riley doesn't like the redhead

i arrived at camp half-blood around dawn.

i was tired, and hungry, and if someone bothered me before i got some sugar in my system there was a high chance that i was gonna knock their teeth out.

fortunately, the only ones awake were the apollo cabin. one look at my annoyed expression was enough to send them scampering off. 

i already sent my bags to camp since i knew i was arriving late. chiron didn't question it. i walked straight to the pavilion with my backpack on and grabbed a plate. 

a dryad served me a plate of waffles (waffles, not pancakes, waffles). i thanked her (because, i may be sleep deprived but, manners) and i began putting some syrup on them. after drenching them in syrup, i began eating the waffles.

i finished in a record amount of time, and drank some coffee from the magical goblets. once i got a good amount of sugar and caffeine in my system, i was a much happier person.

"hi will!" i ruffled his hair as i made my way to the cabin.

"wait! riley!" he called.

"yuh-huh, what's up?" i asked him.

"so, you know, umm..."

"what is it? you can tell me, i promise i won't bite," i told him jokingly.

"is yordfmrairenan?" he muttered.

"woah, woah, woah. slow down buddy."

"is your dad really iron man?" 

"pretty cool, huh? yeah, he is iron man." i beckoned him closer, "and let me tell you a secret. i was the one who made up the name."

"woah. cool," he muttered.

"i know," i smirked as i walked away.

i made my way to the aphrodite cabin in a whole different mood then when i arrived at camp. everyone was still sleeping so i greeted the members of the apollo cabin that were scattered around. (lee told me their dad played music at the ass-crack of dawn at a frequency only they could hear, so they could all see him in his asshole-ish glory. wasn't sure how true it was, but it was funny to think about).

i opened the door to the aphrodite cabin and peered in. the hangout area was silent. i continued further to the sleeping quarters. i opened the door slightly, and looked around. 

the girls were all sleeping, some had their eye masks on. the curtain was drawn, and i was pretty sure the guys were also sleeping on the other side.

i decided i wanted to be overdramatic, and have an obnoxious entrance (cuz, y not?)

i slammed the door to the girls entrance of the sleeping quarters open. the sound echoed loudly across the room. "i'm back bitches!!" i yelled at the top of my lungs.

aurora was so startled, she fell out of her bunk, facedown on the floor. the rest of my siblings groaned, and whined while i stood there, leaning back in laughter. 

"oh my gods," i gasped for breath, pointing at aurora. "you actually fell out of your bed."

"very funny," she muttered. 

"excuse me," a snotty voice sounded to my right. "but, who do you think you are, hun? don't you know better than to disturb my beauty sleep."

i turned my head at the unfamiliar voice.

a tall girl (she looked a little younger than me, maybe) with curly hair and brown eyes was looking at me. her eye mask was on her head. she was a pretty asian, a child of aphrodite, definitely. one of the bratty ones. ugh.

i raised an eyebrow at her and waved my hand around. time to be the rich, spoiled brat the world expects me to be, "listen, miss..."

"drew," she sat up staight, "drew tanaka."

"i don't care," i said matter-of-factly. "if you're going to treat me like shit, i'm going to treat you worse. obviously you're a newer child of aphrodite. recently arrived at camp, huh?"

"i arrived a little before the summer, and i was claimed a few days ago," she looked me up and down.

"yeah, well, listen up, hun," i mocked, "i was claimed when i was eight. and, i believe i'm older than you. that means i have more seniority than you, so you better watch your mouth." 

"or what?" she pressed.

"drew, drew, drew," aurora said, finally getting off the floor and throwing an arm around me. "she's the third oldest camper here. it's silena, cayden, then her. and you don't wanna mess with her."

"what's so important about her?"

i smiled mockingly and held a hand out, "riley stark. pleased to meet you."

her face paled a little. "i know you!" she pointed. "your — your dad's iron man!"

i rolled my eyes (getting a little annoyed now), "yes, yes he is."

"if you mess with her, you mess with the entire aphrodite cabin. you also gon' get her overprotective-billionaire-superhero-dad comin' after you!" cayden shouted from his side of the curtain.

