Chapter 11: Hick Halloween

I'm writing a Halloween chapter and its fucking June. Finishing school gives me daily existential crises and I am not feeling very good.

Chapter 11: Hick Halloween

Artemis hated when her dad took it upon himself to become her alarm clock. He did it way too often for her liking, and a man like him was a terrible alarm. Well, both great and terrible. Zeus had a booming voice as well as a commanding tone, but sometimes that did little more than scare the shit out of his 16 year old daughter and put her into shock for a few minutes.

October 31st was no different.

She lazily took the time to get out of bed and hobble to the shower, not intending in assisting in or speeding up the processes her parents wanted to keep going. They wanted to wake her up so early? Fine. They could wait longer for the shower then.

When she was done she left the bathroom and lightly jogged back to her bedroom, hoping not to get caught in the hallway wearing only a towel by one of her family members. In her room she saw the square plastic package that contained her Halloween costume, the one she was already having doubts about. It would be cold at night, wouldn't it?

She plugged in the hair dryer and walked over to her dresser, grabbing her phone on the way. As she began drying her hair she checked her notifications. One Simpsons Tapped Out message saying to come back, which she would probably do when she was bored. Artemis saw a few snaps from some of her old New York friends, the only reasons she even had Snapchat. Artemis briefly wondered if her boyfriend or new friends had it, particularly the former. She didn't want it to move too fast but still, would be nice to talk to him in bed at night while she stayed up until 1am as usual.

Yawning, Artemis started putting on her clothes while opening the first snap from Phoebe, setting the hairdryer down for a second now that it wouldn't soak the shirt she'd put on.

Phoebe's snap was rather condescending yet probably in a friendly way, just a picture from roughly 3am of her face as she lay in bed with the caption hows the bf.

She went to reply, carelessly taking a photo of her face and replying. The boyfriend or best friend? Both are fine.

She then opened Atalanta's, which was only taken a few minutes before she woke up, a picture of the city outside her apartment. Sup babe, whats hick life like?

Artemis hated this running joke: calling each other babe. Atalanta and Zoe had started it as a gag and then it had become the ironic way to greet each other. Now they just did it every time but Artemis gave up complaining a long while ago. Hick life is the sick life bro. I want a horse.

She received a surprisingly fast reply, a picture of Atalanta's morning face, hair in a messy bun. Do u still get hanged for stealing em?

She replied with the usual quick face snap. Dunno, havnt tried yet.

Atalanta sent one of her breakfast - rice bubbles. U run into the Klan out there?

Artemis laughed out loud at that message, and gave back a simple response. I'm white.

This time it was a photo of her confused face. Congrats?

Artemis rolled her eyes as she realised her friend clearly hadn't understood what she meant by that. I'm white. Why am i sposed to care about the Klan. This is Montana, not Mississippi.

Arent they the same place? Atalanta's face was sent to her once more.

Artemis made a confused face and sent that. Completely different direction, numbnuts.

As she continued to dry her hair she set her phone down and switched to youtube. The girl chose to indulge in some risqué gaming funny moments videos while she continued to 'get ready' for the day. She briefly wondered if there was a Ku Klux Klan in Montana. It didn't seem like a racist town but it was hella backwoods.

Out of pure curiosity, Artemis opened Snapchat back up and searched Percy Jackson. A number of results came up, but thankfully only one had dark-golden skin, black hair and a smirk on his avatar.

She took the plunge and added him, sending a quick message. What state you from?

Percy quickly saw it and sent back a reply, as he was just eating breakfast and watching youtube. The one you live in, dummy.

Artemis smiled as she now realised it was her boyfriend she had added. She could add Hela and Aph later, they didn't exactly have common names. Just making sure. Didn't wanna show affection to a stranger.

Percy was very fast at typing, she noticed. Can I get some affection since I aint a stranger?

Artemis raised an eyebrow at that message. Like what? She asked, not wanting to rush things by sending him nudes or something extreme.

Idk just a heart or compliment. He asked, not asking for too much. Artemis stalled for a moment, not knowing what to compliment him on when she was just looking at his snapchat. You're fast at typing. She tried, then spicing it up by sending a red love heart on top of that.

