"And so," Mrs. Monti started, bringing Annie out of her peaceful sleep. An hour later, and that old bat was still droning on and on about Latin America. "That is- Annie Silva!" The teacher snapped suddenly. "Pick your head up right now!"
The 6th-grader lifted her head groggily. "Hm?"
"You brat. Were you even listening?" She barked. "Can you name all twenty countries of Latin America?"
The girl squinted at the large map being projected on the white-board. At first, the words were just a little fuzzy. Then, as she tried to read, the letters started swapping places.
So the words, Latin America, looked like Tianl Erciama.
"No, ma'am." Annie said, sighing.
"Are you blind?" The teacher snarled.
That was when Annie lost her cool. Her hands pounded down on her desk, and she whirled around in her seat to face her teacher. "No, ma'am, I'm dyslexic, not blind. Are you an amnesiac, because I seem to have to remind you every other class!"
See, the situation probably wouldn't have been as bad, had Annie not had ADHD.
Her Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder caused her to act without thinking, and forced her to keep herself busy by doing things like tapping the side of a test during an exam, constantly having to get up out of her seat after sitting too long, or other things like snapping at teachers and students who got her angry.
"Don't snap at me, Princess. Now turn around and pay attention." Mrs. Monti said, squinting her beady little eyes at the girl. "Now, class, please excuse the Queen of the World, here-"
Annie groaned, as the other children started to laugh and point at her. She put her head back on her desk and squeezed her eyes clothes, hoping- praying something- anything, would get her out of class. She wanted the world to dissolve right there.
A meteor could've struck down right there, in room 201, and she could've cared less.
She wasn't, Queen of the World. No, she was very much the opposite. The world seemed to hate her.
In second grade, her class had taken a field trip to the zoo. The cage for the crows with beady red eyes had, mysteriously opened. The birds had flown out and attacked her, picking at her hair and clothing.
When they'd all flown away, she'd been left standing there, her hair a tangled mess, her clothes disheveled and ripped, several feathers sticking to her.
Everybody had stared in shock, before coming back to their senses, pointing and laughing at the girl. Even the teacher, Miss Kass, had been trying to suppress a laugh, hiding her lips with her hands.
2 years later, in 4th grade, two girls, both dressed like cheerleaders, had spied on her when she'd been at the park with her mom.
Her mother had rushed her away upon seeing the two girls.
Several other odd experiences similar to those had happened over the course of time, usually coming at around three times a year. Sometimes four.
Annie easily tuned out Mrs. Monti again, drifting off, back to sleep, when suddenly, the bat went silent.
She opened her eyes and took her head out of her arms, to find a man at the door. Or, he may not have been a man, but he looked a few years older than me. Seventeen, maybe.
Except he was tall.
He was dressed in dark-blue jeans, and a bright-orange Tshirt with what looked like a horse on it.
I couldn't decipher the words on the shirt, but they read something like, aCmp aflH lBodo.
His clothes were stained with various black and gray spots.
His hair was brown and messy.
But there was something not right about the boy. Something inhuman.
And for some reason, I couldn't look into his eyes. I just had to stare at his big yellow teeth.
"Can I help you?" Mrs. Monti asked, coldly, arching an eyebrow at the visitor.
"I'm, uh, looking for- Wait, who am I looking for again?" He turned to somebody else who must've been in the hallway. The other someone whispered something to the big guy. "Annie Silva." He said, poking his big head back in the classroom.
The teachers face acquired a smug look. Had it been anybody, anybody else, Mrs. Monti would've called security on the two strange people wanting to take one of her students. But no, not Annie. She'd gladly trade Annie away without batting an eyelash.
"She's right here." Mrs. Monti said, smirking down at the girl. "Take her."
The girl whirled around in her seat. "What?" She asked. "I don't know them!" She squeaked, her mouth suddenly going dry. Oh God. This was going to be another one of those weird experiences.
"Don't be silly, Princess." The old woman turned back to the boy at the door. "She's just pretending. Careful, boys. She's a feisty one."
"W-what? But-" Annie hadn't had any time to protest before she was shooed out the door and into the grasps of the strange boys.
The other boy was considerably shorter.
He wore the same orange Tshirt and jeans. He wore a rasta cap over a bush of curly brown hair. He had lighter skin and freckles over his cheeks and nose.
"Nice job, Tyson." He said, clapping the one called Tyson on the back, since he couldn't reach his shoulder.
Tyson put a hand behind his head. "Tyson did good job? That is good."
