Magical books and new meetings

Helen ran a hand through her hair in frustration as she endered the Athena cabin. She had been looking for a book for weeks and no one had it. Her only hope was the nerds. She opened the door without knocking and stormed in, heading straight to the library that took up most of the cabin. Some kids were inside but , other than giving her some annoyed glances, ignored her. She stood in front of the tall, wooden creation and pushed her hands in her black jeans' pockets as she stared, reading quickly the titles on the sides

George's day had been fairly uneventful. He was just sitting in his cabin, trying to improve his reading. He was finishing the book he had borrowed from the library, one about monster fighting, and he was quite pleased with himself. In the end, ancient greek had indeed proved to be easier than english. His siblings were either programming or were outside, making the day calm and peaceful.

That peace was disrupted by the entrance of a girl. She stormed in, no knocking or introducing or whatever, just going to the cabin's personal library. At least she appreciated books. He was instantly curious, and seeing that no other of his siblings would care to inquire information aout her presence in the cabin, he decided to do so.

"H-h-hey there. L-looking f-for s-something, erm... i-in particular?" he said, his voice little higher than a wishpering, his face still hiding behind his book. That was one thing he hated about himself. He wanted to try and make friends, but his character got in the way of succeeding.

I turned at the voice and was quite surprised to find a boy next to me."Well, yes. Do you have any books in magic?"I asked, a bit harshly, and looked at him up and down. He didn't look like much, a scared creature hidden behind books. Typical Athena's kid. I crossed my arms acrossed my chest and raised an eyebrow, looking at him expectantly while tapping my foot at the floor

Her voice was harsh. He wondered if he had something to deserve it. He was fairly sure he hsdn't. She was probably like one of the kids at his many schools that all would they care about was make fun of him. He instantly felt defensive. After he blinked a couple of times, and evaluated her body language, he decided that the earlier she left, the better. "Upwards, left hand side." he said, his voice not faltering, a mixture of anger and bitterness in his voice.

I let a surprised smirk show at the change in his tone. Maybe he wasn't such a lost cause. I gave him a friendly grin and nodded."Thanks, kiddo"I told him and looked up to where he pointed out, easily finding the book I needed. Pulling it in my arms with telekenesis, I gripped it tightly as I turned to the young man. "Can I borrow it?"

He blinked hard, rather surprised. First, she smiles to him in an almost friendly way, then she calls him 'kiddo' in an underestimating way. For a weird reason he felt like drawing his sword. Luckily though he didn't. He decided to keep his tone cold. "S-sure." Damn! Why can't it be easy? "By the way, l'm George. I will guess you are a Hecate kid." That was better. He averted his look, his shyness taking over.

"I'm Helen, correctly guessed as a daughter of Hecate. It was.... interesting to meet you, George. Can I look around some more? You have many books here that aren't in the library and could help a lot of our kids with research"I informed him as I eyed the library with a curious look

The way she said 'interesting' probably meant that he was weird. He was aware of it and acquainted with it. When she asked to look around some more, he shrugged his shoulders. "Whatever, not like it's my library. Do as you please." he said, returning to his bed, trying to finish his book. He tried to evaluate this new acquaintance. Maybe she was a person rough on the outside that needed to break the ice with? She had gotten a bit friendlier after all. He decided to examine her behaviour for a little longer.

I noticed he walked back to a bed and shook my head, sighing. Another kid afraid of everything. Grabbing a couple more books, I went to leave. Changing my mind the last minute, I headed toward his bunk."People are like sharks. If they see you being weak, it's like they smell blood. You need to be tough to survive. Don't show weakness"

Oh, shut up, he thought. As if she knew. He had went through too much to be criticised by her. Just because she liked acting tough didn't mean she had to question his behaviour. Judgemental people... they just make him feel more and more like the old him. The one that he had swore to abandon. But now was coming to the surface again. He just gave her a look that tried to be angry, but he was about to cry. He averted his look again.

I sighed and placed the books carefully on the floor before sitting next to him. "I'm a mean, cruel person. I wasn't always. I learned to be this way. It helps me sleep at night and go through my days. I'm not saying you should become the same. It wouldn't suit you anyway. But if you don't want to get mocked, you need to get rid of the shyness."I explained and gently ruffled his hair

Yep. The old him had officially come up in the surface. In order to avoid an emotional breakdown, he just set his brain on stun. He kept looking at her, lifelessly, not letting on any emotion. Ignoring everything. This kept on for a few seconds, when she ruffled his hair. Then he hit himself to stop it. If he started all his life at camp would be destroyed. He gave her a puzzled look. Truth was he wasn't very fond of physical contact. "Why'd you do it?" he asked, his voice robotic and calm.

"What, the ruffling? Oh, it's nothing, I like to play with people's hair. When I was a kid, before I found out I was a demigod, my dad joked I would grow up to be a hairdreseer and ruin all his dreams for a doctor in the family"I explained with a slight smile, lost in my memories. "That's not the point though"I said after a while."When I first spoke to you, you were angry. You have passion and strength in your heart. Don't hide it behind this.... frail appearance of a lost boy."

Her words echoed through his mind for a while. After a long process, he decided to smile. "I see you have y-your own philosophy. But l can't afford to be someone that l-l'm not. A-after all, why would you care?" He then immediately dropped the smile and turned side to her. He knew it was rude, but at the moment it was the last thing he cared about. He wanted to stay alone and messed up. Not really. In truth he had no idea what he wanted.

"I have my own reasons. If you ever want to talk about it, you'll find me in my cabin. Just think it through, for now"I nodded and grabbed my books as I stood up. "I'll see you around, George"I said and left