Chapter 2: Orson
My dad loves radio. I mean like every aspect of it. He collects old music, radio plays, and radios from over the years. He's so passionate that he studied how they work in order to fix broken ones and takes commissions to work on them. That's actually how he met my mother. You see, he was hired by a university to teach various subjects about radio. A fellow professor gave my dad this old radio drama and my dad fell in love with the lead woman.
You can probably guess what happened next, so I won't go into details. My dad used to tell me how he was surprised that my mom let him name me after Orson Welles. My guess, she let him because she knew that he would be the one raising me. When mom left, dad was depressed for a while. Thankfully, my dad has incredible supportive and wonderful coworkers/friends. With their help, my dad was able to have time to recover and get help. But this story isn't about him. It's my story and it starts years later when I was 13.
My summer started off normally. My dad was teaching a summer class, so I got to spend that time with my step-mom Florence. Florence is a teacher herself and has always been patient with me when it comes to my ADHD and Dyslexia. Florence and I were spending the morning going over my summer reading books, when my dad got home. He seemed excited and nervous at the same time. A director out in Hollywood is apparently working on a movie involving old radios. Since my dad is an expert, they asked him to fly out and help. I left to go outside so that the two of them can work out the logistics of this trip.
I know I should stay and help, but I haven't been able to spend time with my friend Rosalind today and I wanted to tell her the good news. It's been forever since I was last on a trip and wanted to share this with her. Rosalind was in our usual meeting place in the back of the garden.
"You're early, I didn't expect to see you here for another hour or so. Did Florence let you finish early for good behavior?" Rosalind asked with that teasing tone she loves to use with me.
"Something like that. My dad got home early and shared great news with us. They're busy planning things out now." I slightly explained.
"Winston thinks that a dusty radio from ten years ago is exciting. What did he find now?" Rosalind asked bored.
"That's the thing, he was invited to fly to California to work as a consultant on a movie!" I responded with as much excitement as I can muster.
"Is Florence staying here with you or is she going as well?" Rosalind asked.
"I would assume we're both going, since it sounded like dad could bring us." I replied. I mean it would make sense wouldn't it? Why would my dad go on this grand adventure without us? He loves taking me along on other trips.
"You can't go with him this time Orson." Rosalind explained after an impatient sigh. "It's too dangerous for you to go to that side of the country."
"That's a funny joke Rose. Why would it be dangerous?" I responded.
"Look, I can't tell you the reason if Winston and Florence have decided to keep you in the dark about this. All I know is that you aren't going." Rosalind explained.
"Of course I'm going. I'll prove it to you. Let's go inside and talk to my parents." I said while feeling frustration creep up inside me from this argument.
"If you wish. I cannot go with you. Winston and Florence don't know me, remember? I live here, but you're the only one I talk to." Rosalind reminded me.
With that I walked back into the house. I walked into the room with my parents and asked if Dad could bring Florence and I with him.
"They did say that I could bring family, but it will be safer if you two stay here." Dad explained.
"Why? I've gone with you on every other trip, why not this one?" I asked. I know I sound childish, but I'm just a teenager and a new one at that.
"It's too dangerous for you to go there Orson." Dad responded with a finality that said he was done with this argument.
"I don't understand why. What aren't you telling me? I'm not a kid anymore, I'm thirteen!" I shouted. It's childish, but I was angry enough at this point to no longer care about if I sounded mature or not. My dad looked like he was going to respond to my anger with his own when Florence cut in.
"Orson is right on one hand. He's at an age where he has a right to know about himself." Florence said with the calmest tone possible. "But your father is also right Orson, you can't go with us."
"You're staying here with Orson." Dad responded with more confusion than anger.
"Orson, can you give us a moment to talk alone? I promise we'll talk with you after." Florence said to me sweetly. Times like this make me wish I would call her "mom" but a part of me is afraid it will make dad think of my real mom. I don't want to see him said again.
After fifteen long minutes of waiting, Florence calls me back into the room. The two of them are sitting on a couch this time and my dad looks like he wants to be anywhere but here. Florence asks me to sit and I can see that she's trying to be as supportive and kind as she can be.
"Florence has a point and it's time that we had a real talk about your mom." My dad starts. He looks unsure of how to continue. "I'm just going to come right out and say it, your mom is Aphrodite."
"This is a joke, right? Isn't she a Greek goddess? I thought they were myths?" I asked, wondering why they decided to play a trick on me.
"This isn't a joke. Didn't you think the stories about your mother were strange?" My dad replied, hoping I would catch on.
"Well, yea. I thought it was just a sweet fairy tale you told me as a kid to make her leaving us hurt less." I explained, still hoping this was a joke.
"Would that I could make it a fairy tale." Dad said with a sigh. "The fact of the matter is that because of you being who you are, you can't travel to the West. It's full of monsters just waiting to eat you."
"Why didn't you tell me before? It's not like it would change anything about how Florence and I interact?" I asked.
"In truth, we should have told you a year ago. After I saw you talking to someone in the garden. We weren't sure how you were going to react now once you met a nymph, but thankfully you weren't in danger from that friendship." Florence explained.
"You know about Rosalind?" I asked and then a couple seconds later it clicked and I exclaimed. "She's a nymph?!"
"The Mist is strong and covers up a lot of things that wouldn't make sense to most people. Florence is one of the few people that can see past it slightly." Dad explained.
"So what does this mean now?" I asked, having calmed a little.
"It means I should get ahold of a camp director since it will be too dangerous for you to stay here." Dad said and with a sigh he got up and left the room.
"It's going to be okay Orson, you'll see." Florence reassured me. I wasn't sure if anything was going to truly be okay again.
Over the course of three days, we prepared to leave home. My parents were heading to California while I was packing for Camp Half-Blood. My dad got in touch with the director with some help from Rosalind. Dad said that there's a satyr nearby and that he would pick me up on the way to camp. Lucky me. At least Rosalind had the good sense to look sad about this predicament. It's because of her that I even questioned this whole thing.
The morning my parents and I were set to leave we watched a car come flying down our street. It somehow slows down fast enough to turn into our driveway without harming the house. This tired-looking guy gets out of the driver's seat with a girl around my age getting out of the passenger seat. I kid you not, she was the prettiest person I've ever seen in my life. She has hair that looks like the color of coal and eyes that are a mix of blue and gray. This girl looks like someone who could pass for one f those characters that are beautiful and dangerous. I wasn't sure what to make of her since she didn't seem happy to be here.
"Sorry we're late. I'm Maron and this is Noelle. She'll be joining us on our trip to camp. We're in a bit of a rush, so we need to get moving." The tired guy said to us. I wasn't sure what to make of him. Florence put her hand on my shoulder and squeezed. I turned to see what she wanted to say.
"You'll be safe. Please have a fun time. We'll see you at the end of the summer. Hopefully you'll be back here for the school year." She said to me. "Make sure to keep up with the readings and use the strategies we use at home." Florence said with a final reminder.
My dad hugged me while Maron took my bag and put it in the backseat. I know I'll miss the two of them and Rosalind. I want to learn more about my mother's side of the family too. I looked back at the car to see that Maron and Noelle were inside and ready to go. I got in the back behind Noelle and waved to my parents as Maron sped off.