1. It hits me.
I've never hated any place in the world more than Cahill Academy for the Mentally Unstable.
It's not because of the dimly lit rooms, with only reclining chairs since all the teachers are afraid some psycho kid might kill someone with a desk. It's not even the fact that I've been here since I was eight-confined here like a prison. Surprisingly, it's not even because my own mother made me come here in the first place-she handed me over without a second thought.
The main reason I hate it here so much, is because I'm not "mentally unstable" in the least bit. Not at all.
Okay, yeah, I know. It sounds really bad. I slice a hole in a monster or a demon at least once a month, and I have odd dreams. I always tell people about everything-and nobody ever believes me. I get it. When someone comes up to you and says: Hey, I just got attacked by a huge snake with three heads! You tend to think they're lying. So many weird things also happen to me besides that, but trust me, you don't want to know.
So that leaves me here, in the dining hall at Cahill. I sit in the corner, alone, eating my mashed potatoes while I watch the rest of my "unstable" classmates. Penny Thompson just tried to feed her mashed potatoes to the empty seat next to her, and ended up knocking the now potato-covered chair onto the floor. Drew Calhoun was pacing back and forth along the wall having a very engaging conversation with himself.
These weren't surprises.
I look at the teachers, who, every once in a while stare at me with concern. Even though each one of them has seen me skewer a monster at least once, none of them seem to find my story plausible. I'm just a crazy psycho student to them. Why should they believe what they see?
Fuming, now that I reminded myself of this, I pulled out my rugged old iPod that my mom had sent me for Christmas a few years ago. It was the first (and last) present I had gotten from her since she shipped me off. It was my older sister Haley's before, so it wasn't much of a gift, but it reminded me of how much I missed my sister.
I was now listening to "Beverly Hills" which Haley always used to sing in the shower.
I watched Penny tip her whole plate onto the blue plastic chair, still lying on the floor. I rolled my eyes, and my face grew red and hot. How did I end up here?
Then it hit me.
No, seriously. A humongous furry object came smashing into the wall, sending dust and brick fragments everywhere. It knocked me out of my chair and tried to grab me from behind. I leaped up onto the table, and ran all the way to the other end, patting my pockets profusely.
Here's the thing. A few years ago, when we actually got out of this place for a day, and we went to Boston, which is really close by, and visited some educational places like the science museum and the aquarium. I thought the aquarium was the most boring thing on earth, (since I happen to be sort of ADHD) so I wandered off, while listening to Haley's shower songs. I went to the gift shop, and stuff like that, (but obviously not to get anything since we aren't allowed contraband)…and I was on my way back to catch up to where my group was when I bumped into this guy accidentally.
He was mysterious, especially the way that no matter how hard I strained my brain, I couldn't remember how he looked. He just handed me a penny. "This is very important for you to have," He said, forcing it into my palm, "Use it well," He added, and I get this feeling that maybe he grinned at me.
"Um," was the only thing I said in return. What was I supposed to do with a stupid penny?
I was wide eyed, and started getting this weird anxiety. This guy made me nervous. It was as if I should know him, but I didn't. I tried to get rid of the guy's penny in a nearby fountain but I couldn't. It took me three months to realize that it wasn't a normal penny-it said my name, Joaitha, right under the engraving of Abe Lincoln.
Except it wasn't Abe Lincoln really. I looked closely, and I realized that it was actually some kind of wreath.
Once I saw that, I tried to remember the guy who gave it to me, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't. Once I was sitting in my cell-I mean-dorm bedroom, flipping it around, due to boredom (which, like I said, I experience quite often) and it turned into a huge bronze dagger. It was really scary.
I was mortified, trying to find a way to get rid of it. I searched for places to hide it, but I knew that was no good. The teachers would find it, and they'd send me off to some hospital. There had to be a way…
It was no use. I had given up. I sank down on my bed, and slammed my unoccupied fist into one of my pillows angrily. I squeezed the dagger in my frustration.
The next thing I knew-wha-la!-It was a Joaitha penny once again.
