I have nothing to say except I'm sorry I fell off the face of the Earth. Happy New Year, and I hope you enjoy reading!
He arrived at Long Beach at around 4 o'clock. A little way down the beach was a group of people setting up for a party. People were setting up tables and chairs, and even more were carrying trays of food. Brett could have sworn he saw a couple of people arranging flowers that grew out of seemingly nowhere, but when he looked again that was not the case. It was chaos. Everyone was talking over each other, and it didn't seem as though anyone was in charge. Brett thought for sure that someone was going to collide with another person, but even as he continued to watch, everyone moved with grace and agility, seemingly thriving in the chaos.
Brett stood awkwardly on the edges. He didn't see Annabeth anywhere, and if he was being honest, these people made him nervous. He didn't want to approach too quickly and end up in over his head, especially when Jake and Randy weren't there yet to back him up. He hadn't been standing there long when a girl approached them. "Hi, I haven't seen you around camp before. Are you new? Who's your parent?" she spoke quickly.
"Ummm…" Brett hesitated, not knowing how to answer. It seemed like a strange question to be asking who his parents were. Maybe this was a gang of some important people's kids? Maybe everyone's parents here were part of the Mafia or something, Brett didn't know.
Luckily, the girl seemed to take his silence as an answer. "Oh, they haven't claimed you yet? Don't worry about it, I'm sure they will soon." She looked him over. "You're lucky you're just arriving now. If you'd come to Camp a couple of years ago- before Percy got things changed- you might never have been claimed. Nowadays though, it usually doesn't take more than a few weeks."
Brett still didn't say anything. He wasn't sure how to respond; he didn't understand half the things she was talking about.
The girl didn't seem bothered by his lack of response. She just kept on talking. "Anyway, can you find Katie for me and tell her that we need more goldenrod flowers on the buffet table? Great, thanks!" And then she was gone before Brett could even respond.
He didn't know who Katie was, and he had no real intention of bothering to pass on the message, but he was saved from having to at least pretend to attempt the task by the arrival of Jake and Randy.
"Dude," Jake said in greeting. "What are we doing here again?"
"Yeah," Randy agreed. "Usually I'm always down for crashing a party, but I like to at least know some of the people there. These are complete strangers."
"Annabeth's going to be here," Brett said in answer.
"Right," Jake shook his head. "So we're here because of your obsession with this girl and your apparent need to protect her." He shook his head again. "Dude, you know I'll always support you, but maybe you should open your eyes and realize she doesn't want your protection."
"Just because she thinks she doesn't want it doesn't mean she doesn't need it!" Brett protested.
Jake held up his hands in surrender. "I just don't want to see you get hurt, man."
"I'm more worried about her getting hurt. She's obviously mixed up in a bad crowd, I mean look at these people!" Brett couldn't help but be annoyed that Randy and Jake couldn't see the urgency of the situation. Brett needed to save Annabeth; it was his job to be her knight in shining armor.
Jake and Randy were saved from replying by someone shouting, "They're coming, Everyone hide!"
Brett crouched behind a table and Jake and Randy followed his lead. He could see Annabeth and Percy being led down to the beach by a boy that Brett vaguely recognized from his visit to Annabeth's apartment.
When they got closer he could hear Percy talking. "Come on, Grover! What's this about? I thought you said it was important. Is there a monster or something?" Monster? What was he talking about?
"You'll see," the boy responded.
"Grover," Annabeth sounded amused. "You're terrible at lying; what's this about?"
"Just follow me," Grover said almost pleadingly, apparently not pleased about being called a bad liar.
When they got close enough, someone signaled and they all jumped out in unison. What surprised Brett, however, was the fact that instead of yelling 'surprise,' they all yelled, "attack!" and surged forward towards Percy and Annabeth.
Annabeth tensed instantly as if ready for a fight and beside her, Percy reacted by pulling a pen out of his pocket. Brett couldn't imagine why Percy would think a pen would be any help in the case of an attack, but he didn't get the chance to find out because when they saw who was running toward them Percy and Annabeth relaxed. Brett was still tense with worry for Annabeth. Everything he saw just pointed to the fact that these people were dangerous.
"Really guys," Annabeth was trying to sound stern, but the small smile on her face betrayed her. "We could have killed you."
"Oh come on!" Leo stepped forward, throwing an arm around Annabeth. "You know you wouldn't do that."
"Touch me again, Valdez, and my knife might just slip," Annabeth threatened, shrugging off Leo's arm. Her words were harsh, but there was still no bite in her tone. Despite that, Brett still got the impression that she was serious about the fact that she could kill someone. The thought didn't settle well with him. Whatever ties Annabeth had to this group, Brett needed to sever them and get her out of here as soon as possible.
They tried to keep to the outskirts of the party, but Brett also didn't want to let Annabeth out of his sight. It was a difficult balance because Percy and Annabeth always seemed to be in the center of everything. The way everyone acted, it was almost as if they all considered Percy and Annabeth to be their leaders of some sort.
For the most part, people left them alone, but there were quite a few times when someone would approach them and start asking about their parents and how they were adjusting to Camp. Brett answered the questions as best he could, but he really didn't understand what was going on. Randy wasn't doing much better, but Jake had managed to relate to a few people over being raised by a single parent.
In between the interruptions, Brett kept his ears open to hear what Annabeth was saying. She seemed to know everyone and mingled with multiple different groups throughout the night. Percy also seemed to talk to everyone, and though he and Annabeth were not together for the whole evening, they were never far apart.
"So what's the reason for this party anyway?" Annabeth asked at one point.
"What?" answered the boy next to her. He was well dressed, and though Brett didn't know enough to name it, the boy seemed to be wearing some sort of designer brand. It was a stark contrast to the numerous bright orange t-shirts and casual jeans that many of the partygoers seemed to be wearing. "Can't we simply celebrate our two most beloved leaders?"
Annabeth gave him a look. "Mitchell,"
He held up his hands in surrender. "Okay, okay. Lacy and I thought it'd be a great idea to raise the camp morale, you know? What better way to do it than a party?"
"Why didn't you just throw it at Camp?"
"We're always at Camp! This was an opportunity for some of us year-rounders to get out for a while."
Annabeth laughed. "Mitchell, there are easier ways to get out of Camp than throwing a party."
"Yeah," Mitchell grinned, "but they're a whole lot less fun."
Annabeth shook her head, an amused smile gracing her features. "But with this many of us in one spot outside of Camp, it can't be safe." Brett's brow furrowed. If Annabeth didn't think it was safe, why was she still associating with these people?
Mitchell, however, dismissed Annabeth's worry with the wave of his hand. "Don't worry, Lou Ellen and some of the other Hecate kids set up concealing wards. They're renewing them every hour or so. Speaking of which, have you seen Morgan? She was supposed to arrive on Thursday but I've been too busy to see her. I want to ask her about casting tips. I've been practicing but I just can't seem to get it right."
Brett continued to listen to their conversation, trying to follow as best he could. They kept talking about monsters and magic and spells like it was all perfectly normal. He was coming to the conclusion that it must be part of some roleplaying game when his attention was drawn away by a voice behind him. "Brett? What are you doing here?"
I hope you enjoyed! Happy New Year, and here's to hoping 2021 is better than 2020!