Skylar's Milkshakes Bring All the Boys to the Yard

Isaac found himself standing in a dimly lit room. The only source of light being a few torches hanging on the walls. In the center of the room looking over a map of the United States was the last person he ever wanted to see. Dustin Wagner. 'Gods no, not him.' Walking forward Isaac listened in on his conversation with a dark skinned boy, his arm in a sling.

"My original plan to dispose of that insolent fool was ruined by those damned Solace Twins. I should of been more careful, took into account that the girl would of jumped." Dustin bites his thumb scanning over the map. His baby blue eyes were clouded over with hatred.

"Aren't you taking this whole revenge thing a little too far? So what if the kid didn't die? He's bound to sooner or later when the Titan King brings Olympus to its knees." The boy comments in a monotone voice.

Dustin whips his head around to glare at him. "No! He must die by my hand or it will all be worthless." Turning back to the map his body freezes. "Someone is spying on us."

Isaac moves to step back only to find his feet glued to the carpet. 'Come on, move!' He urges as Dustin and his comrade look directly at him. Dustin advances toward him muttering a few words. The green-eyed boy could feel his throat constrict with each one cutting off his air supply.

"Isaac! Wake up!"

"Isaac!"

Helplessly Isaac looks around for the new voice black dots clouding his vision. 'I need to get away!' His feet dragged across the carpet to a door as he gasped for air. Just as his hand turns the doorknob his body collapses into a dark abyss. The words Dustin uttered echoing around him

"No matter where you hide I will always find you. They can't save you forever."

Isaac jolts awake taking in gulps of air clutching a hand desperately at his chest. Bleary green eyes dart around the room searching for any sign of the platinum blonde boy. Will, who was calling his name knelt beside his mattress on the floor, one hand on his shoulder.

"Isaac? Are you alright? You were crying out in your sleep." Sympathy radiated off the son of Apollo. Quiet knocking comes from Will's door before a disheveled Skylar pokes her head in.

"Guys?" She questions stepping into the room when her eyes fall on a teary eyed Isaac. Shutting the door behind her she walks over to the two sitting on the mattress beside Isaac.

"D-Dustin, he was looking for m-me." The boy stutters as Will rubs his back.

"It could've just been a nightmare bud." Skylar tells him quietly. Isaac shakes his head quickly instantly denying the idea.

"It was real, I-I could feel it. He said you two c-couldn't protect me forever." He mutters reaching for Skylar's hand. "What if he finds me and makes me...you know..."

"We won't let him Charmspeak you again Isaac. Now that you know what he's capable of you should be able to fight him if he uses it again. It's effectiveness wears off once the victim becomes self aware." Will explains coaxing the brunet into laying back down. The three needed to be up in four hours for school. Him and Skylar were used to getting up early but he was worried about Isaac's ability to function after a nightmare.

The twins offer to sit with him until he falls asleep. Each take turns singing soft lullabies inching him closer to slumber. After making sure Isaac's asleep Will glances over at his now wide awake sister. Her eyes were staring at the wall signalling she was thinking hard about something. "Sky? You still with me?"

A soft hum of agreement comes from her mouth turning to look at her brother. You should go back to sleep." Her hand reaches over moving some of his blond hair from his eyes. Will nods retreating to his bed instantly curling up under the covers. Skylar fixes Isaac's blanket walking to the door and quietly exiting back to her room leaving the boys to rest.

Closing the door to her own room she lets out a groan. Focusing on school would be hard enough but now she had to keep an eye out for treacherous demigods. Deciding to get a early start Skylar sets out her outfit for the day on her bed before heading to the bathroom.

Leaning her head against the shower wall she closes her eyes. It'll all work out in the end. Just stay optimistic. Reaching for the shampoo she works it through her blonde locks. I've got Will with me. My forever loyal brother. Moving onto the body wash Skylar lets out a sigh. "I just want one day without anything to stress about." Finishing up in the shower she towel dries her hair lounging in a bathrobe atop the bench attached to her windowsill. Looking up at the constellations she spots the one symbolizing a huntress. Skylar reminisces the first time she ever met Zoë Nightshade.

