Stacey Pendragon-daughter of the sea

NICO POV
“Where are we going?” I asked for the hundredth time that night. Stacey just sighed in exasperation, and looked at her watch. "It's time. She should have been here by now”, she murmured distractedly.

Suddenly, a bright light coming from the end of the road distracted her. She looked in that direction and whooped.

We had climbed the top of Half Blood hill and were standing there from the past half hour. Waiting, Stacey had said, but of what and whom, I didn’t understand. “She’s here”, Stacey sighed in relief. “Who?” I questioned, but again she ignored me.

Stacey walked to the middle of the road to have a better look at the approaching vehicle, and suddenly started grinning from ear to ear. “Oh my god! Oh my god! Oh my god!” she shrieked, clutching my jacket sleeve and jumping up and down in excitement.

“What has happened to you?” I shouted at her, in order to be heard above her shrieks, but she didn’t seem to listen. She went on shrieking in my ears and as soon as the car parked in front of us, she ran to the driver’s seat and pounded on the door. A form jumped out of the car and hugged her tightly. Another form came out of the car and walked towards me.

I squinted a little in the dark to see who it was and I recognized her immediately. It was Stacey’s redheaded cousin, Hanna. She came to me and engulfed me in a hug. “Hi, Nico! Long time!” she grinned, unaware to my discomfort. I mumbled a “good to see you” and she released me.

“Come on, Hanna. How is it that you never hug me like that?’ a voice said from behind her. I looked around her and saw a blonde dude walk to us, mirth shining in his apple green eyes. Stacey was holding his hand, grinning all over her face. Was he her boyfriend?

“Don’t I kiss you, doofus? Besides, this was a brotherly hug. Don’t tell me you want to be brother zoned by me, huh?” Hanna grinned at him as she walked to him and kissed his cheek. “Don’t worry, Justin. I’m here to give you brotherly hugs. Surely you don’t want to be brother zoned by your girlfriend”, Stacey laughed and looked at me.

“Nico, this is Justin, Hanna's boyfriend and my sort of elder brother. Justin, this is Nico, my good friend’, she introduced us to each other. I nodded at him and he offered me his hand. Reluctantly, I shook his hand.

“By good friend, do you mean…” he smirked at Stacey. “?Mean by what?” Stacey demanded and he grinned at her. “Is he your boyfriend?"

“NO!” both Stacey and I shouted at the same time. Hanna chuckled and said, “Youngsters, the first step to a relationship is denial”.

Stacey and I, both of us scowled at her. Hanna noticed the looks we were giving her and raised her hands. “Alright, fine! Don’t look at me like that, like you want to slaughter me. I was just guiding you to a happy relation…”

“HANNA!” Stacey shouted at her, pissed off while I just sighed, wondering how I landed in this situation.“But what the hell are you guys doing here so late in the night at a… strawberry field?” Justin asked me, looking behind me.

“Umm… we came here to pick strawberries, but lost track of time and didn’t realize it was so late!” I quickly replied, smiling at him nervously. “Are you sure?” Justin asked me, scratching the back of his head, evidently confused. “Oh yes! Nico's right”, Stacey said, coming to my rescue.

“OK, whatever”, Justin shrugged and walked to the car and pulled out two rucksacks. He threw one to Stacey and tossed the other to me. “You’ve packed everything in it, right? Even my…” Stacey raised an eyebrow at Hanna and she nodded. “Don’t worry, everything’s in there”.

I turned the rucksack around, and to my horror, it had a purple colored Daisy Duck on it, dimpling at me. Stacey mirrored my expression of horror. I glanced at her rucksack, and it had a pink Minnie Mouse on it. We both looked up at Hanna, not believing our eyes.

“Sorry. They were the only ones at home” she smiled sheepishly at us.

Notes