The sun broke in through the curtains early and Arabella rolled over, hiding her face in her soft pillow. She didn't really want to have to wake up. Not then, at least. Her mind was just so full of jumbled throughts and emotions. All she wanted and needed to do was sleep for a little bit longer, letting her mind sort it all out. She felt this rush when she thought about the guy that she had kissed, the guy that had saved her. Arabella's lips and skin tingled with his touch, even after a whole night away from him. But then she felt hurt and heartbroken, thinking about Brett made her heart feel heavy. They didn't have anything too special but she had trusted him and she had feelings for him. Arabella had been spending a lot of time with him and she thought that they might have had something special. Beyond all of that, she was confused. When Hunter had caught her last night and she was in his arms, she felt a warmth that she couldn't describe. It was a feeling of safety and calm.
With a groan, Arabella rolled onto her back and she blinked up at the ceiling. Thankfully, it was Saturday. Arabella could spend as much time alone as possible. Or maybe she could bump into Hunter and spend some time with him. Sitting with him on the beach had been a highlight of her day. Arabella pushed herself up so that she was sitting and she folded her legs, placing her hands in her lap. Most of the cabin was empty. A few girls were getting ready but Brooke was still asleep. Arabella let out a huff, looking away from her sister. She was angry at Brooke. She hated what she had done to Hunter. With a little sigh, Arabella looked down at her wrist and her eyes narrowed. Her watch was missing. So much had happened the previous day, it was like she hadn't even processed the fact that it was missing. She remembered losing it when she fell but then forgot all about it. Seeing her empty wrist, with a slight tan line, Arabella felt sad. That watch had been her favorite since she was only 5 years old.
Arabella stood up and she opened up her trunk, starting to go through her stuff. She didn't really want to wear anything too complicated. She didn't want to wear anything too stiff. So she tugged on a pair of black yoga shorts, her camp tee shirt and a white cardigan. Arabella was running her fingers through her hair, fixing it a little bit, when she heard a groan from the bed across the room. She looked over and saw Brooke waking up and speaking to one of their sisters. Brooke looked fine. She didn't look upset or angry or guilty or anything. She was laughing and smiling and talking like nothing had happened. Maybe she was just hiding it. Maybe she was upset but it didn't look like that to Arabella. She took a deep breath and sat down on her bed, tugging on her shoes. Arabella stood up and walked past Brooke, headded outside. Almost as soon as she got outside, the cabin door opened and Brooke stepped out.
"Brooke?" Arabella called out to her as she walked past her. Brooke turned around and looked at her.
"Yeah?"
"Can I talk to you for a minute?" Arabella asked and Brooke walked back to her, raising and eyebrow. Arabella could understand why she was a little curious about this. Arabella and Brooke weren't really close.
"What is it?" Brooke asked, her voice a little tight. Arabella wasn't really sure what she was going to say. She hadn't planned this whole conversation out in her head.
"Hunter told me what happened between you two" Arabella said and Brooke's cheeks turned a little pink.
"What happened between with Hunter is none of your business" Brooke said, her voice getting a little defensive.
"Hunter is my friend and I care about him. That makes it my business" Arabella didn't want Brooke to just get away with all of this. "You really hurt him, Brooke. You pulled a really bitch move" She said, her voice sounding a bit more harsher than she meant.
"Back off, Arabella" Brooke snapped.
"Whatever..." Arabella sighed, waving her off. "Did you even care about him? Have you cared about any of the guys that you've hurt?" She huffed and turned to walk away from her.
"Did you?!" Brooke called back to her. "Come on..don't be shy. Everyone knows that you were sleeping with Brett and that you've been with half of the guys at camp. Did you care about them?!" Her voice was raised and the people that were walking down to the dining pavillion stopped to look at them. Arabella's cheeks turned bright red but she didn't look back at Brooke. She pushed a pair of sunglasses on and kept walking, trying to ignore everyone around her.
