Chapter 1 - The Prank War
"Hey, kiddo, you sure you want to spend the summer here instead of with your favorite Uncle Connor?" Connor Stoll asked Addison Stoll when he was dropping her off at a summer camp in the mountains above San Diego. It wasn't Camp Half-Blood, but it was the closest the Stolls could find.
"I'll be fine, Uncle Connor," Addison, or as she liked to be called, Addy said. "If I can't go to your camp, which Chiron said that I couldn't as I'm not the child of a god, but the child of a demigod, then I'd still like a summer camp experience." She stuck her tongue out at her uncle, and he repeated the gesture. He then reached out and ruffled her wavy brown hair.
"Well, you've got my number and e-mail, so write me if you want me to rescue you," Connor said. "And I will see you in six weeks when your term is over. Your dad's current job should be done by then. After all, how long could it take him to learn the secret to make perfect sushi?"
They laughed and high fived before Connor got back into the rental and drove to the airport. Addy turned around and headed inside the borders.
"Addison Stoll, checking in," Addy said.
"Welcome," the woman with the clip board said. She flipped a page. "There you are. Cabin Eleven. Oh, lucky you, it's one of the new ones. It's one of two with air conditioning."
"Sweet," Addison said. "I didn't even think about that, but now that you mention it, air conditioning is great."
"Just find the cabin with the blue flag," the counselor said.
"Thanks," Addison said and readjusted her duffle strap on her shoulder. She began marching toward the cabin, whistling as she went.
"Hey, girls," she said arriving at Cabin Eleven. "I'm Addy."
"Nice to meet you, Addy," one girl said. "I'm Hallie and this is Annie."
"Good to meet," Addy said. She dropped her duffle on the foot of her bed and stuffed her hands deep into her jean shorts pockets.
"Hey, cool streak," Annie said of the green streak in Addy's bangs.
"Thanks," Addy said. "I think it brings out the green in my eyes."
"I'd have to agree with that," Annie said. She had black hair and blue eyes and stood a bit shorter than Addy.
Addy took a cue from Hallie and Annie and began to unpack her things from her duffle into the provided drawers. She put a photo of her father on the table next to her bed.
"Who is that man?" Hallie asked.
"That's my dad," Addy said. "And, I know, he looks way too young to be a dad, but that was taken before I was born, so he doesn't look quite that young anymore. Though, in my opinion, I think the years were very kind to him."
Isabelle Gardner treaded lightly onto the camp grounds after being dropped off by the service her mother had arranged. She kept a keen eye out for flowers that she thought might be something her mother might want to start growing for her flower shop.
Izzy hadn't been exactly too keen on going to a camp so far away from her home, but was glad she did. Florida was usually a huge heat wave during the summer, but up in the mountains of San Diego, the air was clean and crisp. Izzy could almost feel the tiny bits of Demeter's blood in her veins, though she knew that she had no demigod powers like her mother.
Izzy loved nature, and usually found outside or in a green house, tending to flowers. She ran her hand through her long brown hair, before tying it in a knot to keep it off her neck.
"Is this where I check in?" Izzy asked approaching a lady under a sign that was labeled A-J.
"Last name?" the woman asked.
"Gardner," Izzy responded. "Isabelle Gardner, that is."
The woman flipped through several pages. "Ah, there you are. Cabin Four. It's the one with the green flag."
"Thank you," Izzy said and began toward the cabin area. She took deep breath, taking in all the fresh air and the smell of the trees. This wonderful scent would be hers for the next six weeks, and she couldn't be more thrilled.
"Is this cabin four?" she asked, knocking on the rickety old door.
"It sure is," one girl sitting on a bed said. "Are you sure you're at the right cabin, though?"
"I think so," Izzy said. "The woman at the check in station told me so."
"It's just that, well, Cabin Four is for the older, returning campers, and I've never seen you before."
"The newer girls are given the nice, air-conditioned cabins," another girl said. "The camp thinks that they're more likely to get people to return if they think they'll get air-conditioning and stuff. They figure after two summers, they will have good enough friends that they'd keep coming back even without giving them cushiony cabins."
"Well, I'd actually prefer the older cabins without it," Izzy said. "It reminds me more of what the real experience is supposed to be like. I mean, I didn't come to camp to be pampered."
"Wow, a real wild woman," the first girl said. "I'm Susan and that's Sharon. What's your name?"