Percy was swooned, and he sent back a blushing emoji. Stoppppp, youre making me blush. He meant it as a joke, hoping she got it, and thankfully Artemis sent a lol back to him.

He then decided to veer the conversation by sending a skull and ghost emoji. Halloween tonight. U ready? He asked.

Artemis got up since her hair was now dry and began walking downstairs. Still got school in the way. What we got first? She asked him.

Percy glanced over at the timetable he had pinned to the wall. He could memorize the day, so he never took it to school, just glimpsed at it in the morning. Maf.

Artemis sighed, hating everything numerical. Science and Maths were the worst. She didn't even have Percy in Maths. She took Algebra and he took pre-Calculus. Taking Algebra was one of Artemis' biggest regrets about this school.

They had applied over the Summer, since it was the family's plan to move there by the weekend before school started, and so Artemis hadn't really had a chance to discuss with new Montana friends over what to take. She was lucky to be in most of Percy's classes, but Algebra was still uber fucking hard. According to everyone back in New York Calculus was a bitch. According to Percy you just typed everything on a calculator and it worked out.

Fucking sick. She messaged, reaching the kitchen and opening the cabinet for the cereal box. She had basically adopted flannel shirts and skinny jeans and her look of choice. It was fair. The Jacksons all had their looks of choice too. Percy wore tight shirts and jeans. Aph wore a blouse and skinny jeans and Hela wore a hoodie and bootcut jeans.

Denim was very popular in rural America.

Apollo hadn't really found his outfit of choice. Yesterday he was wearing a sleeveless hoodie and shorts, today he had no hoodie and instead had track pants in place of shorts. He sat at the counter, turned in his chair so he could watch the tv.

Artemis began pouring cereal and milk into the bowl, getting out the sugar adding two teaspoons. It was a bland cereal, she needed it. The twins sat next to each other at the counter and ate in silence, Apollo watching tv and Artemis watching Youtube.

Across the gap two twins sat next to each other as well. Both were on the couch on their phones, Aph with her legs draped over Percy's lap as she went on social media while Percy just watched Youtube in peace. Both had already had breakfast, since they were almost set to go out and work. They were just waiting for Artemis and Apollo, and since Hela was outside checking the ATVs for fuel she would come get them when the other twins arrived.

Artemis dumped her bowl into the sink and rinsed it when she was done, walking over to the front door. It was a nice day outside, despite it being Fall. There was a cold atmosphere since it was early morning but the rising sun was already hot on her skin.

She grabbed her work boots and pulled them on with difficulty, then stood outside and waited for her brother to get ready for work. Out of sheer boredom, Artemis began walking around in circles waiting for him.

Apollo eventually dragged himself out there and pulled on shoes, not expecting much mud since he was probably due to be on crop duty. Artemis looked at him as they both began heading towards the fence. "Wanna swap roles?" She asked.

Apollo, not even thinking about his shoes, nodded with a shrug. "Sure. First time, I guess."

When Hela saw them walking over she got up from the doorstep and opened the door a crack. "They're here!" She yelled. "Russ!" Hela hailed the dog, who came bounding out the front door to greet her excitedly. As Artemis and Apollo hopped the Jackson property fence Aph and Percy walked outside lazily.

"Happy Halloween!" Aph greeted the two, and while Artemis gave a tired wave Apollo made two finger gun motions to the air.

"Tonight is gonna be fuckin' lit!" He half-heartedly responded, trying to act excited despite the fact they were now doing their 6am work.

Artemis and Percy walked over to each other and she gave him a quick hug. "Hey babe." Percy grinned, and she smiled back and greeted him as such. She wasn't big on PDA yet. They had kissed again when he had dropped her off at home yesterday, but only because the rest were in the back. Artemis wasn't all that comfortable with kissing him in front of others, as it just seemed awkward to her. Because of this, whenever she greeted him in public she'd just give him a hug, but in private they'd greet with a kiss.

