I Cannot Please You ((PM to join)) ((PG-13))

In the corner of the Hermes cabin a girl with blonde hair rested her head against the wall. Her deep brown eyes were staring at the wooden walls. Her knees were pulled up against her chest and her arms wrapped around them. If she was alone, tears would have been falling down her cheeks. The Mccalvins had told the girl that she had to stay at the camp forever. The girl knew they were disappointed in her, and she knew she was a failure, but she loved them none the less.

The girl's name was Ardella and never before had she been so alone in a crowded room. She didn't care about where she was, that didn't hurt her. She just wished that the room had been empty when she entered. At least then she would've been able to cry and wallow in self-pity. The knife she was carrying around began to burn a hole in her pocket. She needed to be punished for not being good enough. Swallowing hard, Ardella looked at one of her wrists. The scars wouldn't be there if she could actually do something right. Now she wouldn't even be there at the stupid camp if she could have done something, anything right. The one thing she failed to do was live.

Ardella sat there in the corner waiting for the rest of her life to pass. If no one was to bother her then she could go about her days as planned. As she placed her hand back around her knees, she hugged them closer to her and her eyes went back to the wall. Her lips were turned down in a frown. Well at least I can't disappoint someone here, she thought. Suddenly, someone approached her.

"Are you alright?" the person had asked. Ardella didn't even look up to see who it might've been. She kept the same expression and her lips barely moved when she spoke, "I'm fine." Her words had come out more as a mutter, so she wouldn't have been surprised if the other person hadn't heard her. She wouldn't repeat it, but even though she wouldn't somewhere in the back of her mind she wanted the person to stay. Even though she wouldn't reply much, just having someone talking directly to her and only her, making an attempt to make her feel better. She could predict it already though, the person would end up walking away like everyone else. Nobody cared for Ardella.

Ardella's eyes didn't leave the wall as he tried to position his question another way. He would receive the same answer over and over if she had to keep repeating herself. If someone thought they would get a different answer out of her just because they rephrased what they had said they were wrong. She knew how to deal with people who just kept repeating themselves. Eventually she would just ignore him. There would be no way for him to heal the pain she was feeling. There would be no way that he could make her become good at anything. The only thing she could do was sit in the corner and stay out of the way.

"I'm fine," she repeated. If he wanted to play that sort of game she would play along, but only for awhile. Such a game got boring after awhile. Not that it mattered what she did anymore. She was alone now. Ardella couldn't let anyone inside of her head. The disappointment in their eyes would be too much for her to handle. Hugging her knees closer she had to think. If she continued the little emo girl in the corner act, she would surely attract attention. Next time she would have to go about it a different way. Maybe she should've been sitting there with her colouring book open and looked busy. Maybe then she wouldn't have been approached.

Cyrus was back from a recent training session. He felt great and ready for a nap. Cyrus scooted past other Unclaimed and Hermes kids, a twig resting between his thin lips. Cyrus reached his cot in the far back. He laid down and closed his eyes. He shifted to his right after thirty seconds and slowly opened his eyes. There was a girl sulking, in fettle position on her cot. She looked on the verge of tears, something was obviously bothering her, she was probably new. Cyrus got up and sat down directly next to her. "Are you alright?" He asked her.

Another boy woke up close to him, asking the same thing in a british accent.


After a few seconds she replied quietly. "I'm fine." Cyrus buttoned his lips."You don't sound to fine." Cyrus quickly spoke. She had a bad case of "I'm new at camp" syndrome. The only way to fix that was a lot of fun. Cyrus's way was pegasus riding, possibly the funniest thing ever. It was like a roller coaster except you can drive and it's more dangerous. "Hey," Cyrus said still chewing on the twig. "you wanna go ride a pegasus with me? It'll be fun." Cyrus hoped that would cheer her up, or at least she would come, Cyrus would not take no for an answer.

"My names Cyrus, whats yours?"