*Begin Flashback*

The moment Skylar Solace laid her eyes on Zoë Nightshade she knew they wouldn't get along. Which would explain their current predicament. Two girls whom were complete opposites glared at one another. One stood proud with her braided brown hair, intense black eyes and silver hunter's coat. The other's blue eyes twitched in irritation, her curly blonde hair resting upon tense shoulders. Bows with glinting arrows, one made of bronze another of silver, were notched ready to fire at the slightest movement. Neither would back down itching to release an arrow into the other person's body. Surrounding campers watched in shock at the events unfolding. Chiron could be seen galloping to swiftly diffuse the situation.

"Insult my brother again Zoë and I shall run you through. Artemis's maidens aren't the only ones good with a bow." The blonde scowls.

"Skylar it was just childish comment put your bow down!" A sandy haired male known as Will Solace gingerly touches the blonde girl's shoulder. He appreciated her sticking up for him but things were escalating far too quickly. Thankfully the female relaxes her hold on the bow string.

"Thy must work on her temper if she is to become a Hunter. Do well to heed this advice young one." Zoë speaks, her accent coating every word. Her arms relax returning the arrow to her quiver and departing to the Artemis cabin with her fellow Hunters. Skylar curses in Greek as Chiron advances on her.

"There will be no quarreling with The Hunters of Artemis! I'm well aware not all of you get along with them but Artemis herself has instructed they be allowed shelter here." The centaur scolds his tail flicking in anger.

"I'm sure there won't be anymore trouble Chiron. My sister is just having a bad day. Isn't that right sis?" Will nudges said girl in the side.

"Right. It won't happen again sir." Skylar apologizes for the disturbance rushing from the scene to cool down. She soon finds herself sitting under a tree at the edge of the woods. Taking deep breathes she relaxes her back against the bark pressing her face into her knees.

*End Flashback*

Smiling sadly Skylar dresses for the day in a sunflower printed loose fitting blouse, jeans and white converse. Even to this day the offer she received to join The Hunters of Artemis still stands. While braiding her hair she glances at the clock, 5:30 A.M. "Mom might sleep in this morning so I better cook breakfast." Tying off the end of the braid she lays it across her left shoulder exiting her room to head to the kitchen.

At around six Will stumbles down the stairs with Isaac as Skylar finishes the last of the pancakes. Bother were dressed casually in t-shirts, shorts and sneakers. Pushing plates to them both she receives a mumbled thanks.

"Sorry about last night you guys." Isaac mumbled poking at his food with a fork.

"No need to apologize." Will tells the brunet. He took a sip from his mug watching as his sister dumps her coffee down the drain. Their mother refused to drink anything but decaf and Skylar hated it. He smirked to himself at the sight. For months he's been trying to get her to drink less coffee after she stayed up twenty four hours running on just the caffeinated beverage.

"Will's right, friends are there to help each other." Isaac nods at her placing his dirty dishes in the dishwasher. The bus picking them up would be arriving shortly. Shuffling through the papers on the table Skylar writes a quick note for Naomi and grabs their schedules running out the door after Isaac and Will. Dust kicks into the air as the yellow school bus pulls up in front of them. Isaac sits beside Skylar leaving Will to sit in the seat in front of theirs.

Antsy, Skylar twirls the ring around her finger chiming in every once and awhile to make small talk with the boys until they arrive at the school. The building itself wasn't much to look at. Just a two story concrete rectangle painted the ugliest peach color they've ever seen. Ironically enough the school mascot was a pegasus making Skylar miss Ortus even more. The trio stops just short of the steps leading into the building to glance at one another.

"Here's to learning and attempting to be normal students?" Skylar offers with a shrug. She placed her hand in the center of them.

"We'll be fine, just need to lay low." Will places his hand on top of his sister's. They look expectantly to Isaac. With a sigh he places his hand on top of Will's finishing the small pep talk.

"Here, here."