Artemis crossed her arms and walked over to Aph. "We decided to swap today. I'm on crops, he's on animals." She informed them, making Percy and Hela raise eyebrows.

"If you think that's the best choice, then sure." Hela said slowly with narrowed eyes, to which Apollo grinned next to her.

"Not at all but there's a first time for everything!" He joked, earning a smile from Percy. Aph squealed slightly and hugged Artemis, excited to get some alone time with her twin brother's new girlfriend. They hadn't had that yet since Artemis and Percy began dating, so she was hyped to begin the interrogation once the other's rode off.

Hela handed Apollo the sheep rattle, making the latter cringe as the sound of the metal clacking together unmelodiously hurt his ears. "Here, you can do that, music man. Me 'n Perce will yell." She decided for him, which he was fine with. Didn't want to strain his beautiful voice, after all.

Russ bounded at Apollo's feet, noticing by the sheep rattle that he was working with them now. Apollo grinned and leaned down to scratch the heading dog's ear. "Hey boy." He said eagerly, playing with it a bit.

"Ready?" Percy asked his sister and friend, and both Hela and Apollo looked up at him and nodded. Aph and Artemis said their goodbyes to them and then left in an opposite direction towards the crop half of the farmland.

Aphrodite and Artemis walked down the dirt path together and eventually the former couldn't hold it in much longer. Similar to how it had been with her and Hela a couple days previous, Aphrodite began talking about her and Percy. "So now that Percy's not here, any spicy deets I need to know about? I heard you both got each other's Snapchats now, that's so exciting. Remind me to add you when we're done!" She burst.

Overwhelmed by the new conversation she'd started, Artemis set about trying to answer all of her questions and comments. "Uh, yeah I added him this morning. We just talked about school today. I don't know what you mean, spicy whatever. We haven't done anything, um... spicy?" She responded cautiously, scared of the princess' mind.

Aph still kept a big smile on her face. "Are you planning on it?" She asked, wanting to delve deeper into this. This was her brother's first real relationship, she wanted to monitor it 24/7 to make sure everything was running smoothly.

Artemis was taken aback by that question. It wasn't something she had really thought about. She wasn't going to jump into the sexual side of their relationship anytime soon, that was for sure. They had only been dating two days now - five minutes ago was her 48 hour anniversary. "No." She said meekly.

Aphrodite pursed her lips, not sure with how she wanted to approach this conversation. "Halloween tonight! Costume ready?" She asked, hoping to make sure.

Artemis raised an eyebrow. "You mean did I lose it in the 14 hours I've owned it? No, it's safe in my room." She assured the girl. Aph was glad to hear it. She was excited to see Artemis try it on.

While the girls worked on crops, Percy, Apollo and Hela were a few fields away shifting livestock. Well, they were on their way to do so at least. Apollo had the sheep rattle and it made a slight noise with every step he took. Russ happily walked ahead of the group, looking at every notable thing on this dirt road as they went.

Apollo couldn't contain it anymore, and he looked up at Percy and glared. "Dude." He said seriously, making both Percy and Hela turn to him. The former was slightly taken aback by his friend's stone cold face, while Hela was doing her best to keep straight-faced.

Percy hummed in acknowledgment, asking him what was up. Apollo's stare pierced his soul. "Look. About you and my sister... I don't care. But if you ever hurt her in any way, then I will fucking kill you." He threatened, and it was becoming increasingly harder for Hela to keep herself together.

Percy was mildly intimidated, mainly by the gaze, but he knew Apollo couldn't really beat him up or anything. Nevertheless, to keep his friend's confidence up, Percy noticeably swallowed and nodded. "Gotcha." He agreed, and Apollo was satisfied with that answer as the three of them went to work.

The group of teens finished their work in less than an hour, and spent the remainder of their free time killing it outside. Casey came out and sat by Apollo and Artemis on the doorstep with her teddy, showing it off to the twins. When it came time to head to school, Casey hugged them all and walked back inside to find her mom, as the elementary school/kindergarten started later than the high school.

