Thorn In My Side

Blue Salvia

- i think of you -

The next morning she sat down at her table and looked around, she didn't see Calynn. But she wasn't worried. She would turn up eventually. Across the pavilion, someone let out a bark of laughter. She looked over to see the Stoll brothers laughing. Next to them sat Cecil, the new kid, he had his head against the table and seemed to be upset. She got up and walked over, as soon as Travis saw her he looked surprised. She ignored him and tapped the newly claimed son of Hermes on the shoulder, "Cecil, you okay?"

He looked up at her and blinked, "Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. Just tired."

"You sure?"

He nodded, but she didn't know whether to believe him or not.

"Kate, he's fine, no need to worry." Travis said.

"I'm not worrying." She protested.

"Yeah, you are. Your eyebrows go up and your forehead gets all wrinkly. And there's this different tone in your voice."

She raised an eyebrow. "So you take the time out of your day to read my moods? Do you just sit in a tree and stare at me trying to find out how I'm feeling? Kinda creepy." The boy laughed, but it sounded forced. "As if I would take the time out of my day to even think about you."

"You just did."

Travis rolled his eyes, "Whatever." Then he turned around and started talking to Connor.  She glared at his back for a few moments then got up and made her way to her seat. As she sat back in her seat a small bubble expanded in her chest, he had taken the time to look at her. He had taken the time to think of her. Then she pushed the thought aside, that was ridiculous. He obviously hadn't.

***

Katie lay in the strawberry fields, staring up at the sky. It was a nice day, the sky was a clear blue and clouds were to a minimum. She closed her eyes and fell into a dream.

She was in a garden. All the flowers at full bloom. She heard someone muttering, she stood and noticed a woman crouched next to a pool of crystal clear water. The woman looked up at her, tears in her eyes. "Katie, my love."

Katie had a sudden jolt of surprise, this was her mother. "Mom?"

The goddess nodded and smiled through tears. "You've grown so much." Katie didn't know what to say as Demeter put a hand on her cheek and examined her. "I'm sorry I couldn't save her."

"Who?"

Demeter opened her mouth but the words that came out of it weren't hers, "You good Gardener?"

Katie opened her eyes to find Travis Stoll standing over her. She blinked and sat up. He squatted down next to her, "Are you okay?" She nodded, slightly annoyed with him for interrupting her dream. "I'm fine Travis."

He plopped down next to her, "How do you always know I'm Travis?"

She shrugged, "I dunno."

"Literally everyone else gets us mixed up, you never have."

"It's not that hard, you're taller than Connor. He's a bit more impulsive and childish than you. You're a little more mature and nicer to me... well not really but you're more tolerable. Your brother tends to push people away, you let them in. It's a bunch of little things..." Her voice trailed off when she looked up to see him staring at her, "What?" Katie demanded.

"Nothing... just... your eyes are really nice. They remind me of hot chocolate." Travis continued, "But darker." He tilted, "I dunno, they're cool."

She looked away, "Um... thanks..." She didn't usually try to think about her eyes, they were boring. Brown and plain, when she was younger she had wished they were something cool like blue.

There was an awkward moment of silence then he spoke, "You know when someone gives you a compliment, you're supposed to give one back." Travis leaned forward, "Don't you have something you want to say to me?" He batted his eyelashes and Katie laughed.

Travis sat back up and smiled, "Well I'm glad at least one person can tell us apart, even if that one person hates us."

Katie swatted his arm, "I don't hate you."

He raised an eyebrow, "Are you sure? That doesn't sound like the Katie I know."

"Yes I'm sure, I may strongly dislike you, but I don't hate you."

He laughed, "There's the Katie I know and love."

***

Katie crawled into bed, replaying the day in her mind. Maybe Travis Stoll wasn't that bad, he seemed to like hanging out with her. She closed her eyes and stretched out her legs, her feet brushing against something.

She sat up and pulled the covers back to find another plant. She groaned, picked it up and examined it. The blue salvia was in fairly good condition for being stuck under a blanket for an unknown amount of time. She slipped out of bed and found her sweater and her shoes and made her way to the greenhouse.

*

What she didn't know was at that very moment there was a boy across camp, replaying the same conversation over in his mind and hoping against hope that maybe Katie Gardener would fall for him too.

whats this? and update? i know its crazy