Reconnected [Book 3]

7 - Parties

Adelia had had a good 3hours of sleep, which was desperately needed. Thanks to Percy she wasn't in a bowl of pasta and he had fallen asleep on the chair in her room. That was until everyone else went to bed and Coach Hedge spent the first hour after curfew doing his nightly duty, walking up and down the passageway yelling, "Lights out! Settle down! Try to sneak out, and I'll smack you back to Long Island!"

Percy had startled and leapt out the chair, he came over to Adelia, kissed her on the forehead and muttered, "I love you, but I don't want to die." And he'd gone back to his room, stopping to play with the conch shell on the way.

Coach banged his baseball bat against a cabin door whenever he heard a noise, shouting at everyone to go to sleep, which made it impossible for anyone to go to sleep. Adelia figured this was the most fun the satyr had had since he'd pretended to be a gym teacher at the Wilderness School.

Adelia struggled to go back to sleep after that, she reached behind her tracing the moons whilst she watched the constellations run across her room thanks to the lantern. She could only think about how it was so goddamn unfair, they'd saved the world once, they'd had their time to shine and she was ready to step away from the limelight. She stamped down on the anger that was bubbling, it had become unbearable recently, she couldn't help but be angry at everyone and everything. Being around her friends helped but it was moments like this when she was alone where she hated the gods, hated the world and wanted to set it all alight and watch it burn. And burn. And that scared her, she hadn't told anyone because she didn't think they would understand. Leo didn't have a mean bone in his body, neither did Frank. Hazel seemed too wise for her years so she'd probably get a lecture and Jason was the perfect praetor. Piper seemed to feel the same until recently and she'd just stopped. She debated talking to Annabeth but again she'd get a lecture and Percy, she didn't want to burden him with her problems, he'd been missing for six months with no idea where he was or who he was. Compared to that, this was nothing.

Adelia had so many things on her mind, she thought she'd never sleep. But there was something peaceful about the rocking of the boat and the drone of the aerial oars as they scooped through the sky and the sparkle of the constellations.

Finally her eyelids got heavy, and she drifted off.

In her dreams her mother screamed at her, flickering in between Artemis and Diana, each on screaming about her worthlessness for depending on a boy and how she would never live up to be as great as her. It was horrible, she was sure she cried during her dreams.

It seemed like only a few seconds had passed before she woke to the breakfast bell.

"Yo, Addie!" Leo knocked on her door. "We're landing!"

"Landing?" She sat up groggily.

Leo opened her door and poked his head in. He had his hand over his eyes, which would've been a nice gesture if he hadn't been peeking through his fingers. "You decent?"

"Leo!"

"Sorry." He grinned. "Hey, nice jammies."

"This is the closest you're ever coming to seeing a woman naked," Adelia grumbled as she rolled out of bed, hitting the floor with a thud. She groaned and got up, looking through her closet

"Yeah, sure, the ladies love me. Anyway, we're setting down a few miles outside Topeka, as requested. And, um..." He glanced out in the passageway, then leaned inside again. "Thanks for not hating me, about blowing up the Romans yesterday."

Adelia rubbed her eyes. The feast in New Rome had been only yesterday? "That's okay, Leo. You weren't in control of yourself."

"Yeah, but still...you didn't have to stick up for me."