Hey, I'm baa-ack! Sorry for taking so long to update, new school year and whatnot. Hope you like the new chapter!

"Seriously Emma, you called your mom to get us out of here? That's a new standard of pathetic-ness, even for you."

"Okay, first of all, I'm going to ignore that second comment, in the spirit of renewed friendship and forgiveness. Second of all, my mom was driving west from Philly anyway, so its convenient."

"you realize she's gonna be pissed when she's hears about how you crashed your car."

I shrug. "the way I see it, she can't kill me with you two around to witness it."

When I see her expression as she pulls up, I'm not so sure.

People say I look just like my mom did when she was my age, but that's not really true. My features are sharper than hers, whereas she looks like a redheaded Cinderella, only sweeter, so I look less like a clone and more like her evil twin who was frozen, Captain America style, in ice for a couple of decades.

But when Mom gets angry, boy can that Disney princess glare. And as she pulled up in that eighteen wheeler, and I saw her face, well, I became wistful for Evil the Dwarf.

"Hi Mom... Great to see you here..." I say awkwardly, trailing off into embarrassed silence.

"Get in the truck Emma."

"Of all the stupid, irresponsible, reckless things to do-"

"Mom, I swear, it wasn't my fault this time!"

"And do you honestly think i should believe you when you end that sentence with 'this time'. You could have been killed! you could have gotten your friends killed!'

"What, you think I wanted to get attacked by a troll doll?"

"You should have known better. What, do you think that every demigod out there get constantly attacked overtime they step foot outside?"

"Actually Mom, most do."

"That's not even the least of it! You manipulated a police officer, then acted like an ungrateful little brat when I went through all this trouble to go out of this way to this backwater dump and pick you up! You haven't once said 'thank you' or 'I'm sorry'"

I mutter something unrepeatable under my breath.

"What was that?"

"Thank you, Mom, for driving a full five minutes out of your way to pick me up, then harass me and embarrass me in front of my friends." Who, this whole time, having been hanging on to every word of this humiliating soap opera scene. Oh god, I so see this becoming blackmail.

Only then does it dawn on her we have company. She gives me one last bat-glare.

"We'll continue this discussion later." she turns to the backseat. "Sorry for being so rude, there's a cooler on the floor with some food in it, if you're hungry." Since we are, in fact, very hungry, we each take out a wrapped sandwich (my mom buys them in bulk) and begin chowing down.

"So, Ms. Lee, what are you transporting?" Skylar asks. She's obviously trying to distract my mom from the humiliating at hand. She will be thoroughly missed.

Surprisingly, Mom decides to play nice. "Well, right now I'm transporting some non-perishables for the company I work for. Most of them are giant containers of Cheetos, but I think there's some potato chips back there."

"Cool! What's it like, being a lady trucker?"

"Tiring. I'm often driving for over 24 hours at a time. And boring. There's not much to do on the interstate but listen to the radio." Mom makes it sound like she despises her job, but the truth is, she's addicted to the open road. I swear, "Prisoner of the Highway" was written specifically for her.

"You know, it was a lot more fun when Emma was little and I got to take her with me. I remember, when she was 6 she wriggled into the drivers seat while I was filling up gas and starting futzing with the gears. When I came back I saw her pretending she was steering and singing a little song she made up. It went something 'I'm a truck driver, I drive them trucks, I gotta watch out for does and bucks.'" She begins to sing.

"Mom!" I cover my ears. So this is my punishment for being rude. Maybe I should have just apologized.

Luca raises his eyebrows in mock intrest. "Oh really? tell me more!"

"Well, she used to put on my UT hat and and old flannel shirt, and then she'd run around the apartment building pretending she was driving and a paper plate was a wheel. I remember, she was reckless even then! One tim our old neighbor, Mr. Garnucci, was carrying heavy groceries, and Emma ran straight into him. I saw the whole thing, but when I came over she pointed to Mr. Garnucci and said 'he did it'. She got no TV for a week. I probably should have seen the signs of road rage then."

"Mom! I do not have road rage!" I whine very maturely.

"You know, I think I still have some old photos-"

"Mom!"

28 excruciatingly embarrassing hours and one motel room later, Mom drops us off in Idaho Falls, Wyoming.

"This is as far as I'm gonna take y'all. Emma, be good, and remember, stay far away from those hot springs. I love you so much, please be safe, okay?" Tears begin to form in her eyes. I feel terrible about earlier. Of course Mom was angry, she worries about me. She's taken my whole demigod-ness so well, much better then I give her credit for. And watching her drive away, I feel scared to, like I'm a little girl watching her leave for work without me for the first time.

Luca turns to me. "Your mom is so cool. High-strung, but cool."

Skylar nods. "Yea, I've never talked to a trucker before."

"Well, I've only got two years left before I get my CDL. Then I'll be teamster too.* But we're not here to talk about eighteen wheelers. We're here to find a god. So let's stop yapping and start find a bus to Yellowstone"

*A CDL is a truck driving license. Teamster is another word for trucker.

Hope you liked this chapter. Not a lot of action but an important character development chapter. In case you haven't figured it out yet, the theme of this book is understanding and forgiveness.