Revenge

Chapter 12

"Come on in, Beck, the water is great!" Aaron shouted.

Beck shook her head at him. "No."

Aaron shrugged. "Your loss." He turned and scooped up a small Hermes camper, tossing her into the air so she could cannonball into the water.

"Not really." Beck muttered. She hugged her knees to her chest and listened to her cabinmates shouting happily as they splashed each other.

She missed Holly. And Alex and Milo, and all of them. Yeah, her friends would be playing in the water, but they'd be including her without making her get in.

Beck bit her lip. She refused to cry. Not here in public. She didn't want to deal with everyone's sympathy.

Someone dumped a handful of sand down the back of her shirt.

"Connor!" She shrieked angrily, leaping to her feet.

The son of Hermes was laughing hysterically as Beck tried to shake the sand out of her shirt.

"I'm going to kill you!" Beck snarled at him.

"You look like you need to cool down. Maybe you can have some help getting that sand out of your shirt as well." Connor grinned mischievously. Beck narrowed her eyes at him suspiciously, then shrieked in surprise as someone scooped her up bridal style from behind and ran for the water.

"Travis Stoll, put me down or I will beat you and your brother senseless!" Beck screamed as the laughing boy carried her towards her worst nightmare.

"You definitely need to cool off!" Travis grinned jokingly. He was now waist deep in the water. Beck's heart began to pound in her chest.

"Oh my gods, Travis, don't you dare-"

Too late. He tossed her away from him, deeper into the water.

Beck's scream of terror was cut off as the water sucked her down. She struggled frantically, trying to figure out which way was up and choking on the water that had gone up her nose and down her windpipe.

A hand circled around her wrist and pulled her above water. She gasped for air, clinging to her savior.

"What the Hades is wrong with you two?" Aaron carried Beck out of the water while berating his half brothers. "Can't you idiots see she was terrified?"

Beck pulled herself free of the older boy's clutches and backed away from the water until she felt she was at a safe distance.

Travis held his hands up in defense. "It was just a joke! We didn't mean-"

"Oh, hilarious joke, absolutely hysterical!" Beck screamed at him. "Let's take the girl that can't swim, who's afraid of water, and throw her in the lake! That'll be a laugh! Who cares that she might have died, it was funny! It's not like she made it clear she didn't want to go in!"

"You're afraid of water?" The brothers looked ashamed of themselves.

"Oh no, I just say that for kicks and giggles!" Beck snapped at them. The water started to roil and she backed up farther. "Is this another one of your stupid tricks to scare me?"

Travis and Connor looked panicked as the fought the waves crashing against them. "No!"

Beck watched in horror as the two were battered by gallons of water. She heard footsteps crunching on the sand behind her, but didn't look to see who it was.

"We're sorry, Percy!" Travis shouted desperately. Slowly the waves began to die down.

"Don't apologize to me." A deep voice said. "Apologize to her."

"We're sorry Beck." Connor was panting. "We didn't know."

"Sorry isn't going to cut it." Beck snapped. Feeling her eyes prick with tears, she turned, briefly catching a glance of the tall, dark haired boy behind her, and ran for the cabin.

She changed quickly out of her wet clothes, pulling on a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt, then grabbing Alex's oversized Color Guard sweatshirt which she had forgotten to return, the one that said 'Welcome to the Strip Club' on the front with a picture of a girl doing a strip toss. On the back it said 'We also do pole dancing' with an image of an entire color guard team mid-performance. (Inside jokes with some friends....if you're on a flag team or in a school Color Guard you might get it)

The sweatshirt still smelled like her friend. Beck pulled it on and buried her face in it, letting the soft fabric absorb her tears.

She heard someone come into the cabin behind her, but ignored them. There was some awkward shuffling, then the clear sound of a slap on the back of someone's head.

"We're really sorry, Beck." Travis said.

"We promise we won't prank you ever again." Connor added.

Beck didn't answer them. She heard Aaron usher them out after a few moments and sniffled before snuggling deeper into the familiar scent of Alex and crying herself to sleep.

•Later that night, the Big House•

"Are you sure about this?" Chiron asked.

"Absolutely. I didn't have control over the water until I calmed the waves to keep the Stolls from drowning. I wasn't making any of it happen."

"Curious." The old centaur murmured. "I assume you'll be keeping an eye on the girl."

"I wasn't planning on it. She's afraid of water, Chiron, she'd have to be cursed to have power over it."

"I think you should watch her, just in case." Chiron insisted.

Percy Jackson sighed and rubbed a hand over his face. "If you think so. Goodnight, Chiron."

"Goodnight, my boy."