A/N: As voted by my two best friends, I'll start this story tonight. It's really short- 11 chapters, and they're all short too. To give you an idea, it took me two days to write it and only reaches 38 pages on Microsoft Word right now. Anyways I hope you like it!
Dedicated to: To anyone who's ever made me laugh [read: Dorquettes, guy friends, Rick Riordan, Rachid Baddouri, Maman, etc.]
1
The Bet
Some say that the first day of summer is the first day there's a heat wave, or the first day where you get to sleep in for the first weekday.
But they're wrong; the first day of summer is when you get pranked. It's been like that for Katie for now 6 years.
She had been offered 3 different types of snacks, invited to 2 different parties that would never happen and asked to look at 5 different distractions that she knew actually weren't there since she'd gotten to Camp. About… 4 hours ago?
But she refused this year. Travis Stoll would not make a fool out of her this summer. Nor the rest of cabin 11. But especially not Travis Stoll.
Sadly, Cassia Viridis didn't have that kind of resolution, so Katie sat on her bunk, removing some kind of larvae from the 7 year old's blond braid.
Finally Katie was pretty sure she'd gotten them all out (or at least she hoped because holding the tweezers had given her a serious hand cramp).
"Stay away from the Stolls, Cassia!" Katie warned as Cassia made a run for the door, and Katie put the rinsed tweezers back in the bathroom.
"Yes Katie," Cassia promised. Her little sister was nearly out when she screamed; "Katie they're right out the door!"
Katie kneed the drawer closed and stomped to the cabin's front door, and Cassia ran into her leg, staying as close as a leech.
"Stolls- will you stop harassing my-"
"No need for plural, Katie, it's just me." Travis said. He was leading on the railing to the 2/3 steps that led to the cabin door. His brown hair was falling in his eyes, and he had a sarcastic smile on his lips, and upturned eyebrows over his sparkling blue eyes. His hands were tucked into his cargo pants pockets. Actually, Katie was ready to bet that they weren't his pants and that he'd just stolen them.
"Go Cassia," Katie encouraged. She eased the door to a close as Cassia sprinted down the staircase, and turned to Travis.
"Seriously?" Katie asked. "Larvae?"
"In her hair? Oh that wasn't lar-"
"Drop that sentence Travis, if you know what's good for you." Katie snapped, raising a finger. "Would it kill you to be nice to the little kids at least? One summer?"
"Yes," Travis said. "But I am a man of bargain."
Katie rolled her eyes.
"What's that supposed to mean?" She asked.
"My holly side can be bought." Travis said raising his hands nonchalently.
"Holly side? Ha! It'd have to be created first." Katie said- but the gears were turning. Money…Okay, if she walked around with a can saying 'Donate now for Travis Stoll to be good' she's probably make a few drachmas off of every cabin and the Big House.
"Okay, how much do you want?" Katie asked.
"Money? That's not what I want. If I'd need it, I'd steal it."
"Well, what do you want?" Katie asked.
"Something I can't steal," Travis said. "A kiss. From you."
"Me kiss you? Forget about it!"
"Okay, if you're willing to let my holly side sink under all the other crap when I've named my price and offered a deal…"
"I'm not kissing you, I rather kiss a frog. There's a better chance that one of them becomes a prince."
"Well, nice talking to you Katie. Now if you excuse me- Connor thinks he's discovered a special kind of bed bug that's been hibernating in Chris' bunk for decades. Who knows what it might eat, eh?" Travis turned his heels but a thought struck Katie.
A whole summer of pulling larvae-that-actually-wasn't-larvae out of hair? Of dealing with the traumatised population of Camp's little kids? Of paying ransoms for diaries or embarrassing baby pictures? She thought back to Cassia who'd taken forever to calm down…
"Okay!" She yelled out. "Okay Travis, I accept! If you're good all summer I'll do it." She called.
Travis was back to standing in front of her in seconds.
"On the lips?"
"Yes."
"With tongue?"
"Definitely not."
"Not just a peck, right?"
"We'll see. But you've got to be good. G-o-o-d. Go look it up in a dictionary because I'm pretty sure that that word is brand new to you. It means no spitballs, no pranks, no food-fights, no stealing, no rude remarks about Percy or Annabeth or anybody else, no vandalism, no lying to little kids or anybody, no snooping and no cheating anyone or anything." She counted everything on her fingers. Travis' eyes sprawled. That was a lot of fingers…
"That's 9 things for you to not-do, Travis. Actually, 10."
"What's number 10?"
"Nobody ever finds out about this."
"Not even Connor?" Common you know he's my evil twin."
"Yeah, sure, he's the evil one. And… Well… Just Connor, but if he tells anyone, deal's off and you both die." Katie said.
"Via plant?" Travis snickered.
"Don't tempt me."
"Done!" Travis said with a grin. He and Katie shook hands to seal the deal, swore it on the Styx, and parted ways.