We Don't Mix [Percy Jackson Fan Fiction]

Ψ CHAPTER FIVE

Percy's POV

Later that day, Grover had lead me to Cabin 11, Hermes Cabin, where I would be staying until I got claimed. He seemed relieved that no one was inside besides a few stranglers, but I didn't comment on it. He had shown me to a space next to a neatly made bunk bed beneath a bed with a large chest at its foot. The space on the ground had a sleeping bag on the floor with a bag filled with basic utensils and an orange Camp Half-Blood T-shirt.
"You'll have to sleep here until you get claimed. Sorry, dude. You just missed the open bunk," he said and pointed to the top bunk with the chest. I shrugged and he excused himself well I got settled as much as I could. I placed the shoe box with the Minotaur horn (Grover had given it to me before showing me the camp) on the floor beside my sleeping bag.

I heard voices outside of the cabin and curiously walked over to eavesdrop.
"I'm serious, Luke! Something's off with her! She seems too powerful and mysterious," an authoritive voice with an annoying twang to it spoke loudly.
"Come on, Annabeth! Stop jumping to conclusions. Sure, she's really powerful. She even seems powerful enough to be a goddess, but why do you have to assume she's some random spy?" the voice of this 'Luke' said with exasperation.
"Do you even HEAR yourself?" she shouted loudly before she suddenly paused, "Wait, are you defending her because you like her?"
"Annabeth, stop it-"
"No! How can you like someone after knowing them for one day?!" she nearly screamed, causing me to flinch.

"I'm tired of you constantly getting jealous of every female I pay attention to!" he exclaimed with a new tired tone to his voice.
"Wai- what? I-I don't know what you're talking about..." she said with false confusion and I could just imagine the blush on the girl's face (whoever these two people were).
"Right, of course you do. I'm tired of this, Annie," he sighed and I could imagine each action they did during this conversation, "So what, I might like her. It's no big-y. She's comfortable around me and we might be building a solid friendship, I don't need you ruining that. Talk to me when you grow up." I could hear him walk away, the crunching of sand drifting further away.
"Luke-" this 'Annabeth' stopped calling out to her companion and walked away.

"Well, wasn't that intense," a feminine voice spoke close behind me. I spun around with a gasp as the girl laughed at my reaction. I recognised her lavender hair as the girl who I woke up beside... that sounded very wrong.
"It's cool," she gave me a cheeky wink, "I won't tell anyone you were eavesdropping. Considering I was doing the same, I don't really have any reliability." She gave me a grin as I sat there, completely dumb-founded.

I slowly got up and walked over to where she was standing beside the bunk bed I would be sleeping next to.
"I, uh, I'm Percy," I introduced with an awkward posture and she smiled a friendly smile.
"I know," she winked again which caused a pink blush to form on my cheeks, "I'm Cosmia. Also probably the girl those two quarrelling buddies were fighting about."
"How are you so comfortable?" I blurted out before I blushed again and shamefully lowered my head. I was surprised by her loud laugh and slight nudge.

"I like talking to people I think I'm going to like, it's a gift," she grinned widely at me and I could easily tell that a lot of her comments were going to be jesting.
"Well I suppose that's a compliment?" I said with a raised eyebrow and she chuckled at me, "That's the spirit." She walked away from the bunk and towards the door, turning to look at me with a raised eyebrow, "You gonna come or...?" I blushed slightly and nodded quickly, dang. I need to get a hold of myself.

The door of the cabin opened and in walked the athletic blonde from the infirmary that had pulled Cosmia away. He had a slightly angry expression on his face, but as soon as he noticed us it faded away and he gave a wide smile.
"Hey guys," he greeted before turning to me, "Sorry I didn't talk to you earlier, dude. I had to get back to my cabin." I shook my head with an easy shrug in response to his apology, "It's fine, Grover showed me around."
"That's great, Grover's a really nice guy. I've known him for five years," he said and a flicker of realisation flitted through Cosmia's eyes, but I ignored it.

