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Clarisse hated Silena. She was literally everything that Clarisse didn’t like—fashion, caring about appearance, girly stuff, all that weird aphrodite nonsense.
Sure, the two of them did arrive together, but that meant nothing. They were only together for a day before stumbling across Camp Half-Blood. Clarisse had been doing just fine by herself, meanwhile Silena was clingy as a toddler to her Satyr protector.
Clarisse didn’t even want to go to with the two people—yet the tiny, snotty nosed girl tightly gripping a furry leg convinced her.
So now here Clarisse was, lying on the floor of a crowded wood cabin. It had been a few months sense she had made it to camp.
Silena was claimed the second day they arrived. It made sense she was the daughter of Aphrodite, her looks made it obvious. Even Clarisse could admit she was attractive—soft features, sharp eyes, and long black hair made her look like she could be a model. Even her freckles and tooth gap inbetween her front two teeth looked cute on her—impressive.
Clarisse hadn’t bothered trying to talk with Silena ever since she was claimed. It was clear they were on two completely different levels. Silena had her life and Clarisse had hers.
A tap at Clarisse’s side interrupted her thoughts. She turned and glared up at the person who was touching her—everybody else knew not to do that. Sure, she was 12, but that didn’t mean that she would take any BS.
Luke smiled down at her, he didn’t care what Clarisse liked or didn’t like. He was head counselor, he got to do what he wanted.
“Hey. Get up. Capture the Flag is going to start soon. I need muscle.” Luke said, reaching out a hand.
“I don’t care about a stupid game.” Clarisse retorted while pushing herself up without Luke’s help.
Luke rolled his eyes but thankfully didn’t say anything.
Clarisse tuned out everything Chiron was saying at the dining pavilion. She didn’t care about the rules and people just told her where to be anyways.
She was tired of being at this stupid camp already. At least when she was homeless and on her own she got to call her own shots. Now it seemed like the same thing everyday. She didn’t like anybody and nobody liked her. They knew not to bother her.
After what seemed like hours of yapping, Chiron blew the conch shell to signal the beginning of the pre-game.
Luke stood up. A small girl was at his side—Annabeth if Clarisse was right. She couldn’t have been older than 9, yet she was mumbling things into Luke’s ear, which he was repeating.
Everybody got into their ranks. Clarisse prepared herself for the inevitable—being put in the forest alone. Her attitude had caused many friendly fires among her fellow campers during her previous Capture the Flag games, so most of the time she was sent to guard a empty corner by herself.
But, Annabeth locked eyes on her and again whispered into Luke’s ear. His eyes went wide and he leaned down and whispered back. They exchanged a conversation until he finally straightened up.
“Clarisse and Silena! You two have the east rock formation!” Luke called out.
Clarisse could feel her dissatisfaction through her entire body. Out of all the people, it just had to be the most vain person at camp. She cursed Annabeth in her mind—what kind of match was that? Clarisse bet that she would be yelling at the girl by the end of the game—Silena probably wouldn’t deserve it.
She watched as Silena popped her head out of the crowd and trotted over to her. Despite the horrible news that she would have to spend time with her complete opposite, she was widely smiling. Clarisse wanted to die now.
“Hey!” Silena beamed, “this is great! I haven’t seen you in a while!”
“Don’t get too excited it’s not that good we’re together.” Clarisse mumbled back.
“What? No. We’ll do awesome!” Silena reached out and lightly punched Clarisse’s arm. Clarisse glared in response, but Silena only smiled more.
Luke called out something Clarisse didn’t bother paying attention to and people began to move towards their positions. Clarisse sighed and turned away from the girl next to her and started walking, “let’s go.”
Thankfully, Silena didn’t bother Clarisse with conversation on the way to the rock formation. Finally, they made it there. These areas were common to hide flags due to the crevices and height of the rocks, so Clarisse could see why Annabeth wanted some protection, people would come looking—her and Silena were just there to slow people down.
“Sooooooo….” Silena started, “what do you want to do? We have time.”
Clarisse plopped down onto the ground, of course the area would have nothing to sit on, “I am going to quietly sit here, you should too, ms beauty queen.”
Silena huffed, “that’s no fun.”
“That’s the point.” Clarisse responded. She leaned back to lay against the rock wall and closed her eyes.
A few moments of peaceful silence went by. Clarisse could hear Silena shuffling around, but paid her no mind.
Something touching her hair caused her to jolt and turn towards the source. Silena was leaning right next to her.
Clarisse scooted away from the girl, “what are you doing?!”
Silena rolled her eyes at her—Clarisse was going to set a new record for starting a fight soon. She put her hands on her sides instead of at Clarisse’s hair, “your hair is a mess!” She chided, “you should do something about it.”
“My hair is none of your business.” Clarisse retorted.
“I could braid it. It might look nice.” Silena responded, seemingly unaffected by Clarisse’s attitude.
Clarisse glared at the other girl. What was not getting through her head? Clarisse was not the person Silena should be trying to be all snooty with. She had never been for the girly conversations and snobby styles that came with the type of people that Silena were around.
“Don’t touch me.” Clarisse warned and turned away from the girl. She could feel Silena’s eyes on her back but ignored them.
Before Clarisse could enjoy the quiet that had fallen over the area, loud voices cut out across the forest that surrounded the clearing the two were in. She quickly stood up and signaled Silena to keep quiet.
Clarisse pulled out her knife and Silena pulled out a small sized sword. The dangerous weapon pared with Silena’s good looks made an interesting sight.
Finally, three people popped out of the forest. Two boys and a girl—all of them looking like they were ready to pick a fight.
The biggest boy (probably the leader) scanned the two standing in front of the rock, “yo. Give us the flag. Nobody gets hurt if you do.”
Clarisse was about to reply with something snarky, but Silena beat her to it, “Why don’t you try to get it? It’s right behind us.” she lied.
Clarisse rolled her eyes as the three began to charge. The smaller of the boys went straight for her and swung a club towards her head.
She ducked and rushed forward, tacking the boy to the ground. The two rolled around in a scrappy type of fight as they both tried to get the other into the dirt. She loved this type of battle.
