"Oopsies," I glare at my dad the next Saturday morning, 'accidentally' dropping a carton of eggs on the kitchen floor. As you may have guessed, dinner didn't go too well last night. Apparently, it wasn't just a family dinner- it was a dinner with a very catholic business guy and his daughter. Yikes. Yeah, so the business dude, I think his name was something weird and biblical, and Jackie and my dad tried to set me up with his daughter. Didn't end well. Not. At. All.
"Valerian…"
"Dad…" I counter, never lifting my glare.
"Valerian, I am deeply sorry for what happened last night, but Jackie insisted."
"I don't care, dad," I burst out. "I don't care if Jackie insists; if she can't deal with me liking boys the way I'm 'supposed' to like girls, then she shouldn't be part of this 'family'! And seriously, you're just making things worse for yourself! Didn't you think I'd hear that the weird business dude could be your next partner? Didn't you think I knew that if his daughter and I hit it off, he'd be your next partner?" I shout, leaving my pretty angry father standing alone in the kitchen.
"We're leaving in ten minutes for the shuttle bus, son!" he calls after me.
Okay, believe it or not, I'm actually looking forwards to camp. Just getting away from my dad and Jackie, and spending a whole week with Sawyer… I can already tell that if I don't force myself to focus on putting on a jacket and lugging my duffle bag downstairs, I'll get completely lost in thought about Sawyer.
Jackie's standing in the kitchen doorway, glaring at me. Unfortunately for her, my awesomely awesome stash of various PopTarts is in a cabinet in there and she is definitely not stopping me from getting them.
"Hey, Jackie, please move, or you'll be infected by my being gay. I heard it's like a disease," I sneer, and am surprised when it actually works. It's quite funny, really, how she jumps about three feet in the air and moves away from me. Not letting her or my dad see that her reaction affects me in any way, I turn my back to them, and from then on, I'm all smiles to myself.
"Are you ready to go, Valerian?" My dad asks once I've stored the PopTarts safely in my duffle bag (I am not telling you where- that would just give you more chance to steal them).
"Yup, let me just grab my jacket," I respond, grabbing my neon yellow jacket. Oh, I really love that thing. If you could see me now, picture a dreamy smile on my face as I put on my jacket over my black and white barcode t shirt. I'm also wearing dark green skinny jeans, and, as always, my ever-trusty combat boots. "Okay, ready."
Dad drives me to the shuttle bus. The ride is quiet, and I really wish I could listen to my iPod, but if I do, I know my dad will get pissed. I don't know why. It doesn't take us long to get to where the bus is, only about ten minutes, and there are already kids there, getting in. A surfer guy in an orange jacket that reads 'Camp Half Blood' and jeans is loading the luggage into the bus. For some odd reason, I can't really look directly at his face. Weird.
I get out of the car and say goodbye to my dad, who is practically already speeding off to another meeting, only having quickly take my duffel bag from the back seat and plunked it next to me. The surfer guy takes my duffle bag without saying anything, and I'm really left with nothing else to do than go in the bus and sit down, making sure I save a seat for Sawyer.
Said boy gets here about five minutes later. By then I've scrutinized most people around me, trying to figure out which may be a problem and which not. There're three girls- two brunettes and a blonde- who don't look like they'll be much trouble. There's a guy who is definitely team gay, I can just tell. The there's this other guy, a military brat, by the looks of him, who might be a problem. The other two boys sitting around- black hair, dyed green hair- look harmless.
"Hey, beautiful," Sawyer's breath tickles my ear. I smile and stand up, hugging him tightly. "Whoa, easy, tiger. How was the dinner yesterday?" He's cupping my face and looking in my eyes, and I really can't resist but quickly kiss him on the lips.
"Absolutely terrible, but let's not-" I'm really rudely interrupted by a loud voice.
"Aww, look, boy love. Gross, faggots."
It's a new boy. He looks to be a bit taller than me, with spiky blond hair and darker eyes. He's well-muscled, and is probably around sixteen or seventeen. Wearing a white t shirt and cargo shorts (in the middle of winter, is he crazy?). A bit hot, but really not. I'm about to say something really mean to him that would have made Jordan cover her ears and say 'lalala' really loudly, but the military brat from earlier beats me to the bat.
"Hey, you!" he shouts at the newcomer. When said newcomer turns to said military brat, a punch to the face knocks him backwards. "Don't fuck with the gays." Newcomer's nose is bleeding and he shoots military brat a glare, but nods, and sits down near the front of the bus, away from everyone else. Looks like his plan to make friends failed.
Military brat turns to Sawyer and Me.
"You two okay?"
We both nod.
"Look, if he or anyone else gives you trouble, come looking for me. Cabin five, name's Elias Parra."
"Cool, thanks. I'm Sawyer," Sawyer says.
"Valerian," I add. Elias nods and goes back to his seat and puts is iPod earphones in.
"Alright, guys, looks like everyone who's supposed to be here is here, so let's go. Take it away, Argus!" someone shouts from the front of the bus. I look up to see who it is, seeing as the voice sounds familiar.
