Grabbing a soda or two... after hours. {Charlotte & Uryuu}

Born into Nixon I was raised in hell
A welfare child
Where the teamsters dwelled

I ran out of Orange Crush... again. I guess I should tone down on the stuff. It was getting a bit too much sugar for me. Not that I ever get sugar high or anything. The camp store was pitch black, but I still had to be careful, they had cameras in here, and I heard they added more after someone got caught. I quickly picked the lock, grabbed a soda, and walked out, locking the door on the way out careful not to leave any prints. I turned around when I bumped into an unsuspecting figure. Oh crap.

Charlotte couldn't understand the ban on Coke. Drugs, yes. Guns, yes. But Coke? It wasn't a poison, it didn't harm you. Why on earth, or possibly Olympus, wouldn't they allow Coke in? She'd only brought a couple of cans with her, assuming that she'd be able to purchase more here, or at an extreme, order it in.

But no. It was bloody banned.

Luckily she wasn't the only disgruntled camper. One of the other Apollo kids had tipped her off that the Hermes kids had a Coke racket with the Satyrs. She had no clue who the Satyrs were, but as long as they could get her Coke she was fine.

Apparently the camp store was where you'd meet someone, though it was a Hermes camper who'd said that.

It seemed they weren't lying however, as a kid was coming out of the store with what looked like cans in their hands. She rushed over, bumping into her when she turned round.

"Sorry," She whispered. "Look, are you running the Coke racket? Only, I'm desperate."

Born into Nixon I was raised in hell
A welfare child
Where the teamsters dwelled

I raised an eyebrow. "I don't have coke on me right now, I do have some Orange Crush though." I told her. I didn't want to give my stash of soda away. Especially the Cola. Unless she was willing to pay a few bucks. Possibly drachmas.

Disappointment.

My stomach plummeted. Those cans, those lovely, beautiful cans, weren't Cola. They were stupid Orange Crush. I could just imagine the sticky liquid slopping inside them, that sugary goodness that failed in every way to be Cola. I needed Cola. Still, she'd said 'I don't have any Cola right now'. That was promising. It meant that, while Cola was not in her immediate grasp, it could be later.

"Could you-" she paused and licked her lips nervously. "Could you get me some? I'll make it worth your while." Charlotte fumbled in her jacket's pocket pulling out her money. She had a few of those drachma things from a previous purchase at the camp store, but the majority of the money was in American dollars. She'd come prepared to make a monetary trade and had a plentiful supply of cash.

"Look, I'm new here. My name's Charlotte, but call me Charlie. Couldn't ya help a fellow girl out?"

Anyone who could procure Cola would make a good ally in Charlie's book.

“I have cola, Sprite, Pepsi, and Dr. Pepper. If you tell anyone, then you’ll never see another can of soda at camp ever again. Okay?” I asked. This was mandatory. I’m already on the watch list for people who were sneaking in soda into camp, I don’t wanna get caught, I waited for her answer.

I looked at the girl like she was an idiot. Not just a metaphorical idiot either, but a real idiot, possibly one that had been dropped on the head at birth.

"Why on earth would I try nark on my own Cola supplier? And it'll be a six pack of Cola, if you can get it. How much?"

The last was an abrupt change of topic. I'd noticed a girl lurking by the Aphrodite cabin and I didn't want to get caught illegally buying Cola on my first night in camp. That would not go down well with my Mom. I searched the courtyard for any other mysterious watchers. The night air was balmy, cool on my hot skin. The cabins cast ominous shadows over the ground in which anyone could be hiding. The moon was full as well, meaning we were easily seen by anyone who wanted to watch.

"When will you be able to get me the Cola? Only, I need it pretty fast. And you might want to hurry up the transaction. There's a girl watching us over by Aphrodite." I made a subtle gesture with my hands.

I needed that Cola like a fish needed gills. Which is to say, this was a life or death matter.

"Come with me, it's back in my cabin. Trust me, the Hermes cabin has at least 9 minifridges stocked. That'll be around 5 drachmas or $10 American. Other currencies are accepted. And stop looking at me like that, I’m already on the black list, another offence and I’m going to be a dolphin. Though I’ve never been caught, just known from my previous school records that I’m a kleptomaniac a well known one at that." I said quietly so that only she could hear.

I bet you that the Aphrodite girl didn’t care, but yeah, sure. Just in case she can hear. She seemed desperate, I should’ve raised the prices, but I’ll give her a break probably a newbie. Most of them who asked were the new kids at camp, didn’t know who to ask, like lost sheep without a shepherd.

"Wait, if you've got nine mini-fridges at your cabin, why are you raiding the camp store? And why was I sent here by one of the jokers in your cabin when they could have just supplied me at the Hermes cabin?"

Charlie was annoyed. If they'd had the Cola in the cabin the whole time, why'd they send her on this wild goose chase to the camp store? It was a completely unnecessary waste of time, and she wouldn't stand for it. Charlie was so busy ranting in her head about it, it took a moment or two for the rest of what the girl had been saying.

A dolphin.

The girl would be turned into a dolphin if she got caught again.

"Th- They really turn people into dolphins at this camp?" Charlie asked weakly. That was insane. Who had the power to turn people into dolphins? And what kind of twisted, sadistic person used it as a punishment for illegally smuggling in Cola?

She flicked through her wad of cash, pulling out ten dollars American.
"There you go. Ten dollars. Now let's go get that Cola, I have no urge to find myself suddenly enjoying swimming with the fishes."