A voice cut through Clarisse’s distracted mind, “Clarisse! Help me!”
Clarisse looked from where she was under the boy at her battle partner. Silena was attempting to take on the other two people at the same time. The larger boy was throwing harsh punches that were landing on her rubs and the girl was slashing at her face with a knife.
Clarisse felt a sudden rage flash through her. Who the hell did these people think they are?!
She shoved the boy on top of her into the rocks behind him, making him to wobble and dry heave when she hit his stomach. She stood up quickly and rushed towards the fight.
Clarisse slammed into the girl, causing her to fall to the ground. She then turned towards the massive boy, who now was gripping Silena by her hair and throwing hard punches into her stomach.
Clarisse’s response to his attacks was a punch of her own—right into his face. He stumbled back, stunned, and she grabbed his shoulders. Clarisse shoved him further into the rocks behind him, ignoring the crack as he hit the hard surface.
The boy fell to the ground coughing. His eye was slowly turning a nasty black and Clarisse could see blood trickling out of his nose. Good riddance.
A body slamming into hers cut off her momentary glory. The girl she had knocked down earlier was back. Clarisse could feel the dirt against her hair as she pushed back up against the girl on top of her. A quick sharp pain flashed against her cheek the girl cut her cheek.
Before Clarisse could pop her on both sides of her face. The girl let out a sharp scream. Clarisse looked down and a sword was now in the girl’s upper arm.
Silena stood over both of them. She grabbed the girl and dragged her up. The girl yelped again as Silena pulled the sword out of her arm and threateningly pointed it towards her neck.
“Okay okay. We surrender.” The girl gasped as she threw her only working hand up.
Clarisse let out a huge sigh at the same time as Silena. Clarisse didn’t even bother getting up. Silena limped towards her and collapsed onto the ground next to her.
“Thanks..” Silena mumbled through her gritted teeth. Clarisse was suprised she hadn’t thrown up yet.
Clarisse made a dismissive gesture, “whatever.”
A bright light interrupted them both. Clarisse stared up at the sky right above her. A spear and shield were placed above her head.
“..Is that?” Silena questioned.
A large bellow cut across the arena. The conch shell. Clarisse forced herself to get up. She looked down at Silena still in the dirt, she looked horrible—her soft body was cut up, her hair was a mess, and her face was pale.
Uncharacteristically, she leaned down and wrapped her arms under Silena’s own. She straightened and pulled the girl up as Silena mumbled her thanks. Clarisse then threw Silena’s arm over her shoulders, “can you walk like this?”
“I can try.” Silena grimaced.
“Don’t throw up on me.” Clarisse lightly warned, but honestly she wouldn’t have minded that much.
“Promise.” Silena responded.
The two began to walk back to the dining pavilion at a slow pace. Silena’s head bobbed against Clarisse’s neck the entire time. The pathway was rugged and unstable, making it take twice as long as it usually would have.
Finally, they made it. Everybody else was there and were chatting it up. The people Clarisse and Silena had fought against were being tended to by some Apollo kids.
As soon as the two had set foot in the clearing, everybody stopped talking and turned to look at them. Clarisse looked back above her. The mark above Clarisse’s head hadn’t left as they meandered through the woods, maybe whoever claimed her wanted to show off, made sense for the gods.
Chiron clopped towards them, “you have been claimed.”
“I can tell.” Clarisse responded. She didn’t have time for this, Silena was weak against her side and Clarisse was growing anxious for her (not that she would ever admit it).
Chiron ignored her attitude. He turned towards all of the other campers, “Hail Clarisse. Daughter of Ares. God of war and courage!”
All of the campers shouted their acceptance, but soon turned back to their own conversations. The sign above Clarisse’s head faded.
She could hear the whispers of her fellow camp mates as she walked Silena over to where people were getting treatment. It was obvious, they said. We should have known, they said. Clarisse hated them all.
She was the daughter of Ares. She could take them all. Her father must have been so impressed by her fighting that he felt the need to immediately claim her.
The Apollo kids took Silena from Clarisse when she got close. They insisted she stay to get some minor treatment and Clarisse was left sitting next to the girl, not yet able to get away from her.
Silena’s head fell into her shoulder, Clarisse could feel blood trickle onto her shoulder.
“Right. Sorry. No touching.” Silena mumbled and attempted to scoot away, but her movements were wobbly and Clarisse rushed forward to stabilize her to make sure she didn’t fall.
“It’s fine for now.” Clarisse mumbled back and held her shoulders. The medic children were now back with supplies and began cleaning the two of them up.
The kids nodded their approval, but she could see them side eyeing her as they moved around to help other people. People did that a lot to her. Clarisse ignored them.
Finally, the more critical people were taken back to the infirmary while the people with minor injures were left to do their own thing. Clarisse watched from a distance as two people helped Silena walk through the clearings.
Clarisse turned back to the large groups of people. She made eye contact with a girl with short blond braids and dark gray eyes—Annabeth.
Annabeth gave Clarisse a short nod of approval. Clarisse blinked in response. How the hell did she predict Clarisse being an hour alone with Silena going okay?!
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Being in the Ares cabin made Camp Half-Blood a little bit more enjoyable. Her siblings were somewhat similar to her in the ways they worked.
She had spent a few more months with her own people. Her and Silena had talked a little more than before, barely.
The attacks on Silena’s skin had cleanly faded after a short amount of time, the one scar that stayed was barely visible. It was on the side of her neck—Clarisse thinks it makes her look even better.
Her siblings disagree. Clarisse swears they don’t ever stop talking about Aphrodite kids.
“Nah man. She had such a beautiful clean neck before. Now it just makes her look uneven.” George notes as he lays in her bed.
Philip hums in agreement, “watching her so beat up was kinda a turn off. Now every time she looks even close to that I have to turn away. She should worry about fighting less and looking good more.”
Anger flashed through Clarisse. Most of her siblings were respectful, but these two were always onto something. She felt herself needing to defend the girl who had the decency to help her in battle.
“Will you two knock it off?! Silena looks fine. She isn’t here to please either of you. You two should be glad she works hard, it’s more than you guys do.” Clarisse yelled through the cabin as she looked down from her top bunk.
