Heeeeeeeeeey I'm back! I apologize for the long wait; I was lazy on typing this up. :P

Disclaimer: La-dee-do, da-la-di-dee! I don't own anything! Well, except for the storyline and Dakota and Jessi and Alyssa and some of my other OCs . . .

Chapter Two: I Go to Camp

My mom is awesome.

Just thought I'd let you know. I mean, shouldn't I tell you a little bit about her before you meet her?

Anyways, her name is Kestrel Swift. She has wavy blonde hair like me, but instead of startlingly blue eyes, she has hazel eyes. She skateboards with me sometimes. I know it's an excuse to watch me and make sure I don't, like, cause a fire or something, but it's OK.

She's really nice when I get kicked out of those numerous expensive boarding schools within the first couple months. She doesn't scream at me, doesn't call me stupid or get frustrated. Just sits down beside me, puts her arm around my shoulders and tells me it'll be better next year, even though it won't.

She's the best mother a guy could have.

There's only one thing bad about her, and that is that she tends worry easily.

So after Alyssa and I managed to finally catch a bus that would take two kids covered in a mix of sand and ice cream for 10 dollars and get to my apartment around 6, my mom tackled me with a bear hug as soon as I opened the door.

"Mom!" I protested.

She released me after what seemed like ages and then gave me a searching look. She pressed me wordlessly for answers. Her eyes looked over my face.

"Um, Ms. Swift?" Alyssa said quietly.

My mom turned her gaze to her. She took in everything- the quiver over her shoulder, the ice-cream stained tank top, and the claw marks where Jessi's claws had shredded one side of her board shorts. She spoke in a cracked voice. "Yes?"

"It's time." Alyssa swallowed and fiddled with the quiver strap again. "We have to go. Now."

Go? Time? My mind began to race again. Where were we going? When? It was time for what? Why was everything so confusing all of a sudden?

It shook me up even more when my mom briefly closed her eyes for a moment and sighed quietly. Then, her eyes still shut as if she were trying to prevent something, she said, "Dakota, go pack some clothes, underwear, and a toothbrush in that old blue suitcase Grandma bought you last year. You . . . you're going to a summer camp."

"Mom?" I started to ask her the same thing I'd tried to ask Alyssa- What's going on?

"Dakota." She turned to look at me, and I was shocked to see her eyes were brimming with tears. "Go."

I ran upstairs.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

"Ha!" I scoffed. "That story has the same chance of happening as a unicorn turning emo!"

"What?" Alyssa narrowed her eyes at me. "That makes no sense!"

"Precisely," I said.

"Whatever. Either way it's true!" Alyssa shot back at me.

"Yeah, uh-huh," I replied. "Sure. I'll believe it the day Disney stars stop trying to sing. Oh, wait- never!"

We had gotten in the car after I'd packed, and now we were driving heck knows where to some camp. On the way, Alyssa had fed me the most bizarre story- all the Greek gods and stuff were alive and real. The gods and goddesses had kids with mortals (non-gods) and voila! Kids like me and her- she called them half-bloods- came into existence.

And that's not all. There was a special camp for us- Camp Half-Blood, where we were headed. There we'd train, learn to survive, discover more about ourselves and hopefully be "claimed" by our Olympian parent. Alyssa was a daughter of Apollo, which explained the whole arrow/quiver thing.

I didn't believe a word of it.

"It's true," Alyssa said, widening her eyes at me as she read the look on my face.

"OK, let's say I believe you for a second," I said. "These empousai, or whatever you said Jessi was- they only come after the hot ones, right?"

Alyssa's eyes widened in anger and she snapped. "No, they only come after the self-centered, overconfident, egotistical idiots!"

I was sting by her words. "It was just a joke," I mumbled.

"Guys?" my mom said from up front. "Please . . . quiet?"

At the weariness in her voice, we shut up. She sounded . . . sad. I got the feeling she hadn't heard a word Alyssa and I had said, that she had been lost in her own thoughts.

We tried to enjoy the rest of the ride down. I focused on the darkening sky out the window. I tried to nap, so when I'd wake up we'd be there, wherever there was, but something kept me awake.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

We got there around 9. But I didn't know we were there, because there was a strawberry field.

"This is it?" I said loudly, slamming the door to my mom's Camry. "This is Camp Half-Blood?"

