The seaweed brain and the wise girl

Chapter one

(All characters belong to Rick Riordan)
I sat at the Artemis table at dinner today for a change. One of my best friends Thalia, a hunter of Artemis was visiting camp for a week and I was determined to make the most of the time she was here.
"So, how's camp been?" Thalia asked me. The summer started a week ago and I was here as soon as possible to meet up with all my friends.
"It's been pretty good so far," I told her, "Except for-"
"Hey wise girl," A familiar voice interrupted me. I felt a flutter in my chest.
I turned to see a sixteen-year-old boy with windswept black hair and mischievous sea green eyes and a sarcastic grin. I felt another flutter. "Hey seaweed brain." I smiled at my longtime best friend.

Percy and I had been best friends for five years, ever since our first quest together when we were twelve years old. Percy, Another one of our friends, Grover, and I had embarked on a journey to return Zeus's stolen lightning bolt. It had turned out to be part of a bigger plot orchestrated by Kronos, lord of the titans to return to power. Ever since then Percy and I had been on so many quests to stop him over the past five years.  We fought monsters and even saved each other's lives. We knew each other's deepest secrets and greatest fears. All in all it was hard to imagine life without him.

Percy sat down next to me, across from Thalia. "Hey cuz," he said, fist-bumping her over the table, "I thought you were busy hanging out in the woods and fighting monsters and doing whatever it is you hunters do."
"I'm taking a break for a week to hang with my best friend," she told him.
"Don't the hunters need you? Your supreme-hunter-overlord or something right?"
"Lieutenant," she said, rolling her eyes. I smiled at the exchange.

Thalia and Percy met four years ago at the end of summer. Our quest that year was to bring back the Golden Fleece to save the poisoned camp. The magic also revived Thalia who six years before had sacrificed herself so Grover, Luke and I made it into camp alive. Thalia would have been 19 but hadn't aged since her sacrifice and was 13, our age at the time. At first Percy seemed a little jealous of the admiration and attention Thalia got, but after she became a hunter any bad feelings were resolved. Now, they're good friends and I could be happier that my best friends were getting along.

"So, how's hunter life?" I asked Thalia. "Oh it's great!" She responded enthusiastically, "Last week we killed two manticores and a hydra!" Her eyes sparkled with excitement. Monster fighting is what we were born to do, after all "Oh, and of course there's the no aging thing."
Since hunters don't age, Thalia was still thirteen, and now younger than me, which was ironic since when we met Thalia was twice my age.

Percy looked over his shoulder and called out to someone "Rachel! Over here!" Rachel walked over. Her red hair was pulled into a side braid and she wore a cute top with obviously new paint covered jeans and surprisingly clean white sneakers. I looked down at my own outfit. A faded camp T-shirt with worn out jeans and battered sneakers. My hair was in the messiest ponytail. Compared to me, Rachel looked gorgeous.

Rachel gave Percy a quick kiss on the cheek before sliding into the seat next to him. "Hey Seaweed Brain," she said. Seaweed brain? That was my nickname for him! I glared at Rachel. Percy chose that moment to turn back to me and see my glare. "I don't think Wise girl's okay with you using her nickname for me," he teased.
I forced a smile, "No, it's okay," I said turning to my food.

What I had been telling Thalia earlier had been true. Camp had been pretty good so far. Except for Rachel.
Rachel Elizabeth Dare. Daughter of a business tycoon, artist in her own right, oracle of Delphi and Percy's girlfriend.

Don't get me wrong. Rachel's a nice enough girl and she proved her bravery when she hit Kronos in the eye with a hairbrush. But whenever I thought of her with Percy I got angry and sad and everything in between. I wasn't sure what I was feeling.

Rachel whispered something to Percy, giggling. He grinned back. I got that feeling I got whenever I saw them together. I knew I couldn't sit here with them. "I think I'll go back to the Athena table," I said getting up without looking at anyone at my table.
I start walking towards the Athena table. On my way I passed the Aphrodite table. "Loser," I heard. I took a deep breath and fixed my face with a death glare, turning to face my offender, Drew Tanaka, Counsellor of Aphrodite cabin. "And what, exactly, do you mean by that?" I asked. She leaned towards me and whispered, "Only that you clearly like Percy and he clearly doesn't like you." Drew and her little posse cackled at the remark. I tried to think of a good comeback but Drew had hit a nerve. I rolled my eyes and turned away.
I sat down at the Athena table, next to my half-brother Malcolm. "What's up?" I asked him. "We're planning for capture the flag tomorrow," he explained, "We're deciding which cabins to form an alliance with."
I had barely gotten two words into the conversation when I felt someone tapping my shoulder. I turned my neck to see Thalia. "Hey Thalia," I said. "What's up?" She pulled me from my seat and without a word led me away from the dining pavilion. "What is it?" I asked, starting to get nervous. Thalia turned to me and said "We need to talk." That didn't sound good.