Chapter 11

Sam's POV

"You know, you're pretty cute." Ari said, following me down the stairs.

"Get away." I groaned to the son of Ares.

Unfortunately, he didn't. I slowed down as I realized I didn't know where I was going. I took several passages, and now I was lost. On a boat. With a stubborn, hot-headed, bipolar, boy. Great.

I tried remembering where I was before I made this horrendous journey and shut my eyes. "Trouble?" Ari whispered his mouth right beside my ear. I jumped, and then glared at him.

"Just show me where to go." I said, sighing. He smirked at me; I turned my head and looked down the narrow, empty hallway. He stepped close to me. "What are you doing?" I asked as he almost closed the space between us. I started thinking of ways to get out of the situation.

He put his hand on the wall beside me, blocking anyway out. His breath smelled of strawberry. "Why exactly are you with Simon?" He asked me, making me uncomfortable.

"Because I like him. Only him." I told him, glaring at him.

"I can change that." He whispered.

He kissed my neck. I was so shocked, so I stood frozen as he put his hands on my waist and brought me closer to him, closing the space between us. It was when his lips met mine that I finally came to my senses. I pushed him away.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" I yelled, taking several steps back.

"Nothing, I just find you really attractive." He said coolly, taking slow steps towards me.

"Um, Simon is you're friend, your boss, and my boyfriend! Are you crazy?" I took a deep breath, though I couldn't get the taste of his lips off of mine. I felt as if the pressure was still there, like his hands were still on my waist. I took another shaky breath.

"You're thinking about me aren't you?" He said, cracking a smile. "All it took was one kiss."

"Shut up. I'm telling Simon." I said, though my voice was weak as the realization of what just happened dawned on me.

"Oh, you can't do that. Think of how heart-broken he'll be? Remember, you let me kiss you."

"Are you high? No I didn't! You forced yourself on me!" I cried.

"You liked it!" He swiftly grabbed me and pulled me closer to him, locking his eyes with mine. "You… liked it."

"Where are you getting all this from? No! I thought you hated me! Ugh, let me go!" I pushed him away and quickly stomped up the stairs, backtracking my steps.

My face was read as I collapse on my bed from anger and embarrassment. I screamed into my pillow. "Having a rough time?" I half expected it to be Ari, but, no; it was Nina, who just walked in.

"Incredibly rough time." I responded.

"Don't worry; you get use to the misery." She muttered grumpily.

I turned to her as moped to her bed and opened a book. "If I tell you something, will you promise not to tell anyone?" I asked. She lifted her head, studied me for a second, and then nodded. I took a deep breath and told her everything.

Nico's POV

Now that we knew where Sam was headed, I was more relaxed. I lay on a hammock with Clay on a boat, not really talking or anything, just thinking. I was wondering what we were going to do we reach the ship. "We can disguise ourselves. Pretend we're with the crew." Clay muttered.

I jumped, "You reading my mind?" I burst out.

She laughed, and then shook her head. "No, I knew we had to do something once we got there, so I just tried giving you an idea."

"Well, it's a good idea. I say we go through with it."

"If all odds fail, I say we kill everyone, grab Rachel and Sam, and then skedaddle out of there. Full proof plan, eh?" Clay beamed at me.

I chuckled, "I like the sound of that."

"You better." She said before giving me a light kiss.

I smiled at her then returned it, going slightly deeper into it. She reacted fast, deepening it in more. I felt her smiling against the kiss, and then suddenly, the world felt like it was being tilted. And then we fell off the hammock. We laughed hysterically, rolling on the floor like idiots. That's when I realized I liked being around Clay.

"That'll teach us to make-out on a hammock." Clay giggled.

"The floor will do, though." I told her then leaned over and kissed her.

"Ugh, gross guys. On the floor, really?" I heard Eliza groan. "Nico, you have the next watch." We ignored her and continued kissing, though we were trying hard not to laugh. "Nico, I'll give you ten seconds or I'll make your lips disappear."

I hurriedly got up and scampered out through the door, knowing all too well Eliza would do that.

Sam's POV

It's been three days since I told Nina and we've grown significantly closer. But, at the moment, I was taking my sword-fighting class, which Ari was the teacher of. I was beating this other guy, when I noticed Ari watching, studying me. I lost focus and yelped as the other tripped me and held his sword to my neck.

"Good work, Todd. Class dismissed." Ari said, and then everyone left the room.

I stayed on the floor, with my eyes closed, breathing heavily. Just relaxing a bit, I've been working all day; it's about six in the afternoon. I sighed as Ari helped me up, handing me an ambrosia square. We haven't really talked since he kissed me, but I think now's the time. "Why did you kiss me?" I asked him as he handed me a bottle of water. I smoothed down my basketball shorts and fixed my tank top.

