"Hey," Mark's raspy voice whispered in my ear as he gently nudged my shoulder. "Wake up, newbie."

My eyes flew open and I sat up with a jolt, causing Mark to jump back in surprise.

"Hey," I grinned, embarrassed. I scraped by hair back behind my head with my hands as I stifled a yawn.

Mark smiled and patted me on the back. "Come on, get out of bed. We've gotta be at breakfast in fifteen minutes."


Luke had brought me all of my clothes and toiletry items that morning, and I tried my best to fashion them into a "rebel" outfit, or at least as close to a rebel as you could get with my wardrobe. I tied a red bandanna around by forehead and rolled the sleeves on my Camp Half-Blood t-shirt into a tank top. There wasn't much I could do about my jeans besides ripping holes in them, which I wasn't willing to do just yet.

The most difficult aspect of that morning wasn't the clothing, however, but rather, my speech. I knew that the way I talked to other people wasn't going to make Ares proud, but it's hard to just change. I tried my best to mix in some sarcastic comments and attempted speaking in a clearer, rougher tone. But I only felt like I was being a jerk. I mean, all I had to do was be tough. Warlike. Nothing in my job description said that I had to be a bitch about everything, like my father so loved to do.

There were nine kids total at the Ares table during breakfast, including myself. Mark, Sherman, Eva, Carl, Alex, Emma, Ian, and Macy. And they were all just like Ares had told me they were: disappointments, just like me.

I shook my head. I couldn't afford to be thinking like that at the moment. I couldn't afford to be thinking like that ever. I needed to focus on getting through breakfast.

I stared at my bacon, toast, and scoop of assorted sliced fruit waiting to be eaten and contemplated how I was to go about doing so. Of course, the civilized individual would use a fork to eat the fruit. Everyone else at my table was. But that was just it- it looked right. I fingered a slice of strawberry, and after a moment's hesitation, popped it into my mouth. I tried to look as natural as possible; not barbaric, just like a tough kid who was too good for silverware.

The toast and bacon was easy to get through, and I drank through my goblet of orange juice with as little daintiness as possible. I felt stupid, and I figured I probably looked pretty unintelligent as well, but sometimes you have to do what you have to do.

I glanced across the mess hall at the overcrowded Hermes table. Luke sat at the head of the table, munching on a granola bar while laughing and talking with the Stoll brothers about who-knows-what. Some of the campers at the table were forced to sit on the floor because they simply had too many members. I remembered being one of those floor-sitting kids.

I missed it.

I mean, I know I had only been in the Ares cabin for a few hours, but I guess that just goes to prove how much I relished in remaining Undetermined. All those other kids took it for granted...

"Ahem!" My head whipped up at the sound of Mr. D's annoyed drone as he stood at the administration table. "Hello, kids, your attention please." He waved his hand in front of his face irritably and rolled his eyes when all the attention in the room was given to him. "Okay, brats, listen up. For those of you dimwits who haven't heard the news, we have a new Ares camper, Claire LaPoo, so make her feel welcome and all that." Mr. D took a swig of Diet Coke and plopped himself back down in his seat.

The heat in my cheeks rose as the mess hall filled with respectful applause, and I felt the eyes of all my fellow campers turn to me. This was a big moment; my first introduction as a child of Ares. I couldn't just let this slide. But I wasn't sure what I should do; smile and wave? Sit there awkwardly and do nothing? Stand and cheer like a true Ares kid?

Yeah, I thought. Unfortunately, that's what I gotta do.

So, gathering all of the hidden insanity I inherited from my father, I stood and waved my fist in the air in a sort of "hurrah!" gesture. I hooted and howled and really put myself out there, much to my dismay. The rest of the campers only continued their applause politely, so none of them felt the desire to howl and hoot along with me. Oh, well, Ares is independent.

I couldn't help but glace at the Hermes table. Of course, I wasn't ever particularly close with any of them, but most of them at least knew who I was. Most of them knew that I wasn't... whatever fool of myself I was making at the moment. The applause at the Hermes table was more... uncertain. Hesitant. I saw Luke exchange questioning glances with Connor Stoll. No, not questioning. It was almost... disappointing.

But I couldn't blame them. I wasn't all that impressed with myself either.