Sunday, July 21
Arabella looked around as she stepped out of her cabin, trying to find someone who might know where Hunter was. Since it was still rather early and a Sunday morning, the camp was pretty quiet. She took a deep breath and headed over to the Hermes cabin right away. That seemed like a good spot to start. Arabella bit her lip and she knocked on the door. There was a bit of rustling from inside and a guy that Arabella didn't know answered the door. "What?" He groaned, rubbing the sleep out of his eye.
"Hi, I uh..I'm looking for Hunter. Is he in here?" She asked him and the guy shook his head, closing the door in her face and probably going back to bed. Arabella sighed and she turned away from the cabin, looking around. When she saw a familiar shape in the arena, her heart raced and she ran towards him as fast as she could. Hunter. He was there in the arena. She was going to talk to him, she was going to find out the truth and they were going to be happy together. As she got closer to the arena, Arabella picked up speed until she was practically running. She rushed up to Hunter and before he could say anything, before she could think, before she could stop herself, Arabella took his face in her hands and she pulled him down to her, kissing him tightly.
Hunter heard quick footsteps behind him and he turned to see Arabella running toward him. He scowled at her and opened his mouth to speak but before he could she surprised him. She shocked him, really. She pressed her lips to his in a long kiss. Hunter thought he was dreaming for a moment, but he soon realized that he wasn't. That this was real and the person kissing him was the same person who took away his sleep. Who took away his ability to eat this morning. She hurt him and he wasn't sure if this was to make up for it or if this was an apology, but whatever it was, it was too late. She pulled away from him, looking at him with wide eyes and Hunter looked back, his stomach twisting. "What do you want?" He said quietly, his face emotionless. "And can I have my jacket back?"
Arabella looked up at him, a mix of emotions rolling around inside her. There was no doubt in her mind now; Hunter was the one. He was the one who had saved her and he was the one who she kissed. Things were supposed to be great now. Why was he looking at her with a blank face and a bitter voice? Why was he acting like this? Why wasn't he hugging her and telling her that he was happy? Was he angry at her? Arabella cleared her throat and she nodded, gingerly putting the jacket in his arms. Before he could pull his arms away, Arabella dropped the watch on top of it. "I was wrong, Hunter." She said softly. "I'm sorry"
Hunter looked down at the watch and then grabbed the strap of it with two fingers, holding it out to her. "I don't want this. I did. I had this idea that I would wait for you to be single since I didn't want to interfere with the choices you made and I would give this watch to you and tell you that I was the one who saved you." Hunter said with a sigh. "And I imagined that you would hug me and that we would go to the beach and we'd talk and we'd get to know each other and maybe at the end of the night I would ask to kiss you and you would say yes and it would be the best night of my life." Hunter took a deep breath. "Now, I can't stand to look at this watch. Or you, really. I thought that you would have learned to trust me the first time you didn't and you were proven wrong. I thought that you would trust me from then on." Hunter shrugged and shook his head. "I get that you have been lied to and betrayed in the past. Who hasn't been, but Arabella...No. Never mind. Take the watch."
Arabella looked down at the watch and she took a deep breath, trying to control her emotions and figure out how to respond to him. This wasn't what he had imagined. Yes, she had made some mistakes but couldn't they work through it together? Arabella closed her eyes for a moment before looking up at him through her eyelashes. "Hunter...I...I messed up and I'm sorry" She said in a soft voice. "Can we talk about this or something?" Arabella asked him, trying not to sound too hurt or too desperate. She didn't want to push him away or make him even angrier but she didn't know what to say to him. "Just...tell me what I can say or do to make this better."
