Hey! So sorry to everyone who is amazing and is reading this story; but between school, band, chorus, laziness, drama auditions, call-backs and rehearsals, procrastination, eating, and sleeping; I really haven't had much spare time at all! To try to make it up to you guys, I think this is my longest chapter yet! Sorry it took so long to update, but I have a very weird way of writing, I either just start writing and don't stop or I write the ending first and then figure out what has to happen for me to have that ending! Anyway, I own nothing in this story except some things that I just thought of at the most random points!
~monkeypicklez
As we stepped off the bus, I turned down the volume on my iPod and put the ear buds back into my ears. Pocketful of Sunshine was playing, and I thought it was perfect for traveling on the sun! All the Hunters piled off of the bus and dragged our stuff behind us, while everyone at the camp was standing there staring at us. Now I know what is so annoying about these demigods; they act like we're aliens from the planet Pluto or something!
I stood by Lauren and Thalia while Apollo hopped out of his car and went to go say hello to his children. Gods, does he have a lot of kids! Or maybe he just claims his kids more than the other gods and goddesses do. Either way, his cabin is almost as full as the Hermes cabin was before the promise the gods took.
Zack and Taelor were greeted warmly by most of the demigods and when people learned who their mother was, they all took off towards the cabins. There were a lot more than twelve cabins now, and I don't feel like standing here and wasting my time counting them all. That could take forever.
Thalia led us towards a man who was taller than everyone else around him; no, wait, he wasn't just tall, HE WAS A CENTAUR! That is so cool! He's half horse and half man; but I think I heard Thalia call him Chiron. Whoa, is that THE Chiron; probably is considering that I just rode on the sun driven by Lord Apollo himself and am one of the Hunters of Artemis. I guess I should get used to this.
We heard Chiron welcome us all to Camp Half-Blood, and then we headed off towards Artemis's cabin. After dumping our stuff off there, Lauren, Ella, and I went out to explore the camp. I didn't know it was so big!
Passing by the arts and crafts cabin, we heard a lot of laughing and decided to go investigate. We walked in to find a bunch of teenagers all with blond hair and gray eyes, just like Lauren. Hey, they must be her siblings! Gosh, maybe all the gods and goddesses have a lot of kids, not just Apollo.
They were all staring at us, until the smallest one there walked up to Lauren. She must have been around six, and she was standing in front of us, looking almost straight up to us.
"Are you one of my sisters too?" Aw, she is so cute!
"If you are a daughter of Athena, then yes. I'm Lauren." The little girl watched her for a little while before hugging her around the leg; because that was the highest she could reach. Lauren smiled a little bit, and Ella and I grinned at her.
"Sorry about that, she loves to meet more of our half-siblings. I'm Antonia, by the way." The girl now addressing Lauren had stepped out from the group. She had blond hair with natural highlights in it. Her eyes were gray, but they looked blue in different lighting sometimes. (Based off of one of my friends!)
All of the rest of the kids in the cabin starting smiling and we all started talking. Well, the guys didn't really participate in our conversation, but they had one of their own while all of us girls talked.
Before we knew it, the conch shell was blown and it was time for dinner. All of us walked out together, and Lauren, Ella, and I joined the rest of the Hunters. We entered the dining pavilion with all eyes on us. I don't normally care if people are watching me, but I can't stand people watching me either read or eat. It's just really unnerving in my opinion.
Mr. D stood up from the head table, and everyone's heads switched from us to him. He looked extremely bored and like he really didn't want to be here. After he said something about punks, rules, and a lot of grumbling, he sat back down again.
That was when Chiron stood up and said that there was going to be a game of Capture the Flag tomorrow afternoon. Judging by the vicious look on my fellow Hunters' faces and the expression on the campers faces, I was guessing that Capture the Flag turned ugly. This was definitely not going to be a friendly game.
Then, wood nymphs came out with platters holding so many different types of food that it would take me way too long to list and describe them all here. There were even a few vegan dishes just for us Hunters. I liked the fact that we got special treatment; it made me feel so loved.
Our glasses remained empty though, so I surreptitiously looked over at Thalia trying to figure out what to do. She stared at her glass for a few seconds as though thinking, and then said "Water" and her glass filled up with clean and pure water.
