After the longest weekend ever—and mom wondering where Cecil went with her scuba gear and money, which was actually missing. I didn't know the Mist could do that (that was what she was nervous about Friday. She had realized during the day her bank account was empty)—Monday finally came. After rethinking who at school could be a satyr, I narrowed it down to one person: Aaron. He ate anything, he had a weird laugh, and he had a limp. At the end of the day, I found him beside my bike, waiting.

I managed to sneak up on him, "You here to take me to camp?" He jumped a foot off the ground, while I cracked a smile.

"How much do you know?" he asked.

"Oh, not much," I said sarcastically, "I've read all the Percy books. I never thought they were true until my stepdad turned into a Laistrygonian on Friday. I've been trying to figure out my parentage all weekend. Eventually, I gave up and started narrowing down who the satyr was. Came up with you. If you hadn't been waiting on me and weren't on campus, I'd be on my way to New York tonight."

By now, his eyes were wide. "Okay, you're the only one who figured out who their satyr was before the satyr told them. But we need to get going. How do you get home?"

"Ride my bike to mom's work and have her drive me home. But you need to come. I thought this out over the weekend. I'll call mom and say I found a summer college class last minute that'll take me and that you're going there too. You decided to go with me. I have church camp in two weeks, I'll tell her the class starts tomorrow. That's long enough for us to get to Long Island, and teach me how to use my bow before my other camp. Dad'll just have to understand. If you can balance on my handlebars, we can get home, pack me for both camps, and make our way to New York."

I was about to continue editing my plans when he broke in, "Whoa, whoa, whoa! Slow down. I can't keep up. You have a mom and dad? What's this other camp? Why would you still go to church camp when you think you're a demigod?"

I laughed. "Yes, I have a mom and dad. One of them obviously is an adopted parent; otherwise, that Laistrygonian wouldn't have attacked. This "other camp" is the Wilds and I refuse to miss it. Red flags will go up if I no-show to that or the reward trip in August. I'm Christian. The Greek gods are simply immortals manifestations of humans, complete with all our flaws. God is the model we were all created from. He created humans and the "Greek gods." I also don't want a man-hunt like Percy went through. My mom can't see through the Mist and my dad's in Colorado. So we'll go to my house, let me pack, and tell mom I'll see her at the end of summer. If she doesn't buy it, well, I've got another trick up my sleeve." I glanced at my watch. "Shoot, we've been talking for five minutes. Let me call mom, then we can leave." I pulled out my phone and dialed before he could answer. After I got off, I said, "Ok, I think she bought it. Hop on. We need to get moving."

He climbed on the handlebars, mumbling something about electronics, ADHD, and skipping thoughts. We didn't talk much during the ride, so I thought about who my parent would be—for the first few minutes. Then I couldn't resist and turned on my mp3. Right before we finished the ride, I saw a shadow in the woods.

"Aaron?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm gonna keep pedaling. Can you balance and steer the bike?"

"Yeah."

"Good." The shadow became more defined. "Because I need to kill that dracaena." I took my hands off the handlebars and my bow appeared. Right then, the dracaena showed herself. With one swift movement, I pulled the string back, waited the millisecond for the arrow to appear, and shot her between the eyes. She dissolved into dust as her essence returned to Tartarus.

Aaron had his jaw dropped, but I ignored him as I dropped my bow and took over control of the bike, singing along to my music. Aaron said something. I paused my music and had him repeat himself.

"Where'd your bow come from?"

"I don't know. When my stepdad turned into a monster, I ran. I was looking for something to make a quick weapon. When I reached out, the Hunter's bow appeared. I think Artemis likes me. Whether that makes her my mom, or not, I don't know."

He was about to ask something else, but right then we pulled up to my mom's work.
"Let me do the talking." He nodded, and we got into the back of the car. I didn't want Mom to be able to see my face. As little as we talked, she'd still be able to tell I was lying.

"Hey, Mom. This is Aaron. He's a classmate of mine and he's also doing the class. He offered to let me ride with him."

"Hey Aaron. So, Grace, where is this class, how long is it, and how are you two going to get there?"

I laughed. "Slow down, Mom! This class is in New York, it lasts all summer, except a one-week break coincidentally during camp, and we are flying. The class offered free airfare and Aaron has transport with some other classmates. Don't say that next thought. I will be fine, and I have to go. This class will teach me how to survive in the real world."

That gave her something to think about. She stayed quiet until we parked in our garage and went into the house.

"You can't go. I'm sorry, honey, but I don't know Aaron, we don't know anyone in New York, and you're only fourteen."

Hope you enjoyed it.