Perfect Timing: a tratie story

June // Chapter 9

Katie Gardner

My least favorite part of being head counselor is being the one to step up when Chiron needs anything from my cabin. For example, right now there seems to be a shortage in plants that the Apollo cabin needs for the infirmary. You would think that he would send someone from there but no. He decided that I was the best person to identify all of the plants. He wasn't wrong, I knew exactly where to find all of them, but still- that didn't mean I wanted to. As I'm collecting some of the last roots into my basket I see an out-of-place shadow by Zeus's Fist. I pull my knife out of my basket and slowly move towards the figure, who is sitting on the boulder resting their chin in their hands. As I stand silently behind the closest tree I realize I recognized the figure. "Travis?" I ask, startling him into sitting up.

"Um, hey?" he says looking around, what a dork.

I step into view, putting my knife back into my basket "what are you doing here?" I'm having trouble reading the expression on his face, but I can tell he's exhausted.

He runs his hand through his messy hair and sighs, then turns to me and gives me a small smile. "I could ask you the same question, Katie-Kat."

I wrinkle my nose at the old nickname, but feel too bad to make a comeback. "Chiron needed some herbs to stock up the infirmary, no one else would do it so" I lift up the basket half-heartedly

He smiles grows ever so slightly, "you work too hard, you need to let someone else do stuff for the cabin once in a while."

I shrug, surprised he's noticed, but that isn't what's important. I sit down on the rock , "so," I bring one leg onto the ledge so I'm faced fully towards him, "what are you doing here?"

He sighs again and leans his weight into his hand, which is now by my thigh, leaning him a lot closer to me. Not that I noticed. "just thinking, I guess"

I nudge him slightly with my shoulder, "c'mon we both know that you don't think."

He laughs ever so slightly and turns towards me. I hold his gaze for what seems like minutes before he finally breaks eye contact. "Connor and I got in a fight."

"oh." oh, wow. In all the years I've known Connor and Travis, I've never once heard them fight. Sure, they annoyed me and everyone else at camp to no end, but they always seemed to be on the same page with each other. I open my mouth to say something, but nothing helpful comes to mind.

"yeah," he fiddles with a leaf he found, "it's stupid, I guess." He forces a short laugh.

I gingerly touch his arm, "brothers are supposed to fight, Travis. I mean, Miranda and I argue plenty, but that doesn't mean she isn't my best friend."

He shifts himself closer to me, subconsciously resting his hand on my knee. I immediately feel guilty for focusing on that. "I guess Connor and I have just never been the arguing type," he says slowly, "we get annoyed, but neither of us ever feels strongly enough to start something." Knowing how laid back Travis is- and how infuriating it can be- his explanation makes perfect sense.

"If you don't mind me asking, why was this time different?"

He looks over at me for a few seconds, his eyebrows knitted together slightly, but his blue eyes soft. "I guess I care more about some things than I've let on."

I stare into his eyes waiting for him to continue, but he seems like he's deep in thought about something. "What kind of things?" I ask, careful not to pry. He doesn't answer out loud, but something tells me I've already figured it out. I don't know who moves first, but I feel his arm wrap around my waist and my hands immediately rest on his chest. My eyes are closed and his face is inches from mine when-