The Next Generation

Chapter 6 - Zara

Sorry for the wait! Here are the next 5 chapters. I hope you like them!! 

Beth & Ash

Before Annabeth left the Big House, I had told her I would think about her question. What was I supposed to say? I would love to be his girlfriend!? No way! And now, the only friend I have, besides Bee, is on the wrong side...the popular side! After I heard the Big House door close, I thought about telling Chiron that I didn't want to be in a group with Ethan, but it just didn't seem right. After hearing that talk, I felt bad asking Chiron to switch.

"Do you need anything, Miss Zara?" I shook my head and walked out. There was nothing I could do. I was trapped! There was no getting away from Ethan, and there never will be. I thought about the little time I had before climbing wall. I sighed. Where was the only place without tree, like nature, aka nut and pinecone throwing tree nymphs? The canoe lake! Perfect! I will get some peace and quiet without having to take leaves and sticks out of my hair later.

When my hike ended when I got there, I thought they were joking. Kas and her new friends were having races across the lake. Cast eyed me and then whispered something in Ethan's ear and he nodded. Ethan practically jumped out of the canoe when he saw me. Why didn't I notice that before? Someone is always whispering in his ear and trying to make him do something "funny". He might not even really like me. Few. Thinking about that made me sweat even more than I already was from the sprint there.

"Hey Zara! Want to join my team?" He yelled from his canoe. I hesitated. I guess it couldn't hurt to just say yes to the guy for one. Maybe his friends will lay off him for a while.

"Sure!" I called back. All of his friends stared at one another in disbelief, as if saying, did she really said yes?. Ethan's face turned as red as a Converse shoe.

"A..are you joking?" He stammered.

"Nope!" I say with a smile. His face turned redder than it was before, if that's possible. I ran over to the dock, to find no empty canoes. "Well, I guess I don't have to play-"

"Wait!" Riley screamed, "I can take a break! I needed a rest anyway."

"Or I can," The rest, other than Ethan, said in agreement.

"How about you two take some time together, to, you know, catch up," Charlie added. Everyone except Ethan, Kas and I snickered.

"I don't want to ruin the fun game you guys are having, so I better not-"

Lacy whispered in Ethan's ear, and Ethan's eyes widened with fear, "W...we can,uh, sit together in my canoe." He said quickly and then looked at his feet. Charlie paddled over to Ethan, and then told him an order. He sighed and then whispered to the water. His canoe started to move toward the dock. He still had his head down so he didn't have to make eye contact with me. I couldn't blame him. He docked his boat and then finally said something, "If you don't want to, I understand."

I sucked in a breath, "I still do." We took about five minutes getting settled in the canoe. I sat in between his knees, like how a mother holds her child. How embarrassing! I could feel everyone's eyes on me. I let my hair dangle in front of my face, instead of tucking it behind my ears. Ethan muttered something in ancient greek. My lip quivered,"Here we go!"

After the race I went straight to all of my activities with Ethan. We were all fiddling with our new woven ankle bracelets that we made during arts and crafts. Finally, we had our last activity of the day, and my personal favorite. My group and I traveled to the campfire, and then found seats. Luckily, we didn't have to sit with our groups, so I wandered off to the back row, hoping that one of Ehan's friends wouldn't see me, and whisper something in his ear. I watched as the flames danced around the wood, changing colors depending on everyone's mood. I heard a faint voice singing, and then the rest of the Apollo cabin joined. It was a nice evening. The winds picked up, and the air was nice and cool, now that the sun was almost down. The sky was a beautiful color of shade of purple and orange. You could just see a few stars showing off their light.

I thought about canoeing. It ended up being more fun than I thought it would be. We splashed around and even won some races, thanks to the naiades in the water. Then Charlie, of course, had to flip us. Hey, at least it was refreshing! I started to think that Ethan wasn't really that bad. But I knew that his friends were never going to let me into their group. They picked me because they knew I wasn't good enough.

I looked over to Kas, she was singing along with Sammy...wait what?! Sammy had his hand around her shoulder. I thought he had a girlfriend. I look over at that whole group. Cast and Lacy were snuggled up close. Cast must have given her his sweatshirt, because she was wearing an oversized jacket. Charlie, Emmi, and Riley, were sitting in a huddle talking and laughing. The only person left was Ethan. He was sitting by himself, a few yards away from the others, looking gloomy. He glanced up, sensing that I was staring at him. Then, I did something I didn't expect myself to do. I gestured for him to come and sit with me. His sad face turned into a confused one. He looked around just to make sure I was really asking him. He looked back at me, and I nodded.

He stood up and walked over to me. I could tell he was uncomfortable.

"Hey," I smiled.

He put his hands in his pockets and mumbled, "Hi."

We sat there for a while in silence, until I spoke up, "You don't have to let them push you around, you know."

He hesitated, "I know, but well, I sorta, um, told them my crush and they won't let it go." His face turned pink and I could feel mine doing the same thing.

"Oh," I said quietly. I had forgotten my sweatshirt at arts and crafts so I was just in an orange Camp Half-Blood t-shirt. The wind blew and goosebumps appeared on my arms. I shivered.

"Do you, uh...want my sweatshirt?" He asks looking at Lacy and Cast.

"Um...sure." I said with a big grin on my face. This is the Ethan I like. He pulled off his warm, gray, sweatshirt, and handed it to me. "Thanks." I tugged it over my head. My red curls sprung out of the head hole. Ethan laughed, a warm laugh. We could both sense the others looking at us, but we didn't care. We talked about battle strategies and all the animals and spirits he could talk to underwater. I had pushed my glasses up so many times that night from laughing. It was one of the best times I've ever had at camp. He even ended up hugging me at some point. Everything was perfect, until we saw it.