Sorry, I know I take forever to update. I have a lot of stuff going on at school though and couldn't find the time. I'm going to go back and change the whole Rachel being Natalie's mom thing when I get a chance, but for now, she's just adopted.
Ooh and please read the author's note at the end about the CONTEST!
Disclaimer: Still don't own PJO.
Katlyn's POV
"Come on," I muttered as I waved my hand in front of the towel dispenser. I'd always hated automatic paper towel dispensers. I mean, seriously, why does it take so long for a freaking paper towel to come out? And then when it finally does, it's always an itty bitty sheet that isn't big enough to dry your hands with. For some reason, this one was taking even longer than normal to give me a paper towel.
"Ugh," I grumbled. What was wrong with this machine? I waved my hand faster this time, but it still wasn't working.
"Maybe we should figure out how to open it up," Natalie said from behind me.
"Nah, that'll take too long," I replied. "I just want to dry my hands."
"Okay, then. Plan B it is," Natalie said, pushing me out of the way. I was about to ask what that was, but then she started disco dancing right in front of it.
I rolled my eyes. "Natalie, you look like an idiot. That's not going to work."
"Oh yeah? You have any better ideas?" she asked. I shrugged.
"Oh, what the heck," I muttered as I stood next to her and did the cabbage patch. We danced awkwardly for a few seconds until Natalie started humming that old 70s song "Stayin' Alive".
"Hey, there's a red light!" I noticed. "Is that good?"
"It's been on the whole time," she told me.
"Oh my gosh!" I threw my hands in the air in defeat. "This is pointless! My hands are already almost dry from waving them around so much. Why don't we go back to the table?"
"Don't give up," Natalie said as she started doing the sprinkler.
"Now you're starting to sound like a hippy," I told her.
"Excuse me," someone said from behind us. We both turned around and stared wide-eyed at the poor woman standing behind us. She was probably in her early fifties and obviously worked there since she had a nametag on. She didn't look too freaked out, so maybe she hadn't seen all of our attempts to get a paper towel.
"Oh, it doesn't work," Natalie told her as she stepped toward the dispenser. The woman opened it up and ripped out a piece of paper that had been blocking the slot.
"No," she told us. "It just had a jam. Now run along, you two. Save all that dancing for… well, I don't think you want to do that in public again. Just a word of advice."
"Thanks," I muttered, feeling embarrassed at looking like such an idiot in front of other people. I grabbed Natalie's arm and we rushed out of the bathroom and back to the table where Aunt Rachel was sitting. I wasn't sure if she had talked to my mom or not and to be honest, I didn't care, but she had decided to take us to Camp Half-Blood so we could "learn from the experts" as she put it. It was about noon, so we had stopped at a fried chicken restaurant for lunch.
"Hey, girls," Aunt Rachel said as we sat back down across from her. She looked concerned and leaned forward. "You look a little freaked out. Did something just happen? You know, like, out of the ordinary?"
"You could say that," I replied as I took a sip of my Sprite.
Her eyes widened. "We need to get out of here."
"No, not like that, Mom," Natalie reassured her. "We got caught doing something embarrassing."
Aunt Rachel relaxed and raised an eyebrow in a question. "Do I want to know?"
"Probably not," I answered. "But we should get out of here before that employee comes back and tells everyone else what happened." She bit her lip to hold back a laugh and stood up with her drink in hand. We followed her out the door and piled into the back seat, where we sat for another thirty minutes until we pulled over on the side of the road.
"What's going on?" I asked. "Are we out of gas?"
"Nope," Aunt Rachel replied as she opened her door and got out. "Come outside and feel the fresh air, girls. Welcome to Camp Half-Blood."
Okay, so camp wasn't exactly what I'd expected. There were some groups of kids doing normal things, such as playing volleyball and some of the younger ones playing tag. However, most of them were doing things so out of the ordinary I was beginning to wonder if I was in a different country. Shooting crossbows, sword fighting, even climbing a rock wall that appeared to have lava on it.
"Oh my gosh! Is that a flying horse?" My eyes widened as I followed Natalie's finger to what appeared to indeed be a flying horse with someone on his back. And the worst part is that the surprises didn't stop there. I saw a man with a horse for a body playing cards with someone at a table on the porch of a big white building. The sound of hooves made me turn my head to the side. Was that…? No, it couldn't be.
"Hey, Grover," Aunt Rachel said as none other than Uncle Grover stopped in front of us.
"Hey, guys," he smiled at us. "Good to finally see you two here. I guess Annabeth finally came around. Where is she, anyway?" I saw Aunt Rachel shake her head out of the corner of my eye and gave him a look that told him she would explain later. At the moment, I was too astonished by what I was seeing to care.
"But," I managed to get out as I stared at his furry legs. "You're- you have- Oh my gosh, can someone please just tell me what else I don't know about before I go berserk?"
He laughed. "Sorry to freak you out. I'm a satyr- half goat, half human."
"Ah," Natalie said, sounding as if everything suddenly made sense. "So, is there anything else we should know about you?"