Philip scoffed, “you don’t even like that girl. Why do you care?”
“I care because you two are annoying as hell. Keep it in your pants gods damn. She isn’t here for you guys.” Clarisse retorted. These boys would get a smack upside the head if they didn’t quit their shenanigans.
George clicked his tongue, “you know…” he started, “maybe you should keep it in your pants. Maybe you care ‘cause you gotta thing for her.”
“Okay that is not true,” Clarisse replied, “I don’t do Aphrodite nonsense.”
“Didn’t seem like nonsense when you basically carried her back to the dining pavilion in Capture the Flag.” George responded.
Clarisse threw a rolled up paper at him, “knock it off.”
“Whatever you say, ms lover girl.” George responded and quickly dove under the covers. He had no idea what he was talking about.
Clarisse sighed and turned back to stare at the ceiling. It was only the beginning of the day and it felt like crap. She was stupid to think that her birthday would make her day magically better.
She didn’t tell anybody. It didn’t matter anyways. Camp didn’t celebrate birthdays. You were lucky if some of your friends would steal some extra snacks for you all to share at the end of the day on your birthday. Nobody would do that for her anyways.
The conch shell blew and the entire cabin groaned and they went to the dining hall for the daily schedule. It was just her luck when the Ares cabin assigned to clean the pegasus stables. Cleaning up horse shit on her birthday..great.
Clarisse was now 13. She didn’t care that she wasn’t celebrating her birthday. She hadn’t celebrated it in a long time.
She bent down and filled the dirty sponge up with water again. She turned back towards the wooden stable wall and scrubbed hard at the grime. Her back hurt and she wanted to just leave.
A pst caused Clarisse to turn away from the dirty wall. She locked eyes with a pair of eyes peaking out from behind the stable doors. Silena was motioning for Clarisse to come towards her.
Clarisse looked around the stables. Nobody seemed to be paying attention to her. Besides Greta, her bigger sister. Greta’s eyes were darting inbetween Clarisse and Silena, wide with confusion. Clarisse made a stay quiet gesture (which she knew her sister would respect, at least for now) and snuck towards the large doors.
Silena didn’t say anything to her when she got close and instead began immediately walking off. Clarisse followed, ignoring the lack of explanation she was getting.
When they eventually reached a far off patch of clearing with blooming flowers and clear air, Silena finally turned back around with a large smile. She sat down on the grass and Clarisse copied her.
“Happy birthday!!” Silena excitedly whisper yelled.
Clarisse narrowed her eyes, “What?”
Silena took off her backpack and placed it onto the ground. She shuffled through it until she eventually pulled out a dark green cloth.
“It’s your birthday, right? I wanted to give you something.” Silena explained as she placed the cloth info Clarisse’s hands.
Clarisse studied the cloth. It looked beautiful against her hands, perfectly fitting her dark skin tone. How did Silena even know what colors worked best on her? Clarisse didn’t even know.
It was the first gift she had gotten in a while. Clarisse didn’t know how to react, “how did you know it was my birthday? Not even mg cabin mates knew.”
Silena beamed and winked, “I have my ways.”
“That’s a stupid explanation.” Clarisse responded.
Silena rolled her eyes, “okay fine. I asked Mr. D who had your records.”
Clarisse felt even more confused now, “you..were asking for my birthday? Why?”
Silena tilted her head. She looked perplexed at the simple question, “because I want to celebrate it? That’s what friends do.”
Silena thought they were friends. Clarisse ignored how her heart skipped a beat when she realized that.
“Anyways…” Silena changed the subject, “I bet you don’t want to go back to those stables. Wanna stay here while I do your hair with that headband?”
So Silena had gotten her a headband—because she asked Mr. D when her birthday was—because Silena saw her as a friend. Clarisse pushed down the warmth in her face.
“Did you do all this just so you can try to do my hair?” Clarisse deflected.
“No!” Silena quickly responded, “but..it is a mess. I genuinely think it will do you good to try to work on it a little bit.” She quietly added.
Clarisse sighed. It was true that the last place that she wanted to be was back in the pegasus stables. And, Silena was so gentle in her offer, and was making an effort.
“Whatever.” Clarisse mumbled. She crawled closer to the girl as Silena beamed. Her tooth gap was very visible and her freckles stretched as she smiled widely. Clarisse thinks that it made her gorgeous.
Clarisse turned around and sat as still as possible as Silena took the headband back. Her hands gently played with Clarisse’s hair, making her feel warm all around.
She couldn’t see what Silena was doing, but she could imagine what she looked like right now. Kneeling on her kneecaps in order to get a good angle on the nasty hair in front of her. Sun hitting her side just right in order to illuminate her perfect body shape, soft around the edges with hidden muscle tone. Her brothers had no idea what they were talking about in saying she was unattractive anybody who didn’t think Silena at least look good was lying to themselves.
Clarisse shook away the thoughts as she began to feel her head getting heavy. The repetitive motion of hands in her hair was soothing in a way that she has never experienced before. She forced herself to stay awake.
Eventually Silena stopped messing with her hair. But, Clarisse didn’t hear her shuffle back to her previous position. Instead, she felt gentle hands on a certain position on her cheek. Clarisse knew Silena was tracing her scar she had gotten during Capture the Flag.
Unlike Silena, most of Clarisse’s wounds scarred. It was probably due to something from Ares, some kind of ego thing, who knows. They healed nastily and left harsh, ugly scars that imprinted on her skin.
Silena’s touch was light, barely noticeable as she traced some of the other scars visible on Clarisse’s neck and shoulders on her tank top. It sent shivers up Clarisse’s spine which she ignored.
This type of touch was strangely not bad. Maybe it was okay if it was done by Silena. The warmth coming from her hands was causing Clarisse to nod off again.
She finally looked up at Silena. Their faces where close. A midday sunray was hitting Silena’s face at a perfect angle. It made one of her deep brown eyes light up, showing off an array of colors.
Silena blinked for a moment before seemingly to pull herself back into present day. The freckle on the top of her lip smudged as she gaped, “oh my gosh! I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to do that!”
