Party in the Dark, A. Chase & P. Jackson

Grounded By A God

          In hindsight, Lydia probably should not have trusted Travis and Connor Stoll with helping to arrange the most recent Cabin 12 kick-back. Sure, the troublesome brothers were a fantastic resource with the smuggling ring they created with a convenience store down the hill. Sure, they had the same knack for getting up to no good, but unfortunately for Lydia, 'playing it cool' was not a term in their vocabulary.

          When living full-time at a camp monitored by two immortal beings and some monsters, the teens have to get creative when it came to releasing some rebellious energy. Luckily, the gifts that came along with being demigods did come in handy. Whether it meant sneaking out of the camp every so often for a joyride in whatever the first car a Hermes kid can hotwire, or distracting the harpies that guard the camp at night and sneaking out into the forest for a party, there were certainly options for the demigods if they just put in the work for it. Castor and Pollux normally were in charge of putting together any late-night parties in the woods, but Lydia decided to finally take the torch from her older twin brothers and throw one herself. The two had warned her to be careful with the Hermes kids, but she clearly hadn't been careful enough.

          What was meant to be a fun and carefree night out in the woods with some full-year campers (thirteen and up, of course), ended up being a night filled with Chiron's famous lectures about heroes needing to be mature and responsible and the dulling out of punishments to those responsible. Lydia watched from the dimly lit firepit with a stoic expression, though she was managing to hide her annoyance for the time being. She would get her payback on the Stoll brothers and their big mouths soon enough. For now, though, she and some of the other campers that had assisted with tonight's event were stuck being reprimanded like children. With an internal sigh, Lydia knew she would never hear the end of this night from her brothers.

          "Are we clear, campers?" Chiron asked. He stood across the small fire in his regular centaur form, arms crossed across his chest with a firm expression on his face. Lydia, the Stoll brothers, and Drew Tanaka from the Aphrodite cabin all nodded with a small chorus of 'yes sirs.'

          "Good. I can only expect the best out of you all and I hope tonight is a firm reminder of that. We will work on getting all of the stolen supplies returned to the store. You four are on dish duty for the remainder of the month," Chiron concluded, earning some light sounds of protest.

          "Does this mean we are responsible for the dishes from the solstice feast as well?" Drew asked, sounding horrified at the mere thought. Chiron smirked.

          "Indeed it does," Chiron answered, barely hiding the satisfaction in his voice, "Off to bed, you all."

          The four campers turned without another word and began walking toward their individual cabins. Lydia snuck a dirty look toward the Stoll brothers, but they skittered off quickly and avoided her gaze.

          "Ah ah ah," a voice rang out before Lydia could enter her own cabin. Lydia flinched and turned around to face the being that seemed to have appeared out of thin air.

          "Hey dad," Lydia replied. Maybe if she plays it cool, she won't get reprimanded for the second time tonight?

          "Lydia Penelope Evans," Dionysus stepped out of the shadows toward the younger girl, "Working with those Hermes boys? Really?"

          She did not have a response to that. No way was she about to get defensive and reveal her original plan to only then get into further trouble. No, she thought, deny, deny, deny.

          "Amateur move, I'm disappointed."

          "What?"

          "It's a shame, really. Tonight would have been perfect for a small party in the woods."