Forbidden (A Luke Castellan Love Story)

Chapter 11

Avery’s POV
            I woke up to the most massive headache I’ve ever had. “Oh gosh!” I moaned and I gripped my head.
            Suddenly someone was at my side, Grey. “Oh my gods, Avery!” Tears were in her eyes and her eyes were a puffy red. “You scared me so bad! I promise- I- I’m so sorry that this all happened!”
            Nothing was really making any since but I opened my eyes a little more to see the ceiling of a car. “What the-?” I muttered and almost got toppled over off my seat.
            “Watch it!” Grey hissed at the driver. “You’re going to make her fall off!”
            Grover answered from the front. “I told you that you should have driven! You try to drive with fake feet!” He yelled back at her.            
            “Fake feet? What the heck is going on?”
            Grey bit her lip, something that she did when she was nervous, it was something that we both did. She huffed out a huge breath of air. “I know we promised you answers but we can’t give them to you right now. I think it would be better to have Chiron tell you.”
            “Who’s Chiron?”
            “He…. Um... you’ll see.”
            I raised an eyebrow but she looked away, telling me she wasn’t going to answer me.
Sighing when I realized that I wasn’t going to get any answers. I struggled to sit up from the laying position I was currently in. Immediately I regretted it as pain shot through my whole body.
“Hey!” Grey said worriedly, “Be careful! Here, let me get you some ambrosia.” She bent down and picked up a backpack and rummaged through the contents. Finally, when she found what she was looking for, she said, “Aha!” and pulled out a baggie with little squares of food in them. They looked like rice-crispy treats except they were a different color.
        She handed me a square and I took it cautiously. “Go on.” She told me. “Eat it. It’ll help you feel better.”
        I shrugged and brought the square to my mouth. Once I started chewing the taste hit me like a lightning bolt.
        The square of… ‘Ambrosia’ tasted like... like my favorite dessert: a strawberry milkshake that Grey and I used to get at the ice-cream bar downtown until it closed. I hadn’t had something that good since that place went out of business. Immediately after I swallowed I could feel my strength returning and my vision starting to clear up. The huge scratch on my arm was healing too, a lot faster than it should have. There was still going to be a scar though.
        Feverishly, I started to eat the square because of how good it tasted. Grey was looking away but when she saw me reaching for another one she freaked out and screamed, slapping my hand away. “Oh my gods Avery! You could die if you eat too much of that?” She yelled at me.
            My eyes widened and my jaw dropped. “Then why the heck did you just let me eat it?” I yelled at her.
            “It’s the food of the Gods.” She told me. “It just helps you recover faster but if they eat too much, you can…. Umm.” She looked like she didn’t want to continue but Grover said it for her.
            “You can completely incinerate and die.” He said casually.
            “Grover!” Grey yelled at him. “You’re going to freak her out!”
            “Sorry,” He muttered and continued to drive.
            It was silent for a few minted. I was just trying to process everything that had happened. Or what I thought happened, maybe I hit my head too hard. I decided to go along with the story so I said, “So this ambrosia, why can it kill me but not anyone else?”
            “Sorry, I said wrong. It can kill you but it can also kill all demigods.” She corrected.
            “There’s that word again!” I cut in. “Demigod, what the heck does that mean? And why did Mrs. Gretcher and you guys keep calling me that.”
            Grey and Grover glanced at each other and I could see a silent argument between the two of them. Eventually Grover won the argument making Grey cross her arms, upset.
            “As soon as we get to camp I promise we’ll explain.” Grover said, only glancing at me from the rear-view mirror.
            “Where’s this ‘camp’?” I asked.
            He smiled, “In Long Island, we should be there soon.”
            I nodded and looked over at Grey, who was giving Grover a death glare for winning their silent argument. When she felt my gaze on her, her eyes softened and she looked at me. “How are you going?” She asked me.
            Shaking my head, I looked out the window. “I don’t even know. Did this all really happen? Is all of this real?” I turned my head to her again.
            Grey nodded, “Everything is real. I’m sorry that you had to get pulled into this so suddenly. I- I’m sorry.” She put her head down and a tear slipped from her eye.
            I put my hand on hers, “It’s not your fault Grey. I’m just glad you’re with me through all this.”
            She weakly smiled and gave me a hug, though it was really awkward in the car but it was still nice to have someone I could hold on to.