Silena pulled away and Clarisse pushed down her disappointment. She reached up to feel her new hair style, there were a few braids and her entire hair was held up by the headband.
“It’s fine. You were just curious.” Clarisse noted, mumbling.
Silena bit her lip and looked back at the stables in the distance, “you should probably go back soon. I also kind of skipped on chores too.”
Clarisse lightly laughed and stood up, “okay. I’ll see you around.”
“Yeah. See you.” Silena’s voice seemed far off as she looked up at Clarisse.
Clarisse walked back towards the smelly stables. She was sure she wouldn’t hear enough of it from her siblings. They were idiots. Plus, if they couldn’t see Silena was the prettiest girl at camp, that was on them. They were absolutely wrong.
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Clarisse hates Percy Jackson.
He shows up out of nowhere and everybody claims he killed a minotaur?! She didn’t believe it.
So Clarisse had the great idea of showing him that he wasn’t so great. Sure some people warned her to mind her business, but nobody did that at camp. Plus, the sooner Percy learned how she ticked the easier it would be for him later on.
Now she was sitting here soaked from head to toe in toilet water. What the hell?!! Maybe a swirly wasn’t the best choice as a humbler. But, she had a reputation to uphold! She had taken so long to gain respect and friendship, she had to make sure it stuck.
It was just her luck that her cabin mates had locked all the doors to the cabin when they saw her in the state she was in, claiming she was super gross. Sure, the Big House had extra mattresses and blankets she could use, but that was just humiliating. So, she was just sitting watching the strawberry fields.
The night was warm, so she was only shivering a little bit. The moon cast a gentle night across the entire field. Maybe if she wasn’t covered in dirty water she would enjoy it.
A fabric plopped down on her head and she whirled around to possibly fight whatever did that. She stopped when she saw a similar soft face.
“Brought you some towels.” Silena said, placing another white towel on Clarisse’s lap and then reaching forward and beginning to dry Clarisse’s hair with the towel on top of her head.
Clarisse sighed, glad that her and Silena had grown closer and talked more over the past year. Silena being the one to stumble across her was probably the best outcome compared to anybody else. Clarisse stopped questioning how Silena always found her, and how she always knew what was up. Maybe it was an Aphrodite cabin privilege, maybe Silena just could tell.
“You know…” Silena finished messing with Clarisse’s hair and turned to her bag again, “it could be worse.”
Clarisse sighed as she wiped the towels against her soaked body, “and why is that, Ms. who isn’t covered in toilet water.”
Silena pulled out what seemed to be a wet cloth, “at least it wasn’t pure sewage.” She smiled.
Clarisse let out a huff in response as Silena crawled closer. She swatted Clarisse’s legs so she could get closer and gently grabbed her face. Clarisse stopped fighting back on not letting Silena touch her a while ago—it was just easier to let her do what she wanted. Plus, it seemed impossible to resist her smile.
Silena held Clarisse’s chin as she brought the wet cloth to her face and began to wipe all the gross water off. Somehow, the cloth was still warm, and Clarisse felt herself stop shivering as much.
The full moon just barely brought light to the empty field. Clarisse could see that Silena was wearing loose fitting and messy clothing—even pajamas somehow looked amazing on Silena. Her hair was still in a headscarf that she insisted on wearing every night. Silena was in the middle of sleeping and still came out to see Clarisse.
“So..why did you try to give the new kid a swirly?” Silena questioned. She moved her hand to Clarisse’s cheek and seemed to be tracing her scar again.
“There’s no way he defeated a minotaur on his first day. He needed to be knocked down a peg.” Clarisse responded.
Silena lightly smiled, “I think you have another reason.”
“What?” Clarisse couldn’t bring herself to pull away from Silena, who had stopped cleaning her face, “what are you talking about.”
Silena’s smile didn’t waver. It was the type of smile that wasn’t malicious, one that whoever was receiving it knew it was something special. Clarisse hated to think of the possibility that other people were smiled at this way by her friend.
“I think you’re projecting. You were scared that that boy was going to get the respect and love in a day that you had to fight for years for.” Silena whispered.
Clarisse stopped. Fear never influenced her actions—she was the daughter of the god of war and courage for gods sake! Percy Jackson had nothing on her.
Yet..as Silena looked at her with the most gentle expression that Clarisse never saw anybody give to her, she thought harder. All the anger denying, all of the times she had to seem non threatening in order to not scare people, everything she did so she could gain likability.
If she could lead people and also show how strong she could be, it would only be a matter of time before Ares would be forced to recognize her one more time.
Clarisse almost whined when Silena pulled her hand away from her cheek. Silena instead crawled even more into her to be in between Clarisse’s thighs. She then wrapped her arms tightly around her neck and pushed her head into the side of Clarisse’s face. Clarisse ignored the goosebumps that covered her entire body at the movements and how close the two were.
As if sensing Clarisse’s previous thoughts, Silena whispered, “shoving someone’s face into a toilet isn’t going to impress your father.”
Clarisse hummed an agreement and shut her eyes. She allowed herself to just sit with Silena. She smelled like rosemary and was warm against Clarisse’s cold body. The night was silent and the night still.
Neither of the girls pulled away for a long while, to the point Clarisse was considering the possibility that Silena could have fallen asleep holding her. But eventually, Silena pulled away and Clarisse pushed down her disappointment.
“I have to go. You know how my siblings are, if i spent any more time away from the cabin they’ll start something.” Silena grimaced.
Silena reached forward and held Clarisse’s face on both sides with her hands. She then placed a quick kiss on her forehead and bounced up, “go back to your cabin and get cleaned up. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Clarisse blinked as Silena turned and slowly began to walk away, “yes ma’am!” she called out to the girl—who flipped her off in response to the joke name.
Clarisse was left walking back alone to her cabin, her forehead burning. Silena was going to be the death of her.
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Clarisse wasn’t asleep as she watched people train. Just because she had her eyes closed didn’t mean she was dozing. She wasn’t tired enough for a nap. She was only resting her eyes.