"I'm Izzy."
"So, what brings you to Camp Abner, anyway," Hallie asked Addy as the two of them were in line to get their lunch.
"Well, it is similar to the camp my dad went to as a kid," Addy said. "And he loved his camp."
"It's so cool that you can identify all those flowers," Sharon said to Izzy.
"It's something I've always been able to do," Izzy said twisting her hair into a bun to keep out of her face as she ate.
"Still, I wish I could name half the number of plants you did," Susan said.
"Well, my mother is a florist," Izzy said. "It's kind of my job."
"No way did you possibly manage to paint your teacher's face while she was asleep," Annie gasped at the story Addy was telling.
"It was watercolor but, yeah, I did," Addy said. "But, now, if you'll excuse me, I need to use the little girl's room."
Addy stood up and began to make her way toward the bathroom, until she realized she didn't know where it was. "Hey, Miss Humble, could you point me in the direction of the john?"
"The what?" the camp head asked.
"The toilet," Addy said.
"Oh, yes, right through that door," Miss Humble said.
"Thanks," Addy said and was off.
Miss Humble turned around. A moment later, Izzy approached her.
"Excuse me, Miss Humble," the polite Izzy said. "I seem to be having trouble finding the powder room."
"Again?" Miss Humble questioned, thinking that it was the same girl. "It's just right out those doors."
"Thank you," Izzy said, a bit confused about her initial response.
Izzy made her way into the bathroom just as a blonde was coming out of one of the stalls. Izzy walked into a stall, closing it just as Addy walked out of hers.
"That was fast," the blonde said, washing her hands.
"What was fast?" Addy asked, standing at the next sink.
The blonde lifted an eyebrow and then walked out. Addy was just a moment behind.
That evening, each cabin was given a list. It was a scavenger hunt. There would be s'mores for every cabin that finished, plus ice cream for the first finished.
"We absolutely must finish first," Addy said. "I love ice cream!"
"If we split the list into parts we can each get several items and meet back here quickly," Annie suggested.
"Yeah, let's do it," Hallie agreed.
"Cabin Four must win that ice cream," Izzy insisted.
"Half of these things are right up your alley, Izzy," Sharon said.
"Let's get going," Susan said.
"That's two pine needles from different types of pine trees," Addy said, throwing a second pine needle into the small bag she had.
"Oh, you don't want that leaf," Izzy warned Susan who almost grabbed a few leaves from a plant. "That's poison-oak."
Susan jumped back. "But, isn't this an oak tree?"
"The tree is," Izzy said, "but the plant climbing it isn't actually part of the tree."
"Thanks for warning me," Susan said.
"Have you got everything?" Addy asked when Hallie arrived. She and Annie had already double checked that they had everything on their lists.
"I think so," Hallie said.
"Then lets go," Addy said.
"That's the last item," Sharon said, dropping it into the bag.
"Hurry up, let's go!" Susan said.
"I'm going," Izzy said and took off at an incredible speed toward where Miss Humble was waiting for the teams to arrive.
"Cabin Eleven!" "Cabin Four!"
The two girls spoke at the same time, both having arrived in unison. They turned to look at one another, and both of their blue-green eyes widened in surprise.
"Isn't it interesting how twins would arrive at the same moment," Miss Humble said.
"Twins?" Addy asked. "We're not twins."
"I've never seen her before in my life," Izzy said.
"Well, that certainly is interesting then, isn't it," Miss Humble said. "Let's make sure both your cabins have all the items."
As they were drawing toward the end of the list, Addy looked over to see that Izzy had the same number of items left. However, as Izzy looked back up at Miss Humble as the head of camp read the items off the list, Addy was able to reach over and snatch a pine cone from Izzy's bag and slip it into her pocket.
"And finally, our last item, a pine cone," Miss Humble said.
"Got it right here," Addy said, holding up a full pine cone.
"And you?" Miss Humble questioned looking at Izzy.
"I... we did have it," Izzy said. "I know because I put it in the bag myself. I don't know where it could have gone."
"If you do not have a pine cone, then unfortunately your cabin has lost," Miss Humble said. "Congratulations cabin... um, which cabin were you again?"
"Cabin Eleven," Addy said. "I'm Addy Stoll."
Addy went cheering up to her cabinmates, and they all cheered, while Izzy drudged up to her friends.