"i love this cabin!" i heard theo yell.

"i'm willing to move past this if you are," i told her honestly. 

i didn't like fighting with my siblings (even if they were the bratty ones.) and i didn't want aurora to give her a death glare every time they saw each other.

"i'm willing," she muttered, still a little pale.

"great!"

i went over to my bunk and dropped my backpack on it.

"did you seriously have to wake all of us up?" silena asked.

"yes, i did. i can be dramatic when i want," i told her.

"duly noted," aurora muttered.

silena laughed through her nose, "well then. come on, everybody up! let's go!" silena said pulling her sheets off. 

the entire cabin groaned and moved slowly to the change room/washroom. we chilled on the beanbags in the front, before nina began complaining.

"i'm hungry," she whined.

"we're going towards the pavilion right now," i told her.

"riles!" a familiar voice called.

i turned my head to the right, and noticed annabeth, "hey annie. what's up?" 

"so, you know how you and i were going to meet percy at school, then go watch a movie?" she asked.

"yeess," i answered slowly.

"well, i kind of forgot," her tone didn't make it seem like she forgot, "but i have, um... something to do, so you're gonna have to go see the movies with just percy."

i was pretty sure my cheeks were flaming and i slapped her arm as i dragged her away from my snickering siblings. "you're a horrible friend, you know that?"

"how? i just forgot. i'm sorry." she apologized, "on the bright side, this will be your first unofficial-official date!"

i rolled my eyes, "what is this important thing you have to do?"

she shrugged, "i don't know yet."

i smirked as an idea made it's way to my brain, "cayden!!" i yelled waving him over.

annabeth's eyes widened, as she looked over to him, "what? are you crazy? what are you doing?" she asked.

"well, since you decided to set me and percy up on a date, i'm setting you and cayden up on a date." i told her.

"no, i don't — i don't—"

"you like him. he likes you. and oh look, he's coming." i pointed.

annabeth looked away.

"what's up? hey beth," cayden greeted.

i smiled, "ok, cayden, are you gonna be free a little later today?"

"uh, yeah," he said.

"you, annie?" i asked.

she looked wary, but nodded. "yeah."

"great. 'cause i'm busy. you two have fun on your date!" i exclaimed walking away.

"w — wh — w—"

i walked away leaving behind a sputtering annabeth, and a surprised cayden.

"c'mon, let me just—"

"no!" i cut off aurora.

she was trying to cake my face in makeup, and i was not having it. i was not a big fan of makeup, and aurora was absolutely insane about it.

"but, why not?" she whined holding a makeup brush.

"'cause i don't wanna," i answered.

"but it's a date," she muttered.

"is not!" i yelled.

"is too!"

"not!"

"too!"

"not!

"silena!!"

"what?!" silena shoved her head in the door.

"tell her it's a date," aurora pointed at me.

"but it's not," i complained.

"what's not a date?" silena asked, coming closer.

"percy has his high school orientation, so i'm gonna go meet him. it was supposed to be annabeth, him, and i, but annabeth and cayden are having a date, that i planned by the way. so now, percy and i are just going to go to the movies," i explained to her.

silena rubbed her chin, "sounds like a date," she muttered.

"lena!!" i yelled.

"i'm sorry! it's just, that's kind of a date," she told me.

"is not!!"

"is too!!" they both yelled.

"what's the problem this time?" theo asked exasperated as he poked his head through the door.

"riley's going on a date!" aurora squealed.

"it's not a date!"