She could hear the clang of swords from where she was sitting against a tree. Annabeth was dueling against some Demeter kid Clarisse didn’t bother to learn the name of. Annabeth had only gotten back from the quest a few days ago and was running around, Clarisse couldn’t help but respect that.
The quest that Clarisse had to be helped on, the quest that she almost failed, the only quest she ever had. Yup, she definitely impressed her father with that one.
Clarisse recognized the footsteps approaching her before the girl even started speaking.
“Having a nice nap?” Silena questioned as Clarisse opened her eyes. She plopped down on the ground next to her.
“Not napping. Just resting my eyes.” Clarisse responded.
“Sure,” Silena didn’t sound convinced but changed the topic, “I need your help.”
Clarisse turned to the other girl. Silena usually had everything under control, so this was an unusual request, “with what?” she asked.
“Teach me how to fight.”
“What? Don’t you already know how to fight?”
“Barely. I know how to use weapons, but you know how to physically fight. I want to learn that.”
“Okay….” Clarisse trailed, “Why?”
Silena bit her lip for what seemed like the millionth time. Clarisse wanted to reach over and pull her bottom lip out from under her teeth so it wouldn’t bleed.
“There’s these guys that won’t leave me alone. I want to punch one of them next time they try to talk to me.” Silena explained.
Clarisse narrowed her eyes, “what the hell?! I could go take care of them right now. Who are these boys?!”
“No no. I want to do it. That way people know not to bother me.” Silena replied.
Clarisse huffed and stood up. She (gently) took Silena’s arm and pulled her up as well, “come on.” She said, leading her to the training arena.
Silena was a quick learner. Within the first half-hour of training she was already close to getting a beautiful form.
“Okay you’ve gotta make sure your face is protected when fighting—so when you come back from a punch bring your hands to block your mouth.” Clarisse called out from behind the punching bag as she held it in place for Silena to punch.
“Damn there’s so much to keep track of.” Silena gasped as she threw another punch. Clarisse could see sweat drip down her neck and her chest pushing in and out as she breathed.
“You’re doing fine. We can take a break soon.” Clarisse replied. Even while covered in sweat that was making her hair look messy, Silena still managed to look good.
Silena looked up from the punching bag and smiled at Clarisse, “Was that a compliment from the Clarisse La Rue? I should write that down.”
Clarisse huffed, “stop that.”
Silena only smiled more and turned back to the punching bag. It seemed that with a little more training, Silena could be super dangerous, Clarisse loved it.
After a few minutes Clarisse called a break, “okay that’s enough. We can continue in a little bit.”
Silena let out a huge sigh and dramatically collapsed onto the arena floor. The dusty ground clung onto her legs like flour on bread.
Clarisse tapped her with her foot, “come on, let’s get out of the way for anyone else who wants to use the arena.”
“Nooooo,” Silena groaned dramatically, “I cant get up, Clarisse, I’m too exhausted.”
“You’re fine.” Clarisse responded.
Silena threw her arms into the air towards Clarisse, “carry me to safety, oh strong one.”
Clarisse forced her face to not warm up at the suggestion. Silena was just being ridiculous at this point—which Clarisse honestly should have expected.
Clarisse walked towards the girl on the floor, ignoring how pretty she looked at this angle, “I’m not going to carry you.” she said as she crouched down next to her.
Silena didn’t say anything in response, instead looking Clarisse up and down. Clarisse wondered if Silena was checking her out, or if she had something on her face.
Suddenly, Silena surged forward. Clarisse (embarrassingly) yelped as Silena tackled her to the ground.
Harmless punches hit Clarisse’s sides as Silena sat on top of her. Catching on to the lack of effort in Silena’s movements, Clarisse easily pushed Silena’s hands away from her and flicked the girl’s forehead.
“What are you doing?” Clarisse questioned.
“Fighting you, duh, and winning.” Silena chided as she pretended to punch Clarisse’s face.
Clarisse pushed Silena off of her and softly into the ground, “okay you are not winning.” she said, lightly tapping her in the stomach.
Silena paused from where she was, and Clarisse realized their predicament. Clarisse was practically on top of Silena and had a hand on her upper chest in order to prevent her from moving. She felt her face get warm.
Silena beamed and quickly reached up to gently touch Clarisse’s sides, causing her to huff and squirm out of the way.
“Don’t do that.” Clarisse retorted as she placed her hands where Silena wouldn’t be able to attack her.
Silena sat up and smiled harder, “are you ticklish?! No way!”
“I am not!” Clarisse responded.
Silena refused forward with unnatural speed and threw herself onto Clarisse. Clarisse was defenseless as Silena dug her fingers into her sides and under her arms. She held back a majority of her laughter but she snorted and her arms shook with the effort.
Finally, Silena relented and pulled her hands away. Clarisse sighed and her head hit the ground.
“Under all that muscle, you’re super ticklish. Who knew.” Silena teased as Clarisse attempted to catch her breath. Clarisse was just grateful the arena had cleared out before Silena attacked her.
“Tell anybody about that and I will kill you.” Clarisse lightly threatened, her face warm.
Silena shrugged and drew her fingers across her lips and threw away the key. Thank gods. Clarisse hated the smirk she had.
The next day Clarisse watched as a scrawny boy limped towards the infirmary. His eye was swollen. She hoped it was Silena that delivered such a big blow.
___________
___________
“What happened?” Micheal Yew questioned as he wrapped a bandage around Clarisse’s arm.
“Oh come on! It’s so obvious!” Shelby yelled from across the cabin.
George peaked out from his bunk, “yeah! Maybe you aren’t staying away from Aphrodite children nonsense after all!”
Clarisse threw her two pillows at both of them, “knock it off. I don’t like her that way!”
“You do! We see the way you look at her. You look like she hung the moon!” George called, throwing the pillow back at Clarisse, hitting her in the face.
“Oh! Except for that one time. You looked like you wanted to screw her! She like had her hair up in a ponytail and you kept glancing at her neck! It was crazy!” Shelby yelled in support.
Clarisse hated them both. Just her luck that her siblings would gang up on her like this.
She leaned far over the side of her top buck. She was head counselor gods damn it! They needed to respect that and leave her alone.