“Because that person probably was caught a while ago or is supplying to too many people. I’m raiding it because I like Orange Crush. Nice to have a variety than just one kind of soda you know.” I answered. Most people didn’t want to supply to more than a few people at a time. The more people you gave the stuff out to, the higher chances of getting caught.

Besides, the mini fridges were only for circulation. Not for the Hermes kids. I took the wad of cash and grabbed a six pack of cola from a mini fridge. “Here you go. Just to let you know, the more you buy, the more suspicious you get, so I suggest that this needs to last you at least 2 weeks before you get some more.” I said quietly.

I saw a shadow, someone was trying to sneak up on me. I continued walking, “The Aphrodite girl’s following us,” I handed her my bag, a Roxy backpack. I stuck the cans of cola in there, making sure that I stayed away from the windows. “Keep it hidden, don’t let her find out.” I said in a low tone. I changed my lip formations to prevent anyone from lip reading. You never know what they know. Even an Aphrodite kid.

“Just stay in here for now.” I said in a whisper. I exited from the back door, and hid behind the corner to monitor the little ‘spy’

Finally. Charlie was getting her hands on the long-awaited Cola.

She could imagine the cans were cool in her hands, with a light patina of frost already making them slippery. The anticipation of breaking into them and rewarding herself with a mouthful of sugary soda was killing her. But she couldn't reach them, they were trapped inside a Roxy bag.

"Whadda you mean, the Aphrodite girl's following us? Where is she?" Charlie glanced around wildly, afraid the spy was lurking in the cabin. She really didn't want to grow flippers. She looked up to interrogate the Hermes girl further, but stopped when she saw her disappearing out the back door.

Huh, like she would 'just stay in here' like a good little girl. For all she knew the Hermes girl was just legging it before they got caught, and leaving the smuggled goods with Charlie. Shoving the bag onto her back, she walked quickly over to the door and lounged against the frame.

"I know you're out there." she called nochalantly, though her heart hammered in her chest.

"What do you want?"

I grabbed a napotine patch. Yeah, a napotine patch. we children of Hermes are rather 'prepared' don't you think? No? Well we are. The dagger may be a bit too drastic. Or maybe not, lets just see how it goes. I kept a close eye on the girl. Even though she paid 10$, children of Apollo just need to know their place sometimes, I had a protocol to follow, and if it wasn't obeyed, then I would be screwed.

The Aphrodite girl came out of the night smile first, like the Cheshire Cat. Her freakishly white teeth appeared to hover momentarily in the air, before her face materialized behind them. Charlie frowned at the girl's question.

"Nothing... And anyway, what business is it of yours?"

Charlie gave the girl a suspicious look. Clearly she knew something was up, but was hiding behind a devious smoke-screen of words. It was a clever tactic and Charlie found it utterly annoying. Couldn't the Aphrodite girl just come out and say what she meant? Charlie prided herself on being straight-forward, not some lying, twisty-tongued trickster.

She glanced around the courtyard quickly, trying to spot the Hermes camper who'd supplied her with the Cola. It would be nice to have some backup against this nosy Aphrodite who was barging in on her night-time dealings.

The Hermes girl conspicuously failed to appear out of the darkness, so Charlie took matters into her own hands. She could always return the backpack tomorrow, anyway, she was sure the Cola supplier would prefer the deprival of her backpack for a night to the exposal of her soda smuggling operations.

Charlie stepped forward confidently into the night, attempting to loom over the Aphrodite girl. She was as tall as a 5"9 tree, so she had a slight edge in height.

"Look, just keep your neb out of my business, and I'll keep mine out of yours, okay? Now, I'm off to me cabin and WILL RETURN MY FRIEND'S BACKPACK TO THEM TOMORROW."

The last part been said in a raised voice so the Hermes girl would hear. Charlie didn't want her Cola contact thinking she was a thief.

As soon as she disappeared into the clearing, I stepped out.

"May I assist you?" I said tiredly.

I gave her a look. Whatever she wanted, I really didn't care. It was the middle of the night, I wanted to go to sleep, yet here I was 'tying up loose ends'.

The aphrodite girl could've been trying to rat me out, or she could've been trying to get ahold of some soda, either one, she was sneaking around. The Hermes children did that around here.

I raised an eyebrow.

"You also know, if you rat me out, you're ratting all of the people in the Hermes cabin out. Then there won't be any Cola. For the whole camp because someone decided to be little miss goodie two shoes."

You know, if she kept her attitude like this, there was no way that she was going to get ahold of any cola at all. Trust me, I'll make sure of that.

Another idea popped into my head. Why not just give her the cola with the memory erasing sugar in there? She wouldn't notice, the cola was packaged with the the sugar in there. No marks, no nothing. Just one can would wipe her all the events from tonight from her memory.

Let's just see how it goes. No threats yet, nothing at all. I told myself. I repeated it in my head over and over again.

"15 bucks. Take or leave."
Buisiness was buisiness. Even though she was getting on my nerves big time, 15 bucks was better than nothing.

I waited for her answer. She probrably thought I was giving into her little 'game'. Little did she know, that was my job around here, not her's.

I stood there with my hands in my pockets and stared straight into her eyes intimidatingly. Another one of those tricks you pick up after spending all of your time with jokers.

I shifted my weight to my left foot casually, she needed to make her decision real quick, time was ticking tick, tock, tick, tock. The rhythm ran through my head as if it were taking over it, like freedom won from war.