Ok so I know my last chapter was really short but I'm not that good at writing long chapters… PLEASE REVIEW! I kinda want a review before I post my next chapter so that I know I have an audience! Thanks Percy Jackson Rulez for putting my story on your favorites list! Ok, well read on! (this chapter isn't as good cuz I've got a little writers block and I'm just kinda EXHAUSTED! Last night I was at a b-day party and me and one of my besties were the only ones awake… um we were little over-tired and made up a dance… haha anyway… ENJOY! I DON'T OWN THE IDEA OF THE STORY CUZ IM NOT RICK RIORDAN!) Oh and BTDUBS: this is about like idk 35 years after the Last Olympian, so just imagine that Percy and all of his friends are dead and gone. Haha sorry but I wanna write a whole new story…
CHAPTER 2: Ailani Akamu
My mind works in beats of four. When I run, I always think breathe in two, three, four, breathe out, two, three, four. When I'm riding horses, I'll post for four counts, over and over again until my muscles start aching. Maybe it's not normal, but I don't really care. To me, life is a musical. I can always find a song that relates to how I'm feeling, which is why I carry my iPod everywhere. For instance, as we rode home in our tiny purple golf cart, with Aelan chattering a mile a minute about her summer plans with our brother, Analu, who was trying to tune her out, I thought of the song Dancing Through Life from Wicked (I'm a total Wicked fan… I had my room designed to look like the Playbill for it), and I have no idea why, because I wasn't sure how it fit into my life right now, but whatever, it's a good song.
As soon as we got home, I pulled out my cell phone and began rapid-fire texting. Denysia and I had been planning a huge summer party, and we still needed to send out invitations. I waved to my dad, who sped off to work after dropping us off. We were home with just mom. I sighed. Great. I loved my mom and all, but she had absolutely no idea how to raise us kids. See, her mom was like a drug addict or something, and as soon as my mom could get a job, she ran away from home. She had finished her high-school degree in her early twenties, gotten a full scholarship from some scarcely-known college, and settled down to be a marine biologist. She met my dad, and two years later had us kids. I think that mom didn't really like having to take care of us, since she's usually hidden away in her study, but dad says that she's just very into her work or something. Last time I checked, she wanted a doctors' degree, but no school would take her without a high-school diploma, and by the time she got one of those, the only scholarship she could get was in marine biology.
By now, my siblings and I have learned how to microwave just about anything, since dad won't let us near the stove or oven after the last time (I swear it was only once!). Some of the stuff was pretty gross micro-waved, but dad was usually home in time to cook dinner, and he was a decent chef. Well, at least he didn't start blow up a whole bag of marshmallows during a science experiment (no comment).
Back to the present: I stepped into our house (through the back patio leading to the part of the beach that we own; mom had conveniently left the front door, mudroom door, and the door that used to be a slaves' quarters, a few hundred years ago when our house was just being built, locked and dead bolted.) I jumped the fence; it was much easier than walking all the way to the beach and back up, or just opening the gate and risking having the dogs get out and wreak havoc over the neighborhood. The second my foot hit the pavement, my three dogs, Peanut, a long-haired midget Chihuahua (I'm dead serious, she's the size of my size 5 in Woman's foot); Cody, Analu's mopey, wide-eyed Border Collie-Cocker Spaniel dog that's so depressing-looking I would have named him Eeyore; and Luna, a crazy, two-year old dog that we found on the side of the road. The vet doesn't even know what she is; just that she's a mix between some kind of Labrador, a Blue-Heeler, and an Australian Shepherd, all jumped at me, licking my face and clawing at my bright purple Hollister tank top. I pushed them away, seeing as my Abercrombie shorts were white, and it had taken all of my self-control to keep them clean during art class.
Finally, my sister and brother walked up, my sister in matching shorts and an orange Hollister tank top. Now, you might think that it's weird for us to be wearing matching outfits, but we had made a pact back in kindergarten that on the first and last day of school every year, we would pull an Olsen and wear matching clothes. We had kept true to that tradition, even after we outgrew our Power Puff Girl sweaters. The dogs jumped at my sister and brother, so I quickly dashed up the stairs of the patio and pulled at the sliding glass door. Weird, I thought. It was locked. I knocked, hard, but nobody showed up to help me. What was my mom doing in there? I sighed and sat on one of the lounge chairs. I waited for my mom to realize that we must be home, but after ten minutes, I figured something must be up. I called to my siblings (they had gotten away from the dogs and were attempting to make a sand castle) and they glanced back at me, shielding their eyes from the sun's harsh rays.