“Now you listen here you two—“Clarisse started. But, before she could finish her sentence, her hand slips off of the side of the bed. Clarisse tumbled over the edge, landing harshly on the floor.
She groaned and sat up, something seemed attached as she moved. She looked down at her arm to find a sharp point of a shield imbedded in her arm.
Clarisse painfully yanked it out, a harsh stream of blood immediately started flowing out of her body.
She turned to the entire cabin, “who the hell put this here?!”
All her siblings laughed at her as she grumbled and walked out of the door.
“I fell.” Was the only thing Clarisse told the boy wrapping her arm.
Micheal tilted his head, “did you fall onto something? A simple fall wouldn’t do that to you.”
“A shield.” Clarisse responded.
She heard Micheal huff as he finished up the bandages. He double checked the wrappings and then scooted away, Clarisse was glad he was smart enough to not push it with touching her.
“Seems like you’re fine besides the injury so you’re good to go. If you start to feel bad or sick come back so I can make sure it isn’t tetanus or infection.” Micheal explained as he signed off on some papers.
Clarisse stood up, curtly thanked the small boy, and walked out of the infirmary. Honestly she hated that place. Everytime she was in there felt like a reminder she failed.
Halfway towards where her siblings were doing activities by the lake she stopped. She didn’t want to do anything with them right now, why should she? She knew where to go instead.
Clarisse changed course towards the strawberries fields. A small group of campers were harvesting the fruits. She scanned the crowd before locking on Silena.
Now a days it seemed like all she wanted to do was be around Silena. It was ridiculous. Silena made her feel uncharacteristically giddy. Everytime Silena would laugh or hug her (in secret, nobody needed to know Clarisse hugged) it lit her insides up.
Sometimes, Silena just wanted to quietly trace all the scars on Clarisse, but would never explain when asked why. Clarisse stopped asking. She didn’t mind anyways—the goosebumps that would develop making her turn red.
Her siblings were wrong, they always were. Clarisse didn’t have a crush—Clarisse didn’t do crushes. Sure she found Silena attractive and she probably stared longer than she should, but it meant nothing.
Silena finally looked up from where she was bending over and the two girls locked eyes. Clarisse made a gesture and Silena nodded before turning back to the bushes. Clarisse began walking again, towards the pegasus stables.
There was an old abandoned shack right next to the stables. Clarisse entered it.
The first floor looked like what you would expect—dirty wooden floor, broken windows, hay build up, all the works. Clarisse carefully walked around before reaching a ladder hidden behind cloths. She climbed it.
The loft area was where the true spot was. A clean rug covered the dirty floor. There were small blankets and bean bag chairs to sit on, and a tiny white desk contained a lamp. Hung up against the roof was a heat lamp, barely strong enough to keep the place warm during the winter.
Clarisse crawled into the loft and fell down into a bean bag chair. It had taken many weeks and many bribes in order for her and Silena to make this place. She assumed a few other campers had probably stumbled across the place, but for the most part it was really only the two of them.
They made this place trying to get away from everything else. It technically wasn’t only for the two of them to hang out in. Clarisse knew Silena probably brought her freinds up there, Clarisse didn’t.
The ladder creaked as somebody else walked up it. Silena was finally able to get away. Clarisse watched as her head popped up as she finished climbing up.
“Hey.” Silena said as she fell down onto the beanbag next to Clarisse. They were shoulder to shoulder, practically cuddling. This wasn’t an unusual thing.
Silena scooted closer and placed her head into Clarisse’s shoulder, Clarisse smelled sweat and sunscreen on her, “Why did you want to come here.”
“Didn’t wanna do anything,” Clarisse explained, “I guessed you didn’t want to be out in the sun either.”
“I didn’t.” Silena agreed.
Clarisse stared up at the ceiling, but she could feel Silena’s eyes on trailing across her.
Silena finally spoke up, “what happened to your arm?”
Clarisse sighed, “I fell onto a shield.”
Silena began to giggle. Clarisse felt Silena shove her face into her shoulder in order to prevent herself from laughing harder.
“Stop that! It’s not funny!” Clarisse demanded and lightly flicked the back of Silena’s head.
“It totally is!” Silena snorted, “how did you manage to do that?”
Clarisse huffed, “my siblings are idiots and left a shield on the ground of the cabin and I fell off my bunk onto it.”
Silena only laughed harder at the explanation, “bet you looked super cool as it happened.” she teased in between her laughter.
“It’s not my fault! My siblings are idiots and wouldn’t leave me alone.” Clarisse responded as Silena took deep breaths in an attempt to stop laughing.
“About what?” Silena questioned.
Clarisse paused. How would she explain that her siblings thought she had a crush on Silena?
“Just being stupid. They think I have a crush.” Clarisse explained without specifying.
Silena pulled away and beamed as she stared down at Clarisse, “who?!” she demanded.
Clarisse looked up at the other girl. The light coming from the lamp was illuminating her body that made Clarisse want to tell her how everything.
Damnit. She had a crush didn’t she?
Clarisse quickly turned her back towards Silena so she wouldn’t see her uncharacteristic blush, “it doesn’t matter.”
“It does! Your feelings matter! Plus, this is a revelation!” Silena announced.
“Just drop it beauty queen.” Clarisse responded.
Silena didn’t respond. Instead Clarisse felt arms wrap around her waist. Silena pulled herself flush with Clarisse’s body and shoved her face into the back of her neck.
Clarisse felt goosebumps travel across her skin. She didn’t understand why Silena always wanted to touch her like this, she had never been held like this by anybody else before.
Silena’s lips were pressed into the back of Clarisse’s neck, sending shivers down her spine as they moved, “please tell me?” she begged.
Clarisse wanted to turn around and tell her, to hold her and kiss her, but she held herself back. She was Clarisse La Rue, daughter of Ares and one of the most skilled people in camp, she wasn’t supposed to feel this way. Even in the position, being held by Silena, was a disgrace on her honor.
She had disappointed her father enough already. She sighed and pushed herself further into the girl behind her, “one day.”
Silena placed a small kiss on the back of her neck.
