Prisoners

FIVE

"Let's go down to the beach," Thalia suggested. She still had her arm around Piper.

"We have to get Leo first," I reminded her.

She rolled her eyes. "Leo, shmeo. Make the boys get him."

"I believe he likes to be called 'Bad Boy Supreme'," Percy said, raising his eyebrows.

"He's at a bar," I told him bluntly, ignoring his last comment. Dammit, I still couldn't get that image of him shirtless out of my mind.

"Which one?"

"The only one in town. It's sort of a pub." I cocked an eyebrow at him, as if daring him to say more.

He threw his hands in the air. "Fine. We'll go. Come on, Jason."

Grumbling about how unfair life was, the two delinquents set off for the small town by the prison. We girls watched their retreating backs.

"Off to the beach!" Thalia cried as soon as the boys were out of sight, pumping her fist. Piper nodded, giving us a weak smile. Poor thing.

We skipped toward the water, arms linked, singing the theme song to the Wizard of Oz.

"We're off to see the Wizard, the wonderful Wizard of Oz..."

Piper only halfheartedly sang her piece, while Thalia and I belted it out at the top of our lungs. Hazel just hummed along.

I guess you could say we were a little drunk on our own freedom.

When we reached the beach, we cheered and ran to the water, kicking up sand behind us. Hazel stayed on the beach, searching for seashells. She was still really shy.

"This is fun," Piper said, splashing some water on my face. I spat saltwater out of my mouth.

"Especially in the dark," I added, gesturing to the full moon.

Thalia gave us a devious grin. "Yeah. Then you don't see the sharks in the water!"

Piper shrieked and dove out of the way as Thalia lunged for her. They both went under, splashing me as well.

For a second, I searched the water for their bodies, afraid that there actually was a shark.

Then I felt a tug on my ankle and was pulled under. I thrashed under the water, slipping my ankle out from the grip. I came up spluttering and dripping wet to see Piper and Thalia, also wet, laughing their heads off.

I rolled my eyes. "Oh, piss off." I splashed some water on them.

They both screamed and ran for shore. I barrelled after them.

***

Some time after, we lay on the beach, our clothes off, bikinis soaking wet.

"Pipes?" I said as we gazed at the stars.

"Yeah?"

"Do you really like Jason?"

She shrugged and shifted her position.

"I guess so. I mean, he's pretty attractive, and he's very nice once you get to know him."

Thalia grunted. "He seems a little too perfect. I wonder what he did?"

I nodded. "I was thinking the same thing. Like, he's all Mr. Goody Two-Shoes, but he's in prison, so..."

"Especially with that military-precision haircut," Thalia sniggered.

"Not a hair out of place," I said, smirking.

"Hey, it's not as perfect as Frank Zhang's!" Piper protested.