The Hunters of Artemis

Chapter 17: Never

For dinner, the ten of us went out to the Gray Birch Diner. The campers sat at one table and the Hunters sat another. Rhea and Lyra sat down next to me, and the others sat across from us. We laughed at talked about school and classes, but I didn't mention my earlier encounter with Mr. Evil. 

"Kat? Did you hear me?" Rhea shook my shoulder and jarred me back to reality. 

"Wha?"

She nodded her head in the direction of the Campers' table. "A certain someone wants to speak with you!"

I looked over to see Liam waving me over. "Do I have to go over?"

She raised an eyebrow at me. I could tell she had ulterior motives here, but I ignored  my gut. I got out of my chair and walked over to the other table. "Yes?"

Liam got out of his chair and motioned for me to follow him. Rolling my eyes, I did as he asked. He brought me over to a small alcove, hidden in the corner of the back of the restaurant. 

I put a hand on my hip. "Can I help you with something?"

He nodded. "Yeah. You see, I was wondering... Well, if you would..." he started.

"Yes?"

He took a deep breath. "Iwaswonderingifyouwouldgoonadatewithme."

My jaw fell. "Uh, excuse me?"

"Would you go on a date with me?" He looked at me hopefully.

I was speechless. I knew that as a Hunter, the answer should have been automatic, but for some reason, my heart beat faster, and my breathing got rapid. "Wh--why?"

He shrugged. "Well, I want to get to know you, and with your friends, I can't exactly do that; they watch you like a hawk 24/7."

I laughed, surprising myself. Why was I laughing? This was not a laughing matter. I covered my mouth and calmed down. "Well, my friends have my well being in mind. I don't know about you..."

Liam laughed. "Well, this would be a perfect time for you to get to know me..."

I looked back at Rhea, who grinned at me and gave me a thumbs up. Wait... what? I gave her a what-are-you-doing? look and she just pointed at Liam. Rolling my eyes, I put a hand on my hip and faced Liam again. "I will give you one chance, boy, otherwise it's over. And when I say that, I mean I will literally take your sorry butt back to Camp Half-Blood and leave you there. Got it?"

"I won't let you down ma'am." He gave me a mock salute and I narrowed my eyes. 

"One chance."

As I left, out of the corner of my eye I could see Liam pumping his elbows beside his side in a celebratory motion. I rolled my eyes, thinking of how downhill a date could go. Especially one with a boy such as Liam. I shuddered.

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After dinner, we headed back to the hotel. Rhea and I talked and laughed about Liam's obvious lack of knowledge about the Hunters' policy.

I lay on my bed, staring up at the cieling while she lay flat on her stomach, drawing a picture of a flower or something. It was either a flower or a coral. Probably a coral, since she was a daughter of the sea.

"I don't think he gets it," I said.

She laughed. "No, he gets it, he just doesn't like it."

"Doesn't like what?" I asked.

"The fact that you can't date. Date him in particular," she replied casually.

I turned on my side to face her from my bed. "How do you know that?"