Hi this is Bookdiver! I am so glad you can continue reading my best friends work. She has writen her own Author's note at the end of the story. Please Review at the end, I hope you enjoy!


Chapter III

I walked as fast as I could to the dining pavilion without crashing into Annabeth, who was right in front of me. I could smell the barbeque from the cabins. My mouth was watering so much that it looked like a waterfall. I inhaled the delicious scent. After eating stale crackers for so long, the thought of real food made me go crazy.

"Hey, Nikki," Annabeth said turning around to face me. "You can sit with Chiron and Mr. D."

"Why would I have to sit with them?" I asked confused.

"That is where you sit before you are claimed." Annabeth answered.

"Oh…" Now I felt like some sort of misfit because I couldn't sit with my own siblings.

"It's okay," Annabeth assured me, "You will be claimed in no time."

"I hope so… by the way who's Mr. D?" I asked.

"Dionysus, god of wine."

"Oh...is he drunk?"

Annabeth laughed, "No, he was sent here as a punishment from Zeus. Wine is against his restrictions. He can only have Diet Coke."

"Okay..."I said slowly. "That's interesting." Then my stomach growled. Annabeth noticed and took me to my seat. She left to sit with a bunch of kids who looked just as brainy as her. Chiron stomped his hoof on the ground and raised a toast to the gods. Everyone repeated and nymphs handed everyone plates of food. I saw all the campers scrape a portion of their food into the flames.

Chiron leaned next to me and whispered, "It is an offering to the gods." I nodded and stood with my plate. What I did next caused my food to taste really salty and spicy, like my-mouth-is-on-fire spicy. I scraped all the asparagus off my plate and into the flames. The gods probably didn't like vegetables, but neither did I. I couldn't help but laugh. A guy stared at me weird and all I could do was shake my head like, it's nothing. I sat back down and forced the food down. Everybody finished eating and quieted down as Chiron banged his hoof again. Mr. D stood up while sighing.

"I suppose you all are here alive and sane so, huzzah for that," he announced. "I'd like to introduce a new camper, Nellie Thomas." Chiron murmured in his ear. "Er, Nikki Thompson. Remember, capture the flag is tomorrow night after dinner." There was a loud cheer from one of the tables. "Yes, yes, I'm sure the Ares cabin will have lots of fun maiming you miserable children." Then Mr. D walked away.

Chiron sighed, "Campfire tonight is at the amphitheater as usual."

I pushed through the crowd to find Annabeth. She smiled when she saw me. She put her arm around my shoulder. "Hey, we have a couple of minutes before campfire. I want to introduce you to my boyfriend." Annabeth steered me over to this huge table but only one person was there. "Percy," she said. A tall muscular boy with the most gorgeous green eyes I've ever seen looked up at me curiously. "Percy," Annabeth repeated, "This is Nikki."

Percy grinned one of those lop-sided boyish grins that make girls faint (not me though). "Hey, newbie. I'm Percy Jackson, son of Poseidon."

"Hi," I whispered.

I jumped after I realized that Annabeth was leaning close to my face. "What?" I backed up.

"Sorry. Your eyes are green, but not a strong sea green like Percy's, but a nice pail green with mint colored flecks" she observed.

"Uh, yeah...so what?"

She continued to stare at me. "Annabeth," called Percy. "Are you thinking that Nikki's my sister?"

Annabeth shrugged her shoulders and addressed Percy, "Maybe... I mean there are only a very few amount of people with green eyes in this camp, but only Niki has this shade, and only you have sea green."

Annabeth tilted her head curiously, and scrunched her eyebrows in a concentrating matter.

"Urgg!" Annabeth yelled in frustration. "I hate not knowing."

Percy stood next to Annabeth and put his hand on her shoulder knowingly.

Percy turned away and muttered something about Poseidon joking about sending him some siblings. Annabeth asked me, "Does water heal you?"

"What? No," I protested. "Look guys, my dad was human, okay? My Aunt told me so. I don't think she would lie about humanness! I never knew my mom. Percy you can help me now!" I was getting really uncomfortable under Annabeth's stare.

Percy got up and started to walk away. "Annabeth its time for campfire. Maybe she'll be claimed then. I...I gotta run. See you later." That's when he ran off.

"Jeez, you're intimidating." I told Annabeth. She apologized and said that she didn't know that I was uncomfortable. She led me to the amphitheater where I sat next to Chiron again. We sang a bunch of cheesy songs, but it felt like home. Also, it's easier to sing silly songs on the dark. The coolest part, aside from the s'mores, was the fire. Tonight it rose ten feet tall and shimmered bright yellow. I was so happy. Too soon it was time for bed. I stumbled to the big house and fell into a deep sleep.

I yawned and sat up stretching. I glanced at my watch, which I hadn't taken off last night. It was six in the morning. Sun light was streaming through the windows. I rubbed my eyes and dragged myself towards the bathroom. I changed into my new Camp Half-Blood T-shirt and slipped on some running shorts. I ran my fingers through my black shoulder length hair. I never really cared how my hair looked. I grabbed a scrunchie out of my bag and stepped into my running shoes. Then I tiptoed down the stairs to get to breakfast. I was shouting distance from the dining pavilion when I remembered that breakfast wasn't until seven thirty. I pivoted and jogged to the lake. I cartwheeled and landed staring up at the sky. I sighed contently as the pink sky turned to blue. Everything was so peaceful at camp, maybe with the exception of the Ares and Hermes cabins. I heard a soft splash and saw a naiad wave to me. I waved back and she giggled and sank below the surface.

"What's up?" a familiar voice said.

I turned and rested on my elbows, "Good morning, Percy."

He plopped down next to me. "How do you like Camp Half- Blood?"

I shrugged, "I haven't even been here a full day yet. It's nice, I guess."

Percy dove into the lake. "Ah, this is so refreshing. Come in Nikki."

"No thanks, there are probably lots of slimy things in there. Like you," Percy splashed me using his water powers. "Oh, you are so dead Percy." I was soaking wet.

"Now why is that, Nikki?" Annabeth's voice rang out.

I spun around. "Because your boyfriend decided to drown me."

Percy started to protest, "What? No, I wouldn't!" he got out of the water to talk to Annabeth.

Annabeth stomped up to him with a stormy look on her face, but I saw a mischievous twinkle in her eye. She put her hands on her hips and I thought she would slap him, but she kissed him right on the mouth. Percy relaxed and kissed back. I stood there staring and dripping, making the ground around me soggy. "Guys! You should have told me to move or something! Gross!" I covered my eyes. "Are you done yet?"

Annabeth stepped back and winked at me, "Don't worry. Well smash him tonight at capture the flag."

"What? I'm not on your team?" Percy whined.

Annabeth grinned, "Nikki's taken your place tonight. Live with it." She placed her arm around my shoulder and led me off to breakfast.

Author's Note:

Thanks for being so patient guys! I hope this chapter is long enough. Guess what happens at Capture the Flag. It'll be in the next chapter. Please Review.