"I'm going up on the roof to see why mom hasn't noticed us," I called down. They nodded and went back to work. I rolled my eyes. They thought that I was the immature one? I dragged my chair around to the edge of the house. I climbed up on it, cautiously. The fabric rocked under my weight. I reached my arms up and grabbed hold of the gutter. Remembering my seven years of gymnastics training, I pulled my self up and over the edge of the roof. I tried to grab one of the shingles. Ouch! It was scorching hot. This was going to be harder than I thought. I sighed, braced myself for the pain, and hauled butt over that stupid gutter. Now my knees were burning, too. I sighed, cautiously stood up over the sloping roof, and smiled proudly. I had done it.
Now, the reason I had wanted to get on the roof was because we had skylights in the kitchen, living room, and my mother's study. I looked through the nearest one, which was the kitchen. There was such a bad glare, that I could barely see, but I could tell that nobody was in there. I checked the living room. The television was turned on but muted, and I saw the news broadcasting across the screen, but no people. I checked my mother's study, my fingers crossed. The glare wasn't so bad, since the chimney was right next to me, providing a little bit of shade (don't ask why there's a chimney in a Hawaiian home, because I have absolutely no idea). I squinted. A lamp was turned on, but a figure was blocking it. Who was that? I squinted closer. The person looked like they were four and a half feet, with dark hair tied into a messy bun. It was my mother, no doubt. But then… who was the person sitting on her computer chair? He—I think it was a he,, at least—looked to be about five and a half feet, with thick, wavy dirty-blonde hair. Shadows danced across the computer screen as the screensaver went up. So the strange man must have been there for a while… The people seemed to be arguing. I pressed my ear against the glass, trying to listen in. Ouch! It burned my ear. I pressed against it again, desperate for answers. The burning numbed and receded after a few seconds, which I'm pretty sure it wasn't supposed to do, unless my ear had already like, burned off or something, but I didn't think much of it. I hated science, why ponder over it during vacation? Anyway, as I pressed my ear against the glass, I could vaguely hear the fight going on under my feet.
"… Don't even know that Jeremy isn't there father! For God's sake, even he doesn't know!" Mom was interrupted by a roll of thunder. I looked up. It was a perfectly sunny day. What's up with that? I thought. The man—it definitely was a man, his voice was certainly too low to be a girl's—replied in a tense voice.
"Their scent is becoming stronger! Aelan has noticed how they have absolutely none of Jeremy's traits!" Whoa. Why is my sister being brought up in this? And what was this about my dad, Jeremy? I was so confused that when the man glanced up, I forgot to duck away from the skylight. He noticed me and stopped talking. I could see his face now, and my heart skipped a beat. He had our eyes.
Now, it's one thing to like, have brown eyes and see that some random guy in your house has brown eyes too, but green eyes, like literally green eyes, not blue-green or hazel eyes, but literally green, like the grass, or in Aelan, Analu, and my case, peridot green (a peridot is a bright green gemstone, or at least, that's what Aelan told me), and this guy had the exact same color eyes as us. I was surprised, but couldn't be for very long because he murmured something to mom, and they both started walking out of the room, to the dining room. My eyes widened, and I desperately starting clambering down the roof. The second my feet hit the sun-kissed wood, I was running. I raced straight to my sister and brother and squatted down, panting for breath.
"Pretend I was here the whole time," I murmured breathlessly. They nodded, confused, and I collapsed in between them, sifting my hands through the sand. We started talking loudly about our summer plans. As soon as I had plopped onto the sand, our patio door opened. Out stepped our mom, in a pale blue sundress, her hazel eyes wide with alarm. Behind her was the other man. I could now tell that he looked about twenty, his sandy blonde hair windswept, his green eyes (our green eyes) bright. His eyebrow twitched and his foot tapped, just like Aelan's did when she was nervous. Who exactly is this guy? I wondered. Looking back, I kind of realize that I should have put the pieces together, but I'm not exactly very smart. Aelan or Analu probably would have figured it out a long time ago, but I was hopelessly confused.
I could see the same confusion reflecting in both my sisters' and my brothers' eyes. I shrugged and tried to send them the message 'I'll tell you later'. I'm not sure they got it, but they nodded and turned away, going on about summer plans once again.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw my mom and the man step down the stairs, eerily quiet. They made their way to us, looking more than a little nervous.
"Kids," mom said. I thanked God that we had years of theatrical training (again, the thunder rumbled). I turned towards her, keeping my face as blank as I possibly could. She probably didn't use our names because she doesn't remember them, I thought bitterly. The strange man glanced at me. He was now wearing black sunglasses, but I felt like he could probe my thoughts, and didn't like what he heard. I sighed. Whatever. I didn't even know this guy.
Mom continued. "There's something I need to tell you…"
Ok so it's still kinda short but do you like it? REVIEW! Pleaseee! Any questions? Comments? Concerns? Private message me. I don't really know what flames are exactly but please just constructive criticism! Remember im freaking 12 years old! Im only goin into 8th grade! Don't expect too much! Gosh! Mmk thts all… ily the guys who are actually taking the time to read this! I'm serious! Huge 3s to u!