Chapter 10: Following my dreams

I let Sabrina and Glen sleep for a few hours. During the time I wandered around and found an exit with a carpool parking lot about a mile down from our camp. During the whole time cars sped by, all probably in a rush to get to work. When I got back to the camp I ate some beef jerky for breakfast and tried to think of a plan. We had to get to California from Ohio in eight days.

Thinking about getting to California made me think of Sydney. I wondered if I would come across her when we got there. She never told me what town or city she was moving to. I thought about what I would say to her if I ran into her. Hey these are my friends and demigods, have you met a guy named Percy Jackson by any chance? I kinda need to find him to prevent a war. Or maybe just say I'm on vacation and it's a coincidence? There's a part of me that really wants to try and find her but I know those odds are slim.

As I was pondering all of these scenarios in my head, Sabrina got up. She seemed to have her usual glow back. She didn't say anything to me and just started to pack her sleeping bag up.

"Good morning," I said. She replied back good morning and began to brush herself off. "What do you want for breakfast? We got some dried beef jerky, a bag of potato chips, and a pack of oreos." I think I had just described the ideal breakfast for half-bloods. My mood had drastically changed. I felt more hopeful since both Glen and Sabrina had told me about their history. I could finally understand where both of them were coming from.

"I'll take the jerky," said a voice coming from the woods. Glen turned around from behind a tree with his bag in hand. I tossed him the package. He looked like he had gotten a full night's rest, the opposite of Sabrina. Speaking of Sabrina, when Glen joined our discussion she turned so that she was facing him. She sat down with her knees up and kept an eye on Glen.

"Pass me the oreo's," Sabrina said as she focused on Glen. She still sounded like she was waking up.

While the two began eating I found a stick and made my way in front of the two. "Okay guys, so let's recap on what our mission is!" I said enthusiastically. A lot of moving parts had been going on so I wanted to make sure the three of us were on the same page.

"So first thing, find Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase so that the gods stop thinking we're starting a war," Both of them nodded their heads while chewing their food.

"To do that we need to follow The road to Athens, AKA the American highway system to California. There we will go to Camp Jupiter and look for Percy and Annabeth. So, any ideas on how to get to Cali?"

Everyone was silent for a moment before Glen spoke up. "Why don't we steal a car?"

"We can't steal a car!" Sabrina said.

"Why not?"

"Cause it's illegal!"

"So? I did it all the time when I wasn't at camp. The Hephaestus and Hermes cabins aren't the only ones who know how to hotwire a car!"

"Ugh well-"

I smacked my stick against the tree which made a whipping sound and got their attention. A trick I've seen teachers use all the time to quiet kids down. Even if the silence is brief.

"Glen, love the brainstorming but let's put that to the side for now," He nodded like a soldier who had just received an order from their commanding officer. " Eros said that he was stationed in Cleveland to keep track of demigods that came through. It's probably best to avoid any other temples."

"Not to mention him breaking the news about your moms 'great love story'," Glen said. I had tried to avoid thinking about that. I didn't know what to think of it. Eros had talked about it like it was the end of the world. He said it would have been better if I were to just die. I was hoping that this love story she was planning wasn't going to happen soon. I hoped that maybe just maybe this quest has nothing to do with it. I shook my head and felt like I was wrong.

"Let's worry about that later. Glen, when we were in New York you said that the mist was 'glitching'. Do you two think that might have something to do with the gods?"

Glen shrugged. I looked at Sabrina to see if she had any input. "The mist is used to hide monsters and can manipulate what mortals can see. Its under Hecate's domain. Any god can manipulate the mist but maybe someone ordered her to, well I don't know, make it glitchy?" Sabrina said.

"Make it glitchy?" Glen said. "Why would she make it glitchy?

Sabrina was about to either yell or insult Glen but was distracted by me. I grabbed my head like I was trying to remember something. "Adin, are you alright?" She asked me.

"Yea, yea it's just. Someone said that name in my dream last night," Memories of my dream had come back to me. I remembered being in a cage and a figure giving me food. I had remembered being on Olympus and seeing two gods. Both of them talking and planning everything like it was a cold war.

"You had a dream last night?" Glen asked.

"Yea, don't you guys have dreams?"

