Camp Wildheart

Everyone has their Skeletons

Carter

The bus finally pulled into the camp, and Carter was relieved. Sadie had sworn she saw Percy Jackson from her window, but he hadn't been sure until he saw him following Annabeth off the bus. A third bus pulled up as they were saying hi and introducing themselves to Percy's other demigod friends, and a stream of kids poured out of it, followed by a girl with green hair and a vibrant green and pink sweater that immediately caught my eyes, contrasted by the overalls that made up part of our camp uniform. She had a blond guy following her that looked so much like Annabeth, I could have sworn they were related. It turned out, they were.

Magnus was Annabeth's cousin, and his friend Alex went to the same school. Carter was interested to learn about gender fluidity.

"You learn something every day, Sadie!" Cater said. Sadie elbowed him. "Ow. Still worth it."

Finally, a teenage girl in a purple counselor t-shirt and an ice blue, worn pair of overalls came out of the trees and said "OK! Everybody follow me for lunch!"

Sophie

Sophie looked over at the swarm following her. She was shorter than some of the kids, so she had wondered if they would follow her, but the promise of food had definitely worked. They were following her into the dining hall she had worked to get ready for them for hours.

Lunch was simple, and the kids were rowdy, which meant that the Camp Owner had to use the air horn to get everyone's attention. She began the speech that Sophie knew by heart, welcoming the new campers to the forest and setting down a few base rules. Then, the part Sophie had been waiting for. When she would meet the campers in her grove for the first-ever time.

Smiling to herself, she stood and walked towards the front of the room, holding the piece of paper she didn't even need anymore.

Annabeth

The dining hall was simply built, and Annabeth couldn't help but wonder if she could design one that would help get rid of the echoing noise all around her. An air horn split the noise, and a grey-haired woman took the stage.

"My name is Miss May, and I'd like to welcome each and every one of you to Camp Wildheart. Before we send you to go to your campsites, I'd like to explain the system briefly." Miss May smiled, then continued, 

"There are 3 'biomes' with three 'groves' each. Each grove has a boy's den and a girl's den. Your counselor will explain more about that system later. 

Each grove is competing to get the most badges they can. 

The Biome with the most badges at the end of camp gets a special prize. You will be working hard at finding creative ways to complete goals and earn rewards. Now, I've probably been talking for too long. So, when your counselor calls your name, line up at the door."

At those words, eighteen people stood up and walked over to the front.

Magnus

Magnus watched the people at the front of the room, focusing hard to make sure he heard his name. He knew firsthand how embarrassing it was to miss his cue.

The blonde girl who had led them to the dining hall called, "Grove One! I'll call your name twice, then if you don't answer, I'm moving on." After a pause, she began, "Annabeth Chase!" Magnus watched his cousin walk down the aisle, almost missing his name. "Magnus Chase!" After that, the counselor called in turn:

"Nico DiAngelo!"

"Rachel Dare!"

"Alex Fierro!"

Magnus had to let out a sigh of relief at that. Camping would be more fun with someone he knew in his group. The girl at the front of the line continued on after that, ending with, "Frank Zhang! OK! EVERYBODY FOLLOW US!"

Magnus followed his cousin down the dirt path.

Sadie

Sadie scuffed her feet, looking out across the horizon. Trees. More trees. It had been ten minutes, and all she saw was trees. Finally, the people leading the line swerved past two large buildings and into a grove of trees that had a picnic bench and a fire circle. The meadow clearing had a sort of magical feel to it, so Sadie was confused to find a pile of luggage there.

"Here we are! Welcome to Grove 1."

That was their campsite?

The counselor spoke again, breaking her thoughts. "Let's sit over here and introduce ourselves so we're not just calling each other 'hey you'." Sitting on a stump, she continued, "My name is Sophie, and I'm the girl's counselor. This funny guy trying to sneak up behind me is Keefe, the boy's counselor."

Keefe frowned slightly, but sat on a stump a bit closer to Sophie than it needed to be. She took a seat. Very interesting. One of their counselors had a crush on the other.

Keefe said, "Okay! Now that you know us, tell us a bit about you!"

She waited patiently, only half listening to the stream of names. "Hi, I'm Sadie," she said. "And before anyone even asks, yes, Carter is my brother. I don't feel like explaining why, so don't ask."

The counselors nodded slightly, and Sophie said, "Everyone has their skeletons."

So, how did y'all like this chapter? I try to make the titles sound cool, but if the slight spoiler bothers you I can just label them by chapter number.