Chapter 3

Ryder pulled out some Ambrosia and ate it. They tried to tell her not to eat that much, but she wouldn't listen. Her vision turned red and her head went hot. She swallowed it anyways and then tried to flex her foot. It worked. She grabbed a knife off her nightstand and cut the tape off. She jumped up and smiled.

"Uh," Hazel said, "how are we going to get there?"

Ryder smiled.

"I know that look!" Piper said. "You have a plan that's either going to scare us, kill us, or put us in jail if we get caught! What is it?"

Ryder picked up her phone, told them to stay there, and walked outside. They stayed inside. She got all the way down the hall and dialed a number she hadn't dialed in months.

"Jeeves?" she said. "It's Ryder. Can you do me a favor? I need you to call Tim and tell him to fly the jet to the airport closest to Central Park…. Yea, he can just park there…. Oh, and when we land in Alabama, I need a limo at the airport to bring us to the house…. Yes, I want James to drive! Do you not remember me at all...? Ok…. Ok…. He is? Wow…. Who's with me? Oh, just some friends. Oh, some of them are scared of flying so can you, like; pack a bunch of gum and chips? Thanks…. I know I'm playing the rich girl card but I have to…. All right…. See you there!"

She went back in the room and smiled a weary smile and looked at Percy. "You're going to hate me…"

"What?" Percy said. His voice went panicky. "You got a plane, didn't you?"

She smiled. Leo gave her a confused look.

"Where'd you get the plane?" he asked.

Her face turned bright red. "I own one."

"YOU WHAT?" everyone screamed.

"Ok, so maybe I lied about something…. So to get there, we are going to take a plane." Percy's eyes got big. "When we get to the Birmingham Airport, someone's going to pick us up and take us to my house."

"So when are we getting on the plane?" Piper asked, her voice shaking.

"In a few hours, but Tim has to get here first."

"Who's Tim?" Leo asked.

Ryder's eyes got big. "He's… a friend."

She got a couple of funny looks, especially from Piper. Ryder wanted to say, "Your Aphrodite's showing!" but decided not to.

"Ok, look, he's the one flying the plane," Ryder said.

"STOP SAYING THAT WORD!" Percy said, covering his ears and closing his eyes. "It's bad enough that I have to get in one!"

They all snickered at him.

"Don't worry," Ryder said, stifling back a laugh. "Do you think Zeus would knock his own son out of the sky?"

"To kill me, yes."

"Atticus, would you get on a plane?" she asked.

"I love planes!" he said. "Especially when I was heading to Rome to go to college with my brother! First class!"

"Hey, Percy," Jason said. "Maybe you could get an on board seaweed wrap!"

Percy glared at Jason. "Seriously? A seaweed wrap? What kind of plane do you think we're getting on?"

"Or maybe blue tacos!" Leo added, shaking imaginary maracas. Everyone giggled.

"Oh shut up," Percy mumbled. He'd done uncovered his ears and opened his eyes. "Planes give me the creeps."

"Then go to sleep!" Ryder said.

"How many times have you been on a plane?"

"A lot more than you have!"

A few hours later…

Piper packed the last thing in her bag. Ryder had gone off in the woods, trying to "flag down the plane". She's crazy, Piper thought. Seriously, that big plane isn't going to land in the middle of CENTRAL PARK! Piper imagined the plane as one of those that holds a bunch of people. There was the sound of a plane right outside. Piper looked out the window. There sat a sleek black private jet with a golden dragon on the side. When Ryder saw the dragon, she gave the captain, Tim, the hold on symbol, and ran up the stairs.

"Hey!" Piper heard her call. "Has anyone seen my necklace?"

There was the sound of the door opening and Percy saying, "Sorry, I forgot I had it."

Ryder came in the room and grabbed her bag, her jacket, and she put her necklace on. It was the same symbol as the one on the plane. Ryder tucked it in her shirt and turned to Piper.

"You coming?" she asked. Piper nodded her head and grabbed her bag. By the time they got out, Hazel walked out of her room. She walked with them upstairs where the guys were there, looking over the sides and gawking at the plane.

"Where'd you get that?" Frank asked Ryder, dumbfounded. She looked over. It wasn't much of a drop. She jumped over and landed on the ground. When she hit, she rolled over in a ball twice. Then she jumped up and looked up.

"What's taking y'all so long? Want me to go get y'all's walkers?" she teased.

They walked downstairs on the steps. "You're crazy," Piper said.

"You're getting on my plane. Watch it, or I will leave you."

"OK!" Percy said, but Ryder and Frank pushed him up the stairs. Inside, Piper expected it to be small, but, boy was she wrong! On the inside, there was an electric guitar, a treadmill, an Xbox 360, a skateboard, and Percy's favorite.

"IS THAT BLUE CHOCOLATE CIPS COOKIES?" he said like a two year old. He walked over to the tray and began pigging out. He shoved like 5 in his mouth before he turned and looked at them. Blue chocolate covered his mouth. They began laughing. He licked his lips. "You know, flying isn't as bad as I remembered."