" Adin, demigod dreams are important. They actually have meaning and can indicate what's happened or what will happen in the future. Tell us what happened in your dream". So I explained everything to them that happened in my dream.

"What do you think?" She asked Glen which I can tell was hard for her by the way she said it.

"To me, it sounds like you maybe saw- or was Annabeth. Like you saw what her point of view was. That means that someone must have kidnapped her and Percy might be looking for her," He said.

" And what about the gods?" I asked. "Zeus is planning and putting minor gods all over the country." I thought the whole thing was ridiculous. This mess is just one big misunderstanding.

"Once we find Percy and Annabeth we'll be able to prove their innocence," Sabrina reassured me.

"It will be hard. The rest of the journey to California that is." Glen added. Then an insane idea came to me.

"What if we ask Mr. D for help?" I asked.

Both of them looked at me with dumbfounded expressions. It made me feel like a whole classroom was staring at me. It was like I said the dumbest, wrong answer to the easiest question.

"Mr. D doesn't even help out campers when he's on duty. What makes you think he's going to help us when, number one, he got released from those responsibilities. And number two, Zeus ordered all gods to report demigods they come across!"

She yelled at me like she does at Glen which didn't make me feel good about myself. She quickly caught herself and changed her attitude. "Look, all I'm saying is that it's a risk if we go ask Dionysus for help."

"It can't hurt just to ask. Besides, we don't know exactly what Zeus ordered him to do. Also its on the way to California." Sabrina rolled her eyes at me. "What do you think Glen," I asked.

A wicked grin came across his face. " Hey, I think it's a good idea. But, I think there's only one way we get to Springfield and follow the Road of Athens." Sabrina's shoulders slumped down.

I led everyone to the carpool lot I had discovered earlier. Glen seemed really excited to steal a car. He probably thought he could claim it as a spoil of war. I was going to try everything in my power to get him to abandon it later. When we arrived at the parking lot Glen eyed down an older Dodge Journey.

He pulled out his golden twin swords and began to wedge them in between the driver door. The door started to pull away from the car. Glen started fidgeting with the swords trying to hit the unlock button. Sabrina and I were on look out. Luckily traffic seemed to have died down and finally after ten minutes of struggling, Glen unlocked the door.

Glen started to hotwire the vehicle. During this time I was trying to justify stealing a car. I was a good kid growing up, although sometimes I had an attitude and temper. Never in my life would I have thought I would be an accomplice in a grand theft auto. I decided that we could abandon this vehicle later, a police officer would find it and call the owner who would pick it up. That made me feel a little better.

After what felt like another another ten minutes Glen finally got the car started and got behind the steering wheel. I hopped in the passenger seat since I knew Sabrina wouldn't sit next to Glen. Sabrina got in the back behind me and buckled up.

The road trip was surprisingly fun, although at the beginning Glen and Sabrina began to fight. They started arguing about what music to play. Glen wanted to play some rap and rock music. Sabrina on the other hand wanted to play a Taylor Swift CD that was in the car. When they couldn't decide, I finally intervened and said that we can take turns. It started with Glen, then Sabrina and then me. We agreed to whatever was on the radio and we could listen to one song before going to the next person. Sabrina however still always found a radio station that was playing Taylor Swift.

Sabrina ended up falling asleep which left me awake and alone with Glen. The radio station was playing some pop music which was the only thing keeping me from talking to Glen. I did feel a little awkward about last night but didn't say anything to him. We made a couple stops at some gas stations. The money we had wasn't a lot since we spent most of it on bus tickets. However, we were able to fill up the tank and buy some more snacks.

We passed by a couple of cops and police officers waiting in a speed trap area. Whenever we saw one I got worried but Glen didn't seem to care. He did however start to slow down when we saw signs for a toll booth coming up. We were about halfway to Springfield and finally saw the toll booth in the distance.

"Okay, so how do you want to get past the guards?"

"Guards?" I laughed. "Those are toll collectors dude we just got to pay cash".

"And that's the problem, we're out of cash"!

I frowned and looked back at Sabrina who was still sleeping. I tried to think of any ideas that could work. We could just abandon the vehicle and try to sneak past them? There was thick woods on the side of the highway we could sneak in. That however would just add more time to our quest.

Glen started to drive the car again. "Just act cool, I have an idea," Great, I was afraid to ask what his idea was but tried to have faith in him.