Right now, as the monster knocked the table out from under me, sending me flying into a salad bar, the penny came in handy.
I flipped it over quickly, catching the dagger in my fist from behind the salad bar. The thing was coming…I just needed it to come closer, and then I'd stab it right in the chest-
And then it let out a groan, and fell right in front of me, turning to golden dust before my eyes. Two teenagers stood over it. One of them offered me her hand.
I took it and stood up. "I had it, you know," I muttered matter-of-factly.
The two ignored me. They obviously didn't care.
Frustrated, I pulled my long black hair behind my ears, into a ponytail. I got onto my feet and dusted myself off. A nice shower, and a nap, that's what I needed. I turned to leave.
The girl caught me by the arm. "Wait," She ordered. I waited.
She glanced at the guy significantly as if trying to cue him, but he was off in another world. "Percy," She said, waking him up.
He flinched out of his deep thinking. "Oh," he said. Then he turned to me. "You're coming with us," He stated.
"But what about-?" I began to ask, but the blonde-haired girl just waved her hand, and automatically I stopped mid-sentence.
"Don't worry, they'll be taken care of," She assured me. "Just come with us,"
I followed them reluctantly. They led me outside through the hole that the man-bear-thing had conveniently made. When I looked up from the rubble, I couldn't believe what I saw.
At first, it just seemed like a horse-drawn wagon. You know, like the ones from the 1800s that they used before cars were invented. But then it changed...at least I thought it did. Anyway, I realized that now, I was standing in front of a golden chariot pulled by winged horses.
I kid you not.
"Uh," I stammered, while approaching the vehicle. I slowly reached my hand out to touch the horse pulling it, but they guy dragged my hand away.
"We really have to get going," He explained. Then he and the girl helped me into the chariot. The blonde haired girl gave me her hand as the guy stood behind me with his palms out. He was either spotting me, or making sure I didn't make a mad dash back into the school.
I sat in the very back corner of the small golden cart with my knees crossed and up against my chest. The blonde-haired girl took the reins and the guy glanced back at me, probably to make sure I wasn't planning a quick escape.
"Here we go," The girl said as she wrapped the leather rope around each of her hands twice.
"Hold on," The guy said to me, a faint grin on his face.
"What?" I said, but then soon, I figured out why. My stomach lurched violently as we rocketed off of the ground and shot full speed into the sky. I looked back at Cahill Academy, and if I hadn't been so nauseous and afraid, I would have been overjoyed to see it disappearing quickly into nothing.
"Where are we going?" I asked over the sound of the wind rushing past my face, and buzzing in my ears.
"Camp Half Blood," The girl said automatically, still looking straight ahead while steering the flying contraption.
"Camp Half-what?" I asked, but I guess the girl had something against saying things twice. Almost like I had this thing against heights, and maybe a new fear of flying chariots that seemingly exceeded the speed of sound.
I buried my head between my arms, chest and knees, until we stopped moving. Then, when it was safe, I sat up and looked around. The first thing I saw was a large building that slightly resembled an oversized, high class, barn. Then, as I stood up, I saw the cabins. There were at least twenty of them scattered across the peaceful landscape of Camp Something-or-Other, and each one was different.
The guy, Percy, took a deep breath of the air as if it was his first time home from another planet in a millennia. Then he exhaled, un-tensing his muscles. "Here we are," He said. "Let's get you to the big house." He helped me step down off of the golden cart.
So, he and the girl led me straight toward the barn, which had seemed a lot closer from where I'd been sitting previously. Needless to say, we had a few moments for small talk.
"I almost forgot," The girl said, "I'm Annabeth. This is Percy." She offered me her hand, and I shook it.
"What's your name again?" Percy asked me as we walked. I was pretty sure they hadn't even asked me what my name was before.
"Joaitha," I said in a small, but strong voice. That's when we arrived at the Big House. Percy nodded, letting me know he'd heard me.
We walked up a few steps, and commenced onto the wraparound porch, where a friendly game of cards was being played. But as we approached the card game closer and closer, I realized that maybe this card game, despite being friendly, wasn't exactly in the norm.