"I know we had that pine cone," Susan said.
"I saw you put it in there yourself," Sharon added.
They looked over the Addy, Annie, and Hallie, and saw as Addy pulled a pine cone out of her pocket, and all three laughed.
"Not only did she steal your face, she stole our pine cone and our victory," Sharon said.
"This calls for a little payback," Izzy said. Her eyes traveled to the oak tree with the poison oak climbing up it. "And I think I have just the idea for it."
That night, after getting a second pine cone so that they could at least get the s'mores, while Cabin Eleven paraded around with their ice cream sundaes, Izzy, Susan, and Sharon managed to sneak into the kitchen and find the plastic gloves that whoever was preparing the food had to wear. In the middle of the night, they grabbed their gloves, and found several vines of poison oak. They then sneaked into Cabin Eleven and lined the poison oak up against the girls arms and even a few leaves on either side of Addy's face.
When the girls woke up the next morning, they all jerked into sitting position. There were leaves on them. Not to mention, they were all itchy.
"What are these leaves?" Annie asked, scratching the itching on her arms.
"Where did they come from?" Hallie asked.
"Oh, gods, this is poison oak," Addy yelled, throwing the leaves off her, She then could help the urge to scratch her face, which was incredibly itchy.
Upon arriving to breakfast, a lot of the other girls began to laugh as they had developed rashes and couldn't help but scratch their arms.
"What happened?" Izzy asked. "Wake up on the wrong side of the beds?"
Miss Humble shook her head. "Poison oak," she said. "You girls should really learn to tell what is going to do that to you."
"Oh, we'll be much more careful from now on," Addy insisted, resisting the urge to scratch her cheeks by scratching her arms.
Later that day, Izzy and Sharon had to search for half an hour before finding Susan had been locked in one of the bathrooms. And then, at lunch, when Sharon turned her head for just a moment to grab some salt and pepper, her food mysteriously disappeared. And at dessert, Izzy's hair somehow ended up dipped in her pudding.
This went on for several days. Cabin Eleven woke up one day to find cicadas and grasshoppers filled their room. Cabin Four's canoe was toppled while they were on the lake. The camp shirts of Cabin Eleven were all dyed a hideous yellow. Cabin Four's shoes were filled with mud. Cabin Eleven lost their electricity for several nights, including their precious air-conditioning. Which led the the biggest prank of all.
Through a full day of planning, and with a lot of strings and buckets, Hallie, Annie, and Addy spread honey or shaving cream on each of the girls in Cabin Four. The then spread oil on parts of the floor, and finally ended it with an impassable maze of string that, when certain strings were pulled hard enough, would cause melted ice cream, corn syrup, or cheese sauce, strategically placed that Sharon, Susan, and Izzy would each get covered by one.
They never suspected that a surprise inspection would take place the next morning.
"Good morning, girls," Miss Humble said, opening the door to Cabin Four. "What... what's this!"
The three girls all bolted awake, hitting strings. They each jumped from their beds, slipping on the oiled floor, and pulling even more strings as Miss Humble marched her way in.
"Miss Humble, no!" Addy yelled, seeing the head marching into the cabin. Suddenly, the bucket of ice cream that was intended for Izzy fell down, dousing the camp head.
"That is it!" Miss Humble yelled. "Gardner! Stoll! Pack your things. I've got a special cabin for you two."
"What about this mess?" Sharon asked.
"You two," she pointed at Sharon and Susan. She then wheeled around and pointed at Hallie and Annie on either side of Addy. "You two. You four will clean it up."
The whole camp followed as Miss Humble, after she cleaned herself up and allowed Addy and Izzy to pack, marched through the camp grounds to an isolated cabin. It was smaller than the other cabins, and even more rickety than the oldest of the camp cabins.
"There are five weeks of camp left," Miss Humble said. "You two will either learn to live with one another, or end up killing one another. I personally don't care which, but from now on, you two will do everything together."
A few notes. First, Addy's roommates (Hallie and Annie) are the names of Lindsey Lohan's characters in the Parent Trap remake. Izzy's roommates (Sharon and Susan) are Haley Mills's characters from the original. Second, please read and review. I know, there wasn't any Tratie fun in this chapter, and probably just mention in the next, but if you've seen the Parent Trap, then you know how it goes.