We made our way to the toll line. There were three cars in front of us and the whole time while waiting I was getting nervous. I kept on tapping my foot and tried to look for any loose change that was in the car. All I found was a pack of gum and an empty water bottle.

Finally we made our way to the toll collector. She was a heavy set lady with graying hair. She looked like all her energy had been drained, almost zombie-like. She pressed a button on her intercom system. "Five dollars," She sounded like she had a clogged throat.

"Five dollars!" I honestly said. "That's outrageous, all the other toll booths I've been to have only been a couple bucks!" I was genuinely annoyed by that. Even though I don't drive and only have my beginners license.

The lady stared at me, almost like she was hypnotized. "Sorry, inflation is a pain. I'll give you time to look for some money." She rested her head on her hand and looked at me like she was in love-. Oh gods, did this old lady think I was attractive?

"Thank you!" Glen said as he started to look for imaginary money. I sat there while the lady was staring at me which made me feel uncomfortable. I tried to look away but I could still feel her piercing gaze. After a couple minutes of her just staring at me, Sabrina began to stir which got the toll collectors attention.

"Flirt with her!" Glen whispered. I frowned at him, I had no experience nor desire to flirt with someone who was at least triple my age.

"So, um how's your day going?" The lady put her attention back on me and smiled.

"It's going alright, you're lucky it's not too busy today sweetie or else we'd have to have you turn around," I forced out a chuckle. In the rear view mirror I saw a cop car pull up behind us. A wave of dread came over me. At the same time Sabrina began to wake up even more.

"So, um I really like your hair." I said. Glen was still looking for change but raised an eyebrow at me like saying. Really? That's the best flirting you can do?

"Pssh, my hair is graying, It's not as pretty as it used to be".

I tried to think of something to say. "I don't think so. To me it looks like you have glitter in her hair."

This made her blush, I think I got her now. I looked in the rear view mirror and the cop car was still coming up. Sabrina was awake and looked at the woman and the woman looked back at her.

"So is this your girlfriend back here sweetie"?

Before I was able to say anything, Sabrina rolled down her window and responded for me. "No, I'm his cousin. I was visiting them from out of state and started to feel sick. I have Fakiterisa and they were taking me to the hospital."

The woman started to become suspicious. "And why didn't they take you to a closer hospital that's in state?"

"Fakiterisa is really rare and my hospital back home has all the records and medicine I need in case it starts to get bad again," Sabrina began to moan in pain. "It affects my bones and makes me sleepy.."

The toll collector raised her hand in the stop position and Sabrina stopped talking. She then leaned out from her little work box and motioned for the police officer to go to the next lane and gave him a thumbs up. The police car didn't hesitate and switched lanes.

"Well you seem like a bunch of good kids, I'll let you go with a warning to bring more money on your way back."

"Thank you so much you've been so kind!" I said trying to sound flirtatious. The toll collector gave me a wink which grossed me out and Glen sped off. The next carpool lot we came across we abandoned the car and got an older model sedan.

We got comfortable and began on the highway again. I tried to follow the signs on the highway but Sabrina had a map. She gave Glen directions to Springfield and he wasn't too happy to 'take orders'.

On the highway there were many billboards. They had advertisements for law firms, radio stations and fast food restaurants. Occasionally there would be signs that seemed out of place. The first one I saw was for New Pan's sanctuary, which had satyrs roaming and an open field. The next was a diner that was advertising 'artificial ambrosia', with what looked like cartoon versions of the gods next to it.

After driving for the whole day we made it to Springfield, Illinois. We abandoned the car on the outskirts of the city. The sun was shining and Sabrina seemed to bask in the sunlight. Glen led the way, which I was ok with since it meant less fighting between the two.

"That was some pretty good acting you did back there at the toll booth," I said to Sabrina. "After you woke up, you caught on quick".

"Thanks, I guess I've had some acting practice," her voice lacked any enthusiasm.

" What about that disease you started to talk about? Fakiterisa? What is that"?

She laughed. "Oh that's a fake disease. My dad once told me that if I ever need an excuse, Fakiterisa can get you out of anything!" She smiled again which made me feel better. Gods, I loved it whenever she smiled. It was like sunshine beating down on me.

