A/N- Hey everybody! Chapter 2! Enjoy! Songs used: Welcome to my Life, by Simple Plan, and Let the Flames Begin, by Paramore.
Disclaimer- I'm just doing a general disclaimer here for the rest of the story…So, in case you haven't realized it yet, I don't have never, and will never own PJO. Well, maybe I will when the evil rainbow unicorn-bunnies take over the world. They haven't yet, though…
Chapter 2: Songs, Competitions, and Announcements
Lief's POV
I showed up for the campfire like Will wanted. I didn't really want to go, but I really didn't want Will to hire Erin to prank me. She's been hired before. Let's just say it's not something I want to repeat. "What song is it?" I growled at Will before the campfire started.
"Somebody's feeling grumpy tonight," Will teased.
"Just tell me the song already."
"Fine, if Your Majesty insists, I'll tell you the song."
"Will, are you trying to be sarcastic? 'Cause it really isn't working."
"Oh, well. The song you're singing is called 'Welcome to my Life'. I've heard it before, and it's not really what I'd listen to, so I figured it'd be perfect for you." He smirked. I allowed myself a small smile, since this actually was a song I'd heard. Will gasped. "It's the end of the world! Lief is smiling!" The other campers within earshot started laughing.
"It's not funny, Will."
"You're right, it's not. It's hilarious!" Another wave of laughter. I turned about as red as a ripe tomato and quickly took a seat with the other Apollo kids. There were a couple songs that everybody knew, before Will stood up and announced, "Okay, everybody, quiet down. I have accomplished the impossible! Lief is singing!" A roar of applause and laughter followed his words. "Quiet down people!" The amphitheater became so quiet you could here a pin drop. Will gave me a thumbs-up, the other Apollo kids readied their instruments, and I started.
"Do you ever feel like breaking down?
Do you ever feel out of place?
Like somehow you just don't belong,
And no one understands you?
Do you ever wanna run away?
Do you lock yourself in your room?
With the radio on, turned up so loud,
That no one hears you screaming?
I was…thoroughly enjoying myself. This was a song that I liked, that fit my story. Hmm. Maybe this singing thing wasn't so bad after all.
No you don't know what it's like,
When nothing feels alright,
No you don't know what it's like, to be like me.
To be hurt
To feel lost
To be left out in the dark
To be kicked
When you're down
To feel like you've been pushed around.
To be on the edge of breaking down,
With no one there to save you
No you don't know what it's like.
Welcome to my life."
I coasted through the rest of the song. At the end was a huge roar of applause. I turned tomato red for the second time that night, and slunk back to my seat, embarrassed. I sunk down in my chair as Will stood up and shouted, "Let's give it up for that one! Wasn't he great?" Another wave of applause. I hope he doesn't make me do this more often, I thought.
Erin's POV
Huh. So Mr. Gloom and Doom can actually sing. And he's not half bad at it, either. He sure needs to work on handling the praise, though. His blush makes tomatoes look pink. Will stood up. Again. "Okay, people. Tonight is your night!" he shouted. "We will be taking requests for songs, but the person who volunteers it will have to be the one singing." Nobody volunteered.
Well, somebody's got to do this… I stood up. "Hey!" I shouted.
"You there! What's your name?" Will asked.
"Erin. Erin Parman."
"Do you have a song?"
I could feel a fiendish grin creeping over my features. "Have I got a song? What do you think?"
"Me? I think you just gave me a challenge. Hmm…" he feigned being clueless. "What do you guys think? Does she have a song?" A chorus of yes came from the audience. "Apparently you do have a song, Erin. Come on down and tell me what it is." I picked my way down to the stage and whispered in his ear. "Ah. So that is what it is. Do you guys want to know?"
"Yes!" they all roared.
"Sorry. I can't tell you." Will smirked. "Erin, you're going to have to tell them." I took the microphone form him.
"So, you all want to know what I'm singing, huh?"
"YES!"
"Sorry, everybody. I think most of you will recognize this, though. Will? Can you tell the rest of your cabin. This one's got some instruments, and I can't play anything." Will told the Apollo cabin. I got some glares, and quite a few smiles. "Everybody ready?" You could here a pin drop. The music started up. I waited for the cue. And…now!
"What a shame
We all became such fragile, broken things
A memory remains, just a tiny spark.
I gave it all my oxygen,
So let the flames begin
So let the flames begin
Oh glory, oh glory
This is how we'll dance when
When they try to take us down
This is what will be
Oh, glory.
I loved this song. I was vaguely aware of the Apollo cabin behind me. The rest the song just kind of flowed from there. And I was loving it. As I came to the end, I heard almost everybody else singing along. When the song finally ended, I felt a rush of disappointment. A wave of applause came and I handed Will back the microphone.
