THIS IS ME TRYING

18: Strawberry Fields

LUNA REALISED that she liked girls a few years ago- obviously having to keep it a secret because of Gabe. She was mostly afraid of her father and what he would do if he found out. She didn't even want to think about how he would react.

However, since Percy and Sally had come into their lives, Luna wanted to reach out to them and tell them. She just could never find the right time- though it was never the 'right time' with Gabe around. Luna mostly didn't want it to effect her relationship with Sally and Percy, mainly because she was so comfortable calling them family... she didn't want to ruin that.

In the past, Luna had tried to give as many subtle hints as possible- but Percy never got the message. She had been testing the waters for a few months now, hoping they would react positively.

Luna awoke with a gasp. She had had another nightmare, which was very common now Percy was gone. Luna would get so worried for him that she'd have night terrors about loosing him permanently. She couldn't imagine her life without him.

The nightmares would always follow with a cloaked man holding a lantern in complete darkness. She had heard his voice before- raspy and deep. It sent shivers down her spine with each word he said- but Luna never remembered.

Ignoring her nightmare, Luna spent all morning cleaning the Hermes Cabin for inspection. The Councillor of the Aphrodite Cabin, Silena Beauregard, would check on each Cabin and punish the messiest with dish duty- which everyone dreaded.

Cleaning the Cabin with a few other Hermes kids helped Luna take her mind off of what was happening- the Gods were going to war, of course, but Luna much rather cared for her friends' safety. The summer solstice had ended and Luna hadn't been informed of any news, she had even resulted in sending her owl, Kamali, to try and find them.

Nothing.

"Looks good, keep it up." An unfamiliar voice complimented behind her, causing Luna to smack her head on the bunk bed above her as she attempted to stand up.

"Shit- oh, thanks." Luna rubbed her red-hair and smiled awkwardly. The girl had a glowing aura around her, making her twice as beautiful as she already was- Luna guessed it was Silena.

"Congratulations on being claimed." The girl complimented, before letting out a small chuckle, "I didn't witness it, but I heard about the Luke-goat-thing."

Luna smirked at the girl, before blurting out, "I'm Luna, by the way."

"I know who you are." Silena smiled, tucking her black hair behind her ear, "You should come to the Strawberry Fields, if you want."

Was this a friend invite? Luna thought in panic and excitement, She'd never received one before.

Luna frowned in confusion, "I-"

"It's okay if... well, I was just thinking that it's your first summer here so it would help if you got to know people." Silena explained quickly, "I just thought maybe we could hang out, but-"

"I'd love to, Silena." Luna interrupted reassuringly, a smile appearing on her face. Silena smiled, before walking out of the Cabin with the clipboard resting on her hip.

Maybe camp wasn't so bad after all, Luna thought.

Later, Luna decided to take up the offer and join Silena on the strawberry fields. And there she was. Silena Beauregard sat with an unfamiliar boy named Charles Beckendorf from the Hephaestus Cabin- Luna hadn't spoken to him before but the boy seemed very nice. It was nice for Luna to speak to people other than Chiron, since the campers chose to be her friend- each time she spoke to Chiron it felt like a forced therapy session.