On the walk back, the boy told me his name was Ryan. He told corny jokes and tried to make me laugh. His boyish grin reminded me of Ben and my heart filled with guilt. I remembered the limp body on the floor and the devilish shriek of Amber. I could feel tears welling up in my eyes but I willed myself not to cry in front of Ryan. Crying in front of a cute boy is never a good way to introduce yourself. We cut through the strawberry field and started towards the cabins. The sun was sinking below the foamy sea in the distance and making the sky a pearly pink. Ryan told me that he really enjoyed working on mechanics and that his father was Hephaestus.

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, right." I said, crossing my arms. "Then my dad is Zeus."

"I wouldn't say that if I were you." Ryan warned. The sky that had been pink seconds before had turned gray. Lightning rumbled overhead. "You can't just go around saying a god's name."

"Why?" I demanded, suddenly feeling rebellious. "There's a freedom of speech here. I can say whatever I want."

Ryan shook his head. "You don't understand the power of names." He made me sound like I was a naive child who didn't understand anything. I was annoyed and defiant.

"Zeus! Hera! Ares!" I hollered.

"No! Don't-" He said it a little too late, because- Boom! A lightning bolt struck the ground we were standing next to. I screamed and tried to stamp out the fire on my shirt.

"And that is why you shouldn't say things like that." Ryan said grimly. His shoes were half melted into the ground and his hair was singed at the top. I doubt I looked any better.

"Um….sorry?" I said shakily.

"Don't apologize to me, apologize to the nymph." He wrenched his sneaker from the dirt.

"Are you still serious about this god thing?" I asked. "Things like this could happen all the time! And besides, he isn't even real! There's actually science behind lightning! The greeks only made him up 'cause that needed and explanation about how the world worked!" Ryan stared at me. I glared back. But when I turned around, I saw a very angry lady glaring at me. Ryan was staring wide-eyed at her with a horrified expression on his face. I gasped in surprise and backed away when I realized her skin was green tinted. Some parts of it were red and swollen. Her her dress was singed black and her hair was wispy and dry, like corn husks. The tree behind her didn't look any better. The tips of the tree were charred and sizzling.

"How dare you burn my tree!" The lady shrieked. She looked down right murderous. "I will get revenge on you!"

"Come on!" Ryan hissed.

Ryan grabbed me by the shoulders and steered me away.

"W-w-what...was t-t-that?" I stuttered, shaken by the angry green lady. Was she the Hulk's aunt? Why did she look soo... green?

"That was a nymph." Ryan said.

"Look, Ryan, I'm sorry… I… believe you now…" I stammered, looking at the ground. Ryan shook his head.

"It's too late for sorry now 'cause that nymph is really going to make your life terrible here. I'd watch out for mud in your pillows if I were you." A bunch of kids at a table inside the pavilion were waving at him and he walked away. Leaving me feeling very scared, confused and guilty. I could have stood there for a century, but the centaur walked by me and invited me to sit at one of the tables. I could have ran right then, but I was actually starting to believe this nonsense about gods and goddesses- the tree nymph and the lightning bolt had totally convinced me. I sat down at a crowded table and was squashed between a boy and a girl. The girl was around my age and she looked elfish. so did the boy. He however, was around six or seven. As I looked around the table, I noticed that nearly all the people sitting there had almost the same features- elfish faces and sneaky smiles. The girl smiled at me and I instinctively clutched my necklace. She looked like she wanted to pick my pockets. She frowned at me.

"I won't steal your necklace!" She said, looking offended. "Just because I'm a daughter of Hermes doesn't mean that I'm always thief!" I noticed how she said the word "always".

"Daughter of Hermes?" I asked cautiously, "Isn't that the god of- "

"Yes, thieving, travelers, etcetera." She interrupted. "And you, are obviously not a child of Hermes."

"Wait." I said. "If you're a daughter of Hermes, is everyone else at this table a child of Hermes?"

"Duh!"

"Then why am I here?" I asked, annoyed.

"Because you're unclaimed! Hermes is the god of travelers, he takes care of all the unclaimed people!" She said this as if it were obvious.

I didn't want to ask her what unclaimed meant so I dug into my meal. It was good. Really good. The barbeque was making me thirsty so I asked the person across the table where I could get water. The boy stared at me with a strange look on his face.

"It's in your cup, duh." He responded.

"What?"

He sighed and said, "Just say what drink you want!" It seemed odd, but I did. Then, he turned back to his food.

"Lemonade?" I said warily. How was saying a word going to help? Was this guy just pulling my leg? Hermes was the god of tricksters… right at that moment, I suddenly realized my cup was now full of-

"Lemonade!" I cried. Everyone around me stared. I was considering about ducking under the table when someone farted loudly. The Hermes table snickered and giggled while a table of tough looking kids belched loudly in return. A table of girls in gucci clothing fanned their noses and glared. I gave a sigh of relief. The attention was finally off me.

After dinner, we all gathered around the campfire. We toasted marshmallows and sang songs. I tried to fit in and not let my marshmallows catch on fire. I didn't know any of the songs the people sang. They were songs like "My Nereid lies in the Ocean" and "I like Ambrosia". When the fire died out, everyone started to head towards the cabins. I was confused and scared. What cabin would I sleep in? What if I went to the wrong cabin? I followed the crowd towards the cabins. Someone grabbed me by the sleeve and pulled me back.

"Hey!" I shouted and tried to yank my sleeve away. The hand let go of my sleeve.