Oh. My. Fucking. God.
It's Parker.
.:.
I don't really remember the ride to camp. At some point I fell asleep on Sawyer's shoulder, and then he fell asleep on me (Elias took a picture and showed me later). Newcomer's name turned out to be Joel Reed. Yeah, he kept quiet after his encounter with Elias. Parker I guess pretended not to know me, but from what Elias said later, Parker was listening to music the whole time.
Also, turns out Elias is nice to us because he has two gay moms. He's been going to camp since he was ten, so that'd be six years. He has brown hair in a buzz cut, light brown eyes and an angular face. Huge muscles. Black long sleeved muscle shirt and camouflage cargo pants and heavy duty combat boots. I think he's the type of guy all girls would swoon over in the summer. Okay, apparently also in the winter (one of the brunettes from earlier keeps checking him out).
So anyway, when we get to camp, it's surprisingly warm. Not the kind of weather you'd wear a t-shirt and shorts in (I'm still a firm believer that Joel is crazy), but warm enough to walk around in a sweater, not a heavy duty winter jacket.
Chiron, still in his wheelchair, greets us and takes us to a ginormous light blue barn house, which he calls the Big House. Without any further explanation, he puts us in a room, telling us there'll be an orientation video. Sawyer and I sit together. Elias sits next to Sawyer (even though he claims he's watched the video tons of times, but apparently it changes every half year), and to my right there are the other two guys from earlier, the one with black hair and the one with dyed green hair. Dyed green hair's name is Kurou and black hair is his brother, Kaede Yoshida. They're Japanese. Their parents met at Harvard. Surprise, surprise.
The three girls names are Juno (brunette who was checking out Elias), Sophie (the other brunette), and Cat (real name 'Caterina', the blonde). Then the guy who I thought was team gay turns out to be the same team as Joel. His name is Marcel.
.:.
"Oh. My. God. I am so totally a daughter of Aphrodite," Sophie squeals excitedly. She's already getting on my nerves.
Yeah, so, it turns out the Greek gods are real and stuff!
Uh… right. Sorry, that was a little awkward. I'm just still getting used to that idea.
"So, Elias, what's cabin five?" Sawyer asks Elias. I think I know what he's going to say.
"Ares," Elias responds, grinning. Oh, take that. Called it!
Suddenly, there's a shriek and a series of gasps behind us. Sawyer and I spin around to see Juno staring at a strange holograph-y thing over her head. It's a golden apple. Ooh, shiny… okay, sorry, it's distracting.
Next to me, I feel Elias move.
"Alright, the first claiming so far. Welcome to camp, Juno Lyon, daughter of Eris! Come on, I'll show you to the cabin- it's right by the Ares cabin."
Okay, he so totally likes her. It's actually kind of cute.
"Yo, Jordan, Parks, mind taking over the newbies for now?" Elias calls to two people as he grabs Juno's suitcase and heads off with her towards the cabin. I think two people walk in, but I'm too busy falling asleep on Sawyer's shoulder (yes, whilst standing, that's how tired I am and how comfy Sawyer is) to look up at them.
"Alright, hey everyone! I'm Parker, son of Demeter, and this is my friend Jordan, daughter of Nike."
Hey, wait a sec… Parker… Jordan… my head shoots up and my eyes come in contact with Jordan's. Oh, so this is where she's been going in out breaks… that explains a lot. Suddenly, there are more gasps. I spin to see who's been claimed now, but everyone's looking at me. Okay… ooh, I get it! I look up, above my head, just in time to see the rest of a feint purple glow.
"All right, this is going great! Welcome, Valerian Madden, son of Hecate! Oh, and you!" we all turn to Kurou (green hair, Japanese), who is swatting at a pair of crossed torches over his head, which are burning purple fire. "Also welcome Kurou Yoshida, son of Hecate too! Great, you two can follow me," Jordan exclaims and winks at us to follow her. I look first at Kurou (who is exchanging nervous glances to his brother), then to Sawyer, who looks sad but also a little happy. Remind me to talk to him later.
We're already at the door, when white light floods the room. Everyone looks at Sawyer, who has mysteriously lost all his clothes except for a white cloth tied around his hips, and has a pair of fluffy white wings holographed behind him. A series of giggles goes through the room, and I feel blood rushing to my head. Sawyer looks so goddam hot. It takes quite a bit of self-restraint to not go and glomp him.
"Ookay, Sawyer Hansen, son of Eros, you can also come with me," Jordan says. Sawyer blushes and walks towards us, the wings following him. It's only when he's directly next to me that I notice the wings have attached themselves to his back.
That is so unfair! He gets wings, and what do I get? A feint purple glow! Unfair….
But I'm not able to ponder more about this rude unfairness of things, because I'm already being launched into the next surprise: Chiron. He's not in a wheelchair. He's a fricking centaur.
O.o how'd you like that? Were you guys expecting those parents? Just saying, this ignores Son of Neptune. I'm still not sure if I'll include Heroes of Olympus characters- probably not the main ones. Please review and tell me what you think!
