I called my parents on a phone from a hotel that was close to the beach, just to let them know that I'm alive. We didn't have any money, but I had persuaded a cranky hotel clerk to allow me to use their phone really quickly. Adam and I stood in a little but official office room behind the main desk in the lobby.

People were staring at us, most likely because of how we looked; our clothes were still bloodied, not to mention sliced and burned from battle. I ignored them and nervously twirled the cord around my finger as it continued to ring. After a couple of suspenseful rings, my mother picked up.

"Hello?"

"Mom," I hesitantly started.

"Althea!" She cried from the other side of the line, her tone sounded angrily relieved. "Where in the world are you? You've been gone for two weeks! And where's Adam? Is he with you? His parents have been more worried than us!" She kept babbling off questions and statements on how angry my parents are at me and how I'm so grounded once we get home. I sighed and decided to answer her.

"Mom, just calm down... Adam and I are fine. But I do have some bad news…" There was a distressed pause before she answered back.

"What is it, Althea?" She asked. I looked at Adam for support as I answered; he was standing next to me.

"We're kind of; well, sort of, in California." My mom exploded.

"What? What do you mean California? How on earth did you get there? You didn't drive, right? That would mean my child broke the law! Oh, honey, our child's a law breaker!" She cried to my dad and I rolled my eyes. He was technically my step father now, but I didn't want to make our relationship awkward, so I called him my dad anyway.

"No, mom, I didn't drive. Adam did."

"In what vehicle?" I could hear my mom discussing something with my dad after she asked. I bit my lip; I was really hoping that this question wouldn't appear in our conversation.

"We took Adam's dad's corvette."

"You should probably mention that we lost it too," Adam said, crossing his arms. I put an impatient hand up, covering the lower part of the phone with my free hand.

"We'll deal with that once we get home." I responded to him and my mom finally got back on the line. And somehow, she seemed a bit calmer; I didn't think that was possible.

"How are you going to get home?" My eyes flickered from Adam's and then down to the ground.

"Um, we're still thinking about that, really. We do have somewhat of a plan, though." I heard my mom let out a tired sigh.

"Will I see you again?" She questioned me, making me smile sadly.

"Of course you will, mom." I felt that sensation of burning in my throat, my vision blurring as tears formed. "I promise."

"All right, Althea. I guess this is goodbye for now." I nodded.

"Yes, I guess so. Goodbye, mom."

"Goodbye, honey." She was the first to hang up; I knew she was disappointed in me. That probably hurt more than the homesickness that replaced the guilt. I rested the phone back on the receiver and looked up at Adam. His eyebrows furrowed with concern and he took my hand, giving it a squeeze. I immediately smiled.

"Althea!" My eyes darted to Evan as he sneakily jogged into the room. "Chandler knows a way to get us home."

"Well, lead the way." I said. Adam's hand and mine left each other's as we followed Evan out of the hotel's entrance and towards the dock.

Chandler had her hands on her hips as she surveyed the floating boats at the dock. I joined by her side, my arms crossed. I heard Adam and Evan talking from behind me. Alexander stood stiffly beside Chandler; his eyes were squinting because of the sun.

"So what's your plan?" She jumped a bit but looked at me over her shoulder.

"We could take a boat back, Althy. It won't cost us anything and we'd be back in a matter of no time."

"All right, all right," I nodded. "I like the sound of that." Chandler nodded this time.

"I just don't see a boat big enough for the five of us. The majority of them are for two people, maybe three." I shrugged.

"We can make it work. Evan will sit on my lap or something, if he has to."

"That's kind of dangerous, though." She contemplated but I shook my head.

"It won't compare to the danger I'll be in once I get home." I brought my hands together, turning around to look at Adam and Evan.

"Okay, guys. Follow Chandler's instructions and we'll be home soon." Adam and Evan nodded, walking over to Chandler. Chandler finally chose a boat; it looked big enough to fit us all in, surprisingly. It was a plain white with some blue designs on the side of it. It wasn't that flashy altogether, which was just what we needed. Chandler would be driving it since…well, you know.

We all climbed aboard, Chandler somehow had managed to unhook it from the dock and she walked over to the driver's side. It required a key, but that was no problem, she had the engine running soon enough. I don't know how, but I didn't question it.

Adam and Evan sat on a small bench that was across from Alexander and I, we occupied the other bench on the boat, and Alexander's staff still took up his hands. I didn't know how he got it, but I'm sure there was a really cool back-story to it, especially since his mother was the Titan goddess of the moon.

Chandler pulled away from the dock and sped off into the ocean. I smiled as I watched Adam and Evan vividly talked about something. I knew everything was going to be okay.