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chapter viii. ( the lightning thief ) ❝ mother dearest ❞
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THE NIGHT WAS MISERABLE. We made our way to a campsite where teenagers had left scraps of food, squashed coke and Dr Pepper cans, and plastic bags. We had taken some food and blankets from Aunty Em's, but we didn't dare light a fire to dry our damp clothes. The Furies and Medusa were enough for me in one day. We decided to sleep in shifts, Percy took the first one.
I settled up behind a tree away from the others. Grover had climbed up a tree with his flying shoes, Percy had sat down against the tree as well, while Annabeth lied on the ground, curled up in blankets, as soon as her head hit the ground, she was snoring.
I pretended I was asleep because I really didn't want to talk to either Percy or even Grover. I could hear their conversation behind me, but I didn't listen, I just wanted some time to myself. I wrapped my arms around my legs and propped my chin on my knees. I tried to look up at the stars, but the light pollution hid them from view. A small sigh escaped my lips and I stared at my shoes. The red sneakers were now brown from the mud we walked through, and the white canvas was damp and dull. I didn't know why, but at the moment, I felt like the canvas on my shoes, damp and dull.
It's hard to explain sometimes when you just feel sad. There's no reason behind it, not really. For a second you're happy, you have your friends and your relief you survived another day – especially for a demigod. But as soon as you stop moving, and you sit down, you just don't feel right.
Maybe it was some sort of weird side effect of ADHD. Maybe it was those things inside your body that Annabeth described to me once – endorphins or something – they fill your body up when you exercise or be active, and make you happy.
And then it is when you sit down, that you start thinking. Maybe that's the reason. When I'm moving around, I don't think or ponder. Because right now, while I'm sitting on a blanket beside a small pile of squished soda cans, everything finally starts to dawn on me. All the near death experiences ... how much I missed my friends and siblings back at camp ... how much I missed my Mom and her boyfriend, and I guess, I turn sad.
I decided to finally listen to Percy and Grover's conversation, wanting a distraction to my thoughts.
"How are we going to get to the Underworld?" Percy was asking. "I mean, what chance do we have against a god?"
"I don't know," Grover said from where he sat in his tree. "But back at Medusa's, when you were searching her office? Annabeth and Claire were telling me –"
