Wizards in New York

Oooh, THE GROVE.

   *George's POV*

    My stomach dropped. The girl from the picture - Reyna - was standing at the entrance of the ampitheatre, surrounded by a crowd of other demigods. She wore full armor and a purple cloak, and her dark hair was swept over one shoulder.

    Fred nudged my shoulder. "Oh, she's hot. Go talk to her."

    I shook my head. "She's with her other friends. I can't just-"

    "C'mon, brother. I know you like her. The worst you could do is get rejected, right?"

    I glanced over at the teens again, but Reyna wasn't there anymore. My heart sank.

    Suddenly I heard a voice behind me. "Hello. My name's Reyna. What's yours?"

    I whirled around. Reyna stood next to me, her hand outstretched. Fred looked like he was trying not to laugh.

    Trying not to turn red, I shook her hand. "Hey, I'm George. This is my brother Fred."

    She tilted her head. "Are you British?"

    Fred nodded. "Yeah, we're from London," he replied.

    "Cool. I've never been there before, but I hear it's beautiful."

    A boy shouted across the campfire, "You coming, Reyna? I wanna show you the lava climbing wall. I have the current record."

    Fred glanced at him. "Is that your boyfriend?"

    Reyna's smile faded. "No, he most definitely is not," she said coldly.

    I locked eyes with her, and I could tell she was struggling to keep her face straight. Had this boy hurt her? Despite barely knowing her, I felt a surge of anger.

    "George?" Reyna broke eye contact. "You wanna come? Since you're new, I mean...and since your brother has kind of abandoned you."

    Sure enough, Fred had wandered off to talk to a pair of twins that were also in the Hermes cabin. He was demonstrating one of our trick wands.

    "Okay." I let her lead me out of the ampitheatre.

    The sun beamed down on us as we trekked through tall grass and wildflowers. Demigods were roaming the camp, practicing with their weapons or playing an intense-looking game of volleyball.

    "So..." Reyna said, startling me. "How did you find out you were a demigod?"

    I racked my brain for the story Chiron had given us. "We were teleported here by our father. Just appeared in the dining hall during lunch. Freaked everyone out. But of course that is our specialty."

    Reyna laughed, and my stomach fluttered.

     "Who's your dad?" I asked.

     "He's dead," she replied coolly. "My mom is Bellona, though."

     I could tell I'd hit a nerve, so I changed the subject. "I've never heard of Bellona in Greek mythology before."

    "That's because she's Roman. This is the Greek camp, but the Roman camp is in California."

    "Ah." I nodded.

    Suddenly I realized that we weren't in the main part of camp anymore. We were near the edge of the forest.

    "Uh, Reyna?" I scratched my neck. "Is the climbing wall in the woods?"

    "What?" She looked around, confused. "Oh...I went in the direction of the grove."

    I kicked a rock. "A grove?"

    She froze. "Forget I mentioned a grove. Let's meet Jason at the climbing wall."

    "No, no." I grabbed her shoulder before she could start walking back. "Tell me about this grove."

    "No." Reyna yanked away and started walking briskly in the direction of camp.

    I ran to catch up with her. "Fine. I'll ask Chiron then."

    She whipped around and put a knife to my throat, like some kind of horror movie kidnapper. "No."

    "Okay, okay!" I put my hands up. "I can tell when I'm not wanted."

    Reyna took the knife away from my throat, and I turned away, staring at the ground. Good job, George. You messed up your chance with a girl you like. Again.

    "Wait."

    I looked back. Reyna stood there, her purple cloak billowing in the wind.

    "Yes?" I crossed my arms, trying to keep the smile off my face.

    She sighed. "I'll take you to the grove."

     "Thank you." We turned back towards the forest and entered the tunnel of trees.