Not long after the more tense and on the alert boy arrived, another boy came along. Things were starting to get far too crowded for Ardella's tastes. She should have just pretended to be busy and not just sit there staring at the wall with a frown occupying her face. The only thing that stopped her from doing that was that she didn't want to. At home she could sit in her room and do absolutly nothing in the corner and the Mccalvins didn't care. Here it was obviously different. If you try to do that once you'll attract lots of attention.

"And what would I accomplish by riding a flying horse?" Ardella asked without looking at either of them. Besides she would end up falling off or hurting the thing. Worse yet the think wouldn't even let her get on its back. She wouldn't know how to deal with being rejected by some animal. She didn't care how relaxing anyone said that they were. She didn't need to relax, she needed to become good at something so the Mccalvins would come to take her home. There was no use in trying to find anything she was good at because there was nothing.

"Why do you care?" Ardella had no intentions of speaking to either of them again in the future so why would they care what her name was. Their intentions were probably different than her own, but it didn't matter. She didn't bother placing the name Cyrus under the catagory, 'Names to Remember'. If the other guy gave her his name, it would also be thrown away. There would be nobody at camp who she would think of as valuable to her. She wouldn't allow herself to do such a horrible thing.

"Nobody can help," she answered the other boy. What Ardella said was the truth. No matter how hard she practiced, no matter how hard she tried she would never be able to live up to anyone's standards. The only thing she would be good at doing was staying out of the way for the rest of her life. If she wasn't in the way she wouldn't be a bother to anyone.

Cyrus looked at the girl, amazed at how much of a downer she was. Cyrus led 2 lacrosse teams 1 football team and led a longboard team, he had handled stubbornness before. "Don't be like that, cheer up." There wasn't a lot for him to say, if she didn't want to Cyrus would still try his best. Cyrus shifted around in his seat.

"I know what it's like to not be wanted, and after a while I just said screw it. It doesn't matter what others think." Cyrus reassured her.


((Sorry it's short, my first one got deleted.

A dark look crossed Ardella's eyes as the boy wanting to ride some flying horses spoke. She turned to look at him. The one thing that pissed her off the most was when people claimed to know what she was going through. He thought that it was just not being wanted. Oh how dead wrong he was. Just him speaking as he did, as if he actually knew what went on in her life made her want to kill him. She usually didn't get angry easily, but sparks began to fly the moment someone said that they understood her. Nobody understood.

Slowly Ardella stood from her position against the wall. "You really think that you understand?" Her voice was full of hatred for the kid. Boom. Automatically he was on her bad side. She was tired of this. She began to walk out of the Hermes cabin, not wanting to make a bigger scene than she already had. She had nothing more to say to that kid. If he thought he could understand then fine. She would let him believe that. She just needed to be away from him. She walked out the front doors of the Hermes cabin and around the side of the cabin. There she leaned against the wall as fell to the ground.

When Ardella fell to the ground, she couldn't help but start to cry. It was silent, and with her head hung as low as she had it, it was impossible for anyone to know. She thought that now she would be alone, but she was wrong. The other boy who never said that he understood, chased after her outside. He said things like he was going to leave her alone now. All he had come out there to retrieve was her name. Not her, her name. He didn't want to invite her back inside, he just wanted her name. He just wanted her name probably to add it to the crazy's in camp list. She hugged one of her knees up to her chest at the thought of this.

"I don't see why you would care, but Ardella." As she spoke a few tears fell onto her jeans.

No, no, no. That's not how it ends. Thats not the whole story ends. Cyrus swallowed anger and followed the boy outside. The other boy, Issac, introduced himself to her and was very nice. Issac talked a little more and asked for her name. Cyrus was on the verge of walking away, how dare this girl. Him and Issac were trying to help, and she was just turning everything down. Cyrus stepped in front of Issac. "And ya, I know I understand. Everybody here understands. You think I want to be here? Oh no, definitely not. But I decide that I might as well make the best of it. So you can sit here cry all day long, but crying doesn't solve a thing." Cyrus gridded his teeth, something you got to do a lot as a leader. He could go off all day but he had self constraint.