"Anyway, since it's your first day at camp, we don't really make you do any activities. But considering it's not even lunch time yet, we'll do your tests now," the blonde guy said before leading both Cosmia and I out of the cabin.
"Uh, two things," I said and he nodded for me to continue, "One, who are you? And two, what tests?" I dreaded anything that meant people would be judging how well I did and getting results on it. He chuckled and responded casually, "Pardon my manners. My name's Luke Castellan, I'm the Head Counsellor of the Hermes cabin." I made eye contact with Cosmia at the sound of his name and she nodded in assurance. He was the guy talking to 'Annabeth' outside the cabin.

"And we do tests for each newbie to see if we can determine who their godly parent is," he explained the whole 'test' thing, causing me to grimace. Somebody judging my attributes was exactly the opposite of what I wanted.
"Oi, how come I didn't get tested?" Cosmia teased and Luke grinned, "Because we're doing yours now." I could definitely see it, he had a serious crush on the girl. I mean, I couldn't really blame him. She rolled her eyes and skipped ahead with her hair flipping in her wind.
"She's truly something," Luke whispered and I grinned, "Said that out loud, dude." He blushed and I felt a little sense of achievement, because it meant that I wasn't the only one who blushed over the mysteriously beautiful girl.

Ω

I was right to dread the tests... They were absolutely horrid. Cosmia flied through each and every one of them, which didn't really help her in the discovery of her parentage. And I failed every single one of them except the test of a god that swore not to have any children. So really, Cosmia and I were in the same boat on that one.

The only thing I got out of that day was extreme exhaustion. I couldn't even stomach what would have been my first supper at the camp, I just went straight to bed- well, sleeping bag. I curled up in its crinkly covers and closed my eyes, wishing for sleep to overcome me. Cosmia and Luke were still seated at the supper table, laughing about jokes only they understood, and that created a pang of envy in my heart for some unknown reason.

Even after all the campers had settled for the night and were snoring away, I lay wide awake with a weird energy racing through my mind. I felt this sudden urge to go for a walk on the beach, the beach had always been a place to calm me and get my mind focused. I promise I tried to leave the cabin quietly, but all I can do is thank these 'gods' that the Hermes cabin was filled with heavy sleepers.

It was really dark out, and I had never seen the stars shine so clear in the sky above me. Must be some weird Greek thing that they do at that camp. The ocean was beautiful and I just stood on the shore, staring at the waves racing towards me, but failing so close to their goal. I was watching the foam recede so intently that I nearly didn't notice the flash of reflective scales shine in the water. The colour of purple, blue and pink mixing together to form a fast moving line through the waves. The movement was so smooth and natural that I thought for a moment that maybe it was just the water playing tricks on me, but then I saw it more clearly. My body froze, the breath that had been about to escape, trapped in my gaping mouth. It wasn't possible... Mermaids didn't exist... Then I remembered all I had learned that day.

I sat down on the pale sand, eyes trained on the water to see if I could catch the glimmering tail once more. I sat there for I don't know how long, but just as I was falling asleep, I heard the sound of sand crunching near me. I shot up, pulling out the ballpoint pen Mr Bru- Chiron had given me went I fought off the Fury at the museum. Uncapping it like he had said, the pen morphed into a celestial bronze blade. It was weird how comfortable it felt in my hand, but I tried to avoid thinking about it.
"Whoa, down boy, no need for that," a melodious voice spoke quietly somewhere close to me. I spun around, waving the sword in the air like a lunatic, "Where are you?"

"Sh, kept your voice down, will you? I prefer not being eaten by harpies on my second night," the girl (well, I hoped it was a girl) whispered hurriedly, stepping closer so that the bronze glow emitting from my sword lit up her face. I paused, still awestruck by the beauty of the girl with lavender hair, but then I remembered what little dignity I had and shook myself out of it.
"What are you doing out so late?" I asked curiously, looking to see if she was hiding anything. She rolled her bright eyes before smiling slightly, "I needed a breath of fresh air. What about you, Mister?"
I shrugged with a simple answer, "Couldn't sleep." She nodded in understanding before stepping in the direction of the Hermes Cabin.

The scent of an ocean breeze clung to her and I relished in the smell.
"If you're done smelling me, I think we should head back before we get into trouble. Us newbies need to give the right impression before we cause complete havoc," she said with a smile and I chuckled slightly, hoping that she didn't see the blush painted on my cheeks.