Young Wild

Chapter V

"So, Addie, how was your night?" Drew asked casually at breakfast.

"Well, I slept like a rock, but I didn't have a chance to wash off my makeup, so I have roses and mascara all over the infirmary pillow," I answered. I knew she wasn't looking for this answer, but I couldn't help it.

"No, no, silly. I mean before that," she pressed.

"We fell in." I twisted my sore ankle, remembering how the naiads had wrenched it. 

"Oh, no! Was everything okay, before that, I mean?" Drew looked absolutely interested in my life, for once.

"Yeah. I guess."

I got up and brought my plate to the kitchen, so it wouldn't have to be done later.

Drew followed like a hound on a fox's scent.

"So, me and my friends-"

'Your friends and I."

"What?" she gave a completely baffled look.

"Grammar. The correct way is 'my friends and I,'" I corrected. "Continue."

"We were thinking, did you maybe wanna, like, I don't know, hang with us from now on?" She asked it like it wasn't an option.

"Hmm, let me think. No," I said without looking at her.

"Oh, Addie, come on. You know you want to. Since your already a child of Aphrodite, it just makes sense!" she argued with a daggerlike tone.

"I'm a what?!" I screeched.

"Sweetie, the gods are foolish and forgetful. Mom's just a bit busy up in the sky and doesn't have the time for stupid things like her own kids," Drew told me through gritted teeth. The hatred she tried to hide was apparent and her sadness hung in the air like a cloud.

"You will regret that sentence one day." I turned and sprinted over the hill to the forest clearing.

I sat down under a tree and didn't move for the whole day. Not even when Chiron came to get me.

"Addalynn, you need to go to your activities."

No answer.

"Addalynn, now!''

Nothing.

I couldn't be one of them, could I? There's no way. I'm nothing like them. Then again, was the rest of the Crew like that at the beginning? Why-how could I be one of them... 

I thought over the same sentences all through the day. It wouldn't leave my head.

I didn't leave until Livy burst through the underbrush gasping.

"You've got to come see what I found!" she exclaimed.

"Is this a life or death situation?" I didn't want to leave my overthinking just yet.

"No, well, yes."

"I'm on my way!" I yelled leaping up from the spot of grass I had been sitting on. We ran as fast as we could to the beach.

When we got there, I thought I caught a glimpse of a beached dolphin on the shore. But as we neared it, I realized it was a small hippocampus. It looked weak and gray in the night lighting. Its mane was matted and damp (the damp part I'm not surprised about, it lives in the ocean). Its eyes were small and scared. It felt almost dry to the touch, which scared me because it shows it's been out of the water for a while.

"What do we do?" Livy asked in a small voice from behind me.

"How would I know?" I answered quietly. "I've never been in this sort of situation before."

"Should we get help?"

"No, we should take a trip to Barbados and then come back and send it to the moon!" I whispered in an icy tone.

Livy tore off to go get some help while I stayed back with the hippocampus.

I looked down into its tiny eyes. "You poor thing, don't worry, we'll have you back to the ocean in no time."

Its eyes clouded over in a green mist and my head swirled with the words it spoke.

"A modern Helen, stowed in a jail.

The dove, the dog, the sun, and snakes hot on her trail.

Pursued by the greatest power,

Safe only she is, in the tower.

Hell's greatest monsters given a call.

The fate of all demigods-to rise or to fall."

I fell back. The green smoke cleared, as did my mind.

Still in a daze, I watched as the hippocampus' breathing became shallow and its eyes glazed over.

"No, no, no!" I fretted and cupped my hands and dipped them under the small wave.

The cold water soaked the hem of my jeans and wetted my shoes so I felt the salty water through my socks and converse.

I splashed the water over the limp creature. I did this 'til it was mostly wet. I sat down by its side and sang a soft lullaby.

Its eyes were now half closed.

With every word it looked like it got a little stronger. I knew my eyes were just playing tricks on me trying to tell me I was doing something good, but I really thought it was looking better.

"Addie! have you decided yet! We really want you on the team!" called a familiar voice.

"Drew! I don't want to! Or at least, I don't think I want to..." I realized, why would it be so bad?

"Oh, sweetie, you know you want to. You'd be popular. The star of camp! Everyone's favorite! Come join us, please."

Charmspeak. It definitely tempts you.

"No, Drew... But what would happen if I-no!'

"Well, everything would be better for you. you'd get Ryan, you'd have more than two friends, you get everything you seek from life..," she cooed softly to me.

"That sounds pretty great...'' I really was tempted. "I just don't know... I've never wanted to be that girl..."

"Don't worry about anything. just relax and come with me. I'll show you what you can have."

I rose from the sand, forgetting the hippocampus.

We walked along the path that goes from the lake to the beach.

All along a short expanse of the path were crudely drawn images of what my life might be like if I said yes to Drew. She spoke of how great it was, only making it seem more and more great. If I had not been under her influence, all of it would have sounded like crap.

There was fancy clothes, friends, city outings, boyfriends, parties, anything I might have wanted one day.

I wanted to say yes, but 'no' just kept coming back up in the back of my mind.

"Drew, this is amazing!" I said in a dazed and charmspeak-influenced tone, "I think it looks like a pretty good deal."

She reached out her hand for me to shake and seal the deal.

I smiled slyly.