Will wanted to kick himself for even believing they could lie low. It all started in history when the teacher mentioned they'd be learning about Ancient Greek History. His teacher, Mrs. Burns asked him to name a few of the Greek gods. Not wanting to look like a bad student he went off to list all the gods he could. Skylar shot him a look from across the room once he finished but swiftly turned to the student who dared call him a dweeb. Muttering an insult in Latin she gave the girl a sickening sweet smile. It wasn't until around lunch time things settled down.

He and Skylar sat at round table near the back of the cafeteria bickering amongst themselves when Isaac plops down on the other side of his sister. Halting their argument about joining the archery team they set their eyes on the new arrival. "You look like a horse ran you over. Rough last period?" Skylar remarks stealing a chicken nugget from Isaac's plate. He gives her a soft glare moving his tray out of her reach.

"Try the soccer team. I swear that coach has it in for me. Why'd your mom have to sign me up for PE anyway? Couldn't I of taken home ec or something less physical?" Isaac complains taking a swig of his soda.

"It's required that we take it at least once. Cheer up we all have art together after lunch." Will tells the son of Aphrodite.

Skylar nods in agreement taking a bite out of her apple. Footsteps approached their table causing the three to look up. Standing on the other end of the table was a girl with black and blue streaked hair styled in a bob. Her outfit rivaled even Nico's in the dark department consisting of a leather jacket, ripped skinny jeans, and combat boots. All of which was the deepest shade of black you could buy. Skylar rubbed her eyes to make sure it wasn't Thalia standing before her. Stern amber eyes look them over with displeasure.

"This is my table so why don't you three beat it?" She orders.

"We were here first, go find someplace else." Isaac scoffs wincing when Skylar kicks him in the shin. She didn't want trouble on their first day.

"I'll just ignore what you just said so I don't smack you." The girl tells Isaac shifting her weight from one foot to the other.

"Look we don't want any trouble. There's plenty of room so why don't you just sit with us?" Will speaks up to diffuse the situation before it gets out of hand. The girl scowls giving in to Will's charming smile and placing her tray on the table taking a seat across from Skylar. He feels his sister tap his leg in appreciation. What could he say? He was used to diffusing arguments between campers.

"I'm Skylar, this is my brother Will and the pouty one over there is Isaac. May I ask your name?" Skylar asks with a polite smile.

"Avery." She mutters in reply.

"Well Avery, it's nice to meet you. I hope we can get along from now on." Amber eyes stare at the blonde incredulously. Just a second ago she was being so rude to her and her friends but here Skylar was showing her politeness. This was the first time anyone had been nice to her since moving to this school herself. Avery found herself nodding at the blonde as she turned to resume her previous conversation with her brother. A faint smile appears in Avery's face. School might not be so bad.

The day couldn't end soon enough so by the time it did they were already wishing to be back at camp. Skylar waved goodbye to Avery as they exited their math class walking with Will and Isaac to the bus. She reaches out to grab their backpacks pulling them to a stop. "Who's up for a milkshake?" Isaac's eyes light up at the sound of the sugary beverage while Will looked a bit skeptical.

"Do you still have money from your last allowance? I thought you spent it all during your last quest."

"Nah, I kept some saved up in case of an emergency. Being low on a sugar intake counts as one right?" She grins nudging her brother in the side. "Come on I'll even buy yours for you."

Will pretends to think it over resting a hand on his chin. "Hm..." Isaac and Skylar team up giving him sad puppy eyes. The son of Aphrodite going as far as to make whimpering noises. "Okay fine! Just no more sad puppies." He gives in.

"Yes! Sugar wonderland here we come!" Skylar cheers running ahead. Isaac laughs running after the girl asking if she was buying his milkshake too. To which she replies with a yes laughing as the brunet jumps for joy. Will follows at a much slower pace shaking his head at them. They were absolute dorks but he wouldn't trade them for anything in the world.

They arrive at the diner ordering a plate of fries and three milkshakes of various flavors. The fries were insisted by Skylar claiming the sweet and salty combination was the best. Isaac and Will chose not to argue, she was the one paying after all. After the waitress walks away they relax talking about all the classes they didn't share together. Apparently in the boys' math class Isaac managed to charm everyone including the teacher all by accident. Much to his embarrassment Will found it quite amusing and decided to share it with Skylar.