I gaped for about ten milliseconds, then turned to my own glass and did exactly what Thalia had. It worked perfectly, and the water was cool and refreshing. Then, everyone got up and offered the best part of their meal to the god and/or goddess of their choice. I decided to offer my food to Lady Artemis.
When everyone was done eating, Chiron told us that the Apollo cabin would be leading a sing-along. We all followed them out to a giant amphitheater where there was a huge bonfire. I wonder if Lady Hestia is here somewhere, or if that fire is just magical; probably both.
The Apollo kids all set up this huge technological miracle that allowed them to project an instrumental version of any song they wanted. It was complete and total genius! I watched as a daughter of Apollo, who looked around thirteen with wavy blond hair that came down a little past her shoulders and brown eyes, stepped up to the microphone first. (Based extremely loosely off of myself! I wish I sang that well!)
Everyone was staring at her, waiting for her to start singing. They must have heard her before, because they looked like they were expecting her to be the best singer they ever heard.
The beginning of the song Make History by Allison Stoner started playing, and the mystery girl started singing. I have to admit, she was good. Her soprano voice rang out through the speakers and sounded perfectly in tune and on time with the music. When the song ended, the crowd yelled for an encore and she obliged. This time, A Year Without Rain by Selena Gomez and the Scene blared through the speakers and the girl sang in more of an alto range.
She ended her performance with an embarrassed smile and handed the microphone to the next person in line. The guy running the whole show yelled out "Let's give it up for Taylor!" The girl whose name is apparently Taylor stepped off the stage and immediately got mobbed by here friends. I was slightly surprised to see Antonia in the group, but was even more surprised when Taylor dragged her and one other girl over to the line of people waiting to have their chance in the spotlight.
It was finally Antonia's turn, and she got up on stage. The music started to play and she surprised everyone by belting out the lyrics to Break Your Heart by Taio Cruz but changing them ever so slightly. We all just kind of stared, and then began to clap so loudly that the wood nymphs threw us dirty looks. She was amazing!
Then the other girl that was pulled on stage by Taylor was standing in front of the microphone. Her name turned out to be Christina, and she was a daughter of Lethe. She had straight blond hair that went halfway down her back, and chocolate brown eyes. (Again, based off of one of my friends! Hotdoghea3, if you are reading this, YES! THIS IS YOU!) I never knew that Lethe had any kids; it must have taken a lot to make her remember to claim them.
She waited for the music to start before softly singing along. Taylor was standing next to her, motioning for her to "project her voice" and sing louder. Cristina started to actually use the mike and her voice came out of the speakers. I now recognize the song she was singing as New Love in Town by Europe; it was hard to hear before.
The song faded out, and Cristina turned bright red. I didn't know that anyone could blush that much, but she was a deeper shade of pink than the sweaters that most of the Aphrodite cabin was wearing. I had never thought that was even possible!
Cristina and Taylor climbed down and walked back to their group of friends that included them, Antonia, a girl with brown hair and hazel eyes, another brunette this time with blue eyes, and then a blond girl and a girl with dyed black hair who looked slightly excluded as if they weren't really part of the circle but wanted to be. (Each and every one based off of people in my class!) They were all grinning and congratulating the three that sang, while Taylor and Antonia tried to convince the two brunettes to go sing.
They managed to talk the blue eyed girl into it, but not the other one. I could hear their conversation perfectly now, because the last singer, who was a thirteen-year old boy about 5 feet tall with blonde hair that looked like a shrub (haha, inside joke!), had just finished the song Hey There Delilah and the applause were dying down. He walked off stage, and joined a short blond girl who looked about his age, and they hugged. AW! (Yeah, more of my insane friends in demigod form!)
The brunette with blue eyes was named Alexandria and the girl who was refusing to sing under any circumstances was named Margaret. Taylor and Margaret seemed to be the loudest ones there, and they were on opposite sides of the argument.
