panicking brain. In fact, it was quite lovely. Her bunk was surrounded. All the curtains that divided each bunk and gave some semblance of privacy had been drawn back and in all the surrounding beds, her siblings were sat and leaning and laying, all careening over each other to get a better look at their frowzy Head Counsellor and the daughter of Athena sat at the foot of her bed, cross-legged. Grover was leaning against the bedpost beside her, a happy birthday tiara worn on his head that was hard to read because of his horns.

Annabeth was grinning at her, her hair down from its usual ponytail and freshly curled, still wearing her pyjamas even though it was obvious by her glee that she had been up a while already. In her lap, she was holding a cake.

Everyone took up the singing together.

"Happy birthday to you... Happy birthday to you... Happy birthday dear Octavia... Happy birthday to you!"

The tuneful singing of her siblings was lavish and harmonised, outshone by Kayla who was sat on their bedside chest to be close and was singing like a nightingale. Grover even brought out his reed pipes for an acoustic accompaniment. Annabeth's out of tune song was hidden by the rest of them which she knew made her grateful from the pink blush on her cheeks. Although, that might have been heat from the fourteen pink candles that were stuck into her cake. Annabeth pushed the cake towards her and Octavia made a big show of blowing out all the candles.

She grinned at everyone and sat up. "Thanks, you guys!" She beamed. "You didn't have to do this!"

"We didn't?" Michael whined.

Kayla whacked him. "Of course we did!"

"He's being dramatic." Lee rolled his eyes and ruffled Michael's hair, jumping on his shoulders and shoving him from his spot on his bed opposite. Michael pushed him away but made room for him all the same. "Mikey's the one who did all the frosting."

"Mikey?" Michael grimaced. Lee grinned and ignored him, staring hungrily at the birthday cake.

"I made the pink dye!" Kayla told her.