Artemis was the first one to the truck, hopping in the passenger seat while Percy went for the driver's side and the other three hopped in the back. Business as usual. The kids sped out of the property, the three in the back holding on for dear life until they reached the smooth main road, at which point they could lean back against the cab and enjoy the ride.

Elis Springs High School was already half-decorated for the Halloween carnival that night. Fake cobwebs and cheesy props littered the property, and some students had seemingly even worn their costumes to school that day. Artemis obviously didn't, and neither had any of their group. Artemis wouldn't be caught dead in school wearing daisy dukes and a top that didn't even cover her stomach.

Aph did have some Halloween makeup on already, just a bit around the eyes and lips. Her slutty nurse outfit detailed blood dripping from her lips so she had done that part, as well as some black eyeliner to give the Halloween spooky feel. Halloween was a Jackson religion.

The group got out of the truck once Percy had pulled it to a stop and, with fifteen minutes till the bell, began heading inside. Their destination was of course their lockers, and the hallways were especially full. Guess all the kids who usually skipped showed up for Halloween? Either that or everyone just decided to socialize in the halls that morning instead of outside.

Since it was cramped either way, Artemis chose it as a convenient excuse to lean into Percy as they walked. Her boyfriend looked down at her and smiled, her auburn haired head leaning into his tanned neck while he snaked an arm around her waist and kept them going. Hela saw this slight PDA and rolled her eyes while Apollo tried to remind himself to hold off now that he'd given the bro talk to Percy. Aph didn't even notice, as she was walking in front of them.

As Percy had informed her earlier, they had maths first, with the couple having different classes. As such, those two young lovers were forced to part ways for homeroom and maths, not being able to see each other until second period. How tragic their lives were.

The day was going by very quickly, with Artemis' brain not even really working properly until lunch. They were in the cafeteria eating together at a massive table, with their group plus more seated and eating. It was the five of them along with a few of the Jackson twins' cheerleader and jock friends, chatting together and eating.

Artemis picked at her fries while everyone talked around her, not being much of the chatty type herself. Hela could relate, as the girls sat opposite each other eating in silence while the people down the table talked amicably. They were babbling on about something or other that Artemis wasn't paying attention to until something did in fact pique her interest.

"So, are y'all coming to the party tonight?" Piper asked, hanging off her boyfriend Jason and looking at the lot of them. Most at the table agreed, nodding to her question, including Hela.

Artemis swallowed. "Party? What party?" She asked. The group looked at her as she ate more fries, looking puzzled. Percy was the one to answer for her.

"There's a party on at one of the guys' places tonight. You coming, babe?" He asked, and Artemis was ready to answer, mouth open until he heard him refer to her in front of friends as babe, making her visibly blush. This blatant display of embarrassment made the other girls at the table minus Hela giggle, further reddening Artemis' cheeks.

As she hadn't answered, Apollo sought to convince her. "C'mon sis. Everyone's gonna be there, even me!" He persuaded, and Artemis leaned over to look at him past Percy.

"You knew about this?" She asked, wondering how she had been left so out of the loop. Even Hela had known and was going. Why'd no one tell her? Apollo nodded to her question, and she made to agree to go to the party before a dark shadow loomed over the table.

"Hey losers, babe." Orion said proudly to the group, then adding the last part on as he turned to Artemis and winked. This time, Artemis did not blush at the name, but her face still reddened, only this time with anger. "Am I gonna be seeing you at the party later on?" He asked Artemis, who dropped her fry and put her head in her hands.

"Am I the only one in the school who was never told about this?" She asked loudly, making some of the girls crack up. Artemis then turned to Orion and pulled the finger in his face. "And second of all, fuck you! I need to piss!" She said finally, standing up and heading for the bathroom.

Orion stood to block her, and Percy got up next to her. "I say it again, I will fucking kill you, dickweed!" Her boyfriend threatened the creep, who just sneered back at him.

Decidedly done with his bullshit, Artemis turned and spontaneously brought her knee up into Orion's nutsack. The football player groaned in immense pain and clutched at her balls, slumping over and falling slightly. "Fuck off!" Artemis reminded him calmly, turning without another word and walking off to the bathroom. Percy was left standing there watching the creep writhe around on his knees, in awe of his girlfriend's power.

