The Thief Who Stoll My Heart

Chapter 1

~Katie Gardner, 2019, Wedding Day~

“You can look up now,” whispered Piper. Grimacing, I glanced upwards. An auburn-haired, emerald-eyed girl stared back at me. She looked simple – her hair wasn’t fancy, only pulled back into a clip and curled, and she wasn’t plastered in make-up like some girls. Yet somehow, the simplicity made her look stunning. It took me a minute to realize that person was me. I touched my face just to make sure. The girl in the mirror mimicked my action. I turned around with a smile on my face.

“Thank you guys SO much!” I managed to choke out. The best I could do with my hair was put it in a low braid over my shoulder. Annabeth gave me a cheesy smile and my half-sister Miranda looked about ready to jump out a window. I swear she’s had some of Dakota’s cool-aid.

“I think Katie needs some alone time,” said Annabeth. I shot her a quick smile. Alone time is exactly what I needed at the moment. Piper herded Miranda out of the room and Annabeth closed the door behind them. I looked around and found a small bench in the corner.

I sat down, struggling to make my dress lay correctly. Today was the day of my wedding. I was really excited, but a little stressed out. Travis was the guy of my dreams, and I had fallen for him when I was about eighteen. What I didn’t know was that he had liked me since the second titan war. We got together – was it really five years ago? Well, he had asked me to marry him last summer in the strawberry fields at Camp Half-Blood. He had gotten approval from my dad, which surprised me, as he seemed to be scared of my father whenever I was around. Well, my dad told me about a family tradition. On wedding days, the bride would always wear something old, something new, something red, and something blue for good luck. It took me a while to decide what I would wear, but I came up with an assorted collection. For something old, I wore the necklace Travis gave to me our first Christmas as a couple. It bore a small intricate daisy charm. As for something new, my friends got together and we went shopping for a dress. I tied a red ribbon around as a sash for something red and Annabeth let me borrow her blue bracelet with pearl charms from her wedding day. The outfit felt almost perfect and I felt like a princess floating around in it. But it was missing something. I looked around the room and my eyes fell upon a vase in the corner. It was a small bouquet of flowers that Miranda had brought from my bedside table at camp. They were the same flowers Travis had given me when he had proposed. I had used a little Demeter magic to keep them intact this long. I walked over to them, my skirt swishing, and picked out my favorite flower, the smallest of the bunch. I stuck the flower behind my ear and walked out of the room, ready for whatever challenge the day threw at me.