See, there was this older-looking guy, and he was playing with these teenagers who all looked generally afraid of him. I don't see how they would be, since weirdly enough, all these guys had hairy legs and hooves.
"Hey Mr. D," Percy said to the older-looking guy, and Annabeth unleashed a small, nervous grin.
"Hello, Peter Johnson," He said with a sly smile, "And Mary-Ann!"
Percy shot an annoyed glance at me, as if to give me future advice about Mr. D. I could already tell that he was either senile, or judging by the look on his face, he was just bored and wanting to annoy someone desperately. Maybe he even thought I was confused.
"We brought that new camper," Annabeth said, "Her name's Joaitha. She hasn't been claimed yet."
Claimed? "Well, how old is she?" Mr. D said, glancing significantly at me.
"Thirteen," I said, and I watched everyone's eyes widen briefly. An awkward silence followed. "Is that…bad?" I asked.
"Do you know who your parents are, Joanna?" Mr. D asked me, while shuffling the cards absentmindedly in his hands.
I ignored his purposeful slip. "Well, my Mom's name is Adriane Harris, but I don't talk to her since she basically disowned me when I was-"
He held his hand up to interrupt me, and immediately I realized I had said too much. "Do you know who your father is?"
"Nope," was all I said this time.
Percy and Annabeth exchanged glances. "Well, that's…interesting," Mr. D said, while shuffling his cards once again, though he sounded very uninterested. Then, the game started up like it had been before we'd arrived. Percy and Annabeth led me out not soon after.
They both had nervous expressions on their faces, and it kind of freaked me out. They led me back out into the daylight slowly, as if I was a ticking time bomb that was due to explode any second now. It made me uneasy.
"Am I in-trouble?" I asked with some difficulty.
Percy faked a smile. "No, none at all," He probably lied, "Everything's great."
Annabeth punched him hard in the arm. "Don't lie to her!" She said, as he gripped his arm in pain. Then she faced me. "You aren't in trouble, Jo." She said, "Is it okay if I call you Jo?"
I nodded quickly, I didn't really care. I just needed to know what was happening. Luckily for me, Annabeth had more to say. "Great," She said, "Anyway, there's a problem." She looked at me gravely, "Are you absolutely positive you have no clue who your father is?"
"Y-yeah I'm sure," I stammered, reconsidering if I had ever known my father. I had this weird feeling of doubt now, and it just came over me quickly like it was a hurricane. Maybe, I had known my father…
Nah, I probably just made that up.
She looked at me and then at the sky, with a glare on her face like she was really angry all of a sudden. "They promised," She muttered to Percy, "I wonder what's going on up there…"
He shrugged. "I'm sure there's a reason," He said. He looked like he really wasn't sure at all.
"What's going on?" I asked them, and they stared.
"Oh, I forgot." Annabeth said. "There's a reason why you're here, Jo. It's because of your parent-"
"Is this another stupid therapy session about my mom? I told them, she gave me up. I had no problem with the woman! She just couldn't-"
"Jo," Percy interrupted, "Not that parent. Your godly parent."
"My godly…" I trailed off, and then I came back. "Is this some kind of joke?"
"Are we laughing?" Annabeth asked sarcastically. "We're here for you, Jo. We've been in the same place. We can help you."
"Oh," I said, bringing on the heavy sarcasm, "So I bet everyone in this place has been institutionalized for no reason?"
"Something like that, yeah." Percy said in a bored tone.
I stormed off, while having no clue where I was going. I just went.
I walked at a speedy pace past many cabins, full of people who looked away from whatever it was they were doing in this God-forsaken place to look at me, the angry girl who doesn't belong with tears in her eyes and everything. What a first impression.
Finally, I found some place to hide near the canoe docks. I sat there, tears running down my face as I skipped rocks across the water. The sun was setting, making it seem golden, serene, like the water was trying to comfort me.
I took a deep breath at that point, sat down, and after wiping the tears from my eyes, I watched the sunset.