It's been two years since Charlie and I made it to Camp Half-Blood. I've made some friends here, Annabeth Chase being one of them. I live in Cabin 10, the Aphrodite cabin. The smell of perfume is a bit overwhelming and all the pink makes me want to vomit, but I do love it here and I never want to leave. Everyday, I wake up at seven. I'm always the first up, which means first shower. I brush my teeth, get dressed in a sleeveless camp shirt, jeans and converse, put my hair (still wet) into a ponytail. Then, I sit on my bed and wait for the others. Usually, I'll sing quietly, listen to my iPod (which I really shouldn't have), write song, poems, plays or just read. It's hard for me because I'm dyslexic, but I manage. Once the entire cabin is ready, which takes forever, we walk down to the pavilion for breakfast. Selena Beauregard, our head-counselor, lead us there. We eat breakfast, play basketball, volleyball, go for jogs, practice fighting, visit the crafts center or the forge. Then, it's lunch, then more activities, then dinner. Then, on Friday nights, we have capture the flag and Wednesday nights are random dueling.

Today is Wednesday, dueling night. This is my favorite day, I'm not always chosen, but when I am, it's really fun. Dueling night consists of three rounds. Two people are chosen out of a hat to duel. They can chose one weapon, no shield (unless that's their weapon), then, they fight until a surrender. Killing is not allowed. I've fought Charlie twice, Annabeth three times, Clarisse once, Pollux once, Chris twice, Selena three times and Lacey four times over my two years here. Everyone fears getting Luke, they know they stand no chance. He's a nice guy and all, but an amazing swordsman. It's impossible to defeat him. So far, I've been beaten once by Annabeth. She's praying for a rematch. Her and I have a running joke, who can beat the other more times. Right now, it's two to one with me in the lead.

"Luke," Chiron read the paper with his name on it.

The campers groaned and wished each other luck. Chiron reached into the black top hat we use and pulled out another name.

He smiled, "This should be interesting... Adara," He said.

I sighed and walked over to the weapon stand. I usually pick a bow and arrow, but this time, I picked up a dagger. People gasped, I never used a dagger. I've tried it, but it never really works. Luke looked at me like I was crazy, but grinned.

"Should I go easy, or easy?" He teased.

"Hard, please."

He raised his sword and lunged at me. I rolled to the left and stabbed at his side, he spun around and blocked it. I stood up quickly, he lunged again. I flipped backwards, causing him to fall forward. Before he could move, I did a forward flip over him, twisted my body in the air and landed facing him. He rolled onto his back and propelled himself off the grass. He stabbed his sword at me again, but I pushed it with my knife away from my body and grabbed his sword hand with my free one. I kicked off the ground and, with my back, rolled onto his. I landed perfectly on the other side, but he brought the flat side of his blade over to my right leg and knocked me to the ground. In a matter of seconds, he had me on the ground, disarmed and his sword tip at my throat.

"You surrender?" He smirked.

"Nope," I said and kicked his leg.

While he was dazed, I rolled over and jumped to my feet. My dagger was behind Luke. He knew I was weaponless, he thought he won. Boy, was he wrong. I sprinted right at him and dodged his sword. I lept into the air, planted a kick on his chest and landed right next to him. I didn't waste any time. I somersaulted over my knife, grasping the hilt in the process. I spun to face Luke, who was standing up. He lunged and I blocked, twisting my wrist. His sword spun out of his grasp and he turned to run, but I swung my arm around his neck and held my dagger at his throat. He tried to elbow my ribs, but I spun him around to face me and pushed him to the ground. I fell to my knees, landing on his chest and held my knife at his throat with one hand, held his hands together with my free one and used my legs to put his in a lock. He struggled to get free, but I had a firm grip.

"I surrender," He mumbled.

"Sorry, Luke, what was that?" I asked innocently.

"I surrender," He said in just above a whisper.

"Luke, dear, speak up!" I said in a mock voice.

"I surrender!" He shouted.

"That's better," I said with a smile and let him up.

I sat down next to Charlie. The entire camp was silent and staring at me in awe. Annabeth was the first to speak up.

"I can't believe you lost to a girl!" She said rather loudly.

I laughed and she gave me a high-five (she was on the other side of Charlie). Chiron stood up and called the next two names, Selena (who moaned and pretended she broke her ankle) and Clarisse.

Their duel was probably the worst in history. After Selena picked a shield and Clarisse picked a deadly looking axe, she charged Selena, who ducked behind her shield and yelled "I surrender!" At the top of her lungs.

People laughed, Ares cabin cheered, Aphrodite cabin (not including me) moaned. "Yeah, Selena!" I yelled.

I didn't mean it in a mean way, and she knew that. She smiled at me, pulled a mirror from her pocket, checked her reflection, smoothed her hair and sat down, still holding the mirror.