[a prologue]

This was a day for the history books.

It was funny, actually—Travis had always thought he'd be remembered for one of his ingenious pranks, or maybe his devastating good looks. He supposed that someday he still would, but for now, he was only famous for one thing: asking Katie Gardner out on a date.

It was the second-to-last Friday of the summer session, and it started out as normal as any day can be at Camp Half-Blood: the construction of the new cabins for the minor gods and goddesses was underway, all the campers were enjoying some time off from training after the Second Great Titan War earlier that summer, and Travis and Connor were putting the finishing touches on their latest scheme.

"We call it Operation: Fly By," Connor declared proudly to the assembled members of the Hermes cabin, holding up a small metal object for all to see. "It's going to be our huge end-of-the-session prank this year."

The other occupants squinted and pushed and shoved for a better look, but it was too miniscule. Finally, someone called out, "Well, what is it?"

Travis grinned his impish grin and plucked the mysterious item from his brother's hand. "This, my fellow pranksters, is a beetle."

The cabin exploded into a chorus of groans and complaints.

"That's what you called an emergency meeting for? A stupid bug?" someone said loudly.

"You've done some pretty stupid stuff, but really?" said another.

Connor held up his hand for quiet, and when the noise had reduced to a few irritated grumblings, he proceeded. The look on his face was one that his half-siblings knew well, and it was enough to keep them wary. "Yes, it's a bug. But it's also a bug."

There was a beat of silence before the first person, their half-sister Karen, connected the dots. "You don't mean…?"

"Oh, yes," said Travis smugly. "It's a bug that records peoples' voices disguised to look like an actual bug."

Everyone in the room slowly broke out into a grin as it dawned on each and every one of them: they could know virtually everything there was to know about everyone in the entire camp.

Jared, a kid who couldn't have been more than ten, piped up, "Does this mean we'll always win at capture the flag?"

"We'll beat the Athena cabin for sure," Travis assured him. "They make their plans days ahead of time. All we have to do is plant this little guy over there in the morning, then retrieve it the next day and play back the recording. We'll always be one step ahead!"

"But how will we put it there without someone seeing?" asked a boy named Matt, who was already jumping to his feet in anticipation.

Connor grinned. "Why don't we try it out? Practices run."

Travis nodded. "I haven't bugged Katie yet today. Why don't we send it to the Demeter kids?"

Connor raised an eyebrow, clearly trying hard to keep a straight face. "You haven't… bugged Katie?"

Travis snickered. "We should really write this stuff down later. I envision a whole book of bug-related puns…"

"You're on," promised Connor. "Now let's get this show on the road."

Travis nodded seriously and with a self-satisfied smirk, he held the bug out in the upturned palm of his hand and said, "Fly By, activate. Target: Demeter cabin."

And the bug whirred to life, gears buzzing and metal parts clicking, until it suddenly stopped making noise altogether and soared through the crack between a window and its frame in perfect silence.

Katie was having a terrible day, and that was before she got electrocuted.

Okay, so it was more of an unusually large static shock, but she still wasn't happy, and she knew just who to blame: Travis Stoll.

She had spent her entire morning on kitchen duty (it was that chore rotation again) instead of out in the strawberry fields where she wanted to be. Once she returned to her cabin, she was having a nice conversation with some of her half-siblings about some crime drama television show they were all crazy for. She wasn't really contributing much, since she had never really kept up with it, but she put in a comment here and there. She was just beginning to relax after a long morning and was crossing the room to sit down on her bed when she heard a sharp crunch accompanied by a clap of pain in her heel.

She bit back a colorful string of swears as she hopped back on one foot, although the pain subsided quickly.

"Are you alright?" someone called out immediately, their conversation forgotten.

"What just happened?"

"I'm fine," Katie said, putting her weight on both feet to prove it. "I probably just stepped on a tack or something. Everyone make sure all your pictures and stuff are hanging up, but be careful abou—"

She was interrupted by another loud pop, followed by the crackle of static and a low mechanical whine.

The cabin was suspended in tense silence as Katie crouched to examine the broken fragments of whatever she had stepped on. As it turned out, it was not a tack, but all she could discern was a confusing jumble of metal bits and tiny parts that were somehow still producing the disconcerting hissing sounds. Katie decided that if she wanted to know what it had been before it was shattered by her foot, she would need expert help, and she rose with the intention of going to the Hephaestus cabin.

That's when it started talking.

Katie yelped and jumped back as garbled, tinny voices spilled from the metal wreckage, growing clearer by the second:

"…like the Los Angeles version?"