This is definitely going to be one of those weird experiences. Annie thought, crossing her arms.
"Anyways," The shorter boy said. "I'm Grover. And this is Tyson. We've come to take you to Camp." He said proudly.
"Camp?" Annie asked, narrowing her eyes. "Look, I don't care what the old bat says. I'm not going anywhere with you two."
"Why does girl not want to come?" Tyson asked.
"'Why does girl not want come?'" She asked, repeating the question, looking up at the large boys teeth. "Because girl doesn't know you, and girl has had enough weird for a lifetime. Now girl is leaving."
Annie had started to walk away, when Grover stood in front of her. He looked excited. "You hear that, Tyson?" He asked excitedly. "She said weird. She's definitely gotta' be the one!"
"She has to be the one!" Tyson said, rather loudly. "Pony-Man not send us here looking for Annie Silva if she not one!"
"Pony-Man?" Annie asked, incredulously.
"He means Chiron." Grover said, apologetically, as if that explained everything.
"Chiron?"
"We'll explain once we get to Camp. How do you feel about upstate New York?" Grover asked, excitement sparkling in his eyes.
"Upstate New York?" Annie asked, the ADHD part of her wandering off topic, as usual. "I've only been there a few times with-" She shook her head. "It doesn't matter. I'm not going anywhere with you."
Grover laughed. "Stubborn, just like Percy." He said.
"Kind of looks like Brother, too. Has same hair. And same eyes." Tyson agreed.
"Who's Percy?" Annie asked, suddenly remembering she'd heard that name before. But she couldn't quite place it.
"Chiron said she might be of the Big Three." Grover reasoned, ignoring Annie's question.
"So shouldn't she be dead?" Tyson asked, cocking his head.
"Tyson!" Grover scolded.
"Dead?" Annie cried.
Grover held his hand up. "It's not what you think. See, what Tyson meant was, children of the Big Three attract more monsters, because their smell is stronger. Although you haven't been claimed yet, you look like a certain child of Poseidon we know. Anyways, it's normal for children of the Big Three to attract more monsters. You've been on your own so-"
"Poseidon?" Annie asked, sure she'd heard that name before as well. "Wasn't he, like, a God or something?"
"Poseidon is the God of the Sea." Grover explained.
"Daddy!" Tyson boomed.
"Oh my God." Annie said, rubbing her temples. "Did you guys escape an insane asylum or something? Gods aren't real. They're just myths."
Thunder rumbled in the distance.
"Um, Annie," Grover said, suddenly looking nervous. He picked at the bottom of his shirt. "I don't think it's a good idea to talk about the Gods that way. And it's probably better not to call them myths either." He advised. "Because one day, you might be considered a myth."
"Me?" Annie asked, trying to hold back a laugh. "Uh-huh. Sure. Because I could totally do something great and become a myth."
Tyson nodded. "Brother did lots of great things. Still does." He sighed. "I miss Brother. But I will see him today!"
"Are you saying I might be related to him?" Annie asked Grover, jabbing a thumb at Tyson.
"It's a likely possibility." He started walking, and the girl was forced to follow to hear the rest of the walked funny. Annie figured he might have some sort of disability. "But if so, it's a deep relation."
"Joy." She said, rolling eyes.
"It's not that bad." Grover said, shrugging.
"Oh yeah. You would know all about it, huh?" Annie scoffed.
Grover frowned, his eyes taking on a wistful look. "I wish."" He shook his head, laughing nervously. "Uh, I'm not a Demigod, I'm-"
"Demi-what?" Annie asked, arching an eyebrow.
They emerged outside, into the parking lot of the middle school.
The city wasn't too bad, considering everybody should've been in work or school, but even so, the streets were clogged from traffic, as were the sidewalks, from impatient shoppers and strolling families.
"You know, Demigods. Children of the Gods. Or, half-children anyways. Demigods are the offspring of a God and a mortal." Grover explained.
It took the girl's brain a few seconds to process what she'd heard. She broke out in laughter. "You… you seriously think I'm the child of a God?" She asked, her hands settling on her hips.
"Yeah." Grover said, that same sparkle of excitement rushing back into his eyes. "I can smell it."
"Smell it?" Annie asked quizzically,
"Oh yeah." He said. "I'm a satyr." He lifted his jeans to reveal his legs. Although they weren't legs exactly. Or maybe they were. Annie couldn't tell.
He was covered in curly brown hair, so thick you couldn't see his legs.
