stollen things || c. stoll

1.7~ A Narrow Miss From Scarring The Pre-Teen

After some reassuring words to Katie, we both fell fast asleep. In the morning, everyone but me went out to breakfast. Instead, I stayed laying down and took it slow. Lee had told me it was fine if I skipped my morning activities, which I was more than happy to do. I grabbed my bathroom things and headed off to take a shower.

I made sure to put on my shower shoes, considering last years incident with the Aphrodite cabin. Everyone was doing their activities, so I had the bathrooms all to myself. I took my time, and got a good look at my bruises. As I dressed, I thought over what Katie had said the other night about me and Connor. There was no way there was any tension between us. We were rivals, and he was flirty with everyone.

I squeezed out my hair and braided it back to keep the wetness off of my neck. Walking back to the cabin, I grew some little daisies in my hand, just to practice.

"I hope those are for me." Connor came up behind me and rested his arm on my shoulder, referring to the flowers in my hand.

"They're not, but good try. Aren't you supposed to be playing volleyball right now?"

He shrugged. "I got bored so I faked an injury. I much rather be spending time with you." He poked my nose. I squinted and looked away. Slinging his arm over my shoulder and pulling me closer, he began to steer me away from Cabin Four.
"C'mon," He turned my towards the canoe lake.

I squirmed. "I hate canoeing, you know that. And besides, I'm supposed to be resting. Thirty foot drop, remember?"

He shrugged again, then grinned. "Then we'll just sit on the beach and spill our darkest secrets together until you fall in love with me."

I pushed his arm off of my shoulder. "I don't know what you're playing at, Stoll, but I'd really appreciate if you didn't play at it."

He frowned, but immediately regained his air of confidence. "Alright, have fun then." He gave a quick salute and strolled off to who knows where. I glared at his back and plopped down on the porch of Cabin Four.

I had lots to think about, but not enough time. Everyone was coming back for free time anyway, so I went inside and laid down on my bed. Katie was making some announcement about the fireworks on Monday and her rules for how she expected us to act. No sneaking off, no illegal substances — not that we'd be able to find any — that kind of thing.

"And I can't stress this enough: I will be doing subtle hand checks periodically so don't get too cozy with anyone."

"Ah, rats." I joked. Katie didn't find it funny.

"Especially you, Mads." If there weren't younger kids in the cabin, she'd have received a very unkind gesture. Unfortunately, one of those younger kids spoke up.

"What's a hand check, and what does it have to do with Maddy?" She looked between the two of us. I groaned.

I wasn't about to scar this pre-teen with words like 'sex' or 'I've been hanging out with boys lately and Katie thinks I'm going to fuck one of them on Independence Day.'

"Don't worry about it, Imogen." Katie shot me a warning look. Once all of the other campers were either settled into their beds or had left for another free time activity, Katie pulled me aside.
"Look, I love you Mads, but you have to be more careful around the younger kids." I brushed her off.

"Yeah, I know. I'll be better."

"Alright, and I'm serious about the hand checks. I don't want you getting frisky with Lee or Connor in the back of everyone during fireworks."

"Good gods, K. I'm a virgin. Do I need to spell it out? V... I-"

"Okay, okay. I believe you. Save the friskiness for the hayloft in the stables." I rolled my eyes at her comment.

***

During dinner, Chiron made an announcement about the fireworks in just two days. He basically reiterated Katie's words — rules such as no sneaking off, no disrupting the show, et cetera, et cetera. We finished dinner off with a campfire sing-along, led by the Apollo cabin.

Afterwards, I showered, got ready for bed, and fell quickly asleep. I dreamt of battles and fireworks.
Arms tracing down my legs and sides and lips on mine. As I slowly woke up, I smiled and exhaled as the dream came cleaner into my mind. Only one face came into view.

I shot straight up out of bed, gasping. I did not just have a sex dream about that boy, I thought, cursing myself. Can you have sex dreams at fifteen? I didn't know, I'd never had one. With only brothers and a father, it wasn't something I really talked or thought about.
I tidied my bed space, shaking my head, and checked my clock.

5:43 a.m., July 3rd

I decided that it wasn't worth going back to sleep only to wake up three hours later. Besides, Katie and I had to go and check every cabin to see who was cleanest at 8 anyway.

It being Sunday, we had no activities and the day was fully free time. I went to take a cold shower to wake myself up. Despite the early morning, it was humid already.

Once I was fully ready, I woke everyone up at 7:30.

"Sorry, folks, but Katie and I are doing cabin inspections today and we can't make exceptions for us! You have about 50 minutes to an hour to be clean, we'll come here last."

Katie and I headed out, starting at Athena. Perfect, as always. Aphrodite, almost perfect, but there was the occasional eyeliner pen sticking out from under a bed.

Hermes was a complete mess, poor kids would probably be showering last all week. Ares was a close competitor, as was Hephaestus. Apollo was mediocre, and Dionysus was good enough.

When Katie and I arrived back at Cabin Four, it was clean enough to pass, but hardly. We had to immediately head to breakfast. I refrained from even glancing at anyone or anything except my breakfast. I focused on wrapping vines around each individual finger without getting too tired.

I knew that there had to be someone in the camp that could read minds, but I didn't know who it would be. I made sure to clear my mind of anything that wasn't food or plants.

It was going to be a long couple days. All the cabin heads were stressed about the fireworks tomorrow, not to mention everyone trying desperately to forget the inevitable war just for one day. All I wanted was to enjoy the campfire and fireworks with my half siblings and fellow campers.

Well, I would certainly enjoy it.

*

hey lol i'm so tired and this is sh:tty chapter but like i was feeling sick all day and idrc :D

stay hydrated and luv urselves pls xx

NYE NOT ME FORGRTTING TO TITLE IT WAIT

OK I DID IT SORRYS JFSJD