When we made it in the city, we wandered for a few more hours. Glen was constantly on guard for monsters. Which if there were monsters, they never found us. We found an old city museum that had a map of the place. In the map it also had a list of all town halls, exactly what we needed.

We made our way to the halls as the sun was getting lower. It was probably around five or six when we got to the first one. There was nothing surrounding the place and even the grass was uncut. Glen however was determined to make sure the place was clear and looked inside through a window. Sabrina just stood back and watched with her arms crossed.

The next one we went to had cars in the parking lot. We started to go in only to find elderly people playing bingo on the inside. The elderly folks actually greeted us and invited us to come play with them. It seemed like a fun stop but Glen was convinced it was a trap.

Town hall number three was for sure a winner. The parking lot was packed and the building itself was decorated with balloons and streamers. We started to make our way up the stairs and inside. When we got to the door a lightskin teenager probably a few years older than us was blocking the door.

"Reservations?" He asked.

"Oh um sorry we didn't think we needed invitations. We were invited by a Mr. D?" I tried to sound confused. The guy looked at me and Glen and then to Sabrina.

"Who's Mr. D is that a teacher? Anyways even if someone did invite your group, you still need an invitation. It's RSVP. This is going to be a once in a lifetime party! However, Thomas told me chicks get in for free." He looked at Sabrina checking her out. His eyes widened looking at her which made me uncomfortable. Sabrina however decided to take this as an advantage.

"Cool, can I come back later with a friend?" He asked the doorman.

"Of course! Only if she's as pretty as you!" He replied.

I wanted to throw up. I looked at Glen and he didn't seem amused. He frowned just watching the whole thing play out. Sabrina smiled at the guy and started to walk away. "Come on guys, I heard Tyler is having a party we can check out." She said giving us a way out with her acting skills.

Sabrina took the lead this time and guided us down the street. During the walk she told us she had an idea. Eventually we found a park which gave us time to rest. We filled up our water canisters at a water fountain and sat us down to go over her plan.

"So, what's the move?" I asked.

She smiled mischievously. "Your cabin gave you makeup, right?" She asked me. I went to reach my backpack. I looked around and found the makeup bag that my half siblings gifted me. I handed her it and she took out a brush and some powder and began brushing my cheek..

I scooted back from her. "What are you doing?" I asked.

"I'm prettying you up! I'm not going to be the only one who goes in and looks for Mr. D." Glen began to laugh uncontrollably and I shot him a look.

"I'm not putting on makeup."

"Come on its just for a little bit"!

" Its not going to work! The guy said only girls can get in without an invite. And last time I checked I'm not a girl!"

"That's why we're going to dress you up, I have some extra clothes that you can wear. Besides, I don't think Glen would look good wearing a skirt."

Glen stopped laughing and looked at us. "Hey I can wear a skirt!" He said, sounding offended.

Sabrina and I both laughed. The first time I think Glens made me or Sabrina laugh.

"Hey dude, If you want to wear a skirt go ahead. It's the 21st century. No one cares what you wear" I said. Glen looked at me and rolled his eyes. He turned around but I think I saw him smile.

"So you'll do it? I mean you are really pretty" Sabrina asked me and she blushed. I also felt blood rushing to my face.

I sighed. I didn't care about dressing up. The only thing that bothered me was the makeup, it made my face itchy. "Yea, but…" I looked at the makeup bag. For some reason something came over me like instinct.

"You're doing this wrong. You have to start with mascara and then foundation so it looks more natural," I spoke like I knew what I was doing. Before I could do or say anything else I took the makeup from her and began applying it to myself. It took me a second before I stopped and looked at everyone.

Sabrina looked impressed that I knew my makeup. I looked at Glen again and he fell to the floor laughing at me for knowing that. I was confused. I knew nothing about makeup, I didn't even really know what foundation was. Yet when I looked inside the makeup bag, I knew everything in it. I knew what the shades of lipstick I had, how to apply the foundation, and how to do it perfectly.

When I actually started doing my makeup, I let my body flow. It felt natural what I was doing and only took me fifteen minutes. Sabrina began fixing my hair. She took any hair products that were given to me and made my short hair look more feminine. She then took two stickers off of them and placed them on my ear lobes. "Just for the illusion of earrings," She said. Glen still found this hilarious and continued to laugh on the ground.