"Well, I have a family, and-"
"What?" I asked. "Why didn't we ever meet them?"
"Juniper can't leave camp, so the kids just stay here with her most of the time. Maple! Fir!" Two little kids who were playing looked at him and ran in our direction.
"You named your kid Fir?" I asked, a little surprised.
"No," he chuckled. "He just goes by that. His real name is Anthericum, but he didn't like it much and decided he wanted something tougher and easier to pronounce."
"I don't blame him," I muttered.
"Yeah, I know it's a mouthful, but Juniper insisted on naming them after plants and thought it was the perfect name, so I wasn't going to argue with that. Plus, Fir means height, and I know he's tired of being so small."
"Daddy!" the little boy, Fir, exclaimed as he wrapped his arms around his leg. He was probably about three and had brown, curly hair just like his dad. In fact, he looked just like him, aside from his green eyes, with furry legs, as well. "Maple threw Teddy into Mrs. Frank's tree!"
"Maple," Uncle Grover scolded.
"We were just playing a game," Maple argued back. "He can always just get it down himself." She was about seven and had her brother's same green eyes. Her straight, brown hair went a few inches past her shoulders and, unlike the other two, she appeared to have normal legs. I guess it was just a guy thing.
"No I can't!" Fir whined. "That lady is scary and you know it! She's gonna wake up and throw acorns at me if I try to climb it."
"You could if you really wanted your bear back," Maple taunted. "I think you're just chicken."
"Nuh uh!"
"Uh huh!"
"N-"
"Hey!" someone else broke in. "What's going on here?"
"Mommy!" Fir exclaimed. "Maple-"
"Don't listen to him! He's just lying!"
"Am not!"
"Are too!"
"You two had better shut your mouths right now," the woman, Juniper, I assumed, scolded them. "Or else you're both grounded from going into the woods for a week."
"Yes, Mommy," they said simultaneously, defeated. I felt a little bad for them, but it was getting pretty annoying. Juniper seemed to notice Natalie and me for the first time and she turned to Grover.
"Who's this?" she asked curiously.
"Juniper, meet Natalie Dare and Katlyn Jackson," Grover said as he gave his wife a meaningful look. Her eyes widened.
"You mean…?" He nodded. She opened her mouth to say something, but was interrupted by Maple.
"Who's that?" I looked down at her, thinking she was talking about us, but then I saw her pointing her finger to the top of the hill. Everyone was crowding around someone, but I couldn't see who it was at first until they shifted a bit. It turned out to be not just one, but two people. Of course, they had to be the two people who I really didn't want to see at the moment. I heard several gasps as more people joined the crowd.
"Oh my gods," Uncle Grover muttered. I turned to look at him and immediately had to look away. He had tears in his eyes and looked happier, more excited than I'd ever seen him. Then he took off, Juniper trailing behind him, towards my parents. The sight was too much for me to bear. How was it that so many people were happy about the return of my father, yet I was the one who practically hated him for not showing up sooner?
I felt a hand on my arm and turned to see Aunt Rachel, who was looking at me sympathetically. "Come on," she told me. "I'm going to get you two settled and then I'll give you a tour if you want."
"No, it's okay," I replied. "I think I'll take a nap." I wasn't tired, but I didn't feel like walking around all of these people who were so happy about my dad's return. All I really wanted was for things to go back to normal- to the way they were supposed to be: where I didn't know I was a freak, when I didn't have to deal with finding out one of my best friends and crush was a traitor. Back before I had a dad. But it was too late; my world had suddenly spun out of control in a matter of mere hours and there was nothing I could do about it.
The ending was a bit depressing, I know. It made me sad to write that part about wishing Percy wasn't there :( Anyways, hopefully it should be getting happier soon :) Oh and I know the beginning part wasn't really necessary, and was even a bit strange, but hey, I wanted to add a little bit of humor to the story and couldn't resist writing that. ;)
CONTEST:
Okay, so I really love getting reviews, but I don't think it's right for me to require a certain amount before I update, so I've come up with my own little way to bribe you guys. :)
So here are the rules: You have to be 18 years or older (hehe just kidding idk why I wrote that) Okay, so there aren't really any rules, but I'm gonna let you know how this works. I'm going to put all of my reviewers name into a hat or something of that sort and do a drawing. Whoever gets picked wins, but let me explain a little more. Let's say you submitted five reviews, your name will be put into the drawing five times. Um, yeah I think that's about it. Oh, yeah, anonymous reviewers: I love you guys, but sadly, you can't be part of this. Sorry, guys.
FIRST PRIZE: I'll write you a oneshot about whatever you want (as long as it's appropriate and I approve ;) ) I don't mind adding characters of your choice and it doesn't even have to be PJO if you don't want (once again, I have to approve first). I can also refer others to your stories and tell them how awesome you are :)
SECOND PRIZE: Sorry, it's not much, but I can go and review your stories and refer others to them.
If you guys don't like these ideas, please let me know. I can always change the prizes, but that was all I could think of.
Anyways, please review! Thanks! :D You guys are awesome!
