Oh lord, I'm sorry that I've been gone forever. Blame two things - a random obsession with Romeo and Juliet, and NaNoWriMo.

For those of you who don't know what that is, it's basically where you write a 50,000 word novel in a month, November. I managed to finish mine early, with it ending up at 54,300 words. I don't think it's too bad, considering I started two days late, it's my first year, and I'm fourteen. xP Anyway, I'm pretty happy with the finished product.

But enough with my less-than-interesting life. You want to read the story! :D

The next three days consisted of the drills, Casey getting in fights, and actually making a few friends. It was nice to make friends with a few girls. She'd known a few girls back at camp, but mostly she just had Casey. It wasn't like she didn't like people, she just... well, she just hadn't gotten along with very many of them.

Well, she had, but they were just kind of annoying. Yeah, that was annoying. It wasn't the fact that... well, it was just too hard to explain.

"Fall into line by the times here!" Quince barked. Casey grinned, shaking hair out of his eyes.

"Great grammar you've got there!" he called. A few people snickered, but Quince just rolled his eyes, used to Casey by now. This had made Casey a bit mad, but Lacey figured he could deal with it.

Lacey took her spot right before Ethan. Casey was in front of her, harassing some random girl, who didn't seem that angry. Lacey rolled his eyes. He'd certainly made himself comfortable here.

The group marched down a hallway, joining a bunch of other kids from other rooms. Quince led their group to the middle of the room. "Squad Seven reporting!"

Casey snickered. A few kids from other groups glared at them, but he simply stretched and ignored their stares. Luke - or Kronos, Lacey still wasn't sure about what he was at the moment - stood from his throne, causing all noise in the room to cease. It didn't gradually go down, everyone just... they just stopped talking. Even Casey stopped laughing.

"Troops!" Luke or Kronos said, raising his hands in the air, like all the stereotypical rulers did. "I have completed the transformation! Ethan Nakamura, a son of Nemesis, has made that possible. Please come forward, Ethan."

She heard Ethan gulp before he moved forward, going to stand before the group. He was shaking, she could tell. She didn't blame him. She'd be shaking, too.

"Young Ethan came with two more demigods, a daughter of Hermes and a son of Ares," Luke said. The kids around them looked curiously at Lacey and Casey. Eventually, one of them piped up.

"Sorry, but I don't believe the guy's a son of Ares," she said, rubbing the side of her head. Casey narrowed his eyes and glanced around the room, searching for her. Lacey just looked at her, waiting for him to find her.

"Don't say that!" Melissa, a girl from their room, hissed.

"But he's so small!" the girl said, her voice raising. Their group - Squad Seven - began to smile. It wouldn't be long now before he rushed out of the line, broke the formation, and basically killed her.

Casey did as he always did, taking quick strides out of the line to grab the front of her shirt. She just watched him as he came closer, and when he grabbed onto the front of her shirt, she just stared up at him. "Hello!" she said brightly.

"Hi," Casey snarled. "I. Am. Not. Short."

"Yes you are. How old are you, twelve?" the girl asked, a slight smile on her face. Casey's eyes narrowed.

"Twelve?" he said, eyes narrowing. "You think I'm twelve?"

"Yeah," the girl said. She had dark hair, with clear green eyes and pale skin. She was kind of pretty, Lacey supposed, but Casey would never go for someone like her. As far as she knew, he'd never liked anyone before.

Wait, there was that huntress. She couldn't remember the girl's name... she had died... was it Zoey? No, but something like it. Maybe without the 'e.' It was possible.

Why did he like that girl? Wasn't she the one that had broken his arm?

Was that why he had liked her? Did he like tough girls? If so, why did he hang out with her? Well, maybe he just liked whoever he liked. Some people didn't have a 'type.' However, Casey seemed like a guy that did.

Maybe he was gay.

No, probably not. He didn't seem interested in Ethan. And Ethan was freaking hot. In Lacey's eyes.

They were still talking. Maybe she should be paying attention. He now had her pinned against a wall. He had that shark-like grin on his face again, and she was smirking. Oh lord, he did like her.

"How old am I?"

"Twelve and eight months."

"How long has this been going on?" Lacey whispered to the girl Casey had been harassing before. She shrugged.

"Five minutes?" she guessed, before going back to staring at the two.

"All right, that's enough!" Luke or Kronos shouted. Casey looked up, extremely bored look taking place on his face again.

"Look, I'm kind of busy, so if we could have this meeting later-"

"No. Go back to your line. Now," Luke or Kronos ordered, coupling it with such a glare that Casey dropped his hand and moved back to his spot in front of Lacey.

"Who's that?" Lacey asked him. He shrugged, grinning. "Do you like her?"

"She can take care of herself," he said, looking at her. She'd rejoined her line, and waved at him. "I like that in a girl."

"Ooh! You do like her!" Lacey squealed, maybe a little too loudly. Luke or Kronos glared at her, and she shut up.

"As I was going to say beforehand, we are going to split into groups based on our godly parentage. Line up behind the designated pillar. Aphrodite, Apollo, Ares, Athena, Demeter, Hephaestus, The Big Three, Minor Gods and Goddesses, Unclaimed, and Hermes." As he said the name, he gestured toward one of the pillars that lined the room. Lacey skipped over to her pillar, less than surprised to see the girl Casey had cornered - and possibly fallen in love with! - standing there, looking bored.

"Hi!" Lacey said, smiling at her. She nodded.

"Are you his girlfriend?" she asked, tilting her head to the side. Lacey giggled.

"Casey? No! He's... Casey," she said, for lack of a better word. The girl nodded, smiling slightly.

"Do you think I could join you guys for lunch? You look like you're pretty close, and with that other kid. Nakamura," she said, popping her gum.

"Yeah, I guess," Lacey said, shrugging. "I'm Lacey." She stuck out her hand. The girl slapped it instead of shaking, sending her a grin.

"Zohra," she said. "Let's spar."

I do really enjoy writing Zohra. And, yes, Casey did have a crush on Zoe. She broke his arm in the Capture the Flag game the hunters had against the campers in book three. It was love at first sight. For him. She didn't like him much. x3