I changed into the extra clothes Sabrina gave me in a public bathroom. It was a women's t-shirt and skirt which fit me surprisingly well although a little tight. We started to walk back to the party all while Glen was just smirking. I told him to wait a block away from the town hall and he agreed, although he wasn't happy about it.

I approached the entrance where the teenage security guard was. I was nervous, Sabrina however just kept on smiling. The older teenager looked at Sabrina before inspecting me. I felt like he would see right through my disguise. I crossed my legs and put my hands behind my back. I thought it would make me look cute.

"Wow I didn't know your friend was going to be this pretty!" He said and winked at me. I really, really wanted to push this guy down the steps. He opened the door and motioned for us to get inside. "I really like girls with short hair," He whispered to me and I walked faster inside.

The inside of the building looked like it was ready for a party. There were streamers strung up against the massive hall and following hallways. There were balloons tied up to tables and some loose balloons lying around. One part of the building had a huge room with a disco ball spinning. It was packed with people all over, some were talking however it didn't seem like they were in a party mood.

"Lets split up, ill talk with the people over there and you look around for Mr. D" Sabrina said.

I started to wander around, I looked for Mr. D for a couple of minutes before I got distracted. I found the best part of the party, the buffet table. Lined up were fried chicken, pasta, and loaded mashed potatoes. I hadn't had a good meal since Sally made us lunches. I didn't hesitate to go make myself a plate.

I filled my plate up with all the goods. I sat my table down and went back to grab brownies and cookies for dessert. I started scarfing the food down, people looked at me although they didn't question the hungry 'girl' sitting by herself. I looked around, Sabrina was nowhere in sight. There was however another man sitting on the other side of the room, drinking a diet coke.

I slowly got up with my plate and made my way to where he was sitting. A couple people were looking at me. A few of the guys winked and grinned at me. I finally made my way to Dionysus and asked the question. "Do you mind if I sit hear?" I said trying to sound more higher pitched.

The god looked up at me. He was wearing a button up Hawaiian shirt and cargo pants. His face didn't seem amused but motioned for me to take a spot across from him. He was wearing sunglasses despite the room already being a little dark but took them off. He looked at me and I looked down avoiding his sight. "Do I know you?" He asked

Before I was able to respond a voice came from my left. "This is the girl I was telling you about Thomas!" The darkskind doorman from earlier came up to the table with his friend. His friend kept on looking at me with his mouth open.

"My friend here was telling me how pretty you were, but I just had to see it for myself." Thomas told me. Both boys sat down on my left and right and kept on staring at me. I looked down at my food. I had nowhere else to look, Dionysus was in front of me, the doorman was on my left and Thomas was on my right."

"Excuse me Thomas, I was having a conversation with…" Dionysus looked at me ".. with Adriana here."

Thomas broke away from looking at me. "Oh sorry Uncle D. Lets go dude," He quickly got up and picked his friend up by the shoulder and left the two of us alone.

"Uncle D?" I asked in my regular voice.

"So I do know you! And yes, one of my son's sister in law's kids. I'm technically his great uncle".

"Uh I didn't know you were the one to care about someone like that?"

"Being the God of parties means I go to where there are parties." He said smugly. "Also his demigod uncle owns a brewing company, we're on pretty good terms." He said then took a drink of his diet coke.

"Mr. D it's me Adin Peterson, I'm one of Aphrodite's kids."

"Ah so I wasn't too far off from the name," He said and drank more of his diet coke. I saw Sabrina in the distance and she saw me. She made her way over and sat next to me.

"There's more of you"!

"Mr. D, we could use your help on getting to California, we were sent on a quest after you left camp to find Percy," I told him.

"The trouble maker? He is stirring up quite the storm among the gods."

"We know you don't think he's starting a war, this is a big misunderstanding!"

"And how do you know that?" He maliciously asked me leaning in. I began to sweat a little bit but didn't respond. He laughed at my uneasiness

" And why would I help you? What would I gain out of it except Zeus getting mad at me?" I looked at Sabrina and she stared back at me. He did have a good point, what did he have to gain.

"Well, is there anything that we could do for you?" Sabrina asked.

Dionysus pondered this question for a minute. He scratched his scruffy beard looking around at everyone at the party. "Well I guess there is one thing you could help me with".