Ramona Straight was having a particularly rotten day. It was eventful, to say the least. By dinnertime she'd gotten into a fight with her mother's maid, run away, and flown across the country. Her mother was filthy rich, famous, and honestly, Ramona didn't care for her all that much. Ramona was sick of the spotlight, but her mother adored it. She bathed in it. She practically held herself to a throne. Like a goddess.
A goddess? Not even. Now, maybe dad... But mum? No. She's insane. Goddess of crazy. Ramona shook her head. She was starting to sound like her mother. Her mother always told Ramona that her father was a god. Ramona finally had enough. That's why she flew away, to Seattle. Probably the farthest thing from Miami, Ramona thought.
She opened up her wallet. Twenties, fifties, and a couple of hundreds flooded the space for bills. She reluctantly pulled out a card and handed it to the all-too-perky girl at the register. Without even looking, the girl slid it through the machine, talking all the way.
"You look so familiar, like, oh my gawsh, I swear I've seen you before!" the girl pulled out a receipt and asked Ramona to sign it. As she handed it to Ramona, she glimpsed her name. "Oh my god! You're Ramona Straight? Did you like, run away?" Ramona quickly swung into action. She pulled out a hundred-dollar bill and a small piece of paper.
"This is a ticket to one of her concerts. Keep quiet, alright? Gawsh." Ramona snapped, grabbing her hot tea off the counter and rushing outside. She scurried down the rainy sidewalk, pulling up her hood. As she walked, some of the tea spilled off onto her freezing fingers, and she nearly dropped the tea. She pulled off one fingerless glove and stuck three fingers in her mouth. After a second, the pain subsided and she returned her glove to her hand.
Ramona's mood was rainy. The weather was rainy. She was practically soaked to the core by the time she found her hotel. It was the oldest hotel in Seattle, the Fairmont Olympic Hotel. As she entered the building, she dug through her purse for her wallet. If it was her first time at the hotel, she would have had to stop and look around. It wasn't, of course. Her mother had stayed in this hotel plenty times before. Ramona had spent an entire summer here, while her mother acted in a movie. She still knew most of the staff. She waved at the woman behind the desk.
"Gawsh Ramona, every time I see you, you just look so grown up. I love your bag."
"Aw, thanks, Meg! I got the matching wallet, too. It was a gift from Mum..." Ramona trailed off. Meg smiled and handed her a few papers to sign. Meg's long fingers lingered over the pages, her red fingernails looking dripping wet, even a few days after the manicure. She smiled, and the creases along her eyes deepened, a reminder that she wasn't 20 years old anymore. Ramona handed the pages back.
"Where's your luggage, babe?" Meg inquired, her brow furrowed.
"Didn't bring any. I'll go shopping later. What room?"
"The Cascade suite, hon. Here's the key." Meg handed Ramona the key and Ramona was off, her flats squeaking to the staircase.
...
Leo's day wasn't much better. He didn't know why he had flown to Seattle, just that he felt like he needed to go. Sneaking out of camp was honestly not hard enough for him. His dad had given him some money for his birthday, and by 'some money' he means one thousand dollars. Best. Gift. Ever. Leo had purchased a skateboard (a new Enjoi one which he'd totally tricked out), some tools that his magic tool belt didn't produce, one-too-many candy bars, and a flight to Seattle.
Leo started down the stair case. He pulled out his cellular phone and started to text his friend, Piper. He was probably going to get heat for running away, but Piper was trustworthy. Leo made it to the bottom of the staircase and pressed send. An exploding pain erupted on Leo's chin, and it was then that he noticed that he'd just run into a girl, about his age. She was seriously pretty. A look of awe was on her face, and Leo realised that she had spilled hot tea all over his lower abdomen and legs. It didn't hurt Leo, because Leo was a fire user. He smiled at the girl, who was rubbing her forehead.
"Oh gawsh. I'm so sorry!" She said, ripping off one of her gloves. She started patting the tea off of Leo and then realised what she was doing. Not that it's a problem, Leo thought. "How is that not burning the crap out of you? I just spilled it on my hand, it still stings." Leo flinched. He didn't know how to respond. He responded anyways.
"I'm a child of the Olympian Hephaestus, the fire guy, and I'm pretty much immune to fire. You could call me a superhero if you want, but formality is unnecessary." He flashed her a brilliant white smile. Leo looked at her. She tilted her head back and laughed. The sound made him feel like he was on a beach in SoCal. Was it Leo's imagination, or did the clouds start to disperse? Nope, just his imagination.
"Surely your mother will kill you if you don't wash up. Come on." With that, Leo watched as the girl's black pony-tail sashayed as she climbed up the stairs.