Wild ― Piper McLean

―xxx. verona scores major girlfriend points

GETTING TO THE HEART OF THE CITY WAS suspiciously easy. Verona and her oh-so-fun quest companions headed to the presidential library and asked the staff if they could call a taxi or point them to the nearest bus stop, and one of the librarians insisted on driving them personally. She was so nice about it that Verona was sure she was a monster in disguise, but according to Hedge, she was just a normal, albeit weirdly suspicious, human woman. 

Verona called shotgun and left Percy, Frank, and Hedge to pile into the backseat of Esther's Cadillac. Esther was so tiny she could barely see over the steering wheel, but that didn't seem to bother her. She muscled her car through traffic while regaling them with stories about the crazy families of Atlanta—the old plantation owners, the founders of Coca-Cola, the sports stars, and the CNN news people. 

"Uh, so, Esther," Percy said, leaning over Hedge to stick his head between Esther and Verona's seats, "here's a hard question for you. Salt water in Atlanta. What's the first thing that comes to mind?"

The old lady chuckled. "Oh, sugar, that's easy. Whale sharks!" 

"Whale sharks?" Frank asked. "You have those in Atlanta?" 

"At the aquarium, sugar," Esther said. "Very famous! Right downtown. Is that where you wanted to go?"

"Yes," Percy decided. "That's where we're going." 

Esther dropped them off right at the main entrance, where a line was already forming. She insisted on giving them her cell phone number for emergencies, money for a taxi ride back to the Carter Center, and a jar of homemade peach preserves (that she had in the back of her car for some reason). Frank stuck the jar in his backpack and thanked Esther, who had already switched from calling him sugar to son. 

As she drove away, Verona sighed. "I miss my nonna." 

"Man, are all people in Atlanta that nice?" Frank asked.

Hedge grunted. "Hope not. I can't fight them if they're nice. Let's go beat up some whale sharks. They sound dangerous!" 

Percy sighed. "Well, I guess we wait in line. Anybody have money?" 

Frank checked his pockets. "Three denarii from Camp Jupiter. Five dollars Canadian."

"Gonna go out on a limb and say they don't take foreign money," Verona said. She dug around in her pockets. "I have..." She pulled her hands out and presented lint. "Nothing." 

Hedge patted his gym shorts and pulled out what he found. "Three quarters, two dimes, a rubber band and—score! A piece of celery." 

He started munching on the celery, eyeing the change and the rubber band like they might be next.

"Great," Percy said. He looked around, likely trying to spot some way of sneaking in when a woman in a blue-and-green Georgia Aquarium shift came up to them, smiling brightly. 

"Ah, VIP visitors!" She had perky dimpled cheeks, thick-framed glasses, braces, and frizzy black hair pulled into pigtails. Her name tag read Kate. 

"You have your payment, I see," she said. "Excellent!" 

"Huh?" Verona asked.  

Kate scooped the three denarii from Frank's hand. "Yes, that's fine. Right this way!" 

She spun and trotted off toward the main entrance. 

Percy looked at his companions. "A trap?" 

"Absolutely," Verona answered. 

"She's not mortal," Hedge said, sniffing the air. "Probably some sort of goat-eating, demigod-destroying fiend from Tartarus." 

"No doubt," Percy agreed.