"Hey, sweetheart," Jonah Panet, the school jock said to her. "Wanna go out sometime?"
"As if, Jonah," Jamie said. "I'm not looking for a boyfriend."
"Come on," he said. "Live a little."
"I said no, Jonah and that means no."
Jamie could almost hear her siblings cursing her. They all enjoyed having boyfriends or girlfriends, going on dates, acting all girly. Jamie thought that middle school was way too early to have a boyfriend. She was only in the 8th grade!
Besides, Jamie wasn't going to live a very long life as a demigod, so why waste what she had with some boy?
Yes, Jamie is a demigod. A Daughter of Aphrodite, goddess of love and beauty.
You must think she's lying, don't you? All daughters of Aphrodite have a boyfriend, right? Not right. Jamie hadn't wanted to have a boyfriend or carry out the stupid rite of passage.
Two years ago, at age twelve, Jamie had gone to her first summer of camp. Her siblings all asked her thirty questions as soon as she was claimed.
"Have you had your rite of passage?" One girl had asked.
"My what?" Jamie had asked.
"You know, your rite of passage. When you make someone fall in love with you, then break their heart. To prove yourself worthy of Aphrodite." The girl had said.
Jamie had been too disgusted to respond.
She had sat on her bed in the perfume prison waiting for dinner.
"Hey," Another girl came up to her. "The rite of passage is stupid, I agree."
Jamie held out my hand. "Jamie Linsley."
She shook it. "Silena Beauregard."
"Have you broken anyone's heart?" Jamie asked.
"No," She almost yelled. "That's just dumb."
"I'm only twelve," Jamie had said. "I don't plan on dating anytime soon."
"Hey, I'm twelve, too," She had said.
They had both smiled.
She shook my head into the present.
The present wasn't quite as happy. Silena and she weren't best friends like she had originally thought we would be. While Silena didn't believe in the rite of passage, she did believe in perfume, perfectly clean cabins, and dating. She was just like the rest of them.
She stayed at home with my dad for the school year and during the summer, she avoided the cabin as much as possible. She liked to go to the archery range and shoot for a while to clear my head. She was an okay shot, but nowhere near as good as the Apollo kids.
One month later, back at camp, she overheard a conversation.
"Did you hear about who showed up?" One voice asked.
"The Hunters of Artemis," a second voice said.
"We all hate them," The first voice spoke again. "Can't they let us win Capture the Flag once?"
"Whatever," The second voice said.
Hunters of Artemis? She thought of all she knew about them. They showed up every once and a while, but she had never seen them in my two years. They swore off boys and were given immortality.
Why wasn't the entire female population in that group? That sounded amazing.
The next day she approached the leader of the Hunters, a girl named Zoë.
"Umm…" She started by stuttering. "How would I go about joining the Hunters?"
"Say the oath," Zoë said simply.
Oath? What oath?
Suddenly she just knew what she had to do.
"I pledge myself to the Goddess Artemis," She said. "I turn my back on the company of men, accept eternal maidenhood, and join the Hunt."
"We must see if the goddess accepts the oath," Zoë said.
She felt stronger and happier. For once she felt comfortable in her body and in her mind.
"Welcome to the hunt," Zoë said.
Jamie Linsley was anything but stereotypical.
(A/N So how was it? Please review guys. *puppy-dog face* PLEASE. I really want to know what you guys thought.)