Annie jumped back. "What the-"
"And Tyson there is a cyclops." Grover said, pointing to the big guy standing behind me.
Annie spun to look at the tall boy. "Aren't cyclops's supposed to have one…" The girl trailed off.
When she looked above his teeth, she noticed, for the first time, the guy had one baby-blue eye, right in the middle of his head.
Annie backed herself up against the wall of the building. "Oh my God." She said, suddenly not being able to tear her gaze from the cyclops. "S-so," She stuttered. "H-he's a cyclops," She pointed at Tyson. "And you're a… a donkey?" She asked, looking over Grover.
He cried out. Well, he didn't cry. It was more of an irritated bleat. "I'm a goat!" He cried, indignantly. "From the waist down, I'm a goat!"
"Well, excuse me." Annie muttered.
"Percy made the same assumption." Grover mumbled irritably, having seemed to calm down. "Anyways the Camp is a safe place for children of the Gods. Its-"
Tyson pulled something from his pocket. A gold pocket-watch, studded with diamonds and emeralds. "Grover, Pony-Man said to be back by three, dot-dot, three, zero."
"What?" Annie asked. She still couldn't get over the fact that these two seemed to popped out of the Greek Mythology book her mom had read to her before bed. Her mind was too overwhelmed, it was starting to get hard to interpret what the guy was saying.
"He means that Chiron told him to be back by 3:30." Grover said. "And it's…" He read the time on the watch Tyson had held out. "Oh man, we need to get going."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa." Annie said, holding her hands out. "I'm not going anywhere with a cyclops and a goat I don't know."
"Please." Grover pleaded. It wasn't his words, it was his eyes. They looked like they'd shatter if she said no.
Curse my bleeding heart and love of animals!
She wanted to cave, she wanted to go with them. Every instinct in her body was screaming, GO!
She'd learned to trust her instincts. But from past experiences, she'd learned to never, ever go with strangers. Especially strangers who were supposed to be nothing but myths.
Annie chewed her bottom lip, a habit she obtained when she got nervous.
She was absolutely torn. She could either trust her instincts, or trust her knowledge and experience. Go, or run.
Her eyes darted between the two hopeful faces.
A safe place for children of the Gods. Grover had said.
That meant that if she went with the two, no more weird. No more strange experiences. No more killer birds or suspicious cheerleaders.
She'd be rid of it all.
But there was her mom to think about. As soon as her thoughts got to her mom, her eyes widened.
At the end of the summer, before her mom had sent her off to another boarding school, her mom had pressed a note in her hand.
"They'll come for you." She'd said. "When they come, you'll understand. I love you." She'd kissed Annie on the forehead, and allowed her to board the bus that would take her to yet another boarding school.
With trembling hands, Annie slipped the note out of her pocket.
She'd read it several times, never really able to decipher what her mother had written.
In her mother's slanted handwriting, were the words:
Go with the satyr. Have fun at camp. I love you, Annie.
Annie had taken it as a farewell for the summer, eventually coming to the conclusion that her mother would enroll her in some sort of summer program.
She'd figured the satyr part had been some sort of reference to that old Greek Mythology book her mother had told Annie stories from as a child.
But she realized, that this is what her mother had meant.
Suddenly, Annie found it hard to speak. Her shock turned to rage.
No formal goodbye, no explanation, just a stupid note Annie had thrown and picked out of the trash multiple times over the course of the year.
Go with the satyr. She though in a mocking tone of her mother's voice. Have fun at camp.
Yeah, thanks mom.
Annie crunched up the note in her fist. "Alright." She said, voice shaking. "I'll go."
"Really?" Grover asked, excitedly. "What changed your mind?"
At that moment, Annie didn't care if these guys were hostile or not. She wanted to leave. She wanted her mother to feel bad when she never came home again. She wanted her mother to feel as angry at herself as Annie was at her, for letting her daughter go off alone with a goat and a cyclops, with nothing but a note.
But Annie also wanted to get to this so-called Camp. Be safe. Live a life where she didn't have to live in fear. Maybe even make some new friends.
Based on what these guys were saying, she might even have a brother. Or, a half-brother, at least, but that was better than nothing.
"Because," Annie took a deep breath. "I don't want to have to live in fear anymore. I… I don't want to be alone anymore."
She'd figured she'd sounded too sappy, when the boys fell silent.
But Grover gave her an ear-to-ear grin.
"There's no place like Camp Half-Blood."