Forgotten memories

Back to Camp!

It started out like any other lazy summer morning at Camp Half-Blood. The air smelled faintly of strawberries from the fields, where a bunch of campers were out picking for the kitchen. Over at the archery range, a line of kids was letting arrows fly under Chiron's watchful eye. You could almost believe the camp was just a quirky summer retreat, not a training ground for demigods who fight monsters on a weekly basis.

Almost.

Then there was Annabeth.

From where I sat in the dining pavilion, I spotted her marching across the path between cabins—looking like she'd just been cornered by a pack of wild harpies. Except these weren't harpies. They were worse: Aphrodite kids.

"It's nothing! It's just a movie!" Annabeth's voice rang out, sharp and a little too loud, as if volume alone could push them away. Her cheeks were red enough to make a tomato jealous.

"Not just a movie!" Silena Beauregard practically sang the words, prancing along behind her. "You're going to see it with Percy. Alone!"

Annabeth whirled, eyes blazing, yanked off one of her sneakers, and chucked it over her shoulder like she was going for a world record in shoe-throwing. The Aphrodite kids scattered, squealing and laughing as they dove for cover.

I grinned into my plate. Annabeth in battle mode was always entertaining—as long as she wasn't aiming that fire at me.

At the Athena table beside me, Christine Paul watched the whole thing with raised eyebrows. Christine was my unofficial "bodyguard" and a former Hunter of Artemis, which basically meant she could fight her way through an army before breakfast. Her black hair was tied high in a sleek ponytail, and she wore the standard orange camp shirt with jean shorts. The sunlight through the pavilion roof hit her just right, making her skin glow like she'd stepped straight out of a shampoo commercial.

"You need a haircut," she said, totally deadpan.

I froze mid-bite. She wasn't wrong—since our quest to San Francisco last winter, my hair had gotten long enough to fall into my eyes during archery practice.

"What? You don't like it?" I asked, smirking.

Christine tilted her head, pretending to think. Then she stood, walked over, and ruffled my hair until it stuck out like a startled porcupine.

"Come on," I said, standing. "Let's go meet the new sword instructor."

We headed toward the arena. It was only then I noticed something—Christine was taller. So was I, probably, but the change in her was obvious now that the Hunters' blessing had worn off. She looked... different. More grown-up. More beautiful. And yeah, other guys had noticed too. Did that make me a little jealous? I'll admit it—maybe.

The arena was quiet when we arrived, which was weird. No sword instructor. No clanging metal. Just an empty practice floor and the faint smell of dust.

We started back toward the cabins, and that's when we saw it—Annabeth, now in a pink dress (I still have no idea how Silena pulled that off), sprinting full speed down the path. Behind her, Silena chased her like a determined personal stylist, and she was being chased by Clarisse, who looked ready to body-slam someone into the ground.

Christine and I locked eyes and burst out laughing. Apparently, Annabeth had decided her best escape route was to grab a taxi into the city. I didn't even want to guess what Percy was in for.

The rest of the day drifted by. I hit the archery range for a while, then ended up sitting on a log while Silena snipped away at my hair, clucking her tongue like a professional.