"No way! That team's nowhere near as good without Allie's jokes!"

"I don't know, Kyle's by far the hottest out of anyone…"

One of the girls let out a little squeak as her face went bright red. "That's our conversation from, like, two minutes ago!"

"You're right!" someone else cried.

"What's happening?

"Did someone record it?"

"Whose is that, anyway?"

"Enough!" Katie yelled over the din as the pieces all clicked together in her head. Everyone fell silent as she scooped up the various gears and scraps and marched out the door, curious half-siblings scurrying after her. Someone had tried to bug her cabin, and she knew just who to blame.

"Travis Stoll, get your ass out here right now!"

At the sound of the screaming and pounding at the door to his cabin, said demigod exchanged glances with his brother.

"Looks like we'll have to make some adjustments next time," Connor said sheepishly.

Travis sighed. "You don't think she's too mad, do you?"

"Travis, come out here and face your death like a man, you stupid little coward!"

"Nah, bro, I think she's cool."

Travis groaned. "Say something nice at my funeral."

"Will do," Connor promised, trying to suppress his laughter and failing miserably.

Travis had already turned away, and with another sigh, he opened the door just a crack. "Can I help y—aughhh!"

The second his face appeared, Katie shoved all her weight against the door, forcing it open, grabbed Travis by his shirt, and dragged him outside.

"Katie!" he yelled. "Let go!"

She promptly obliged, which sent him stumbling forward. When he had righted himself and turned to face her, he realized they had an audience: Both of their cabins were already sneaking glances at their argument from a distance, and more campers were spilling out into the commons to investigate the commotion.

That's fine, he told himself. Just stay cool. She'll have no proof.

Travis put his hands up in a gesture of peace. "Whoa, Katie. I already knew you couldn't keep your hands off me, but—"

"Shut up," she growled, her face flushing with a combination of adrenalin and embarrassment. She tossed a handful of metal bits at him, which he only just managed to side-step. "You've got ten seconds to explain."

Travis smirked. "To explain why you can't stay away from me? Aside from my blinding good looks—"

"No, you moron!" Katie cut him off again, blanching. "Why you tried to bug my cabin!"

The crowd broke out into whispers ranging from disapproving muttering to congratulatory snickers, but Travis didn't miss a beat. "I didn't, but if you want me to…"

He let his offer hang in the air, energized by the laughter it received. Katie was so angry that it took her a second to compose her answer.

"Travis," she hissed, "I am not in the mood."

But that only made his smirk grow wider. "I'm sure I have no idea what you're talking about."

She gritted her teeth. "You know exactly what I'm talking about, so why don't you just 'fess up? Just this one time."

"And why in Hades would I ever do that?"

"Because it's the right thing to do," she said indignantly. "The moral thing."

"Exactly," Travis said. "It's moral."

Katie looked ready to explode. Travis's satisfied grin didn't help.

"Why do you always do this?" she asked, seething. "Why do you always go out of your way to tick me off? Is it fun?"

"Yes," Travis admitted. "You're cute when you're angry."

"That's the lamest line in the book," she snapped, clenching her fists, but her face was reddening again. "Don't give me any more reasons to punch you."

"But I mean it. Sassy is the new sexy."

"As if I'd believe that," Katie scoffed.

"What? That I think you're cute?" Travis asked, raising an eyebrow.

Katie glared at him. "You've made it pretty clear what you think of me."

Travis blinked. "You think I don't like you?"

She narrowed her eyes. "The way you act? Of course not."

To her surprise, he blushed as brightly as she did and actually started stammering. "That's not—I mean, I don't—it's not like that, okay?"

"Oh, don't give me that," she said. "You never mean any of it, right? Well, nice try, but I'm not falling for that just so you can get another rise out of me."

Travis was muddled, mind reeling. He wasn't sure what he was feeling, but he knew it wasn't hatred.

"I'm so tired of you embarrassing me all the time."

He also knew that he actually enjoyed talking to her, even if they usually ended up throwing insults and occasionally small projectiles at each other.

"Do you think I like being known as 'that girl who can't take a joke'?"

In fact, the more he thought about it, the more he was sure that was why he bothered her so much in the first place: She never noticed him otherwise.

"It's annoying and frustrating, but I guess you don't really care."

And now, as she stood there insisting that he hated her, it was making him more positive than ever that he actually did like her.

"That's always been pretty obvious."

Maybe more than just a little, in fact.

"Are you even listening to me?" she asked indignantly, snapping him out of his thoughts and back to the present.