School finished normal time that day. As they had done the previous days, Artemis and Apollo went to pick up Casey from school, only they had Aphrodite in tow. Hela had gone with Percy this time to grab the truck.

Aphrodite was the first to arrive and walked up to Casey, taking her baby sister's hands. "Hello, my girl!" She greeted in a high pitched voice, making Casey grin and laugh as she was eye level with her big sis, sitting on the wall.

In a real sense of déjà vu, Percy skidded the truck to a stop next to them and looked out at his friends through the window. "¡Cómo están, bitches!" He greeted, opening the passenger door as Casey ran to hop inside so she could hug her big brother.

He grinned and laughed as she tackled him, and Artemis could suddenly see a feature her boyfriend shared with his baby sis, their smile. She liked their smiles, though it gave off different reactions to her depending on who was conveying it. When Casey smiled it was heartwarming and Artemis genuinely smiled back at her. When Percy smiled it was straight up heart melting and Artemis still had not been able to find a way to not blush at it. She always felt weak in the knees whenever he flashed her that sly and cheeky grin.

As Casey clicked her seatbelt on like a good girl, Artemis and Percy smiled at each other and leaned in for a peck on the lips, despite having seen each other minutes before. Aph suspected they were moving into the honeymoon phase but she couldn't be sure. Nevertheless, the child in between them simultaneously cringed and giggled. "Ewww! Yuck!" She said defiantly as the couple parted and Artemis got her seatbelt too, if only to set a good example for Casey.

The six sped home, Percy's radio playing Monster Mash all the way. The station was obviously doing a Halloween theme for the night, so Artemis doubted the selection of music would get much better. The Jacksons next to her seemed to be enjoying it. Casey bopped her head from side to side though that could have just been boredom. Percy was singing aloud in a low, over exaggerated, yawny, 'spooky' voice. Artemis rolled her eyes at her boyfriend's antics with a small Mona Lisa smile and crossed her arms, staying that way for the rest of the trip home.

Artemis and Apollo got out at the crossroad and walked up their very long driveway. They weren't going trick or treating until six, but they felt they might as well go home and have showers, eat, rest, things like that before they slipped into their costumes. Artemis still wondered how she was gonna sneak past her parents in a fucking Harley Quinn costume. Perhaps she would have to climb out the window and hope they didn't notice she never walked to the front or sliding glass doors.

They walked in to find Zeus sitting on the couch reading something while Hera watched tv, some pre-recorded talk show. Artemis had no idea which one, the only talk show she liked was Conan. She hated most of the rest of them. She found hosts like Jimmy Fallon and Ellen DeGeneres insufferable. Daytime tv was Hera's thing though, even though she'd had a job most of her life and so was never home to watch it. Until they moved out here at least at which point Artemis wasn't even sure if her parents had a job. Did they have any money? The farm stuff wasn't arriving until next week, something which Artemis was semi-excited for. She was excited to get animals and that, but it sealed her fate as doing farmwork every morning for the rest of her high school life.

Zeus saw them enter and acknowledged it with a nod. "How's school?" He asked simply. Hera saw them after Zeus asked that and, since he had already asked her question for her, the mother waited for an answer.

Apollo grinned and made a thumbs up motion. "Was great! Arty kneed some guy in the balls again." He snitched like a little bitch, making his older twin look at him outraged.

Hera's jaw dropped and she threw the handtowel she was folding onto the pile of washing. "Are you serious, young lady?! Can you not go a week without getting into fights and drama?" She asked incredulously.

Artemis shrugged. "It wasn't really a fight. I'm surprised Athena didn't tell you, she always used to tell on me back home." She said with a little bit of resentment towards her older sister.

Hera huffed while Zeus absentmindedly read. "Your sister is concentrating on her studies. She hopes to get into a good college when she graduates and you refusing to give her rides to and from school isn't helping." The mother scolded. Artemis merely shrugged and left the room, eager to go do literally anything else than listen to her mom talk about how great Athena was.