"Wow." he said, "I think it goes for all of us when I say that was awesome! You brought down the house, Erin!" I quietly snuck back to my seat while Will was talking. That kid really loved the sound of his own voice. "Any other people?" he asked. Complete silence. "Nobody else wants to challenge that?" I swear, you could here the waves at the canoe lake. The campfire was immense, so I was guessing they'd all liked the song, but nobody seemed to have anything else to say.
Well, until Matthew stood up. This could be interesting… Matt never had much of a voice. Oh, boy. "Do we have a challenger?" Will asked.
"Not really. Just somebody who thinks that was an amazing song and I don't think anybody's feeling up to competing with it." Matt sat down again. It's probably a good thing he didn't sing.
"Huh. So that's it? Nobody else wants to sing?" Will was trying to needle the crowd into challenging.
"I'll have a crack at it," Lief spoke up.
"He's singing again? Can you believe it, people?" Will said.
"Just give me the microphone, Will. You like the sound of your own voice too much." Will handed over the microphone. Lief sang some random song I didn't know. The fire grew even higher.
"Hey, Matt," I whispered. He must of heard me over the roar, because he turned towards me.
"What?"
"I have an idea…"
"Oh, great. You and your ideas. Tell me." I told him. He grinned. "I like this idea."
"Good." Will once again asked for challengers. I stood again.
"Do we have a battle here?" Will said.
"If it's a battle Lief wants, it's a battle he gets." I replied.
"Unfortunately, we only have time for one more song tonight, so Erin, you're on the spot."
"Will. I'm always on the spot."
"Right. Now get down here and sing." I went down and took the microphone. Will told the Apollo kids the song. I gave Matt a thumbs-up. He started digging in his pockets.
"Oh no, I just keep on falling (back to the same old)
And where's hope, when misery comes crawling? (Oh, my way hey)
With your faith, you'll trigger a landslide (victory)
You'll kill off this common sense of mind
It takes aquired minds to taste, to taste, to taste this wine
You can't down it with your eyes
So we don't need the headlines,
We don't need the headlines, we just want
(we want the airwaves back, we want the airwaves back)
Everybody sing,
Like it's the last song you'll ever sing
Tell me, tell me do you feel the pressure now?
Everybody live
Like it's the last day you'll ever see
Tell me tell me do you feel the pressure now?
I kept singing. The fire kept growing. As I neared the end, Matt threw the first bomb. A cloud of red smoke erupted behind me. He kept throwing bombs, alternating colors. He was having a blast, and so was the audience. The front row's marshmallows erupted into flames. Once the song ended, they all started to quiet down. Chiron stood up and told us all to go to bed, which we did, reluctantly.
The next morning…
"Did you all enjoy the campfire last night?" Chiron asked.
"YES!" everybody said.
"Well, that's good, because it's the last one you'll have for a while. Mr. D and I have come up with a challenge for you. You will be assigned a partner. In pairs, you will go into the woods for one week. There will be no teaming up, so it's just you and your partner. There will be no switching partners. This should -hopefully- teach you some survival skills, and also some teamwork. You have two minutes to pack, starting now." We all dashed off to our cabins to pack.
Back at the Hermes cabin, I grabbed a small bag and started stuffing everything I could find into it. A conch horn blew, and I hurried back to the pavilion. Matt was grinning. He probably had everything he needed in his coat.
Chiron started announcing partners. I wasn't paying much attention until I heard him say, "Matthew Robinson and Natalie Parker." What? I wasn't with Matt? Oh, well. It would have been nice, but I guess Chiron would never have allowed it anyways. "Erin Parman and Lief Harrison." What? No! Anybody but Doom and Gloom! Lief looked about as excited as I felt. "And that's it. Pair up everybody, then off to the woods." I walked over to Lief.
"Hi."
"Go away." he growled.
"No can do. I'm stuck with you for a week."
"I think I'm going to go crazy if I'm stuck with you for a week."
"For once, I'm going to have to agree with you."
"Oh, yes," Chiron continued. "You also have to know ten things about your partner that you didn't know before by the time the week is done."
"Well, that's even worse." Lief said.
"Darn right it is. You're about as easy to talk to as a dead slug." I retorted.
"And you're the one talking? I 'd rather talk to a tree then talk to you."
"Alright, everybody, it's off to the woods! See you in a week, providing nobody gets killed." Chiron ordered. Lief and I grudgingly turned towards the woods.
A/N- And there you go. Like it? Hate it? Tell me! Please?
-smartone101