"is too!!"

i took a cab from half-blood hill to a café.

after finishing up, i walked down east 81st. percy's school was a short walk. i left a little early, because i was tired of silena and aurora (theo had joined them). annabeth told me she already told percy she couldn't make it so it would only be us two.

i was in a good mood. 

for the first time since last winter i wasn't worried about annabeth's disappearance. or my dad's. or trying to find out what obadiah was hiding. or clarisse and her special mission. or grover and his quest for pan.

today was just percy and i. two best friends (even if i had a crush on him) hanging out.

sadly, my good mood didn't last long.

my hair was pulled back in a half up-half down style. i wore a faded camp half-blood t-shirt, with jean shorts. i had black flat-heel sandals on my feet. i had my clay necklace, twine bracelet, and ring on.

i continued walking down the street, and something crashed into me.

i caught myself and looked at percy, "hey! you're out early." i grabbed his shoulders to keep him from tumbling into traffic and laughed, "watch where you're going seaweed brain."

he looked taller, quite a bit taller than me. there was no way we could pass as the same height. his hair was messy, and ruffled. he also looked like he needed a trim. he looked more tan than the last time i saw him. percy looked even better in person than he did through the iris-messages.

a second later something else — red and gold — charged out of the alley yelling, "percy! wait up!" (that was when my good mood ended)

i looked at the girl, and felt the smile fall off my face. she had curly red hair that was all frizzed up. her hair had flecks of gold monster dust. she had freckles like me, but lighter skin than my own. it complimented her. her green eyes sparkled, and i felt slightly envious of the color.

i looked behind her, and that's when i noticed the school. there was black smoke rising, and fire alarms were ringing all around. no doubt, courtesy of percy.

i looked at percy and frowned, "what did you do this time? and who is this?" 

percy seemed shook. "oh, rachel — riley. riley — rachel. um, she's a friend, i guess."

i looked at percy's friend properly. she's pretty. why can't i be pretty like that? why does percy have such a pretty friend? her hair is pretty, oh and her eyes. i've always loved green eyes. i can't believe percy's pretty friend gets green eyes.

"hi," then she turned to percy. then she did a double-take and looked back at me, "i know you! you're — you're tony stark's kid. you're dad's iron man!" she exclaimed.

i sighed, annoyed, "yes, yes he is." i muttered to myself, "it's been two damn days, and suddenly the whole world knows."

the redhead — rachel — turned back to percy, "you are in so much trouble. and you still owe me an explanation!" 

police sirens wailed on fdr drive. 

"percy," i said, emotionlessly. "we should go." 

"i want to know more about half-bloods," rachel insisted. "and monsters. and this stuff about the gods." she grabbed percy's arm, whipped out a permanent marker, and wrote a phone number on his hand. "you're going to call me and explain, okay? you owe me that. now get going." 

"but—" 

"i'll make up some story," rachel said. "i'll tell them it wasn't your fault. just go!" 

she ran back to the school. scowling, i turned on my heel, walking fast. 

i'll admit, i was jealous. i didn't have a problem with percy just talking to other girls, but this was different. i don't know why. maybe because percy told her about everything, or maybe it was something else. after everything that just went down in my life, i was not ready to deal with this bullshit.

 "hey!" percy jogged after me. "there were these two empousai," he tried to explain. "they were cheerleaders, see, and they said camp was going to burn, and—" 

"you told a mortal girl about half-bloods?" i asked, kind of annoyed.  

"she can see through the mist. she saw the monsters before i did." 

"so you told her the truth?" 

"she recognized me from hoover dam, so—" 

"that's the rachel girl you were talking about?" 

"um, yeah. but seriously, i barely know her." 

"she's kind of cute." i muttered.  

"i — i never thought about it." 

i kept walking toward york avenue. 

"i'll deal with the school," percy promised. "honest, it'll be fine." 

i didn't look at him. i didn't want to. i knew i was being petty, but i didn't care. i was emotionally drained from the entire iron monger vs. iron man fight. things were happening too fast, and i did not have the emotional capacity to deal with this maturely right now.

"i guess our afternoon is off." i muttered, "we should get you out of here, now that the police will be searching for you."

percy was silent a few seconds.

"you're right," he muttered. "we have to get to camp half-blood now."

REY WRITES !

she met rachel!!

riley will not like rachel. not right now
anyways. that's because rachel's in pjo
as the drama, and problem person. riley's
obviously going to react differently than
annabeth, but that's why rachel was there.
so she won't like her at least until tlo

thanks for reading !!

thoughts?

comments?

headcanons?

theories?