Apparently, she was really good at ignoring people because Arabella walked face first into a hard chest. A pair of strong arms caught her before she fell and she looked up into the familiar face of a friend. "Have you forgotten how to use your eyes?" He asked with a chuckle and Arabella smiled a little bit.
"Hi, Ethan" Arabella said, looking up at the son of Ares. He had a strong jaw and he was quite a bit taller than Arabella. His hair was short, buzzed to his scalp and he had a big grin on his face. Arabella knew him well. They had spent a lot of time together because they had mutual friends. He wasn't a really good friend or anything, though.
"How's it going?" He asked her and Arabella glanced over at Brooke, who huffed past them.
"Peachy" She muttered. Ethan started to open his mouth to speak but Arabella cut him off. "Look, I'm really sorry but I'm so hungry and I haven't eaten anything" She lied and before he could stop her, Arabella walked around him and towards the Aphrodite table.
Arabella sat down beside Daniel at the Aphrodite table with a huff and she placed her head on his shoulder, sticking her bottom lip out in a little pout. Daniel laughed, shaking her a little bit. "Good morning to you, too"
"Hi" Arabella sighed and she sat up, looking down at her cup. "Coffee. Strong. Black" She muttered to it and took a quick sip when it filled up.
"Well don't you look happy.." Daniel said with sarcasm and Arabella raised an eyebrow at him.
"You're not funny" She huffed and Daniel laughed again.
"Are you going to eat anything this morning or just coffee?" Daniel asked her.
"I'm not hungry" She muttered and looked over at him. Daniel's eyes locked with hers and he let out a sigh.
"I saw you with Hunter last night, just so you know" He told her with a little nod and he took a sip of his water. "I also had to sit up with Brooke last night after things ended with Hunter.."
"Don't use that tone with me, Danny" Arabella muttered and she took a big sip of her coffee. She knew that it looked bad but she just didn't want to have to hear that judgmental tone from him.
"Are you going to talk about it at all?" He asked her and she shook her head. "I didn't think so" Daniel sighed and he put an arm around her, giving her a small hug."This past year has been hard on you, huh?"
"Yeah..." Arabella sighed and she finished off her coffee. Daniel was right. It had been a hard year and it was really starting to take it's toll on her. Especially after everything that had happened the past week. "I think I might go home this year" She admitted and Daniel looked at her with a slightly stunned expression. She couldn't blame him, really. Arabella had been staying at camp year round since she first started.
"Seriously?" Daniel looked like he was a little bit lost for words. She looked around the table, making sure that no one was listening in.
"Yeah. I think it's for the best" Arabella looked up at her brother and shrugged. "I need a bit of time away and it's not like I can't take care of myself. I could go back to mortal school and just..try to forget about everything"
"If that's what you think is best.." Daniel said softly and Arabella nodded, giving him a sad smile.
"Look...I'm going to go pack up my stuff and we'll talk later tonight, okay? We'll have a girls night" Arabella said with a little giggle and she nudged his side before getting up. She pushed her hair out of her eyes and started walking back to her cabin. As she walked, she spotted Hunter sitting at the Hermes table and she gave him a little wave.
"The way that you left me was incredibly rude" Ethan said as he started walking beside her. Arabella rolled her eyes and turned to look at him.
"Oh, was it?" She said with a little giggle and he grinned when he heard her laugh.
"Very. I think you owe me a walk to the arena" Ethan nodded and Arabella glanced back at her cabin. She saw Brooke's red head slip inside so she turned to Ethan and let out a dramatic sigh.
"Fine!" She huffed and started walking towards the arena with him. They walked in silence for a moment before she finally turned to look up at him. "Why are you so set on spending time with me, today? Last time we actually spent time together was about 3 months ago" Arabella looked up at him with a curious expression on her face. Ethan, however, looked flustered. She had never seen him look flustered. He looked like he was trying to say something to her but his nerves were making it nearly impossible. His cheeks were a little red and he stopped walking, turning to look down at her. His eyes were suddenly serious.
"I have something to tell you...something important" He said, his voice low.