lover ≫ percy jackson

ii. a campfire amuck

THE FIRE sizzled with intensity as Lorelai dropped a portion of her meal into the flames, saying a silent prayer to her mother as she did so.

My lady Aphrodite, please guide us through this summer safely, and thank you for a good school year.

She rejoined her siblings, taking her seat at the head of the table. They were still waiting for some campers, but the Aphrodite cabin had definitely filled out over the course of the day. Many new faces joined familiar ones as Lorelai remembered the deal Percy had made with the gods at the end of the Second Titan War: they would claim all of their children now, and as Aphrodite tended to have lots of children anyways, she knew that Cabin 10 would be overflowing this year.

That made her even more nervous as she took on the role of Senior Counselor.

Chiron stood before the campers, ready to make his evening announcements.

"Welcome back, campers. Though the official start of the season isn't for a few days, it's great to see so many familiar faces, and new ones, too, here together again. I know that the events of last summer are still very fresh in many of our minds, but I know we will come back together stronger this year, perhaps stronger than has ever been." He turned to Dionysus, who was idly swishing Diet Coke back and forth in his chalice. "Mr. D would like to say a few words, now."

"Hmm?" Mr. D's head bobbed up for a second, his attention clearly lapsed. "Oh, right." The god stood slowly, as if it took some amount of effort to do so. Given as he was immortal and everything, Lorelai thought that the display must have been out of laziness rather than physical discomfort. "Welcome back, I suppose. Let's hope for an uneventful summer." He took another sip from his chalice. "Right, then. Let's eat."

The hungry campers dug into their meal of fresh food, cheeses and strawberries. Lorelai had missed Camp Half Blood, but she had to admit, the food was nothing compared to what she had in the city.

Lorelai ate slowly, smiling and laughing along with her siblings as they each recounted their school years. Josie had won a beauty pageant while Asher had walked the runway for Louis Vuitton. Cassie was featured in Teen Vogue, but Patrick had a short fling with a new up-and-coming Disney star. Each accomplishment of the children of Aphrodite was as impressive as the next, but Lorelai found her own brags rather dull in comparison, and she was supposed to be the senior counselor -- how could she compare?

"What about you, Lorelai?" Josie, the 16-year-old beauty queen from Texas, asked. "What did you do this year?"

"School," Lorelai said with a shrug. She wasn't gifted with the brains of Annabeth or anything, but she held her own at the private school she attended in the Village. She didn't get all As or anything, but she did well enough.

"That's it?" Josie questioned, a look of disbelief on her face. "Come on, tell us more."

Lorelai sighed as she recounted the year in her head. "Well, I did a little bit of drawing, went to the Met with my dad a few times ..." She shrugged. "Nothing as impressive as any of you."

Drew was staring Lorelai down from the other end of the table. "She's being humble. Come on, Lorelai, humility has never looked good on a daughter of Aphrodite! Tell them what that 'little bit of drawing' really was."

Now that Silena was gone, Drew was the Cabin 10 friend Lorelai kept in touch with the most. Drew lived in Brooklyn, so they'd seen each other frequently over the school year, so she knew more about Lorelai than most of the other Aphrodite campers did.

Lorelai sighed and rolled her eyes, a proud grin filling her face. "Well, if you insist."

"Uh, duh! We insist!" Patrick, the Disney casanova, yelled from Drew's side.