"Maybe my past wasn't as bad as yours, I grew up without a father and a borderline insane mother. My mom was in complete distraught at the leaving of my father. Sure my father was a rich and powerful man and left us with a house, but my mother didn't even think I was her son. I would have been better off without any parents. We all have bad situations, it's just what you choose to do about it." Cyrus kept a straight face as he opened the stories of his past. He told it as a inspiration to her, hoping she would cheer up, but he doubted it.

By this time Cyrus noticed she was crying, so he spoke softly. "Come on Ardella."

Issac inwardly chuckled. So he grew up like that? Well my childhood was spent finding scraps of food that others wouldn't eat to live. Than the rest of it was in basic training, being yelled at and firing guns. The years that followed were years that were spent jumping out of planes and high alttude, preforming missions, fighitng, being shot at, and the best of corse almost dying evrey day of my life. Yes, these kids have it rough. These thoughts went though his mind, he sighed. He missed one thing from the S.A.S. just one thing. When he jumped out of the palin and 4000 feet, the rush of a the wind hitting the little bit of his exposed face. Than the sence of dropping, he loved it. He looked at the girl. He smiled, "I just wanted to know what your name was. But Ardella that is a fine name you have there. Do you know what it means?" He smiled, "hey i'm sorry about... what is making you upset. I know I can't begin to understand." He looked at the other boy, "while I can't begin to understand you past. I grew up........... differently than all others." He gave a knowing chukle.

He offered his hand to Ardella, he wanted to help her up if she wanted it. He smiled, "look I know you just want to be alone right now. If you want I can go, okay? I don't want to bring you down further than you already are. I wish to help and bring you into a better mood, but it seems I won't." He looked to the other boy, "we havn't formaly meet, my names Issac, nice to meet you Cyrus." He noted how different he was than the other two. The girl seemed..... like she had lost evreything in a way. While the boy seemed to be.... well he couldn't quite tell what the boy was like yet. Seeing as he had only said his first words to him two seconds ago. He slowly sat to the ground he stretched his right leg out, clenching his teeth with pain. his eye were closed shut. "Hey you've been here for awile, cyrus. Right? Tell me, why does this cabin seem as welcomeing as an IED to the face?" He let the question linger, "I mean..... why do they seem to mad in there?" He was so used to saying things like IED (improvised explosive device) and such. I need to pick up the lingo of the kids here thought the british youth.

Just when Ardella had thought she had escaped that nasty boy, he appeared again beside the other boy. Why did he insist on following her around. Why did everyone insist on following her around? She hated that camp and she hated everyone there. Even the people she had yet to meet. They thought they could understand, but they were wrong. Wrong, wrong, WRONG! He would try to understand and he would tell her he could, but nobody could understand the feeling of not being able to do anything! The feeling of being useless! Nobody would ever understand!

When the other boy offered his hand, Ardella took it. Her grip may have been a bit too tight, and she didn't mean for it to be that way, but now she was pissed off. She had listened to what he had to say, but she wouldn't even begin to say that she understood in the least way. She didn't. The only thing she understood was herself. That was it. She released his hand, but her head still hung, her hair in her face. It shot up instantly as she looked at the other boy. Now she was in his face. She was going to tell him what was what. He had pissed her off and now he was going to get his just desserts.

"Lies," she whispered, "Lies," she became louder, "Lies!" She was in her normal talking voice by now, but she was obviously angry. "Don't you dare tell me you understand. I don't care what shit you went through. I don't care what anyone went through. It was probably obvious to you that your mother was insane. You were probably told straight up. You weren't told you were good enough only to find that behind closed doors the only people you ever loved had given up on you. They thought you were a failure. They thought you were useless. No matter how hard you tried, it was never good enough. You weren't good at anything." She felt the strong urge to punch this guy. If he tried to test her again she wouldn't hesitate. She never had a temper unless someone said that they could understand. Her fists were clenched and her teeth were gritted. A tear rolled down her cheek as the same angry look kept hold on her face. She had screwed up by acting the part of an angsty teenage girl.

