Okay, peeps. Now, if anyone reads this story, PLEASE review. Thanks a bunch, Macaronigirl.

Zach wasn't very talkative.

You see, we were walking through the woods, and I said something REALLY stupid (blush), and he laughed at me, and then there was a really awkward silence, and Zach still didn't even say anything, and so I felt really stupid, so I didn't pay attention, and then I tripped over something, and made myself feel even MORE stupid, which was barely even possible! ( I know, I know that sentence was a run-on, but what can I say? It's what I do when I'm nervous.)

So, when I arrived at Zach's 'special place' I was hot, sweaty, and stank like a goat. So I really don't think I made a good impression on anyone there.

Zach's 'special-secret-hideout-place' turned out to be a large clearing in the never-ending forest. It was around dinner time, so in the middle of the clearing, a bunch of kids around Zach's age were roasting 'mystery meat' around a campfire. It looked absolutely disgusting, but it smelled delicious. Who would have thought meat-on-a-stick could smell so utterly gorgeous!!!!!!

I turned to look at the rest of the camp, and that's when I saw the tents. There were a dozen of the most non-matching tents I've ever seen in a semi-circle right in front of me. There was a hot-pink, cheap-looking Barbie tent right next to a fancy-schmancy military tent. It was just so weird, I almost forgot what I was doing (which was keeping up with Zach). He was standing at the edge of a middle-sized purple (I mean really, REALLY, bright purple, like, it was friggin' BLINDING!) tent. He beckoned for me to follow him into the purple tent. So, taking one last glance at the delicious-smelling mystery meat, I followed him in.

The inside of the tent was so utterly clean that I (being the messy person I was) had to resist the temptation to shield my eyes from the disgusting cleanliness. In the middle of the tent was a girl about 18 years old. She had light brown hair and grayish-blue eyes, and was wearing a light blue t-shirt with a picture of Snoopy on it. I, in my grungy trash t-shirt and jeans, felt a little (or a LOT) shabby next to her. However, I put aside my fashion concerns for later.

The strange girl stood up and said " Welcome back, Zach. I see you brought someone with you. What's your name?" Her voice was smooth as glass and surprisingly deep. It sounded so wonderful, I forgot to answer the question until Zach conspicuously elbowed me in the side (OW!) "Oh!" I said, semi-embarrassed "My name is .. um...Zoe! Yeah! That's my name! ZOE!" Both Zach and the weird girl stared at me funny. After a looooong and uncomfortable pause, the girl spoke up. " I am Ana." she spoke slowly, to make sure my stupid self understood. "Zach will show you the campus. Good Luck!" I thought that 'good luck' was a weird way to end our short conversation. However, I wanted to get out of the awkward tent ASAP.

Zach and I strolled along the edge of the clearing, and I was eating some mystery meat on a stick (I have really got to get that recipe. It was good!) Anywho, We sat down at the base of a big tree and Zach began to talk.

"Hey Zoe, do you know anything about the Greek gods and goddesses?" he said. I thought this was a funky conversation starter, but whatever. "Ummmm....yeah." I replied like the nerdy person I am. Zach smiled. "Well, what would you say if I told you they were real?" he said. His eyes were so intense, I almost believed him. Almost.

"Oh...ha ha." I said sarcastically. "Very funny. Good job though. You almost had me, but I'm not that stupid." Zach looked taken aback. "I'm not joking. This is serious." he replied. I looked at him weirdly. "Zach, the jokes over. It's not funny anymore." What a loser. Doesn't know when to stop pretending.

"Zoe, it's real. You can choose to believe it or not. If you don't then it's not my fault if you get eaten alive." he said and stalked off, leaving me at a loss for words.

That night I ran away.

I know it's bad and one day it will come back and bite me in the butt, but Zach was really starting to creep me out. So, in the dead of I night, I ran away and kept on running.

After around 15 minutes of solid jogging, I sat down to rest in a small clearing, where the full moon light filtered through the trees, making a pillar of light. I could have sworn I heard a small growling noise, but I dissmissed it as a figment of my imagination. I heard it again, and decided maybe I should look around, just in case. Suddenly I saw a pair of red glowing lights in the dark woods. I looked closer only to immeadiately step back. Those were not lights. They were eyes.

There was a large rustling noise, and a dog stepped out. This was not a small little poodle I'm talking about. This was a Mastiff that was almost as tall as I am, and I'm no midget (no offense intended). The dog opened opened his mouth and let out a large bark that drenched me in whatever he had been eating earlier that day. Soooo not my style.

I tried to back away, but there was no way I could outrun a monster this huge! I guessed it would come down to a fight anyway, so I reached down to grab my sword, so I wouldn't die without a fight. There was just one problem though.....

I had accidentally left my sword back at the camp.

Oh crap, I was a gonner. I looked around to see if there were any spare weapons, or any thing that could help me out. Something caught my eye.

Something spiky.....

Something spiky and small.....

Something spiky, small and brown.....

A pinecone!

I picked one up and was going to celebrate, but I then realized all I had was a pincone to defeat a giant mastiff. My happy feeling dissapeared.

Suddenly the dog barked, and I came up with a plan that would help me live- which is always a good thing.

The dog barked again, and I lobbed a pinecone down its hairy throat. He choked and tried to bark again to dislodge my pinecone. I kept on throwing pine cones, and didn't realize untill the Mastiff was dead that I had gathered up quite an audience. Zach, Ana, and more kids were standing at the edge of the forest, with their mouths wide open. Zach's face was the funniest, and I just about cracked up at the sight of him. I walked past them, backtowards the campsite, then broke into a run, leaving them all in the dust.

Maybe this wasn't so bad after all.

End of chapter 2, Oh yeah! I can't believe I'm already this far! Yahoo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ciao,

macaronigirl