Later Life - 1 : A New Camper (Heroes of Olympus)

5 | New Start

[KRISTY]

The day ended. It was a long day, and I didn't remember anything from it except for taking quick glances at Annabeth.

Yesterday, I had met Annabeth's best friends. They were nice, but something was wrong about them. They acted weirdly, and they were extraordinarily interested in the Greek and Roman myths.

And then somehow, something inside my guts, it told me that if I told Annabeth about my problems, she would somehow be able to give me answers. And I was right. She had told me she had an idea and informed me to come to her house after school. She'd emphasized, Come alone. I guess it was something the others should not know about. And I didn't want them to know, either. My parents were some kind of secret from the start.

My parents and going to Annabeth's house in the afternoon was everything that was on my mind. My brain was filled with questions. How did Annabeth know who my mother was? What was she going to tell me when I got to her house? Once I tried to get a few hints.

"What exactly are we going to do at your house?" I asked.

She just glared at me as a reply. I understood that she didn't want to be talking about it before this evening. I was relieved that I had stopped talking, because Becky came along right there and started babbling about her new blouse.

"Congrats." I told her, but I wasn't listening. I was looking out the front door, wondering how my mother would look like...

"Congrats?" Becky frowned at me. "A 0.8 inch red plus purple pen mark on my new white blouse and 'Congrats'?"

"Oh, sorry, Becky. I was too interested outside the door..."

"I forgive you this once, because you are my best friend." Becky grinned.

"Yeah, thanks." I smiled.

Yes. That's one of the only parts of the day I remember. Now, I was walking towards Annabeth's house where her many friends, an adult, Annabeth herself, and the answer was waiting for me.

I had told my friends that Mom (my other Mom) had gotten me to come home early because she wanted me to talk to her privately. Yeah. Right. I couldn't think of anything. I had gone home just to avoid suspicion and to Mom, I said I wanted to drop off my bag. Then I came out again to go to Annabeth's.

I was finally in front of her door. I took a deep breath. I looked around, just to make sure none of my friends were watching. Then I rang the doorbell. A few seconds later, which felt like a few hours, the door opened, and I saw Percy at the door.

"Hey, Kristy," he muttered under his breath, smiling at me. I stared into his sea green eyes as he led me inside. I found those eyes so fascinating. "Annabeth just came back from school."

"Cool." I said.

"Hey, m'lady," Leo Valdez walked towards me, bowing. "Just one warning before you go in, get ready to be dressed!"

"Uh... dressed?"

"Yeah, dressed." Now it was Piper. The girl who Percy had advised me to get advice from. I was going to tell her today. I could trust Annabeth, and Annabeth trusted Percy, and Percy trusted Piper, so I guess I could trust Piper. "It once happened to me... it wasn't that pleasant."

These guys were getting confusing every second. What was going on? I looked out the window. There was a car, big so that it wasn't exactly a car - a car-bus? And inside the car, I could see Coach Hedge and Grover, clearly arguing to each other about something.

Annabeth and her other friends came down the stairs.

"Hey, Kristy." everybody greeted me. Annabeth smiled somewhat sympathetically and sat down on a couch. Percy sat next to her, his arms around her, and Piper, Hazel, Calypso, and Reyna sat on their right. Leo and Frank sat on their left. Thalia, Jason, Rachel, and Nico sat on a sofa, and Rachel pulled me on the sofa, too.