Chapter 12

The answer is Rebecca Perry.

I woke up the next morning in the infirmary bed and was surprised to see that it wasn't Thalia sitting in the seat next to me. I sat up and looked at the bedside table to see a half cup of what Thalia had called amnesia . . . or was it ambrosia?

My dose had been lowered, much to my discontent. I mean who doesn't like coffee? Okay, I guess there are some people that don't like coffee but for the sake of the rhetorical question I'm going to pretend that there aren't.

I sipped from the Sippy cup and thoughtfully gazed around the room. Everything was perfectly normal except for the girl that was standing right next to me holding a thermometer. Now, since you're reading this instead of living it, it doesn't seem scary. But just imagine lying in your bed and looking right next to you to see a girl holding a medical instrument. Now that you know how frightening it would be you can respect my reaction of shrieking and throwing my Sippy cup at her.

She caught the cup and plugged her ears. She yelled over my screeching, "Calm down!" Despite her appearance in my life I calmed down and shut up. She said more soothingly, "Calm down." I felt my heart beat going down. I protested in my mind, I thought I had the mind control powers!

I narrowed my eyes, "How'd you do that?" She shrugged, "Daughter of Apollo. I have healing magic." I nodded in understanding and she set the Sippy cup down next to me. She put the thermometer down and smiled, "Hi, I'm Rebecca Perry." She said brightly. I smiled back and sipped at the ambrosia, "I'm Jay Pouli."

The girl picked up the thermometer and proceeded to stick it in my mouth. I mumbled incoherent words of protest but she just smiled and sat where Thalia would've sat next to my bed.

Actually taking her in, she was really pretty. She was a skinny girl about my height and seemed about the same age. She had long brown hair that looked like Cherry Coca-Cola in the sunlight. Her eyes were wide and shone fiercely with an astonishing blue. She had pale skin that didn't seem to fit on a daughter of Apollo but made her brown hair even more defined. She had seemed caring and sweet and she probably was, but I could just tell by the shine in her eyes that she had a sharp retort for about anything I could say. In other words, she was my kind of girl.

I looked at her with almost grudging respect and she smirked. She glanced at the thermometer and took it out of my mouth. She furrowed her eyebrows but then looked up at me with a smile on her face, "No infection! You should be able to leave by the end of the week."

Feeling like I was forgetting something I asked, "Where's Thalia?" Rebecca bit her lip,
"Thalia Grace? She left about 2 hours ago with the Hunters." I sunk down into the covers. Thalia had said she was part of this group called the Hunters of Artemis. She said they were immortal and travelled the world fighting monsters as long as they stayed eternal maidens. She had said she would be leaving to join them again any day now and that her work recruiting me was done.

I looked down at my cup and thought about the fact that Thalia was my only friend in camp other than Nico and last night I had pretty much screwed things up with my farewell.

Rebecca smiled at me sympathetically, "Are you okay?" I shrugged and sipped up the last bit of ambrosia. Rebecca sat next to me on the bed, "What's wrong. Not to creep you out or anything but you look like you regret something."

I bit my lip, "Well, apparently I'm this super powerful daughter of Mnemosyne and I can read minds if I try really hard. . ." I ended up telling her about how I got here and the demon lady and about how I had been stuck here and about last night practicing and then me reading Nico's mind and everything. By the end my face was red and I was on the verge of tears. Just now I realized how suckish my last few days had been. Adding on that Thalia's gone.

Rebecca wrapped me up in a hug and rubbed my back soothingly as she rocked me back in forth. I cursed myself for being so vulnerable but I could tell that Rebecca didn't mind. I stumbled over my words, "I-I'm sorry." Rebecca shook her head, "No, it's perfectly fine to break down sometimes. In fact it's healthy."

After a few moments of silence and Rebecca still wrapping her arms around me Rebecca whispered, "Come with me. I know where a super cool stash of junk food is." I looked up at her with hope in my eyes and she smiled.

Right then and there, with unspoken connection Rebecca Perry became my best friend. She led me to the dining pavilion and led me to the back where Rebecca spoke with a dryad who served at meal times. She led us to the kitchen where the food was cooked. Rebecca showed me where the freezer was and carried out a tub of chocolate ice-cream that seemed too big for her to lift.

The dryad, who I had found was named Heather, helped us put double scoops on waffle cones. We said our thanks and left the kitchen. Rebecca led me to the beach where we watched her siblings play volleyball.

I started eating at my second scoop whereas Rebecca was already chewing at the cone, "Dang, you've got quite the appetite!" Rebecca smiled, "So I've been told." I could tell Rebecca wanted to ask me something even after only knowing her for a day. I raised an eyebrow, "Spill the beans." She blushed, "Did you really go to the forest with Nico last night?"

I nodded, "Yeah, why? I should be going again with him tonight." Rebecca looked at me with her mouth open, "You're going to catch flies." I stated. She shut her mouth and dramatically fell onto the sandy floor, "OMIGOSH! Nico is so hot!" She blushed as she said it and looked around nervously as if someone had heard her, "Repeat that to no one."

I raised an eyebrow, "Oh yeah?" She nodded, "Yep, all of my older sisters talk about him all the time! We've got some competition ahead of us." I chuckled, "We?" She smiled knowingly while I gazed blankly at her. I licked at my ice-cream when I realized it was probably melting. She laughed, "Don't even try to pretend!" I sighed, "Pretend what?" She laughed amused, "Oh, Jay. Young Grasshopper, you have so much to learn."

I rolled my eyes, "If you like him so much you can come tonight." Rebecca looked at me with seriousness in her eyes, "You're serious right? If you aren't that's not even funny." I chuckled, "No, I'm serious. You can come if you want to." Rebecca punched me playfully, "Awesome! But you are NOT letting me say something stupid. Read my mind and tell me to not say it ahead of time." I finished my ice-cream, "I'll do my best, Master Rebecca."

She smiled at the name and I pulled her up out of the sand, "Don't get too big headed or else your tiny body won't be able to handle it!" She raised her eyebrows, "If I'm so skinny then how can I do this?" She pushed me over onto the ground and I laughed.

I tried to ignore how similar of a conversation I'd had with Thalia the day before my birthday. I almost started pouting again until I realized that I had another best friend. She was standing right above me with a winning shine in her gaze.

Rebecca Perry, thank the gods for you!

(A/N: I'd like to say thanks to FoxBracken for giving me Rebecca as an OC! I still need some guy OCs though or else no more chapters because I need to make a triangle. It's all up to you. I put this extremely hard task of pressing the review button and getting creative in your hands (note sarcasm and respect it) Thank you FoxBracken and thank you UNIVERSE!)