Revenge

Chapter 29

"Hey Beck." The sand next to her crunched as Michael sat down.

"Hey." Beck fiddled with a funny looking rock she'd found.

"So, you talk pretty big game for someone as small as you are." Michael commented, crossing his legs.

"Yeah." She glanced up at him. "Something wrong with that?"

He shook his head. "No, not at all! I was just curious.... Does it mean anything?"

"Well sure it does." Beck went back to running her fingertips over the rock. "Never let a person know you based on what you let them see. If they see a small, scared girl, that's what they expect. Talk big and be ready to prove it," she tossed the rock in the air, "and they'll second guess themselves and treat you differently than they would if you lived out what they could see."

He nodded slowly, as if he was thinking it over. "So it's a defense mechanism."

"Only if I need to defend myself." Beck shrugged and looked at him again. "It's kind of a prepared self-protection. A safety net, if you will. I don't trust people. But people trust me."

They fell into silence. Beck could almost hear the gears turning in Michael's head.

"What about me?"

"What?" She raised an eyebrow.

"Do you trust me?" He asked, looking at her seriously.

Beck tilted her head, thinking. "You haven't given me a reason not to."

"Beck. Yes or no. C'mon." He chuckled a little.

She smiled. Okay, so he could read her a little better than some. "I haven't decided yet. But it's leaning towards yes."

Michael nodded, seeming to accept this.

"Why do you ask?" Beck looked at him again.

"If you trust me?"

"Just the whole conversation in general."

Michael shrugged. "I saw you talking to those kids making fun of Jake. You seemed pretty angry, but you didn't start anything. Even though it would have been pretty easy to."

"Oh." She remembered that. Gods, she'd wanted to deck that son of Nike. But it wasn't worth it, so she'd walked away. "Yeah. It's really just a matter of deciding whether or not a fight is worth it. Usually it's not, but I am willing to get into one if the situation absolutely cannot be resolved in any way."

Michael nodded and looked out towards the water. Beck followed his gaze and saw a familiar mop of shaggy black hair pop above the surface, followed by a mass of braided brown hair. They laughed and swam out to a large rock, climbing up and proceeding to try and shove each other off. Beck heard Piper shriek something about cheating.

"Is it weird, having him as a brother?" Michael asked.

"Percy? He's only a half-brother."

Michael gave her a significant look, picking up on the stand-offishness in her tone. "Sometimes that's all you get."

Beck sighed. "I guess. He's okay. We don't talk much."

"Why not?"

"He's just.... Older, for one thing. Friendly. Like, he has more friends."

"That all?" Michael leaned forward a little, catching Beck's gaze again.

She raised an eyebrow. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Have you considered part of the reason you haven't gotten along fantastically with him is your fear of his powers?"

Beck opened her mouth to snap a reply, then stopped and thought about it. "I mean, he's very in tune with the water.... But I never considered that, no. It doesn't have anything to do with that."

"He's not as in tune as you'd think." Michael said, standing. "Just saying." He brushed sand from his shorts and walked off towards the volleyball court.

Beck frowned and got up as well, heading in the direction of the cabins.

•Twenty Minutes Later, the Athena Cabin•

"I mean, it's not like I'm afraid of him, so that wouldn't make sense, right?" Beck asked, frowning.

Annabeth shrugged. "The human brain does strange things, Beck. Whether or not you think it, that actually could be a possibility. You're not afraid of him, but knowing his control of water might make you wary of him subconsciously, resulting in a colder response when he' around."

Beck sighed and Annabeth looked up at her. "You could ask Will or one of the other Apollo kids, or Delaney, if you're still curious about it. She's really into studying cognitive functions and the subconscious mind."

Beck shook her head. "No thanks. I've already got a mortal shrink, I don't need a demigod one."

Annabeth chuckled. "Or you could always talk to Percy. He's not a bad guy, once you get to know him. I should know."

Beck managed a smile. "Thanks, Blondie."

"No problem." She went back to her blueprints.

Beck stood from Annabeth's bed and wove her way through the Athena cabin, then left. She wandered in the direction of her cabin, but she wasn't really going anywhere.

"Gibbson!" Someone shouted. Beck looked up to see Clarisse spinning her spear. "You up for a floor-mopping?"

She chuckled. "I'm not that easy to beat. See you in ten minutes."

Clarisse nodded and started towards the arena.