God, the more she thought about that damned Harley Quinn costume, the more she hated it. Why did she let Aph have any say in anything she does again?

Hours later and Artemis still had that same sentiment as she hopped out of the shower. The problem with having one bathroom in the hallway upstairs is that she had to time her crossing to her bedroom in only a towel like this was naked frogger.

As she reached her room and went to close the door she saw her dad come up the stairs and head for the toilet. "Oh, yeah. Dad. I'm gonna head next door soon so if I'm gone, that's where I'll be." She informed him.

Needing to pee, Zeus nodded and inched his way inside the bathroom, wanting to finish this conversation quickly. "Okay, have fun, stay safe, sure." He rushed, getting in and closing the door. Artemis smirked as she also closed her bedroom door. Good. Now she had an alibi and no longer needed to go through the living room to say bye to her parents in her costume. Her dad knew where she was, she could just leave.

She knew Apollo needed a bit more time so she just planned on waiting in her room for him to come ask if she was ready. She dried up from her shower and began slipping the costume on, cringing at how tight it felt. She was very skinny too, so if it was tight that probably meant it was made for people younger than her but who knows? Hard to tell if the shirt fits when a crop top is literally part of the costume.

Honestly she had already forgotten what everyone else's costumes were, just remembering Casey was a pumpkin and Percy was a mermaid or something. She didn't bother putting makeup on. Harley Quinn had white face paint or something but Artemis wasn't gonna even attempt that. She'd come out like a slutty corpse bride.

The girl just sat on her bed playing on her phone for a while. The sun was setting by this point, and All Hallow's Eve was beginning. Eventually there came a knock at her door, but since it was locked the person on the other end couldn't open it. "You ready yet?" Apollo asked from the other side of her door.

Artemis sighed, putting down her phone and sitting up. Completely unmotivated while wearing this costume, she trudged over to the door and cracked it open. She saw his face on the other side, grinning back at her, and through the opening of his mouth she noticed he had two long fangs now.

She nodded at him without her blonde wig on. "I'm gonna head out back. Meet you by the fence." She told him, and her twin brother gave a thumbs up before trucking back down the stairs. Meanwhile, Artemis turned around and made for her small little balcony thing.

Balcony was being generous. You'd hardly fit out there if the door was shut. It was more like a door in the middle of her wall with a railing on the other side to stop you from falling. She didn't have much of an idea what it was for other than sneaking out, as the railing made for a perfect thing to hold onto while you climbed down.

So Artemis used the balcony the way she assumed it was intended. It wasn't really sneaking out, as her parents knew she was going out sometime soon, but she was not using the front door. She had a feeling the cheerleader suit was the most amount of skin they would ever let Artemis show.

She hit the ground with a thud, landing on her feet thankfully. The gravel crunched under her as she moved off the grass onto the driveway and then made haste to the fence she'd promised to meet her brother. Turns out she could climb faster than he could walk as she was almost there by the time he had left the house.

He walked over and rolled his eyes. "There really ain't a reason to go all ninja on 'em. They saw your cheerleading outfit." He reminded her, but Artemis crossed her arms self-consciously.

"This is different." She said stubbornly, refusing to meet her brother's gaze.

The blonde smirked. "Is it?" He asked his twin sister, making her cheeks flare red.

All teasing aside, the two turned and began walking towards the Jackson property across the field. Artemis was glad to finally be away from her parents in this costume, but as they made it closer and closer to the neighbors a new problem began to arise in her head. Her parents were one thing, but her friends'? The thought of Sally and Poseidon Jackson seeing her in this getup horrified her just as much as with her parents.

When they made it to the fence that bordered the Jackson property, Artemis found herself reluctant to cross it. Apollo noticed this as he hopped over and raised an eyebrow. "What?" He asked.

Artemis gulped, staring at the wood fence and then back up to her. "I don't wanna go." She said firmly, making his face drop.

"What? What do you mean you don't wanna go? We're already here!" He gestured to the house, but Artemis shook her head.