"Shut up," Alyssa grumbled, socking my arm as she came up beside me. "Listen. Hear that?"

I quieted. Sure enough, when I listened hard enough I could hear distant singing. But looking around the strawberry field, all I could see were, well, strawberries.

"Where is everyone?" I asked.

"Right there," Alyssa said, pointing down into the valley of strawberries.

"Where?" I repeated. "That's not funny, Alyssa."

"Oh." She got the look of remembering something important. "Blink a couple times. The Mist is strong here."

Oh, right. The magical fog that covered mortals' eyes from seeing things they shouldn't. I blinked rapidly, and the scene seemed to melt away until it was blurry like smeared paint. When the rainbow of colors reformed, I wasn't looking at a strawberry field anymore.

There were cabins- 13 big ones, to be exact, lined up in a semi- circle. From where me, Alyssa, and my mom were standing on the hill, it looked like a horseshoe. In the clearing, a fire shot high into the air, the flames dancing like those belly-dancers you see in TV shows with bar parties in them. Around the fire, sitting on logs, there were about 50 kids ranging from about my age, give or take a little, to maybe 20 at the most. Around everything, I could see a lake, a climbing wall, a few volleyball courts- everything a normal camp would have.

That didn't explain why I hadn't seen it all before.

Alyssa gave me a look.

"That doesn't mean all you said was true," I said, crossing my arms. "I, uh . . . wasn't looking hard enough."

"Face it, Dakota," Alyssa said lightly. "You're wrong this time." She set off down the hill, sprinting towards the campfire. I glared at her retreating form, then started down after her.

"Wait! Dakota!"

I turned to see my mom jogging towards me, her keys jingling from her pocket. Her hair was messed up, her face was tearstained- when had she been crying?

"Dakota, I- we- I-" She sighed. She seemed to be trying not to burst into tears. Her voice was choked. Something was important.

I cast a glance over at the fire. Alyssa was staring back at me. Come on, she mouthed.

Ignoring her, I looked back at my mom. "Mom?" I prompted.

"This- this wasn't my idea, sweetheart," she said, brushing my bangs out of my eyes. "Your- your father- he told me it'd be hard for you after you turned 12. I- I hoped th-this day would never come, when I had to take you here."

I was bewildered, my heart pounding. My father? I opened my mouth to spout some questions about him, but my mom continued on, twiddling her thumbs like she always did when she was nervous.

"I- I'm so sorry. I should've told you you'd be coming here." She bit her lip, then put her hands on my shoulders. "Be careful, OK? Promise you won't hurt yourself."

"I promise, Mom," I said. As she gave me a huge hug, I felt tears spring to my eyes, too. But I wouldn't be gone too long, right? Only for a week, right? That's how long average summer camps were. But as I watched my mom get into her car, I felt that this wasn't an average summer camp.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

I could smell the smoke from the fire as I approached Alyssa. I tried to ignore the pairs of eyes that watched me from the log benches. I tried to appear confident, like I usually am, but I was still shaken up about my mom's words. Nevertheless I flashed the crowd my best grin.

But I stopped grinning when someone-or something- approached Alyssa and I from the campfire.

At first I thought he was a man in an orange t-shirt, with dark eyes and hair and a wispy beard. Then I saw his bottom half- he was a stallion from the waist down. He had hooves and a tail- the whole shebang. He gave me a welcoming smile as he clip-clopped towards me. When he got close enough, he spoke. "Hello."

He sounded normal. I blinked a couple times. First a psycho demon girl, now a horse-man?

"You're a horse-dude," I said. It was all I could say, but I immediately felt stupid afterwards.

"Centaur," I corrected. "My name is Chiron, trainer of heroes." He smiled again. I didn't like his smile. It was as if he were hiding something from me. It was questioning, like, Is this him? Does he know?

"Do you believe me now?" Alyssa asked from beside me. I shot her a glance. Her arms were folded and she wore a smug expression.

"Uh, yeah," I said. "I think so."

Sooooooooooooooo? What do you all think? Tell me! I MUST KNOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Heh, weird much? Now I have to finish writing chapter 3! See you next time, peeps! Well, I won;t actually see you, but you know what I mean. : ) Oh, and again, I apologize for any cliche'ness.