Pieces | Percy Jackson and the Olympians

#1: Why Are Family Reunions Always Complicated

Stay calm. Stay calm. Stay calm. I repeated it over and over in my head as I walked across the lush green grass of Camp Half-blood, not believing what I was about to do. Who I was about to meet.

Would he recognize me? Probably not. Would I recognize him? I couldn't say. Was it even possible to recognize someone who you've only ever seen as a baby? It was a weird and nerve-wracking thought, not being able to recognize my own brother.

I shook my head, I was making myself more nervous by thinking stuff like that. I couldn't be nervous. I'm Sammy freaking Jackson. I took a deep breath and worked on changing my nervousness to excitement.

I was going to see my family again. I was going to see my baby brother all grown up! Despite hardly knowing him, a smile still crept onto my face as my pace quickened.

I wasn't exactly sure where he would be, so I went to the first possibility, the Hermes cabin. After all, he wasn't technically claimed yet, although no doubt the entire camp already knew who he was.

I stopped in my tracks. Did they? As far as I can remember Grover never once said Percy's last name, and Chiron has not mentioned the boy once, seeing as he didn't want to bring more attention to him than there already was. Was I even sure this was the right Percy?

Yes, I was. It had to be. I started moving again and marched my way towards the Hermes cabin, leaping up the three wooden steps seeing as they weren't very high. As I stood in front of the plain wooden door, I paused. The nervous thoughts began to creep back into my head.

I pinched the back of my wrist, reminding myself not to think like that. I took in another deep breath and knocked. I heard the loud talking from inside die down a bit as the door swung open revealing a familiar blond. He had his famous newbie- welcoming smile, but it went away as he saw who was on the other side of the door.

"Sammy? What are you doing here?"

I smiled up at the taller boy, hoping to hide my nervousness behind it.

"I just wanted to meet the new guy. After hearing so much about him I just had to see for myself if he was as great as Grover made him out to be."

Luke nodded in understanding, "Well, he hasn't been dropped off here just yet, but you're welcome to hang around until he does."

I smiled as Luke opened the door further for me to walk in. I felt myself relax as I took in the familiar Hermes cabin setting. Dozens of sleeping bags were scattered around the floor, surrounded by dirty orange t-shirts and jeans that the kids threw around carelessly. There were a couple neat spots, but for the most part the cabin was a dump. Most of the walls were covered in doodles and words the campers scribbled on them, along with a large cork board filled with photos of every demigod who has come and gone in the cabin. I always loved that cork board and how there was hardly ever any room for a new photo. The Apollo cabin had something similar, only they didn't have as many photos seeing as the only people in the Apollo cabin were children of Apollo. I always thought it'd be cool to incorporate one in the Poseidon cabin, but I knew there would be no use. All it would consist of was a photo of me and maybe an added camper, depending on how things go.

The campers themselves were all spread out in separate groups. Some huddled around a single bed or sleeping bag, while others stood up and leaned against walls or hogged the few chairs scattered around.

When the campers saw me come in they smiled and waved at me. I returned the simple gesture before I began looking around to see if I could spot my favorite Hermes camper duo (don't tell anyone I said that). I grinned as I saw Travis and Connor Stoll both sitting on Connor's bunk, arguing over something. Above them, on Travis' bunk, was a younger camper, Maxine Roswell, shuffling a deck of cards.