It ended with Taylor winning and Margaret and Alexandria heading up to where the microphone sat waiting for them. Alexandria went first probably so that she could show Margaret that it was nothing to worry about. She sang IYIYI with the words changed ever so slightly so that she wouldn't be proclaiming her love for a girl, because I don't think she goes that way. Margaret then took the mike from Alexandria and told the guy running the show what song she wanted.
You could hear the beginning chords of Just Dance by Lady Gaga. I briefly wondered how Mr. D would react to the mentions of alcohol in it, but he was, WHOA! THIS IS NOT REAL! IS MR. D ACTUALLY SMILING! Whoa, I didn't think that was ever going to happen in his immortal life! Why in Hades is Mr. D smiling while he is at Camp Half-Blood? I've been here for about four hours, and I already know that he hates the place!
Margaret finished her song, took a bow, and then ran off the stage to join her friends. I didn't realize until it was too late, that Thalia, Lauren, Ella, and a few other Hunters had pushed me forward to take her place. WHAT THE HADES? I do not do well singing solos for a lot of people, and now that gods claim their kids, Camp Half-Blood's demigod population counts as "a lot of people"!
What was I even supposed to sing? Wait, I knew the answer to that question. I pulled out my iPod and handed it to the guy standing over by the machine that runs the whole show. I had already set it on the song that I wanted, so all he had to do was play it. Thanks to Apollo improving it, my iPod now had the instrumental version of a song that never existed before!
The son of Apollo looked somewhat confused when I handed him the iPod, but he quickly got the idea. He plugged in my iPod so that the song started playing over the sound speakers. Everyone stared at me as the song Go the Distance (the Disney Mania 5 version by Lucas Grabeel) started. I quietly sang along into the microphone, but it projected my voice loud enough that everyone could hear it.
I started out really softly and in a high-pitched voice that actually worked well with the style of the song, but then I had to get louder and make my voice go into the lower half of the musical scale. People were just watching me, and it made me really nervous, but I just looked above their heads while I sang; a trick my old drama teacher taught me.
When the song was over, I dashed off stage as quickly as I could. I took the time to grab my iPod, and then walked to the back of the amphitheater. Then, Taylor started applauding and Antonia yelled out "Go Nicole!" Soon, half the crowd was clapping, and they were clapping FOR ME! I feel so loved!
Soon after the thunderous applause stopped, the two girls who had looked left out of the circle were getting up on stage and singing the song Seasons of Love. They were daughters of Aphrodite apparently. When their song ended, ten more people lined up to have their turn.
To end the night, a bunch of demigods all got up on stage together and half of them played musical instruments while the other half sang along with them. They played and sang Don't Stop Believing by Journey and it actually pretty close to the original except for the fact that they had one alto saxophone, two tenor saxophones, two trumpets, one clarinet, a guitar, a tuba, and three flutes instead of a piano and a few guys singing, but it still sounded epic. When they finished Mr. D got up on stage and took the mike for himself.
"Yes, yes, as always, Margaret was amazing and the rest of you were okay." Margaret blushed and looked at the ground while her friends laughed. Mr. D plays favorites! I thought he just hated everyone.
"Sorry Mr. D! We'll try to be better tomorrow!" Taylor told him, but it got picked up by the microphone and projected for everyone to hear. We all laughed, and everyone on stage high-fived each other. I'm guessing this is probably the way things work every night.
"Good. Now leave and go back to your cabins before I tell the cleaning harpies to eat you all!" I think that ends the sing-along. Everyone stood up and began making their way back to the cabins.
All of the Hunters went to Lady Artemis's cabin, number eight, together; even though some of them had broken away from the group to speak with their half-siblings during the campfire.
When we were about five feet away from the door, I saw a group of demigods all just standing around talking. They weren't even trying to get back to their cabins on time. There has to be a reason for that! So being the curious person that I am, I walked up to them as quietly as I could and listened in.
Yes! I finished the chapter! FINALLY! I am sorry it took so long, but the next one should be a lot quicker! Oh, my marching band is performing for the first time this Thursday night, so wish us luck! The more reviews I get, the more motivated I am to get over my laziness (it's probably my fatal flaw!) and update faster! Even if you couldn't care less if I update ever again in my life because you hate this story THAT much, please tell me anytime! Thanks!
~monkeypicklez