Ardella pushed past the two of them and headed into the woods. She didn't head too far, because she was afraid she was going to get lost. When she thought she could still see the Hermes cabin, she sat down on a nearby rock. She leaned her hand against her palm as tears silently rolled down her cheeks. She couldn't help but wish that she could hold the boy's hand again. It had been the first bit of comfort she had received in a long time. It had been honest, it hadn't been something like a fake hug she used to receive when she was little. Even though it had been brief it had meant a lot to her. As she was looking back on it, she realized that she had not answered his question. The answer was no, she didn't know what the meaning of her name was.

Ardella was pissed by his point. No beyond it, or so it seemed to Cyrus. Cyrus sat there in awe. Ardella, the name of his mother. The girl again stormed off. Cyrus should have stayed away, should have left. Issac asked the meaning and Cyrus just needed to tell her. He knew she wouldn't want to see him. He had to. You know sometimes you get the gut feelings and you have to do it. Cyrus motioned Issac to follow him as he rushed into the woods. Cyrus searched for about a minute then found her.

Cyrus instantly knew she would reject his words, but it was worth a try. Ardella, my mother carried the same name." he put a friendly hand on her shoulder. "The name means blooming meadow. And in my eyes your exactly that. You have a bright future." Cyrus sighed. "No matter how bad things are, they can get better." Cyrus paused for 10 seconds. "I promise you that."

Issac sighed, he followed Cyrus. When they arrived, they found her. He gave her a sad msile that said 'sorry'. He didn't mean to come back and annoy her more than he probally had. He looked to the boy Cyrus and shook his head, he had been about the say the same thing (minus the mother part) before she left. "Cyrus, could you tell me now? Why when I walked into that cabin why the all seemed missreible? Like all hope was lost?" He knew they were unclimed, but he didn't understand why they cared about that. He shook his head, the sadness of the camp was starting to get to him. He was used to soul crushing siuations but usually the people were always hopfull or tried to be atleast. He sighed, and pulled out his combat knife. He did this when he was bored, he looked at knife.

He threw the knife in the air, and caught the knife by the tip. He did it over and over his attention focused on nothing but the knife. He waited 'till they were done talking before he did. He had been waiting in the shadow, hoping not to be seen. He felt like he was out of place in the conversation. "Hey Ardelle, i'm sorry about following you around, I don't mean to annoy you further than already have." He put his knife back up and walked up to them. His wound was slowing him down as time went further on. The nector wearing off. He winced with evrey stop, his leg was starting to throbb. Issac took a gasp of breath. "So..... how long have you two been here? If you don't mind me asking."

Ardella didn't understand. She didn't understand the boy with black hair one bit. He would sit there and tell her that he understood as she told him not to say such a thing and then the next he would follow her and tell her that she seemed like a blooming meadow. Blooming meadow being what her name, Ardella, meant. She didn't care if that's what he saw his mother as, or if she even had the same name as his mother. He made some promise that meant little to nothing to her about things getting better. He had just pissed her off and now he was trying to be all kind a sweet? That was not how things rolled in the real world, well not unless you wanted something.

That other boy had followed behind him. When he got by them he started to speak, but Ardella didn't hear his words. He then took out a knife and threw it up in the air and caught it by the blade as if to show off. Who he was trying to show off too was a mystery to her. Her eyes could not be caught by mere tricks. He told Ardella he was sorry for following her around and annoying her, this also meant little to nothing. Right now she was pissed off and in a bad mood. She didn't care about anything at that point.

"Just got here," Ardella said as she turned on the rock so her back faced the two of them.