"Don't run." The voice was soothing. I let it wash over me like a wave. I froze. Of course I wouldn't run. "Turn around and face me." The voice demanded. I whirled around. A girl was standing there, glaring at me. She was no older than I was, but she looked regal and beautiful. I instantly despised her. She had no pimples, no acne and her skin was perfect.

"Cora, don't you get to attracted to Ryan." She said, her amber eyes staring right at me. "He's mine. He will be mine soon."

"I don't even know-" I squeaked, scared.

"Shut up." She demanded. I instantly stopped talking. It was like my mind wanted her to be it's ruler, but my heart didn't want her to. I was terrified. How did she control me? Was this magic? Was she a greek goddess in disguise?

"Jewel!" A voice shouted. The girl's eyes widened and she turned and ran. I stood frozen on my spot.

"Are you ok?" A person walked up to me. In the dim light of the moon, I could see a girl with thick, black hair and dark, velvety skin. "Sorry." She apologized. "Jewel… is well… " She winced. "Rather, uh, normal… compared to the other Aphrodite girls." Normal? Her? This girl must be crazy.

"How does she… control minds?" I asked.

"Well, sometimes, Aphrodite kids get the power to charm speak. But we rarely do. Drew has charmspeak, well, now she's in college and she can't hurt anyone at camp anymore. Also, Jewel has charmspeak. She's like a mini version of Drew, practically. It's torture. Piper, our old counselor also had charm speak but she used it for good reasons." She stuffed her hands in her jeans. "Because she's off fighting, I'm now the counselor."

"So… Jewel isn't a goddess?"

The girl threw her head back and laughed. "No." She said. "But I bet she wished she was."

"Um… where do I go?" I asked. "To sleep, I mean."

"Oh." She said. "To the Hermes cabin. Here, let me show you." All the people were almost gone and most of the lights in the cabins were off. "Oh no!" She exclaimed suddenly. I stopped and instantly started to look around. Was there an angry tree nymph? " I forgot to tell you my name!" She said. "Well, my name's Luna." The name seemed fitting for her. She was elegant and tall and she seemed to be emitting light and positive energy. We stopped in front of an old beaten down cabin- an emphasis on the word old. Even in the dark, I could see the peeling paint on the cabin.

"Thanks." I told Luna as I stepped inside. It seemed like a pretty normal cabin. A couple of bunks filled with people, a few sleeping bags on the floor. The cabin looked worn down from the inside too. The corners of the cabin had cobwebs and there were dust bunnies underneath the bunks.

"Erm…" I said awkwardly as everyone stared at me. "Where do I sleep?" A person who looked like a high schooler spoke up.

"We stole you a sleeping bag from the camp store. It's right there." He pointed at a blue sleeping bag on the floor, then grinned mischievously. "I hope you enjoy your stay here."

I walked over to the sleeping bag, tired and relieved. I sat down- blarp! Everyone snickered. My face was totally red. I stood up and pulled out a Whoopee Cushion from underneath my sleeping bag. I glared at the high schooler who shrugged and said, "What? I didn't do it. Those pranks are for beginners." I shot one last glare at him, then disappeared into my sleeping bag. I stuck my hands under my pillow and-

"Ewww!" I exclaimed. "What is this?" I unearthed a bottle of toothpaste from underneath my pillow. My hands were covered in gooey paste and my pillow smelled like mint. That was the final straw. Maybe, I could find Luna and she'll let me sleep in her cabin. I thought. I rolled the sticky sleeping bag into a ball and kicked it at a Hermes kid. Then, I stormed out into the night. There was practically no light, so I stumbled around blindly. I assumed the Aphrodite cabin would be pretty and delicate, but it was way better than I imagined. The light inside the cabin was still on and through the window, I could see that the walls were white marble and the floor was pink and fuzzy. I stepped inside and nearly fainted at the strong smell of perfume. A gaggle of girls were sitting on the ground in a circle gossiping. I found Luna sitting on her bunk reading a fashion magazine.

"Um…" I said. "Luna?" Luna looked up from her magazine.

"Hi! Wait. What are you doing here?" She asked, looking extremely confused.

"Well… the Hermes kids are a little… uh… actually… very prankster-like."

Luna looked at my hands and my shirt, which was smeared in toothpaste. "What happened?" She asked. I explained everything. From the Whoopee Cushion, to the toothpaste and, of course, Jewel. "Jewel gets whatever she wants. Her dad is an actor in Hollywood and he gives her everything she demands. She's never had competition for a boy ever."

"But, I don't even like him!" I said. "I just met him!"

"Well, " Luna continued. "Ryan.. didn't fall for Jewel at all. Most boys fall for all Aphrodite kids… but… Ryan wasn't a sucker for money and beauty."

"Luna?" I asked.

"Yes?"

"Do you have an extra sleeping bag I could use? Maybe I could just stay here for a night?" I asked hopefully.

"Oh, yeah. Sure you can." She said. She pulled out a light pink sleeping bag and a lacey white pillow from the supply closet. I peeked over her shoulder and saw a pair of hideous nurse shoes sitting on the middle shelf.

"What's that?" I asked, pointing at them.

"They're the punishment shoes from when Drew was a counselor." She shuddered. "They don't match with anything at all."

"Uh… that's terrible." I said and hoped she didn't detect any sarcasm. Luna nodded solemnly. I turned my laughter into a cough. I spread the sleeping bag on the floor and zipped myself inside. It was surprisingly fluffy and felt like my bed at home. The moment my head hit the pillow, I fell asleep.