Daughter of Cupid (Luke Castellan fan fic)

Apparently there's a difference between a bitch and a pimp slap.

The news that Luke Castellan was alive and well spread pretty quickly around campus after he stopped wearing his mist.
From what I could tell, there were a lot of mixed feelings about him being back.
Even though the majority of people brand him a hero, there are still quite a few people who think of him as a traitor.

Not surprisingly, Nico had been wrong about just giving Annabeth a day to cool down.
The girl had an ability to hold a grudge big time.
It's not even Luke who's she's mad at....
Even though he was just as guilty if not more for not revealing to her that he was alive, her anger was targeted at me and me alone.

When I would try to walk up to her after a class, she would simply put her nose to the air and walk away from me.
If I approached her as she ate lunch or dinner with Percy, she would comletely ignore me until I left.
Now Percy, was a different case.
Although I can tell I really hurt his feelings by not telling about Luke, he'd at least offer a wave or a half smile when he saw me.

Piper, Jason, and Leo seemed to bring me back into the fold, but if I tried approaching a table they were sitting at with Annabeth, I ended up having to leave the table from the stony silence Annabeth would give until I walked away.

As I approach the table where everyone but the exception of Nico sits, I'm intent on taking a seat and finally getting Annabeth to listen to me.
But as I reach the table, I'm stunned to find Luke is already seated there.

It's the first time I've seen him since the night I told him I didn't love him. As I'm a few feet away from the table, Leo perks up from his spot to offer me a wave.
"Hey Carys! Saved you a seat." He chirps, as Annabeth throws him a murderous glare.
He seems oblivious to it though, as he tosses a backpack off of the bench next to him.

"She doesn't want to sit here." Annabeth says coldly, glowering at me.

I'm not quite getting how she can be so bubbly around Luke while he didn't bother telling her he was alive.......I mean, the guy coulda said something when he first saw her.
But he didn't...
So how the styx am I the only jerk out of this scenario??

Luke's head snaps up to stare at me, his mouth pulling into a frown. As I stare back at him, I feel the familiar aching in me that makes me want to cry.

"Well, you couldn't know that since we didn't ask her." Leo shrugs, completely oblivious that Annabeth doesn't want me here.

"Uh..It's fine..I was going to sit with other people anyway." I offer, diverting my eyes from Luke's gaze.

But as I turn around to survey the rest of tables, I realize there's not really other people around to sit with.
Majority of the tables are empty.
There's a table of garden nymps, where I might know one of them by name from us sharing a class together.
I suppose I could sit at the table of satyrs, but recognizing that the group is the rowdiest bunch when it comes to parties, I don't really want to sit there.

As I slowly walk to make my way to an empty table, I feel the intense stare of everyone who was seated at Annabeth's table burning a hole in my back.
I've watched movies and read books about nerds being shunned from the popular table, but never have I felt such a similar feeling.

"Hey, candy hearts! Saved you a seat!" A loud female voice barks to my left.
Flicking my head to the direction of the voice, I find Clarisse beckoning me over with a hand much to Drew's dismay.

Strangely enough, I think Clarisse had taken pity on me ever since the day I told everyone about Luke. Her mean comments don't hold as much cruelty in them, and she's given me a nod when she sees me enter a room.
No matter how mean we've been to each other in the past, I'm thankful to the Gods that she's inviting me over to a table to save me from embarrassment.