A New Generation

Uh, Sorry, I Have To Go, Do Something

The next morning I woke feeling still tired, despite getting a full eight hours of sleep. I walked out to the dining pavilion and found that I had slept through breakfast. I shrugged and went to the beach. I swam for a while, before seeing Kai on the same rock as yesterday, reading again. Deciding to try to strike up a conversation, I got out of the water, wrapping a towel around my waist loosely. I walked over to the rock she was sitting on and said, "Hey." She looked up from her book. "What do you want?" she said. "I- I just wanted to talk to someone." I replied. She put her book in her bag and stood up, looking nervous. "About...?" Kai inquired, fiddling with the hem of her shirt. "I don't know... stuff. And things." I answered. "Uh, sorry, I have to go, do something." she said, turning to walk away. I stared at the back of her head as she made her way towards the Hades cabin. I went to sit on the shore of the beach, processing what had just happened. I ran through our words again and again, over-thinking them. Does she not like me? Am I annoying? Did I say something wrong? These thoughts circled my brain in laps until I developed a headache. I remembered looking into her emerald green eyes, thinking I could get lost in them. This thought reminded me of a corny pick up line I had heard once. 'Do you have a map? Because I'm getting lost in your eyes.' I smiled to myself. I turned back to thinking about Kai. Her tan skin. Her chocolate brown hair. They both contrasted perfectly with her eyes. I grabbed my sketch pad out of my bag and started drawing Kai. I captured every detail I could remember, and promised myself that some day I would give this to her. That is if we ever have a conversation that lasts longer than five minutes. Suddenly, I heard footsteps behind me, and turned to see Simon jogging up next to me. He was wearing board shorts and a Camp Half Blood t-shirt. "Hey Anna, you wanna swim with me?" he asked. "Sure, why not?" I said, with a laugh. He took off his shirt, allowing me to see his toned torso. I looked away before he caught me staring, and got up. We waded into the refreshing water, splashing and laughing. Suddenly he paused and looked strangely at my forearm. I followed his gaze... he had seen my scars. Simon pulled me into a hug, and I hugged him back. When he pulled away, I wasn't sure if it was water droplets or tears on his face. After that incident, we continued swimming until lunch time. We got out of the water, drying off and made our way to the dining pavilion. When we got there we said our goodbyes and went to our tables. I saw Kai, staring at her plate and not really eating, but shrugged it off. She was probably just thinking. Oh well.