_________
_________
Clarisse decided that she hated parties. They were loud and uncomfortable. Everybody else was yelling and drinking besides her.
She had a stupid cup in her hand. She had taken one sip of the cheap, stolen alcohol and gave up, shit was nasty.
Loud music blasted through the camp. Chiron was gone on a break and everybody knew Mr. D couldn’t give two shits. Clarisse still hated it.
She scanned the crowd, ready to leave if all of her friends were preoccupied. She locked eyes with Silena, who had a wide-eyed ‘HELP ME’ expression.
A large boy stood in front of her. Clarisse could guess that he was attempting to ask her to dance or something, not that Clarisse could blame him. But, duty called.
Clarisse walked over, ready to handle the situation with either fists or words depending. The guy had his back to her and was facing Silena. Silena looked up at Clarisse who was now close, but returned to talking to the boy.
“I’m not interesting in dancing with you. For the last time, please ask somebody else.” She politely said.
The boy (who Clarisse recognized as Bach from the Hephaestus cabin) physically dropped his shoulders as he sighed, Clarisse almost laughed, “but you’re the prettiest girl here! Please just five minutes?”
“No” Silena directly responded.
Clarisse was stupid to assume that was going to be the end of the discussion. But, Bach straightened up instead.
“Oh come on! I’ve been nicely asking. What’s so wrong with me that you wouldn’t—“
Clarisse cut him off by pouring her drink on top of his head. Sure, she could have just interrupted the two of them or acted as if she and Silena were a thing, but this was more fun. Plus, she wasn’t the type to do things nicely anyways.
Bach whirled around, ready for a fight, “what the hell?! What was that for?!”
Clarisse tensed as well. Her first party fight!
Silena quickly skirted around Bach and placed her hands on Clarisse, pushing her away in an attempt to prevent a fight, “I’m so sorry about her! She’s a little overprotective” Silena chirped as she grabbed Clarisse’s hand.
Silena led the two of them away from Bach and to the edge of the party. She smiled up at Clarisse, “wasn’t that a little extreme?” she teased.
Clarisse rolled her eyes, “I got the point across.”
Silena smiled harder. Her cheeks were pink and her tooth gap just barely showed through her slightly parted lips, “you definitely did, thanks.”
Before Clarisse could respond, Silena made her way to her side and leaned against her. Clarisse hoped that nobody was watching. Silens scanned the crowd and sighed.
“This blows. I thought parties were more fun, it’s just been boring for me.” Silena complained.
Clarisse huffed and looked down at the girl next to her, “I think the alcohol usually helps.”
“Oh that nasty stuff? No way. I had one cup and was done.” Silena groaned. She now had both her arms wrapped around Clarisse’s arm, “I’m barely even buzzed. The Hermes kids didn’t do a good job.”
“You didn’t drink much?” Clarisse asked.
“Nah.” Silena responsed. She looked away from the crowd and into the woods behind them.
“Wanna leave? It’s a beautiful night, we could go on a walk.” Silena requested. Her eyes seemed distant, distracted with something Clarisse couldn’t place.
Who was Clarisse to deny her? She smiled down at Silena, “lead the way.”
The forest was still as the two girls walked through it. Clarisse could hear the booming music despite the distance.
Silena had Clarisse’s hand in her own as she led the way. Clarisse had no idea where they were going, but she assumed Silena had a plan.
“I didn’t expect you to be at the party.” Silena started, “didn’t seem to be your type of thing.”
“It wasn’t. Learned that the hard way.” Clarisse’s responded.
Silena chuckled and continued walking. They navigated through muddy ground and over fallen branches.
Finally, they reached the edge of the woods. A large body of water stretched across the land in front of them. The lake reflected the night sky, twinkling with its own set of stars.
Silena sat down on a stump and looked up at Clarisse and she felt her face grow slightly warm, she was thankful it was dark. It had only been around two months sense Clarisse let it slip to Silena that she possibly had a crush, and Silena kept looking at her this way. It was a way that make Clarisse feel on display, like her insides were melting.
Everything about Silena now felt complicated. Clarisse was a fighter—she wasn’t born to handle these feelings. Navigating a crush was so much worse than navigating a battle. She wished it would just disappear.
Nobody had ever interacted with Clarisse the way Silena did. It was different than the strong words and rough touch people knew how to use around her. Silena was gentle. It made Clarisse feel like she could be gentle too.
Silena hadn’t brought up the crush thing since Clarisse at told her she would tell her one day. But, she could tell Silena hadn’t let it go. Every so often Clarisse could catch her stealing glances at her, or watching Clarisse as she talked with other people. Maybe Silena was trying to piece together who Clarisse liked, Clarisse just hoped she wouldn’t figure out it was her.
Clarisse sat down on the ground next to the stump Silena was sitting on. She didn’t mind the mud that now clung to her pants.
They sat in silence for a while. The party was now far enough away that Clarisse was finally unable to hear the horrible music they were playing. All of the bugs created a low hum across the entire forest.
Eventually, Silena spoke up, “I figured it out.”
Clarisse looked back up to Silena. The moon reflecting off of the lake lit up her body just the smallest bit. They were both 15 now, and her body had only gotten softer through the years, while Clarisse’s got sharper. Her sunkissed freckles were barely visible in the pale moonlight.
“Figured what out?” Clarisse asked.
“It’s Chris isn’t it? He’s the one you have a crush on.” Silena’s voice didn’t carry the excitement that Clarisse would have expected out of this revelation. Instead, she seemed disappointed, as if she wanted different outcome.
Clarisse reached out first this time. She placed a hand on Silena’s thigh. It was warm despite the quickly cooling night. She decided not to lie, conversations weren’t her strong suit anyway, “no, it isn’t him.”
Silena looked down at Clarisse with a confused expression, a small hint of relief shining in her eyes.
“Then…who is it?” Silena questioned. Her voice had dropped to a whisper.
Clarisse didn’t know how to respond. After all these years she still found herself at a loss for words when talking to Silena. She communicated with her fists, not words. The idea of admitting the crush out loud seemed impossible.
