where the heart is , josh

[Wesley Hardwicke]

Wesley loved food, as the stains on most of his shirts stated blatantly. So it should serve as no surprise that Wesley seemed to be the first person the mess hall. He always felt like such a pig when he went to eat. He’d have such a mess on him and the table that a girl at his old school offered to feed him. It was a few days after this incident that he realized that she was trying to flirt. Oh well, it wasn’t like he was the slightest bit interested in her. Not even if he was straight. It wasn’t her body, nor her face. It was her personality that just seemed toxic. Even if she was having a good day, she had to fill the conversation with negativity about her life. He left her feeling drained, like just talking to her took away a year or two from his life. That being said, she was nice to have around… in case of a zombie invasion. Yeah, that’s right… she was a slow runner, and her screams of agony would give him a rough estimate on how far away they were.

Nonetheless, as the boy got his food, he dumped a portion of it into the fire for the gods. This was a tradition that bugged him a little. the gods were around... like hanging out with them and shit. He was pretty sure they were being fed! He was hungry, and as he got his food, he quickly ran to a table ready to devour what was on his plate. He stabbed at his meat, leaving the vegetables to the side. He never could eat vegetables, even when he was a little baby. His mother would put it in front of him, and he’d either spit it out or throw it on the floor. The boy chewed on his meat, looking around. The son of Hermes had spent most of his day, doing nothing at all. He hadn’t heard any news from Ryan about how Casey was doing for a while now, and it was beginning to make his skin crawl. “Damn,” he cursed under his breath, trying to push the thoughts from his mind.

Wesley couldn’t imagine a world without his little sister. He was literally the only reason he kept in contact with the mortal world. He didn’t care what the latest trend was or how the Lakers were fairing this season. Without her, none of it mattered. Wesley went rigid realizing that the thoughts still hadn’t vanquished from his mind. “Fuck!” The boy lifted up his drink, downing the water quickly. Other people began to gather in, staring at the cursing boy. Hardwicke quieted, not wanting to make a spectacle of himself. Wesley looked over his shoulder, hoping no one would ask him if he was alright. After he finished, he walked out of the mess hall, hanging around, just outside of it.

[JOSHUA DONOVAN DALE]

Time to eat.

Joshua wasn't all that hungry, but he did reluctantly take a break from his practicing to wander over in the direction of the mess hall. There had been a period of time when he was fifteen that his studies had cut into his eating so much that people had started rumors about anorexia, and it had sort of freaked him out. Josh wasn't all that self-conscious, but he did like to look good, and there was nothing about your ribs showing through your skin that looked attractive. So despite the fact that he didn't want to gorge himself and get fat, he made a point to eat regularly to keep his weight at a healthy balance, and keep his ribs hidden under his skin, not to mention. The rumors had eventually faded into the background, and so he was glad he'd made the decision to try and stop them. Sure, the rumors that were going on about him right now weren't that great either, but it was better to be called a liar and a cheat than a desperate, skinny wreck. In his opinion, anyways.

Joshua yawned, messing up the back of his dark hair, holding open the door of the mess hall for a couple of attractive daughters of Aphrodite to go ahead of him. One of them giggled and thanked him in a trilling voice, and he grinned at her. Hot damn, she's got nice curves! Joshua thought to himself, certainly glad that they didn't have any sort of mind-reading powers. It would be very bad for him indeed if the other campers could understand his thoughts even half the time. He was charming and polite on the surface to some, but usually under the mask, he was very arrogant and cold, making snide comments about their style, their voice, their attitude. He didn't like people. He had never really grown to like people, in fact. It was probably the fault of his conditions. Dyslexia and ADHD combined was very hard to deal with when you were just starting school, and everyone seemed to be picking things up at a quicker rate than you. He had pushed past it though, stuck with his determination, and managed to maintain a normal grade level. He had even been smarter than a lot of his classmates, something he'd taken much pride in.

It was rare that he said more than a few words to his siblings while they ate. He would occasionally laugh at a joke, agree to a comment, or snap at someone whose voice or words were irritating him, but other than that, his trips to the mess hall served one quick purpose; eat as fast as he could, and then leave. He hated meat, he'd been a vegetarian most of his life, and so it was this portion of his meal that he put into the fire at the end, having eaten the salad and vegetables in almost record-time for him. He heard a boy from the Hermes cabin curse loudly, and his eyes narrowed in the guys direction. What a slob, he thought in disgust. The kid's lucky he has good metabolism... either that or he throws it all up afterward, he mused. Either way, it disgusted Joshua quite a lot to see the way that kid ate his food. A lot of people talked about him, but Josh had never caught a name.

Seeing the girls from the Aphrodite table he'd spotted earlier get up, he bade a quick goodbye to his siblings and stood as well, intending to score a date or at least the number of the one that had thanked him. She was drop dead gorgeous, and no one that pretty deserved to be let off the hook! As he was just stepping outside, he found his way to the females blocked by the boy he'd heard curse earlier. He narrowed his eyes coldly at the younger kid, recalling a last name, if not a first. "Out of my way, Hardwicke," he sneered. "It's not like you'd ever have a chance with any of the girls around here, even if you wanted to." He knew the boy was gay, he was just being a jerk.