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It was finally October. That meant fall. It also meant time for the holiday season, as well as the changing of the leaves and possibly one of the girls favorite things - hoodies. Some would tell you that there favorite month was December, due to Christmas or some other thing, but for Haley, it was October. It wasn’t so cold that you had to dress in multiple layers, but just cool enough to wear your favorite jacket without being looked at like a weirdo. S

The brown haired girl was currently walking through through the main grounds of Camp Half Blood. Campers could be seen playing on the volleyball court, others coming to and from the Big House - perhaps she would have noticed them herself if she bothered to look up from her book. Earbuds in, book open in hand, the girl would go to turn to the next page, all of the sudden bumping into something. Looking up, a startled expression on her face, she would realize that it wasn’t something, so much as someone. Someone that looked oddly familiar.

Camp Half-Blood in October was always weird. Most campers were in the outside world trying to survive high school and spending time with their families. In George's book that was great! That meant the son of Athena had way less people to deal with. Way less social interaction. Camp felt more and more like home. Although he'd been there long enough -a year and a half, approximately- he had never quite "clicked" there. Maybe it's because he always isolated himself. Maybe it was because he didn't bother to do otherwise. For instance, right now he had just got done with training and showering and he was gonna go to his favorite place in the forest to read the Chambers of Secrets that he ha borrowed from the Library. Alone, in peace and quiet. In fact he was so engrossed in the book he was reading it as he was walking. Cause why not? That happens. People do that all the time.

Then -surprise, surprise- he collided with the trillionth person at Camp Half-Blood. Which, if you're not familiar, works as aggro-ing a boss in a video game. It doesn't stop there, it's long, painful and you have to get through it not knowing if the reward will be worth it. Cause for some reason it led to small talk, the bane of George's existance. Looking up, he saw the familiar face of the daughter of Hecate he had encountered once at the Library and had this conversation that re-defined the term "awkward". "Hey" he almost wishpered. He mentally sighed. Why did he keep doing that to himself?

And then the person spoke. Awesome. Super. Great. Freaking extravagant. Not only that, but as the boy spoke, she realized where she knew him from. It had been a few weeks ago when she had showed of her klutz like skills in the library for the first time in front of the son of Athena, sparking an awkward conversation between the two. The only good thing she supposed that came out of the conversation was the fact that he seemed to be reading the book that she had recommended. She removed her earbuds from her ears, forcing a smile, and using a spare piece of paper to mark her place in her newest project; The Mortal Instruments: The City of Bones. People could say she was crazy for using a random piece of paper to mark her place, but it was one of her quirks. After all, books were a form of art, and no one should ever dog-ear a page of a novel. It was practically a sin, in her opinion.

"Hey there to you too," she responded. Lost with no other topic to kick start the conversation, she naturally turned the conversation to the novel he had in his had. "Have you been liking it? The book, I mean."

George gave her the most forced smile of his life. Which in his defense is probably one of his best smiles because he never actually bothered to do just that. She asked him on the book. That was good. Decent start to small talk. Although she seemed to remember their awkward meet-up cause she seemed as reluctant as him. Though George did feel the strange impulse to try and make not-the-worst impression of her. He blamed that on either human nature... or puberty. Either one or the other.

Now, about the book idiot, she asked you about it. Reply. "Uh, yeah, it was nice. I actually really r-rushed through it and I-I'm at th-the second one now." A for effort? Not really. Let's go for a C+.

Haley raised her eyebrows in surprise. Sure, she had suggest the book and many people loved the series, but she hadn't expected him to read it, much less rush through it. Maybe the reason for this was because she had assumed that he had taken the book from the library out of kindness. Looks like she was wrong.

"Seriously? That's cool. Do you have a favorite character yet?" It was at this moment that she realized that she had traded chores with her sister, Andy, and had to start heading towards the stables. "Dammit. I just remembered I promised Andy that I'd take over for her in the stables today. Mind walking with me?"

'Um, no, I really wanna go to the woods to read my book under peace and quiet, obviously. But thanks.' That's what George should have said. Because it was the truth. Well, that and 'And also you're making me nervous for no reason and that's making me even more nervous and I hate puberty.' That's a tiny bit more like it. But instead what he went for was "Um, s-sure, why not? I-if you'd want me to , I-I'm fine with it." Why? Well, besides plot continuation and his inner obsession with being as polite as possible to people in order to compensate for his inability to properly interact with other human beings, no idea why.

Oh great, she though. He actually accepted. Why are you so opposed to it? You're the one that decided to ask him. She internally rolled her eyes at her thoughts. It wasn't that she didn't want George to walk with her, it was just that walking meant talking, talking meant conversation and conversation lead to awkwardness. At least it was easier to talk to people when you were walking, at least in Haley's opinion. "Cool, come on," she responded, heading that way. "The stables aren't my favorite thing, but horses are alright."

She did a little bit of contemplating, then told him to tag along. Alright then. He mentally sighed at himself and followed her. He started thinking of conversation subjects. Maybe talk about the book? About the Gone Is Gone EP? Mortals picking a narcissistic racist as their leader? Then he actually started paying attention and noticed she had decided 'horses' would be the ice-breaker. Out of everything. Oh well. Not too bad, he guessed. "S-same here, I guess. I like the pegasi, but that's about it."