Honestly it wasn’t a crush at this point. Clarisse had no idea how long she’s loved the girl next to her. The love has always been there, pulling and tugging at Clarisse’s character. She wished she had the lack of pride to accept it long ago, because now it had ripped a tear in her and slipped into it, making a permanent place.
Silena looked down at the hand Clarisse had placed on her lap, “you kept the headband I gave you..” she commented as she tugged at the fabric that was wrapped around Clarisse’s wrist.
It was true. The cloth hadn’t been able to be used in years. The months that followed Clarisse receiving the green fabric had her wearing it almost daily, eventually causing it to get so worn away, it was practically useless. The color was faded, now an ugly brown-gray.
But, Clarisse never found it in herself to throw it away. It was carefully placed tied onto her bed frame, occasionally being taken off to be worn as some kind of weird bracelet if Clarisse felt in the mood.
“of course I did.” Clarisse responded.
Silena went quiet. Clarisse stared at the lake to avoid looking at her—she was probably biting her lip.
“I’m the crush, aren’t I?” Silena carefully asked. Her voice was soft and delicate, as if worried if she spoke louder it would be too much. It barely fluttered in the night air.
Clarisse’s heart dropped. She didn’t want this. A girl like Silena didn’t deserve for a girl like Clarisse to have a crush on her. They were incompatible—Silena with her beautiful skin and flower hair versus Clarisse’s harsh, scar covered body. Silena was going to hate her.
“Hey..hey..calm down.” Silena said as she leaned down and wrapped her arms around her. Clarisse didn’t know if it was somehow obvious she was freaking out, or if Silena just knew her that well.
Clarisse took a deep breath, Silena smelled like Strawberries and bad alcohol, “I’m sorry. I’ll go.”
Clarisse tried to stand up, but Silena’s arms just gripped on tighter. She finally looked back at the girl—Silena’s eyes were bright and wandering.
Silena swiftly reached up, her hand grazing Clarisse’s side. Clarisse let out a snort and attempted to scoot away, but was then tackled by the other girl.
Soon, Clarisse’s eyes were closed and watering as Silena tickled her. She didn’t bother pushing her off as they both huffed and laughed.
After what seemed like hours, Silena finally relented. Clarisse took in huge gasps of air in relief at finally not being tickled. She would have killed anybody else that would have done this.
Silena didn’t get off her, instead scooting onto her lap to get into a more comfortable position.
“Clarisse..” She started. And, Clarisse looked up. Clarisse would always look up.
“Yes?” She responded, aware of how they were not sitting and what Silena had figured out only a few minutes ago.
SIlena sighed and bit her lip, Clarisse could feel a quiver in her legs.
“I like you too. Maybe for longer than you have. I feel in love with you at 12 when you rushed in to save me from being mauled by some other kids, despite you obviously hating me.” Silena breathed. Her eyes were glossy, Clarisse hoped she didn’t make her cry.
Clarisse felt like a dumbass, and she was sure she looked like it with the shocked expression she made. She was lucky if Silena didn’t take back her confession after seeing how far her mouth could drop.
“What?” Clarisse asked, dumbfounded.
Silena nodded her head in agreement. A single tear fell from her eye—she quickly wiped it away, “I think you’re the coolest, strongest, most beautiful girl I know.”
Clarisse felt inexperienced, here Silena was opening herself up and confessing and Clarisse had nothing in response.
“I wish I could tell you how much I like you as well Silena,” Clarisse breathed, “but—“
“I know you aren’t good with words. I don’t care.” Silena cut in.
Clarisse felt Silena push further into her and place both hands on either side of her face.
“I don’t need words, I know how you communicate, just show me instead.” Silena breathed.
Clarisse felt as if Silena stole her breath, “how?” she asked dumbly.
Silena rolled her eyes and lightly flicker her nose, “kiss me dumbass.”
Clarisse didn’t waste any time. She immediately pushed forward and attempted to kiss the beautiful girl in her lap.
It wasn’t even a good first attempt. Their teeth clicked and mouth’s clashed a little harsher than what Clarisse aimed to do. It took both of them a second to readjust, but when they figured it out, it was wonderful.
Silena tasted like shitty beer and Clarisse didn’t care, because it was Silena who tasted like shitty beer. Clarisse was sure she wasn’t doing that good of a job kissing the girl on her lap, but everytime she attempted to pull away, Silena would simply pull her face back in again.
Clarisse never felt so worried about being as gentle as this before, as if Silena would crumble under her touch or pull away if she was too rough. Warmth spread throughout her body as they remained there, just kissing. Underneath her hands, Silena’s sides were soft.
She held herself back from letting out any pathetic complaints when Silena pulled back. Clarisse took her in. She was breathing heavily and her lips were slightly parted, showing off the toothgap that never went away as she grew. The moon reflected off of her wide eyes, twinkling against the wetness in them.
“You don’t just like me..do you?” Silena asked.
Clarisse would have been an idiot. She pushed forward and kissed Silena again, just barely licking her lips before pulling away.
“It’s true,” Clarisse said. This time, fear and pride didn’t win the constant battle against what she wanted to say. This time, her heart won, “I love you.”
Stray tears dipped from Silena’s cheeks as she smiled, “me too.” she whispered.
She leaned forward to kiss Clarisse again. The tears were cold against Clarisse’s own flushed cheeks.
Clarisse honestly had no idea how long they remained there on the dirty floor in front of the lake. All she knew was that Silena was with her. They kissed for what seemed like an eternity, no rush to return to anybody else. Clarisse wished she had been more honest with herself sooner—especially because it resulted in the fact Silena was kissing her.
Clarisse knew that they would have to get back to their cabins at some point, especially for Silena’s gossip obsessed siblings. But, right now, the moonlight shone perfectly against Silena’s unmarked face, showing off how similar Silena’s freckles and the stars were. Clarisse didn’t say that out loud, of course, she wouldn’t know how. But, Silena didn’t mind Clarisse’s way of communicating. Actions did speak louder than words.
Especially if those actions involved allowing the girl you love to kiss you senseless. Damnit, Clarisse was soft. Silena was able to weed that out of her. Damn she was good. Clarisse loved her.
And showed it by kissing Silena some more.