Hurricane ~ L. Valdez

1.1 - Mystery Boy Invades Our Bus

(I don't own PJO/HOO in case you were wondering)

~In the eye of the hurricane, there is quiet~

       If you're reading this, that means I haven't died yet. Or it means I died and one of my friends published my journal. I bet it was Percy.

       My name is Lara Jackson, short for Elara, and I can single-handedly say I had the worst upbringing ever.

       That's probably a bit dramatic, but let me explain. To start off with, my mom died. I don't need your condolences, I don't remember the woman and I'm sure her mothering skills were terrible. From what I've hear of my mother she was vain and selfish.

       My mom spent her whole life trying to outdo everyone. So, when her sister fell in love and had a baby with Poseidon, she had to go and do one better. I'm not sure if that was her exact thought process of thinking but it does seem suspicious that she just happened to coincidentally meet and woo Zeus (I guess he has a thing for models), who ended up leaving her heartbroken with a child... aka me.

      One night when I was a baby, my mom was out late and got into a car crash. So, I spent almost all of my life living with my cousin, Percy. Yes, Percy Jackson is my cousin. So fun, right?

      Not really.

      When Percy was 12 and I was 10, we got into some trouble. I won't go into all of the details, because it's a really long story, but eventually the two of us ended up at Camp Halfblood, a camp for demigods like us in Long Island, New York.

       Long story short, we got claimed, everyone started freaking out because we were children of the 'Big Three' (thanks a lot, Mom), and our whole lives were flipped upside down.

       You see, when we first got to Camp Halfblood, we met a boy there named Luke, who was like 6 or 7 years older than Percy. Luke decided that he was done with the gods and was enraged at the way they ignored their children and used mortals to do their dirty work. So, he decided to lead a rebellion, causing things to get pretty dangerous. I don't feel like writing pages of pity, but there was a battle and I almost died multiple times. As a fourteen year old, that can be pretty rough on you.

       So, I left. I left the madness that is Camp Halfblood, and ran away on my own. Probably not my best idea, but I was a fourteen year old with PTSD so you can't really criticize my life decisions too hard.

      Fast forward a bit and I got arrested and sent to 'The Wilderness School', a boarding school determined to 'reform kids'. At least it was better than almost getting killed every other month.

       I made friends with Piper, who shared a room with me, and Leo, aka my best friend on this planet. Things went pretty normal at first... I mean yes, a part of me felt really bad for leaving without telling people. I missed my family a lot. The problem is that I was too scared to go back, and since I was there on disciplinary time I couldn't really go back. So, that life was behind me...

       ...that is until the satyr showed up at my school. I had figured out 'Coach Hedge' within two months of him showing up. That doesn't mean I let him know I was on to him. You see, if he knew then he would be more likely to try to talk to me, and I for one didn't want to talk about Camp with anyone.

       One of the 'perks' of going to the Wilderness School, was the fact that you got to go on 'fun' field trips. This time we were going to the Grand Canyon. We all got into the bus, Leo and I sitting in a seat, leaving Piper to sit behind us, at the back of the bus by herself.

       "Sorry, Piper," I said, turning to face her, "If you want, I can ditch weirdo over here halfway through the ride." I said, sticking my thumb to point at Leo, who glared at me with mock-offense.