Tratie

Travis

I've lived at Camp Half-Blood for almost my entire life. When I was 4, my mom died. With my brother, Connor, who is two years younger than me, I headed to a foster home. We went through what felt like millions of foster homes in the first year. After the last family returned us, I decided to take a chance on a rumor I heard about a place called "Camp Half-Blood." Luckily for me, it wasn't just a rumor. My brother and I were claimed as sons of Hermes. We were introduced to a guy named Luke Castellan, who was the head counselor at camp. Connor and I began to fit in, for what felt like the first time in years.

***

6 years later

"You should have seen the looks on their faces, Connor! The Apollo cabin is gonna be pissed for weeks!"

Connor sighed. "Travis, we are fighting against the Apollo cabin next week during capture the flag!"

"Ooops," I replied

Connor yelled "Luke!!"

Luke stumbled in, blearily rubbing his eyes in an effort to wake up. If only I had a camera.....

"What do you need, Connor?"

"For you to knock some sense into my brother. He managed to irritate the Apollo cabin days before our game. What are we gonna do?" Connor asked nervously

Luke replied "First off, I am pretty sure you have done worse things. And second of all, we just need to build strong alliances. I heard the Hunters were coming. They are most likely to side against Apollo. And as for Athena....."

I was struggling to pay attention as I yawned. This was so boring. Maybe if we play a prank on the Athena cabin we can blame it on the Apollo cabin...

"Travis!!"

I jerked my head up to see Luke giving me the famous "It's-time-to-die" stare.

"Yeah?" I asked.

Luke sighed. "Travis, do you know anyone in the Demeter cabin? We need a way to get them on our side."

I shook my head. "No. They're all boring anyways. All they talk about is grain and cereal. I doubt they would be a useful ally."

Luke's eyes turned ice cold, like they did when I said something stupid."Oh, you'd be surprised. But since they are not considered a "useful ally," we'll leave it alone for now."

As Luke left the room, I turned to Connor and mouthed the words "What was that for?"

Connor just shrugged in return. "You're the older brother, aren't you?"

A lot of people are surprised that Connor and I aren't twins, I'm actually two years older than him. We have the same short brown curly hair, deep blue eyes, and the evil grin of a prankster. But I am crazier than Connor, and he is more innocent.

"Traaaavvvviiiiisssssss"

I jolt back to reality.

"You started spacing out on me. Come on, let's go get breakfast."

***

As we headed to the dining pavilion, I noticed the Demeter cabin giving me angry looks. One of them, a girl with wavy brown hair and piercing green eyes, looked to be about my age. She was wearing a plain kelly green t-shirt with ripped jeans and brown sandals with beads along the straps. She had a simple crown of flowers on top of her head. Even when she was glaring at me, she was pretty cute.

And then I remembered I was staring. I sat down next to Connor and was about to ask him if he knew who that girl was when Chiron called for everybody's attention.

"As a majority of you know, we will be having a capture the flag game in a few days. It is Hermes versus Apollo, so cabins, start making allies! And while I have all of your attention, allow me to introduce our new campers."

Chiron began introducing the new campers one by one. I zoned out until I saw the girl from earlier stand up as her name was called.

"Katie Gardner."

As soon as she sat down, a girl that looked the same as Katie but with strawberry blond hair stood up.

"Miranda Gardner."

They must be blood sisters. That doesn't happen often. I look at my brother, only he's too busy staring at the Miranda girl. I nudge him, asking "Like what you see?" He blushes furiously and looks away. It must be a day for miracles, because I've never seen Connor actually like a girl, let alone blush.

Connor grumbles "Well you were staring at that Kelly girl, so don't even."

"Katie." I correct before realizing my mistake and blushing also.

Connor grins. "Can I be the Maid of Honor at your wedding?"

"Shut up."

"And Miranda can be the flower girl,"

"Shut up!"

"Maybe Luke could be the best man." He starts humming here comes the bride.

"SHUT UP!" Oops. That came out louder than I intended. The entire camp is staring at me and my cheeks turn bright red. I hear laughter, beautiful laughter that sounds like tinkling chimes.

As I spot Katie laughing, the whole camp joins in. Pretty soon I am the laughingstock. My cheeks flame and even brighter red. I am supposed to be the one laughing at others! Not the other way around! As I sat down, I swore under my breath to prove to Katie I'm not a joke.

Hey guys! All PJO and HOO characters belong to Rick Riordan, not me. This is my first time writing a story, so please give me constructive critism. I do not like reading a story that has spelling/grammatical errors, so let me know if you see any. Thanks!