Hunter looked down at Arabella and sighed. "Arabella, what am I supposed to say? That you need to promise to always assume I'm right? So we can live on thin ice for the rest of this relationship?" He asked with a shrug. "Arabella, I was sure that I loved you. I was sure of it since that night on the beach. You left and it calmed down enough to get it off my mind, but then you came back and the feelings came back and I broke up with Marina because I thought that maybe you loved me back, but you didn't. Not until you found out that I was the guy who saved you. You never did. If you had, you would have listened to me as I begged for you to believe me." Hunter said, raising his voice. "You would have let me defend myself before you tore through the woods to get away from me! You would have waited for me to find you before you left for a year to be with Ethan! I was going to tell you then, but you didn't think about me. You didn't think about the sand angels we made that night on the beach or how relaxed we felt around each other. You thought about whose heart you were going to break next and I realize that now. I realize that is why the Aphrodite cabin exists. To make sure the other demigods don't get distracted by love. So you and your sisters can break our hearts into pieces and guarantee that we don't ever fall in love again. I'm sorry, Arabella. I'm sorry for thinking that you were anything different. Now, please leave me alone."
Arabella looked up at him, frozen for a moment. She didn't know how to respond and she didn't know what she could possibly say to him. In all honesty, she had no idea that Hunter felt so strongly about her and she had no idea that she had hurt him so much. Arabella couldn't stop the tears as they started to slide down her cheeks. After a moment, Arabella looked down and twisted the watch in her fingers. "I didn't know..." She started but she stopped, knowing that nothing she said could possibly make this better. Nothing she could say would make it right. Finally, Arabella took a step towards him and she placed a little kiss on his cheek. "I'm so sorry, Hunter" she breathed then placed the watch back in his hand and started to walk away.
"No, you're not." Hunter said quietly, looking down at the watch in his hand. "Maybe you can find some other jerk to believe!" He took a deep breath then looked up at Arabella as she walked away, hugging her arms to her chest. Hunter sighed and then dropped the watch to the dirt, turning back to the arena, drawing his sword. He headed toward one of the dummies and then stopped, clenching his sword tightly. He tried to move again, but he couldn't. It was like he had hit a wall that was telling him to turn around. That was telling him to go back to her or go back to the watch. He grimaced and then threw his sword into the ground. Hunter turned around and walked back, picking the watch up and gripping it in his fist. He looked at Arabella and then back down at the watch in his hand. After another moment, he slipped it into his pocket and turned around, trying to forget about the girl walking away.
Sunday, July 28
A week had passed. A whole week of feeling like crap and wishing that she could just leave. A whole week of planning her departure from camp. Arabella was, in all honesty, desperate to leave Camp Half-Blood. Finally, she was going to be walking over that hill and getting into her limo and driving back to Manhattan. She was going to be able to walk in Central Park and go to Starbucks in the morning and go to fashion shows. Arabella was looking forward to seeing her family and her puppy again. She just wanted to be home. Camp didn't feel like home for her anymore. With a small sigh, Arabella walked into her cabin after supper and she sat down on her bed. The cabin was empty so she figured that it would be a good time to pack and have a bit more time to herself.
Hunter had barely left the arena in the past week. He hadn't really eaten or gotten any sleep. Jake, Marina, Kyle, and other people had all taken their turns trying to get him to eat something or to get some sleep or to at least get out of the arena, but Hunter had blown them off. He just needed to survive a week. He needed a week. Then the people left. Everyone would be gone and he could be alone. He wouldn't have to put up with all of the pity and the sympathy. He could just be alone. That's all he wanted. Was to be left alone.
Arabella yawned, tired from not sleeping well for too many days in a row, and she moved to the end of her bed. She sat herself down on the floor in front of her trunk and pushed it open, pulling out her luggage. As she packed away her things, she thought about what her life would be like if she never went to Camp Half-Blood. Maybe she would be a cheerleader at her high school and she would have a boyfriend and a group of friends. Arabella bit her lip, folding her clothes and slipping them into her bag. She reached inside to grab a pair of shoes but her fingers brushed against a box. Gingerly, Arabella pulled the box out and placed it on her lap. Her heart skipped a beat as she pushed the lid off and ran her fingers over the hundreds of envelopes, all with Hunter's name on them.
