of half-bloods and happenings
a beginning
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Lacy knew she was mad the moment the new kid at school ripped off his pants to reveal a pair of hairy legs. And no, not hairy as in geez, that guy seriously needs a shave, but hairy as in my God, those thighs belong on a mountain goat, not a human!
Well, there she was, spending the typical afternoon at her dad's hair salon, skimming through the black and white newspapers - she always stopped to look at the pictures, even if they were pretty awful ones of the country being torn to pieces by that freak storm system last week - when, lo and behold, the new guy from her grade flung open the door to enter. It was kind of normal, Lacy guessed, except for the fact that he wasn't wearing any pants. And where the pants should've been…well, there was enough hair down there to make Lacy shriek.
Her dad, being a typical dad, didn't hear her - he was far too engrossed in his latest customer. But something he did hear, a moment later, was the smashing of the huge glass windows across the front of the store as a weird scaly thing too big to be anything but a fairy tale slithered its way inside. Lacy's dad yelped, dropped his razor and almost slicing off his client's ear. The woman didn't seem to mind. She was too busy high-tailing it out of the store to worry about OH&S issues.
Lacy backed up against the far wall, knowing deep in the marrow of her bones that this freakishly tall monster was only after one thing - her. It turned its head, scaly nostrils flaring, but before it could strike, the new kid grabbed her shirt collar and dragged her from the salon. He wasn't gentle doing so, either. Lacy's head bashed against the brick wall outside - really, really hard - and the whole world tipped out of focus. Her vision went fuzzy, the buildings around her distorting into the types of things you see in circus funhouse mirrors. There was a strange buzzing in her ears, and then suddenly the sky went black and Lacy knew no more.
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She woke in a wood-panelled room, flannel sheets encasing her body even though it was still summer (just, anyway). She sat bolt upright in bed, her braces clinking unpleasantly together, before registering that she wasn't alone. In the corner of the room, three chairs were occupied: one by that new kid with the - oh God, Lacy thought, as she looked down at his legs. She forced her gaze away.
The other two people in the room were a handsome guy with intense green eyes who looked about sixteen, leaning his head casually against the wall, and a pretty Asian girl who reeked of make-up and bad news. Lacy narrowed her eyes warily at the girl, recognising the unmistakable scent of designer perfume. She reminded Lacy of the bullies at school, the ones who teased her for being dyslexic, and who tugged on her plaits when the teachers weren't looking.
The green-eyed guy noticed she was awake first. He straightened in his chair, casting Lacy a disarming smile, and nudged his companions. The girl looked up from her fingernails, cocking a single eyebrow at Lacy, taking in her dishevelled clothes and rumples hair. Lacy blushed.
"Well," the girl began, "Welcome to Camp Half-Blood, and all that. I'm Drew, head counsellor for Aphrodite, blah blah blah; I hope you enjoy your stay." She stood from her chair. "Oh, and before you come and settle in at the cabin," Drew gave Lacy a condescending once-over, "Make sure you clean up a little. Thanks, hon." The girl exited, leaving the overpowering smell of Lola perfume in her wake.
The handsome guy stood as well. "Sorry about Drew," he said. "She's just not used to being head counsellor yet…you'll get to like her, I just know it." The guy sounded pretty sceptical himself. "I'm Percy, by the way. I know this must be confusing for you…d'you want me to show you around, explain things a bit?" He smiled kindly, his eyes warm.
Lacy hesitated. Don't talk to strangers, she told herself, but then again, if they'd wanted to kill her, they'd had a million and one chances to do so while she'd been unconscious. So, what the hell. Lacy nodded, and slid her legs out of bed, noting in dismay how pale she was, and how weak she felt. Percy stepped forward and helped her up, steering her towards the door.
"We'll go slowly," he said. "Oh, and this is Midge. He's sorry for knocking you out like that." The goat-dude nodded, and Lacy scooted past him quickly on her way to the door with Percy. She still didn't trust that new guy - was he even a regular guy? she wondered - and didn't want to take any chances with him. She shuddered to think of those…those legs. Ugh.
Percy led Lacy down a longish corridor, and out onto a large porch painted sky-blue. "Whoa," she breathed, taking in the scene. It was a kind of summer camp, but no summer camp Lacy had ever been to included a lava climbing wall, what looked like a sword-fighting arena, and…was that a chariot race going on? Lacy stared at the sight in wonder.
Percy's arm dropped from around her waist. "Welcome to Camp Half-Blood," he said, and Lacy could hear the smile in his voice. "I know this must be weird for you, I remember my first day here… Come on, and I'll show you our orientation film. Hopefully it'll help." He walked slowly back inside and turned in the doorway, waiting for Lacy to join him.
She lingered. The smell of fresh strawberries heightened her senses, and even though she was confused about everything, a little creeped out by goat-boy - or was it Midge? - and didn't entirely believe that this was all real, she felt happier than she had in a long time, and, finally, after so many years of moving place to place with her dad, she felt like she was finally home.
Lacy turned her back on the campus, took Percy's outstretched hand, and followed him into the house, unable to shake the feeling that the biggest adventure of her life was about to begin.
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Author's Note: Different to what I was expected to write…but when the writing muse takes hold, you just have to go with it. And yeah, this is set at the end of TLO. I always imagined Lacy to be one of the influx of new campers after the war…she seemed too young to be anything but. So, yay! Thanks to everyone for reviewing! Hopefully Percabeth next, guys! {Oh yeah, and I entirely invented Midge. It was super hard coming up with a name for him…hope it sounds plausible and satyr-like!}