Chapter 1

Nobody warned me that I was about to be transported to some camp in Long Island, New York. Nobody warned me I was about to go on the most dangerous journey of my life (not that I'd had any journeys anyway) and certainly nobody warned me or could have prepared me for getting a very shocking letter from my mom at my boarding school.

I was paged to the office during math class so I quickly got permission from Ms. Mullen to go.

Once I arrived, the secretary handed me an envelope. It read:

Riley Bloom

Horace Green Boarding School

Philadelphia

I recognized the neat cursive writing as my moms' so I opened the letter and began to read.

Riley,

Chiron warned me I should tell you before you were thirteen. Now is the time. For as long as you could remember, you had no father. I lied to you when I said his name was James. He did leave us when you were born but it's not what you'd think. Your father is Poseidon. I should have told you a lot earlier but I was afraid you wouldn't be safe anymore. I know it may be hard for you to believe, but your real father is a god of Mt. Olympus. I should have known that it would be more dangerous when you were older. I am so sorry to have your world suddenly turned upside down. It happened to me when your father told me who he really was. Please believe me. I want you to be safe. I have no time to explain what is happening and what is going to happen to you because I am at work but as soon as school is over, pack your things and take a bus to Long Island, New York. There will be a man dressed like a homeless person who will recognize you and take you to Camp Half-blood. His name is Apollo. He likes to flirt so don't be offended. I am very sorry that I couldn't tell you earlier. Just know that no matter what happens, I will always love you.

-Mom

I'll be honest; I had no idea whether to believe my mom or not. I mean, how would you feel if your mom told you your father was Hercules or something? Or that your sister was really some monster with snakes coming out of her head? But my father. Poseidon? The god of the sea? Yeah right! My dad really had left after I was born but there was no way he was a Greek god. Those times were over like, thousands of years ago! True, I had never seen pictures of my dad. Mom told me she had given them all to Grandma. But maybe that was a lie, too. Had I been believing lies my whole life? Maybe my mom wasn't my real mom, either. Maybe my name wasn't Riley. I was confused, torn, but most of all angry.

I folded the letter and put it in my pocket. Camp Half-Blood. I thanked the secretary who smiled kindly back at me.

I went up to my dorm quickly so that none of the teachers would notice me.

Once I was finished packing all my stuff, I dug around for some money for a bus ticket but then saw one lying on my bed. I certainly didn't remember buying a bus ticket… I smoothed down my long brown hair and headed out of my dorm.

I knew all the hallways and classrooms at Horace Green by heart. I also knew when and where the teachers would be coming and going.

I waited for five minutes behind the washroom door for Mr. Pekarsky, the band teacher, who was humming a song at an incredibly horrible pitch to pass by and then hurried out the front door of the huge school building.

I looked back for one last time. I had no good memories of Horace Green, no friends, no boyfriends and no good teachers. I guess you could say I didn't mind leaving.

Once I was safely down the street and out of view from any teachers who happened to be looking out of their classroom windows, I stopped at the bus stop to New York and looked at my ticket. Where did it come from? I wondered if someone was secretly trying to help me.

Before I could think anything else, a bus screeched to a halt in front of me. The doors opened and a few passengers stepped out. I picked up my heavy suitcase and stepped into the bus.

There were only three passengers. All of them except for one looked normal.

The abnormal one looked around thirteen like me. He wore black skinny jeans, black Converse shoes, and a black leather jacket over top of a blue t-shirt. He flicked his head to get his long black bangs out of his face. The rest of his hair was black and stuck up in the back. He had a black stud in one ear and he looked at me rather intently with electric blue eyes that had yellow bolt-like lines running through them, like lightning. There didn't seem anything strange about him but he just didn't… seem normal.

I kept my head down to avoid his penetrating stare and sat a few rows away from him. My insides squirmed with nervousness. I was scared that maybe my mom was joking and that I was skipping school for most likely the rest of my life for no reason whatsoever. And also because… that guy was kind of hot.

About two hours of sitting in the lumpy seat of the bus, it finally halted at the bus stop. I got off after the guy who gave me one last intense look and ran at an unusually fast pace down the street until he disappeared out of sight. That was weird.

I looked for a hobo guy with my suitcase in hand. I saw two but both of them glared at me when I tried to approach them. Reddening with embarrassment, I turned and quickly away, pretending I was about to be late for something.

"Riley!" someone called from behind me.