After an afternoon of goofing off and cleaning up the beach, Rachel and I walked over to the parking lot again. She hauled the garbage bag over her shoulder into the big trash bin with the same logo as the organization, and I followed suit.
"So you're going back to camp then, huh?" Rachel smiled, shoving her hands in her pockets.
I shrugged. "I'd assume we will soon, if Carmen hasn't run into an issue yet she's going to start getting paranoid."
"She's with you, she shouldn't have any issues." The redhead laughed.
"Nah, I'm precisely the reason she has the issues." I grinned, correcting her. "I'm the son of Poseidon, baby, I'm always a problem."
Rachel tipped her head sideways, going quiet for a moment. I raised my eyebrows and then pulled a face at her.
"You're really different out here."
That caught me off guard. "What do you mean?"
Rachel just shrugged, shifting her weight from one foot to the other. "You seem a lot more... carefree? I don't know. Something's different. I don't know what it is but it suits you."
"Well, thanks." I chuckled, then tugged my shirt off and put the Black Sabbath shirt back on. "Will Telaya want this back?"
"Nah, keep it... I'm going to guess that's your group." She nodded over my shoulder.
I turned around, seeing Carmen leading the Camp Jupiter kids in our direction. "Indeed it is. You wanna go through introductions?"
"Sure, why not? I've got to wait for Telaya and the others to get home anyway." Rachel redid her bun again.
"Hey Carmen, I want to introduce you to someone."
She swung her key ring around her finger, grinning. "Sweet."
"Rach, this is Carmen, Carmen, this is Rachel."
Carmen paused, then offered Rachel a hand to shake. "You're the oracle at the Greek camp, aren't you?"
Rachel smiled, shaking her hand. "Sort of. I'm the carrying case."
Freddie snorted, then covered his mouth. "Sorry, I found that really funny for some reason. I'm Freddie, Carmen's man."
"Permanently, soon." Carmen giggled, holding up her hand to show her engagement ring.
"Oh cool, congratulations!" Rachel grinned, then offered Quinn a little wave. "Hey. How was your day?"
Carmen smiled as Quinn shyly answered that she had fun.
Rachel made introductions with the others, getting the same general reaction. Like I said, she's just that kind of person.
"Well, loser, I'll let you get home. Don't die, alright?" She grinned at me.
Carmen shooed the kids onto the bus as I gave Rachel a hug. "We'll have to figure out a way to keep in touch while you're out here. If I can see you again that would be great, I was getting a little homesick and hanging out fixed that right up."
She smiled, nodding. "I missed you, it was great to catch up and there was not enough time to get to everything."
"She could always come back to camp with us if she wants." Carmen suggested as she got onto the bus.
I turned back to Rachel, raising my eyebrows. "I mean, if you want to."
"Gimme a few minutes?"
I nodded and she pulled her phone out, walking a few paces away and punching in a number. I leaned against the bus to wait.
"She's cute." Carmen's worn sneakers hit the pavement and she leaned against the bus next to me.
"She's one of my oldest friends, aside from... Annabeth." I sighed. No use in avoiding her name, not many people knew her around here anyway. Or they'd been told not to mention her. I wasn't sure but either way she never really came up in conversation out here.
Carmen nodded. "You hung out with her all day?"
"Yep. Cleaned up the beach a little, bothered each other, told off a couple really rude guys who were bothering a little girl trying to build a sandcastle." I pulled out Riptide, in pen form, and began to spin it around in my hand.
Rachel shoved her phone back in her pocket as she walked over to us. "Dad doesn't care and Telaya knows where I'm going, I'm all good."
"You're coming with us?" I grinned.
"I haven't been into Camp Jupiter since the war, and it was kind of tense then. And I'd like to get away from the regular drama of my California life."
"Well you get a whole new kind of drama at Camp." Carmen hopped up into the bus. "She's comin' with, kids!"
There was a cheer from inside the bus.
[A/N note: I decided his name is pronounced like the comet, so there's that]
YOU ARE READING
When We Were 'Us'
FanfictionEverything was perfect. The world was safe, the camps were working together, everyone was ready for some relaxation, especially Percy and Annabeth. So naturally, that's when it all started to go wrong.