M is for Marshmallows
Travis wasn't really one for sing-alongs. Except for the cast of Glee, but who was really for sing-alongs? So it wasn't very surprising when he decided to completely ignore the jackass Apollo campers that were leading the chorus of "Drive, Drive, Drive Your Chariot" to stare at that new Demeter girl.
Damn, was she hot! She had that long, brown hair that curled at the ends like most of the kids from Cabin 4. Her shorts were riding higher and higher up her thighs as she swayed and laughed and sang. She had cut the sleeves off of her Camp Half-Blood shirt due to the summer heat, and drew flowers around the letters. There was even a small smiley face drawn on the picture of Thalia's tree. This was the sixth time she had pulled her bra strap up her shoulder, and the first time Travis had ever seen a girl's bra strap of someone who wasn't directly related to him.
He was so distracted by her smile, all white and smiley, that he almost didn't notice her getting up and walking in his direction.
Holy crap. Holy crap, holy crap!
She was coming over here. She was coming over here.
Travis quickly looked away, trying hard to make it seem as if he wasn't just staring at her. He had to bite his tongue just to make sure he didn't squeal with joy when she walked up right next to him and smiled that white and smiley smile of hers.
"Hey," she said shyly. Her voice was like a combination of Fergie and Jesus. It wasn't all high pitched and annoying like the Aphrodite girls or weird and manly like the Hephaestus girls. It was as smooth and seductive as caramel. Travis loved caramel.
He grinned goofily, waving slightly. She laughed. "Do you have any extra marshmallows we could have?" she asked innocently, pointing behind her where she was sitting moments ago with her siblings. "We kinda ran out."
"Oh!" Travis exclaimed. "Uh, yeah. Y-Yeah. Yeah!" He handed her the big bag of marshmallows he and Conner (more like just Conner. Travis was much too busy to pay attention to roasting marshmallows) were sharing earlier with a large grin on his face.
Before reaching her hand, Conner intercepted it. "Travis? What the hell?"
"What?" he asked irritably.
"These are my marshmallows."
"They're our marshmallows."
"You haven't eaten a single one! You've just been staring at her the entire time!" Conner said, pointing to the girl in front of them and glaring at his brother.
"I-I have not!" he shouted, going between glowering at Conner and shooting apologetic glances at the girl.
Conner rolled his eyes dramatically. "Sure you haven't," he mumbled.
"I can get marshmallows from somewhere else," the girl said, backing up a bit.
"No!" Travis exclaimed looking back to her. He smiled. "You're getting these marshmallows." He turned back to his brother and said through gritted teeth, "She's getting these marshmallows."
The two glared at each other for a least a minute. At first it was just to glare, but it quickly turned into a staring contest. Who would blink first?
Conner's eyes had turned red and were burning with tears. The girl seemed slightly uncomfortable, glancing back at her siblings occasionally, wanting this to end. Finally, Conner blinked.
"Ha!" Travis guffawed standing up from his seat and pointing down at his defeated brother.
Conner stood up to match his height. "This so isn't fair! The smoke was in my eyes!"
"Sure."
Conner stuttered as if he was at a loss for words. "Fine then! I'm going to go share marshmallows with Cody!"
"You do that!" Travis shouted as he stomped away. He turned back to the girl with a smile and a bag full of marshmallows. "Here ya go."
She seemed confused, uncomfortable, and slightly creeped out. She grinned anyways and grabbed the bag. "Thanks," she muttered before walking back to her group.
Travis sighed and sat back down as he stared after her. Man, she was something, that . . . that . . . girl. He seriously needed to learn her name.
Conner would've known her name. Conner knew all of the new campers, especially the hot ones. But he would understand.
It was indeed chicks before dicks as he loved to say.
Travis leaned on a tree, sheet laying in his arm as he watched the campfire rise into the air from behind the rows of campers watching Luke tell a ghost story up front. 'What?' you're probably thinking. 'He's not watching that new girl?' No, actually he wasn't. He wasn't exactly sure where she was at the moment. But oh, he was thinking about her all right. The fire seemed to make little curls at the end, just like her hair, and the smoke looked as if it morphed into pictures of little flowers.
Suddenly, a tap on his shoulder made him jump and turn around. Standing in front of him was the girl, now wearing a jacket and a pair of striped knee-high socks. She smiled that white and smiley smile. "Hey. Sorry I scared you."
"Oh, y-you didn't scare me."
"So you always jump like that?" she asked, eyebrows raised.
"Yeah, all the time."
She laughed slightly and shook her head. "What are you doing here?" she questioned.
"I could ask you the same thing."
"I was looking for the bathroom, but now, for the last five minutes or so, I've just been walking aimlessly, seeing as I have absolutely no idea where the bathroom is."
Travis smirked and pointed over near the cabins area. "You just take a left right after the Demeter cabin."
She stared at him. "Are you serious?"
"Completely."
"I walked past that thing, like, five times! I thought it was a tool shed or something."
Travis raised an eyebrow. "Isn't it a bit big for a tool shed?"
"Shut up!" she shouted, hitting him on the shoulder. Oh my gods! She touched him! Travis laughed and shook his head, trying to hide his excitement. "You never answered me though."
"What?" he asked.
"What are you doing out here?"
"Oh." He smiled and blushed slightly. "I really shouldn't tell you."
"Come on. It can't be more embarrassing than not being able to find the bathroom when it's right next to your own cabin."
"Well, it's not embarrassing, exactly." She stared at him, waiting. Her dark brown eyes dug deep into his soul! . . . Ha! Just kidding. They were just so damn beautiful that he couldn't resist telling her. "Well you know how Luke-"
"The hot one?" she asked, interrupting his explanation.
He raised an eyebrow. "Sure. Anyways, he's out there telling a ghost story right about now and every year my brother, Conner, and I have to go out there and pretend to be ghosts to scare the bejeebers out of the new campers."
She chuckled. "Bejeebers. Such a funny word."
"It truly is."
They stood in silence for a few seconds before they heard a giant "BOO!" coming from the amphitheater.
"Is that your brother?" she asked.
"Yes, yes it is."
"Does that mean you should be out there too?"
Travis bit his lip in concentration. "Probably, yes. But, you see, I was supposed to be paying attention, waiting for Luke's cue, but I missed it." He shrugged. "Too late now." She laughed slightly and shook her head.
"Won't your brother be mad?"
"Yeah. Yeah, he'll be pissed. But he's already pissed about the whole marshmallow thing, so whatever." She laughed again. "I never did get your name," he said shyly, breaking the awkward silence that had engulfed them.
"Katie. Katie Gardner."
"Travis Stoll." She smiled and they stood there in the quiet once more, hearing the laughs and conversations of the campers behind them. "You should probably get going to, you know, relieve your bladder."
"Yeah, probably. I've heard it's dangerous to hold it in."
"Your bladder could explode. Pieces of Katie Gardner would be everywhere."
"Well then, I better get to the bathroom."
"You should indeed."
She smiled before turning around and walking away towards the bathrooms.
Before she got too far away, Travis asked, "Hey, Katie?" Katie turned back around to look at him. "You know how you said Luke was hot and sexy?"
"I don't exactly remember the sexy part."
"Yeah, me neither. It just sounded cooler if I added it."
She laughed once more before saying, "Yeah?"
"Well I've heard that the hotness gene kinda runs in the Hermes family." He leaned up against the tree, flipped his hair, crossed his arms, and tried to look as sexy as possible.
Katie launched into a fit of giggles. "Sure," she spat out sarcastically, rolling her eyes and walking away.
Travis watched her leave and sighed.
Nailed it!