"I wish you could of seen it. One minute he was struggling to solve a problem, the next he had girls and guys alike throwing notes at him with the correct answer. His face turned so red I thought he was gonna pass out." The twins snickered amongst themselves leaving Isaac to sulk.

"You guys are so mean to me." Isaac huffs but his mood does a complete one-eighty when the waitress returns with their orders. He makes an obnoxious slurping sound gathering the attention of other customers. Skylar absentmindedly dips her fries in her chocolate milkshake as she watches the passersby outside. I wonder how Nico's doing. Maybe if he visits I can give him Bianca's journal. It's be nice just to see him.

"I get that you're enjoying it but you might want to chill before we're throw out for bad table manners." Will nudges Isaac with his foot under the table embarrassed at the stares.

"Fine, fine. Do you know if this place does refills cause I could totally go for another." His green eyes shine brightly and the son of Apollo can't help but smile. He seems to be doing much better than he was this morning. All traces of his nightmare forgotten for the time being.

"Drinking too many will give you a stomachache, you should probably just stop with the one. Although, if you really want you can just finish mine." He pushes his glass across the table to Isaac. The brunet gladly accepts without a second thought slurping up the vanilla flavored liquid.

"Hey Will? Iris messages are supposed to work anywhere right? No matter where in the world the person you're trying to contact may be?" His sister's voice pipes up turning to look at him.

"Allegedly, yes. Why do you want to know?" Will questions before his eyes widen in realization. "Oooh I see you want to try talking to him." He teases pinching his sister's cheek. She swats at his hand, a light blush dusting her freckled cheeks.

Isaac raises a brow at this. "Who's him? Someone I know?"

"Yeah, it's Ni-"

"Nice to talk to him yes I know that already Will." Skylar exclaims covering her brother's mouth. She gives him a warning look before turning back to Isaac with a nervous smile.

"Uhh, okay? That still doesn't answer my question though." His green eyes look at her skeptically. "Or do you just not want me to know?"

"No no it's not like that at all. It's Percy, his birthday is coming up soon and I wanted to tell him happy birthday." She explains removing her hands from Will's face scrunching her nose in disgust. He licked her.

"Oh, you could've just said do, Percy's cool. Mind if I say hi to him too?" Skylar tells him she doesn't mind at all and pays their bill also leaving a tip for the waitress. Leaving the diner they begin the walk home. About halfway down their driveway something dawns on Will.

"Sky, you planned ahead right? You better of told mom or she'll ground us." Said blonde places a hand on her chest in fake offense.

"Why of course dear brother of mine! This isn't my first rodeo." Skylar teases, allowing her accent to show through. Will rolls his eyes at her pushing open the front door.

"Mom we're home!"

"Hey mom!"

"Hello Naomi!"

They all greet kicking off their shoes. Naomi pokes her head into the hallway a mixing bowl in her hand. "Hello dears how was your first day?" She smiles stirring whatever it is she had in the bowl.

"PE will be the death of me." Isaac sighs dramatically falling into a chair at the counter.

"It's not that bad, you're just not in great shape." Skylar teases ruffling his wavy brown hair. "Will was basically showing off in history class today. It was great."

"Until you almost got in trouble for insulting a girl in latin...wait what did you say to her?" He questions.

"She called you a dweeb so I retaliated. What was said was unimportant." She smiles sweetly trying to ignore her mother's disapproving look.

"Oooh was it the Barbarian one?" Isaac asks looking over at the blonde. He was with Skylar when Annabeth taught it to her. It was one of his favorite silly Latin insults.

"Yup." She grins.

"Skylar I'm all for you defending your brother just don't get into a fight understand?" Naomi Solace tells her daughter pouring the batter into a pan.

"I'm not a little kid, come on." Will sighs running a hand through his hair.

"I know you aren't sweetheart. You both have just always been that way. Looking out for each other. It puts your mother at ease while she's away." Naomi pats her son's head. Skylar nods in agreement heading upstairs to her room. She certainly didn't expect the surprise awaiting her as she unlocked the door.