Hey! Thanks for the reviews! I will try my best to update, but I just started school on the 9th so it might not be real soon. I am trying my best, so please be patient with me! Thank you!
And I do not own anything in this story and do not plan to, with the possible exception of Nicole, Lauren, and Ella; although, honestly I'm not sure if I own them at all . . .
I woke up early the next morning, even by my standards; and believe me, that's saying something! I knew I couldn't get back to sleep now, so I stepped out of the tent and into the fresh air outside; trying my best not to wake up Lauren who was resting peacefully on the floor next to me.
The cold chill in the air woke me up a little, but not enough, so I decided to go to the cliffs and watch the sunrise. I wonder if I'll be able to see Apollo; that would be cool considering the fact that I had watched the sun rise and set practically every day of my life, and never knew that it/he was actually a PERSON!
Sitting on the edge of the rocks, I thought about the past few days and how much they've changed my life already. I think the only downside is that the Hunters don't have wall outlets, as far as I know. I really should ask Lauren if there's a way to charge my iPod, because I think I might have drained the battery last night. I hate when that happens, but it does eventually, and life goes on. Well, most lives do, I would die without my music, but maybe that's just me!
The Hunters have given me a place to stay that I won't have to worry about getting relocated from unless I decide I want to go off chasing boys sometime, meals that consist of real food and not plastic like school food or ashes like what I normally receive from my foster parents, and most importantly, a home and family. These girls are so nice, and I'm really looking forward to the next few years; or maybe it will be the next few hundred years, I guess it all depends on how good of a fighter I am.
As absorbed in my thoughts as I was, I didn't hear Lauren come up behind me. Curse her uncanny ability to sneak up on me when I'm least expecting it!
"Hey." I nearly fall off the edge of the cliff from shock. The soft voice was right behind me and I immediately turned around. I saw my roommate standing there and immediately felt a little bit embarrassed at my almost-death-fall from lack of grace.
"Oh, hey; I didn't hear you." Wow, this was how I decided to start my conversation, with one of the most obvious statements in the world. Great Nicole, very smart!
"I could tell! What are you doing up so early?" Lauren laughed lightly at my very idiotic opening, and then got slightly more serious in her tone of voice. I probably should have left a note or something for her, just so she wouldn't think that I had snuck off and gotten myself killed; which I wouldn't put past me.
"I couldn't sleep, and wanted to watch the sunrise." I said, blunt and straight to the point. I have such awful conversational and social skills, I even shock myself.
"Not trying to flirt with Apollo are you? Because if you were, Lady Artemis would tear you limb from limb." Apparently Lauren is just as straightforward as I am. I guess you never have to worry about us keeping anything from you!
"No, of course not! If I was going to get myself killed, I would want to die for am actually important reason, not flirting with a god; and I want to die quickly instead of a slow and painful death. I would rather have someone kill me so hard that I died to death instead of dying from loss of blood like Romeo or Juliet." This is a pleasant conversation. Death is a very serious subject. (Inside jokes between me and some of my friends! I just had to include them if I was talking about death and dying!)
"Yeah, that makes sense; but if you aren't trying to see Apollo without Lady Artemis's permission, than what are you doing out here?" Of course, leave it to Lauren to ask a question like that. Didn't I already tell her I was out here to try to see the sunrise?
"I'm here to see the sunrise. I love watching it, with all the beautiful colors that it makes; it's just so gorgeous! Wherever I was, I always watched the sun because it was a constant in my life; unlike so many other things." Honestly, I don't know why I'm telling her this, but if she doesn't get up and walk away I guess that's a good sign!
"Oh, didn't you grow up with foster parents?" Lauren asked. I don't normally tell people this stuff, but no one ever really asks, so this is a first.
"Yeah, emphasis on the's' in parents." I should work on trying to control my tone of voice more. I never noticed it before, but I sound . . . rude!
"How long have you been with your foster parents?" Again, with the questions no one ever asks! Is she doing this on purpose?
"Which ones? I've been with my current foster parents for almost two months now, before that one and a half, before that two and a half, before that one, then three, than only a week, than four, than three and a half, then two, then one, then a week, then, well, I think you get the point. I don't think I've ever lasted more than four months though." I wonder what question she's going to ask next.