He was so flustered and she was so angry that before he even knew what he was doing, he was blurting out, "Do you want to go on a date with me?"

The look she gave him was so disbelieving and at the same time accusatory (as if she couldn't believe he had the nerve to suggest something so stupid) that it actually made him physically uncomfortable. He shifted his weight nervously. Please say yes. Please say yes…

"Um. No," she deadpanned, barely hesitating.

Travis was left reeling. He hadn't really considered this outcome when he'd posed his question. "I… what do you mean, no?"

"I mean, 'You're a douche, and I don't want to go out with you.'" She glared at him, turning away. "Now don't come anywhere near my cabin again, or I swear to the gods I'll do more than just throw something in your face."

It was approximately three seconds of stunned silence before he ran after her.

"Katie! Wait!" he called, catching up with her just as she mounted the steps to her cabin. She went to open the door, but he put a hand on her arm. "I just—give me one reason why you won't at least try going on one date with me!"

She stared at him over her shoulder for a moment, looking down from the top step. Then she pulled out of his grasp and walked inside.

Travis stood there, staring blankly at the door, until the rest of her cabin began to file in after her.

He was lying on his back in his bed, hands tucked beneath his head as he stared at the ceiling, when the conch horn that signaled dinner blew in the distance. The rest of the cabin filed out until only he and Connor remained.

"You okay, man?" his brother asked as he stood.

Travis sat up and swung his feet around to hang off the side of the bed. He sighed. "Yeah, I'm alright." He meant it, too. He hadn't yet managed to sort through enough of his feelings to be too upset. "I'm just not looking forward to the comments from the Aphrodite cabin."

Connor winced. "I'll do my best to cover for you," he promised. "But if you—"

He stiffened, looking at the door to the cabin. Travis turned to see that a folded piece of paper had been slipped under it and was sitting on the floor, and he immediately bolted from the bed and snatched it up.

"No fair!" Connor complained, trying in vain to grab the paper from him. "I saw it first!"

"Too bad!" Travis declared, unfolding it and scanning the contents. "It's probably for me, anyway, since I'm the oldest…"

His voice trailed off, and his smile faded. Connor stopped shoving to get a view of the note, opting instead to ask, "What? What does it say?"

Travis stared at it some more and probably would have continued to be unresponsive if Connor hadn't pushed, "Will you just read it already?"

He cleared his throat. "You asked for one reason why I won't date you; here are seven. Satisfied? Now please don't bother me about it again. It's embarrassing. Signed, Katie. And then… and then there's a list."

They stood in silence, neither quite sure what to say.

Finally, Connor swallowed. He chose his next words carefully. "Travis… maybe it would be best if you just… lay low for a while? Seems like she's pretty mad at you, and I don't know if—"

"But Connor!" Travis interrupted, his face suddenly erupting into a grin. Connor looked at him weirdly. "If she thinks I'm a horrible person because of the reasons on this list, all I have to do is prove that she's wrong!"

Connor looked skeptical. "I don't know. She was pretty clear she wants nothing to do with you. I don't think you should keep begging her to date you."

Travis rolled his eyes. "I'm not going to. I'm just going to show her that each and every one of her reasons to hate me are completely untrue, and then I'll let her decide for herself!"

"Travis," Connor said slowly, "there's only a week left in the session. Seven days. That's not a lot of time to completely change her opinion about you."

"What are you talking about?" Travis exclaimed. "One reason a day! That's plenty of time! And once she figures out that I don't actually hate her, there's no way she'll be able to resist the Stoll charm."

"But what if—"

"Look." Travis's laughter died out, his voice suddenly heavy and serious. "I have to do this, okay? I just… she thinks I'm a horrible person. She thinks I hate her. I need to at least try to show her that I don't. I don't want her to think that. Even if she still doesn't like me like that. I don't want her to hate me. I mean—"

"Alright," Connor said, taking the paper from his brother, "I'm on board. What's the first one?"

Notes: Well. This was a long prologue. I swear the chapters are going to be about this length, too, not very much longer.

Also, the rest of this story will have more of Travis and Katie actually hate-flirting the way they usually do. It's just that my goal with this story is to deconstruct the pairing. I'm trying to get them together but also address the fact that Katie is probably really hurt by Travis's constant and pranks, and that because of this, they probably wouldn't just yell at each other then make out. I want it to have more meaning than that.

That's my spiel. It doesn't really matter; you can just enjoy it as a Tratie fic with a spin. I hope you liked it. :)