He shrugged, crossing his arms. "I told you, I find you attractive." He said.

"Why, though? You go around kissing every girl you're 'attracted' to?" I replied, taking a sip of water.

"No, not that kind of attracted. Like… When I read your work, I knew you were the real thing. Not like all these fake girls. The way you were so focused and into you're writing got to me. You're writing was great, too, not even Noel writes like that. You had a way of bringing the words to life, like stepping into your mind for a few minutes." He was slowly advancing towards me while he spoke.

"Tell me you're not just saying that." I said quietly.

He smiled at me, and then my heart leaped. Please don't tell me I'm starting to like this guy. "I'm not just saying that. Just say no if you want me to stop." He said, leaning towards me.

His lips met mine and I didn't back away. My emotions were acting on their own as my lips kissed him back. He put his hand on the small of my back and gently pulled me closer to him. We parted, breathing heavily. Somehow, we ended up on the wall.

"I… I can't." I told him, before he kissed me again.

"You already did." He reminded me.

I smiled weakly. "I have a boyfriend."

"You kissed back. How can you go back to Simon after this? I know you felt something, hell, I felt something, and I never do." He searched my eyes, and then somehow, that reminded me of Nico.

Oh gods, I miss Nico, I thought suddenly. I gently pushed Ari off me. "I'm going through a few things right now. I just can't – not anymore. I'll end it with Simon, I just don't know where that'll leave us." I told him, hoping he'll understand.

He nodded, and then took the gold ring off his finger. It expanded and formed into a sword, then molded into a spear my height. "Go do whatever you have to do. I'll be here, practicing." He said, not looking at me.

I nodded, and then left the room. I felt bad, I cheated on Simon, and then I left Ari alone, after I made out with him. Kind of like when I almost let Nico kiss me back at Camp Half-blood when I was with Simon. My dad is the patron of truth and I cheat? The opposite of truth? He must be proud of me.

"Of course he's not proud of me! I betrayed the goddamn… gods." I said to myself, also confusing myself.

"You what?" I heard someone behind me say. I turned; I was facing a girl, about three years older than me, with red puffy hair and green eyes. "Why would you ever betray the gods? Why would everyone on this ship betray them? Sure, they're asses most of the time, but they're the reason we're all here. What would you do if Kronos destroyed the word? Which world are you going to be living in? The destroyed one?"

"Alright, that's enough, Oracle." An older girl took the red-head by the hair, and nodded at me. Red screamed and thrashed, then was dragged away with the help of two others.

I stood, stunned. That's certainly made me think. "Sam, there you are. I need to talk to you." Simon enveloped me in a hug.

"I cheated on you with Ari!" I burst out, and then covered my mouth.

He stared at me. Then started… chuckling. Then he started cracking up. I watched him, thinking that my boyfriend, or rather, ex-boyfriend, has gone crazy. "Whoa, that's a relief!"

"What?" I cried.

"I cheated on you with Noel at the pool the other day! I felt really bad, I really did, and it's why I've been avoiding you these past few days." I didn't even notice. He continued, "We're clearly not into each other, seeing as we both cheated on each other, so, uh, we breaking up or continuing this love affair?"

I was so surprised. "Uh, I, um, yeah, I guess we're breaking up." I responded.

"Yeah. Um, sorry? Erm… Bye?" He held his hand out.

"Good…bye?" I shook his hand. He smiled awkwardly and walked back the way he came from. "Jerk." I muttered.

I rounded the corner of the hallway, when I came across someone. He had… shaggy hair. Pale skin. Dark eyes. He… was Nico. "Nico?" I whispered.

He smiled then hugged me. I didn't know whether I should push him away, kill him, or return the hug. I just stood stiff, and then he backed away. "Come on, Sam, we got to get out of here." He said, then took my hand and started pulling me towards him.

I snatched my hand away from him. His expression broke my heart. "Nico? Hurry we- Sam!" Clay hugged me, I –again-stood frozen. She pulled away, and then slipped her hand into Nico's.

I stared at their intertwined hand. Then looked back at Nico, whose expression was now unreadable. Eliza then appeared next to Clay and was about to hug me, when Ari spotted me. He eyed Nico, Clay, and Eliza then looked back at me. He pulled me a few feet away from the others and took my hand.

"What did Simon say?" He asked.

I furrowed my eyebrows. "He… He took it pretty well. He-" Ari cut me off with a kiss.

All I was thinking was I AM DEAD.

A lot of kissing involved in this chapter. Huh. My conscious must be telling me something, haha. Anyway, I hope you like the sudden turn of events in this chapter, and I hope you will review. Maybe I'll update a lot quicker :D