Hunter slashed through another dummy then hit it with his shield, following up with another swipe from his sword. His arms were tired. His whole body was tired, really. He kicked the dummy down then stumbled back a little, catching himself with his sword, using it like a cane. He turned to the next dummy and started shuffling toward it, his sword scraping along the ground. He was tired but every time he closed his eyes he saw her. Saw her hugging Brett. Saw her writing on Ethan's hand. And every time he felt the same heartache that he did the first time he saw it. He quickly shook himself and let his shield slip off his arm. He managed to raise his sword and he swung it at the dummy, making a sloppy slice into its arm.
Arabella closed her eyes for a moment, resting her hand on top of the box. There were so many things that she wished she could say to Hunter and they were all in that box of letters. She had poured her heart and her soul into those letters while she was away and they were all words for Hunter. Faster than she would have thought possible, Arabella put the lid back onto the box and she jumped up, hurrying out of her cabin. As quickly as she possibly could, Arabella walked over and knocked on the door to the Hermes cabin. There was a long pause before she knocked again. Furrowing her brow, Arabella glanced around and saw a lot of the Hermes kids walking around the camp and talking to each other. So, Arabella lightly pushed the door open and she padded inside. she moved around until she found a bed that was neatly made and had a trunk that said 'Hunter' beside it. She placed the box on top of his bed, by his pillow, and pulled an eye liner pencil out of her pocket. 'For Hunter' she scribbled on the top in her loopy, girly writing. Before she could change her mind, Arabella turned and walked out of the Hermes cabin.
Hunter squared off with the dummy. He took a deep breath and clumsily slashed at the dummy, his sword thunking against the thick wooden post holding it up. He sighed and pulled away, regaining his stance.
"Hunter, you look like you could use some rest." A calm voice said from behind Hunter. Hunter turned and saw the centaur activities director walking up, looking at him with concerned eyes.
"I'm good, Chiron, sir." Hunter said curtly, turning back to the dummy. "Let me guess. Marina sent you. She was worried about me. Well, take it from me. I'm just fine." Hunter said, feeling the anger that he felt at being betrayed and managing to make a convincing cut, beheading the dummy in front of him.
"Hunter, I'm here out of my own personal concern, but yes. Ms. Goldman and Mr. Koenigsdorf let me know that they hadn't seen you eat, drink, or sleep in the past week." Chiron said, placing a hand on Hunter's shoulder which he quickly shrugged off.
"I told you I was fine." Hunter said, picking up his shield. "Sir." He added, turning back to the dummy.
"Hunter, at this rate, you're going to drop dead from exhaustion. Even demigods need rest." Chiron said with a sigh. Hunter ignored him and lopped off one of the dummy's arms. "Alright. You've left me no choice. Hunter, on the authority of the gods, I order you to return to your cabin and rest until tomorrow. I don't know what it is that's making you behave this way nor do I want to know what it is, but I'm ending whatever this is right now. Return to your cabin immediately." Hunter clenched his sword tightly in his fist as he turned toward Chiron.
"Yes...sir..." Hunter said through clenched teeth before dropping his shield to the ground and throwing his sword into the dirt, the sword sticking straight out of the ground. "αυτό είναι σκατά ταύρου." He said angrily as he passed Chiron and headed out of the arena.
"Watch your mouth!" Chiron shouted after him as Hunter exited the arena.
Arabella hurried back to her cabin, her arms wrapped around herself. She was desperate to leave that camp and get home. Things were pretty crappy and she needed to leave before Hunter saw those letters. Just as she got back to her cabin door, Arabella looked back and saw Hunter walk out of the arena, looking angry. Her heart skipped a beat and her stomach clenched up with anxiety. So she rushed inside, grabbed her bag and moved as quickly as she could to leave her cabin and head out.