"I can't go inside. Mr and Mrs Jackson can't see me like this." She stubbornly refused, holding her ground on the opposite side of the fence. Apollo was dumbfounded.

"Really? You're too embarrassed to go in? You?" He asked, genuinely shocked. Artemis bit her lip and nodded, hugging herself like she was cold.

"Can you just go tell Percy I need a hoodie?" She pleaded, and after a few seconds her twin brother sighed and relented.

"Ugh, the things I do for you." He groaned, spinning around and trudging towards the house. Artemis meekly hid herself behind the barn, still trying her best to cover herself as though she was naked.

After a few minutes, she heard footsteps trekking closer, and she silently prayed to all that was holy that the noise was Percy and only Percy. It seems that God existed that day, and he heard her, because the face that poked around the red planks was the one that she had found herself kissing a lot recently.

Percy cracked a grin and appeared fully, showing that he was holding a blue hoodie. "Evening, ma'am." He greeted, holding out the article of clothing for her to take. Artemis smiled and gladly took the hoodie.

"Thanks. A lot." She added, wanting him to know how much this meant to her. "I hate this costume." She complained as she tried to find which side of the hoodie was the front.

Percy shrugged, crossing his arms as he had no pockets to put his hands in. "I think you look fucking amazing, babe." He commented, flattering her. A lot. In fact Artemis' face exploded red as she meekly thanked him.

Percy really knew how to make Artemis act un-Artemis-like.

The guy in question smiled once she had his hoodie on, glad she felt more secure, even if it robbed the teenager in him of a valuable sight. "You ready? Casey's gotta be home by 9, apparently." He told her, and after making sure the hoodie was tight Artemis nodded. The shorts were still a bit of an issue, as the shortness of them was very annoying to the pure little girl in her. Nevertheless, not much they could do about it, and not like she didn't wear shorts to gym anyway.

"Sure, we going now?" She asked, putting her hands in the pockets of the hoodie. Percy nodded back, moving to the edge of the barn ready to go back to the house.

"Yep! Just gonna go get them now. You stayin' here or coming in?" He asked, clarifying before he went back inside. Artemis looked down at her outfit and shook her head.

"I'm fine with strangers now, but I don't think I want your parents seeing me even with the hoodie on." She decided, and Percy was cool with that. He started walking back to the house, turning as he went to take another look at her in those shorts. Hey, he was dating her now, he had a pass to look.

As he left Artemis began walking over to the pickup. She found it to be unlocked, and so took the initiative to hop in so she was ready for the others to arrive. The girl was only waiting for a minute or two before the driver's side door opened and she saw two people standing looking in at her - a fishman and a pumpkin.

"Artemis!" Casey yelled, finding where she was hiding. Artemis smiled and greeted her back, expecting the girl to jump in and hug her or something. Instead her own passenger door opened and she snapped her neck to see Aph standing there phone in hand.

"There you are, love! C'mon, we need photos before it gets dark!" She urged, tugging on her friend's arm pleadingly. Confused and not willing to get into an argument, Artemis unbuckled herself and hopped outta the pickup.

Aph dragged her over behind the pickup where Apollo sat on the loading tray while Hela stood off to the side chilling. The vampire and the zombie both saw her and sat up, knowing Aph's next plan. Casey came barrelling around with Percy in tow. She moved to stand in front of Artemis, looking at Aph and grinning widely. Artemis didn't even know they were getting a photo that quickly, but it turned out Aph had just wanted to snap that moment between her and Casey while there was a chance.

Percy then moved in between Hela and Artemis, getting ready for the photos to be taken. Aph immediately snapped one of the couple standing together with the top of Casey's head from the nose up just barely in the frame.

They got a few more photos with Aph included. One of them was a goofy set, and Percy's pose of choice was to hug Artemis close to his side and pull a peace sign, and as her mind was blank and uncreative, Artemis pulled the same hand sign.

I have to end it there because I really need to update this damn story. Originally was gonna include the actual Halloween section but that would increase this chapter by many thousand words and delay it by another month or more. Thank ye for reading. Funny how I started writing this in June and it's now August.

Word Count: 6072