IV
Coming Home to New Rome
Sammy Zhang loved the Graces' house. It was large, and painted a faint blue-white color. It had large, open windows and plenty of sunshine. And then there were the paintings: many, many of them, ranging from expensive works from famous painters to things Lara had done when she was a toddler. Money was really no object for them.
Standing in their hallway wearing a suit and tie made him feel less out of place than usual, and even though he felt positively choked by the bright orange tie, he appreciated the fact that for once, in all his visits to the Graces' fancy house, he looked like he actually belonged in a lifestyle like that.
His mother was talking in hushed voices with Mrs. Grace, and the two of them were motioning over to him and their husbands, and the upstairs room where he could have guessed Lara was at. He stood alone for a second, with only the Graces' white cat, Montague, for company. Sammy looked around, trying to make things less awkward, but finally decided to find his dad, who was, if possible, even more awkward than himself.
Frank Zhang was outside, on the Graces' front porch, sitting with Jason Grace, also talking. Sammy walked over to his dad, and silently sat down on the chair next to him.
"...Anytime soon," He was saying. Sammy considered asking what was happening anytime soon, when Jason noticed him.
"Hello there, Sammy!" He said, in his jovial, official Jason-Grace way. "You're looking awfully sharp today! Suits you." Beaming, Sammy replied,
"Thanks, Mr. Grace! You look great yourself!" Jason laughed and commented on how polite Frank's son was, and in a second, they went back to talking about whatever was happening anytime soon, as if Sammy wasn't even there.
"Where's Lara?" Sammy asked finally.
"Getting ready," Jason said, motioning towards the windows that peered into the second floor of the house. "You know how girls can be." Even though it was beginning to get dark out, Sammy was pretty sure Jason winked.
He bit his lip, finding that the place he had come to be less awkward was beginning to become even more awkward than if he had just stood by himself in the recipient hall with Montague for company. It was just that Jason Grace was such a respected, revered, adored individual in the Camp Jupiter community, and having him joke around with him like that was just point blank weird, even after having thirteen years to get used to it.
Sammy paused, and after Jason and Frank had stopped for a second, tugged on his father's sleeve. "Um, dad," He said softly, "What's happening any time soon?" Frank Zhang looked down at his son, and grinned, ruffling his hair.
"It was going to be a surprise." He said. He looked over at Jason, who put a finger to his lips, motioning him to keep quiet.
"Yes, but...?" Sammy urged his father. Being the socially weakened person Sammy Zhang was, surprises weren't his friend. Usually, Sammy ended up saying or doing something embarrassing when he was surprised.
"Nothing!" Jason cried, back in his joking "I'm-just-one-of-you-youngsters" manner. Sammy smiled blankly at them, and looked around the Graces' perfectly manicured yard, feeling a lot like a third wheel at a sophisticated adult conversation.
It felt like forever, but was more like forty minutes, when a charcoal grey van pulled up into the driveway. "There!" Jason cried, getting up and walking over to his door.
Sammy, who had been uninterested and barely awake, was now sharply alert. After all, the Grace family rarely had visitors who took their cars, meaning whoever was inside that car probably didn't live in New Rome.
Sammy's pulse escalated when he realized who it could be. Who it had to be.
He watched in silent awe as the car's doors opened, and out walked the two families who Sammy hadn't seen in three years. The Greeks had come to New Rome.