The next morning, during breakfast, Percy approached my table. He looked down at my plate and frowned.

"Aren't you going to eat any of that?"

I looked down at the cereal and toast. "No, thanks. I suppose not."

Percy shook his head and sighed. "Listen. I wanted to give you sword-fighting lessons. They will help you both in fighting monsters and real life. I know you don't have a cabin to train with, but I don't either. So maybe we can train together?"

I smiled at him. "When do we start, Mr. Jackson?"

He smirked. "Now, if you want."

Fifteen minutes later, Percy and I were down in the ring they used for training. Percy had a pen in his hand as I searched for a sword that felt right. I turned around to look at him in exasperation and noticed that he had a sword on his hand.

"Wha- huh?" My intelligent response stopped before it reached my mouth.

Percy laughed, did something to the handle, and the pen was back. "So why has no one here worked with you on your swordsmanship yet? It usually starts on the day you arrive at camp. Or, shall I say, the first day you're conscience." He winked at me.

I laughed. "I have friends here, but none of them ever took interest in training me I suppose. Besides, I heard the real training always happens during the summer." My shoulders raised once before dropping.

Percy walked over to the lines of swords that I was sorting through. He grabbed one, passing it to me. "That's probably because most of the people here have seen Thalia fight before, maybe even fought against her. Try this one."

"You knew Thalia?" Interest sparked in my voice, but I attempted to focus on the sword I was spinning. "It feels better, but it's still not quite right."

"Yeah, I knew your sister." Percy studied the lines again while he was talking. "Let's just say our personalities were too similar too often. She was a great friend, though. Everyone liked her." He grabbed another one and held it out to me.

I sighed as I grabbed it. "She was always the more… Open of the two of us." I paused as I tested the sword. "Percy, was she anything like me?" I put the sword down and shook my head.

Percy leaned against the table, appearing to be deep in thought. "Was she anything like you…?" His eyes drifted off into the distance before snapping back to me. "Yes, I suppose. But no. You two look very much the same, but you appear softer and more, shall we say fragile?" Percy chuckled. "But if you're asking about personality, I can't say much because I haven't known you for very long.

"You both are obviously driven; it's written on your faces. Both of you are smart, funny and sarcastic. Thalia was always a bit more defensive and she snapped much more frequently. As for you, Ever," Percy winked again, "You are much more relaxed, much more comfortable to go with the flow. You don't force your way into people's lives; you couldn't really care less whether the world hates you or not."

I laughed, leaning against the table. "If only you knew how wrong you were." I turned to meet Percy's inquisitive gaze again. "Will you tell me more about Thalia another time?"

"Sure." Percy picked up the first sword he had handed to me. "We will train with this sword for the time being. It may not fit you as well as desired, but it's the best we have. We'll have to forge you one of your own soon."

"Can it be a mechanical pencil that, when clicked, turns into a sword?"

Percy let out a full laugh. "We'll have to talk to Beckendorf about that one." We exchanged smiles as we walked away from the table.

"Okay." I swung the sword around a few times, trying to become accustomed to the feeling. "So what do I do?

"Well, you have ADHD, don't you?"

"Uhm." I played with my hair that was up in the knot, making sure everything was in the hair band. "I'm not sure."

Percy gave me an odd look.

"I've never been to school before."

The shield he had grabbed fell out of his hands. "You've never…" He trailed off.

I shook my head, keeping my eyes fixed on the ground in shame. I mean, what other fourteen-year-old girl had never been to school! Thalia had gone to school! But I never had. I knew she had ADHD and dyslexia, but I had no idea if I did. A hand reached out to the underside of my chin, gently pulling it up to face the body to which it belonged.

"I'm sorry. I should've had a better reaction. You just took me surprise. I've been going to school my whole life, along with most of the kids here, at least before they became campers. You took me by surprise, that's all."

I turned my face away from the hand, which led me to believe Percy would withdraw it. Instead, he put a hand on my arm. "Hey." His voice was gentle. "Ever, it's nothing to be ashamed of. I mean, some of the smartest people in history have made it by without ever going to school."

I took a deep breath before looking into his eyes, those green eyes. "In my case, I should be very ashamed. I should've attended school like a normal child. It's not like I didn't attend because I was so smart that I didn't need to go to school. It wasn't that my mom wanted to home school me."

"Then what?" Percy asked me softly.

I sighed and sat down in the dirt. I pulled my knees to my chest and wrapped my arms around them. I placed my chin on my knees as I prepared myself to speak, choosing my words as carefully as I could.