"How many foster parents have you had?" It sounded like she was impressed, which she probably was. I've never heard of someone being rejected so many times before.
"Seventeen. I think I probably set a record; seventeen different sets of foster parents in only six years." I know I sounded really bitter about that, but it wasn't something I was proud of; no matter how many jokes I make about it.
"Wow, you probably did set a record. How did you get so many adults to hate you?" Okay, now I'm almost positive she's asking these questions just because no one else has. Why else would anyone want to hear about my miserable life?
"I honestly have no idea; but enough about me, what's your story?" Ha! Take that Lauren! Now it's my turn to ask the questions.
"My story isn't nearly as interesting as yours," I rolled my eyes at that. "but I'll tell you. My mom's Athena, so I was delivered to my dad by the north wind. It turns out he hated me and sent me to live with my aunt. Not, like, my aunt as in a goddess, but as in my dad's sister. I stayed with her until I was thirteen, that's when a monster came and killed her; I escaped but just barely. Then Ella found me and I joined the Hunt; I've only been here for about two months." Lauren said all of this pretty quickly, like she wanted to get it over and done with; but paused every now and then when it was obviously something that she didn't like reliving.
"Oh, wow, you didn't have to tell me all that. I would have been happy with an 'I was almost killed and then joined the Hunt.' It seems like that's almost everyone's story here." It was completely true; most of the hunters have been attacked but found just in time by other hunters.
"Yeah, but it feels good to say it, you know?" Yes, I did know exactly what she was talking about; it's great to talk to someone who actually listens and cares.
"Besides, I had it easy compared to most half-bloods. I at least knew who both of my parents were; most only know either their mortal parent or are in foster care like you. Some are even adopted and don't know it! I would hate that, at least I knew my aunt." When I heard her say that, I felt really bad for complaining about my life for so long. She had known her family and her father hadn't even wanted her; then she went to live with the only person who had ever loved her and saw her killed right in front of her.
"I guess, and you are so lucky to have your mom's eyes! It makes figuring out who she is a lot easier, and they're really pretty." Lauren's eyes really were gorgeous, she is actually lucky to have them; and in the light of the sun that was just now rising, they looked ten times better.
"Yeah, but yours are too, especially in the morning sunlight like this. They're a perfect shade of blue!" I guess, wait, BLUE! My eyes are hazel so they change occasionally, but I've never heard them called blue before. Green and brown yes, but not blue. (This has actually happened to me! My eyes are normally brown or green or both, but one morning my friend was like "In the sunlight from that window your eyes are blue!" It was SO weird!)
"Really, they're blue? They've never looked blue before!" I was now freaking out, and having a mini spasm! Was this normal?
"Wow, really? WAIT! Now they're brown! It was like they were blue when the sun was rising and directly in front of us, but then they changed at the exact same time that the sun moved! Ohmigods! I wonder if . . ." This is seriously starting to freak me out now! What is wrong with me? And why didn't she finish that last sentence?
"What? You wonder if what?" What wasn't she telling me? If has something to do with what just happened considering my eye color, I want to know!
"Well, I wonder if maybe -"
"Lauren! Nicole! Where are you guys?" Of course, Ella has to interrupt us at the exact time that Lauren was about to tell me what she had thought of!
"Hey, Ella. We were right here, we were just . . ." Lauren trailed off at the end again, and I did some quick decision making.
"Lauren was trying to teach me how to tell the time from looking at the sun, I failed epically, so it took a long time." I lied, and Lauren gave me a grateful look before turning back to Ella. Ella then started talking about how it was time for breakfast and we should be there for it, so we followed her back to our campsite.
"This is fascinating, but does anyone know where I can charge my iPod? It's almost out of battery, and I would die if I failed on me!" Ella looked at me like she couldn't believe that I cared about my iPod so much, but Lauren just laughed.
"Wow Nicole! I really shouldn't have expected anything other than that considering how you treated it last night, but I didn't know you needed your iPod that much!" I laughed at that too, last night I had set it in my pocket, then rolled over so that it wouldn't be smashed against the ground and put my hand over it just to make sure that it was still there. I am such a geek!
There it is! The second chapter! Did you like it? I know it had absolutely no action in it except for talking, but I liked it, and I really want to know if you did too! Please review! Thank you!
~monkeypicklez