stollen things || c. stoll

2.6~ Don't Pray To Aphrodite For Help

So when I said Connor Stoll was forbidden from my thoughts, I apparently meant my conscious thoughts. Aphrodite found it really funny to mess with my dreams. We kept making terribly awkward eye contact and just overall awkward encounters. Perhaps the goddess had messed with his head as well. She had a thing for confusing young demigods and heroes. And confuse us she did.

If you haven't experienced it, having dreams about someone you are strictly rivals with is very inconvenient. Once your mind sees them in its own imagination, even if it isn't a particularly romantic dream, it starts thinking about the person more and more often. It does this until the person consumes most of your day, distracting you from volleyball, archery, and rock-climbing. Even when those are your favorite activities.

I planned to strangle Aphrodite as soon as I met her, if ever. I would have spoken with one of her children but I couldn't trust anyone with these thoughts. It wasn't as if the whole camp hadn't already picked up on the supposed chemistry between the two of us.

As we left breakfast, Connor threw a terrible attempt at flirting towards me and I retorted with a sarcastic comment. This went on for days. It bled into every time we passed each other after meals and soon he would do it every time he saw me. My archery skills slowly got worse the more I got distracted, along with my sword and shield skills. Overall, I was no longer the star student. Just a normal one with a knack for tracking and climbing.

Of course none of this affected Connor in the slightest. It seemed to boost him even more, to the point of top of our group in most activities. Every conversation we had that wasn't a pickup line or flirtatious comment turned me into a stuttering mess.

So I decided to take revenge. I'd return the behavior, ten fold. Connor would toss out a pickup line? I'd return another right back. It got to the point where I'd be the one saying them first, stopping him from getting the pleasure of me blushing and missing a step.

Patting him on the shoulder, getting right up to his face, whispering down his neck, you know the gist. My greatest satisfaction came from seeing his eyes widen and his face and ears turn pink. His sneaky nature usually hid it well, but he slowly got out of practice and it showed more and more.

We'd both start teasing each other more and more. He'd come up to me at the campfire, lift my face to his, then tap my nose before walking away. So I'd return the favor. My cabin would go wild at this new behavior, and I often found myself forgetting about Charles for just a few seconds before reprimanding myself.

The thought of Charles threw me off my game, and I was getting flustered again. Connor obviously thought he was winning this little game, so I went to consult Nat again.

On a Saturday, I made my way from my cabin to the Aphrodite cabin. I knocked on the door and heard a few voices tell me to come in.

"Is Nat in?" I peered into the cabin to find them all sitting on their beds, some reading and some playing chopsticks or other waiting games with each other. "What are you all doing?" I cocked an eyebrow.

"Nat isn't in. She said she'd be here with snacks, like, an hour ago, but no such luck." One girl sighed.

"Where is she?" I started to tap my foot subconsciously, but quickly stopped when I realized that I probably looked rude.

"Probably out swimming. She likes to do that in the early morning." Another boy put down his book to answer.

"Okay. Thanks, guys!" They all murmured a thanks. I didn't think I'd ever seen those kids so miserable.

I realized that my visiting the cabin probably gave Aphrodite more access to my dreams and thoughts.

I strolled to the canoe lake and there she was, swimming laps back and forth along the beach.

"Nat!" I called. She didn't hear me. I called her name again. No luck.

I huffed, and began to take off my sneakers. "Natalia Townsend, if I fall into the water, you're dead." I muttered to myself before stepping into the water to wade out to her.

"Aw, no bikini today, Callaghan?" A voice called from the shore.

"If you really want to see me half naked, Stoll, you're going to have to try harder than that!" I called back to him without turning around.

Boyfriend. Boyfriend. Boyfriend.

I was knee deep now, and Nat still hadn't responded to my calls. "Is this girl dead or something?" I growled.

She finally resurfaced to take a short break and saw me almost thigh deep into the water on my way out to her. "Jeez, Maddy. What are you doing?"

"I was coming out to talk to you but apparently you need your ears checked," I put my hands on my hips, which were fully underwater by now. I'd have to hang my shorts out to dry later.

"Not my fault I was getting exercise. You should come swimming with me tomorrow!" Her eyes lit up and she grabbed my hands.

"Oh, no," I shook my head. "I don't do wa- aah!"
Apparently I had to do water, because Nat had pulled me a little too hard. My feet slipped out from under me as my arms came forward too quickly, and I went right under the water. Sure, I could swim, but I reserved it for emergencies rather than pleasure. Lakes scared me more than beaches or pools, because you can never see what's in them.

I finally regained my footing and stood, sputtering out water. "Nat!" I cried out.

"Oops!" She giggled before pulling me again. "Come on, let's go back!"

I slipped again, but didn't submerge. "Gods..." I rolled my eyes. I gladly let her lead me back to the shore.

"Bet you had a good laugh at that one, huh?" I deadpanned when I saw Connor still standing at the beginning of the sand.

"Oh, no," He grinned, leaning against the stacked canoes. "I was just admiring how nice you look all soaking wet like that."

"Good to see you're still able to be pervy this early in the morning."

"Do you really think so low of me?" He put a hand over his chest in a mocking manner. "My, I must be doing something wrong if you haven't fallen for me yet."

"In your dreams, Stoll." I pushed past him, back towards my cabin to change.

And in mine, too.

"Whatever you say, darling." He called after me.

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short chapter xx cus i'm realizing that i'm breezing through SOM like it's nobody's business so i'm gonna slow down