The Child of Hera

Chapter 36-Birdie

Birdie jumped into the shower, and stayed in there for longer than necessary.  She just let the hot water run down her wings that were bound to be aching in a couple of hours.  Feathers clogged up the drain.  Great.

She wondered if she would have some of the same characteristics as birds.  Would she molt?  Perhaps she would want to fly south for the winter.  Terrific!  On top of the regular human hormones and puberty, she might to go through a bird's life too.  Joy.

When she got out of the shower and into her room, she shook her wings like a dog.  Her room was soaked after that, but at least her wings were dry.  Then she looked in the mirror and saw how puffy her feathers were.  Terrific.  She smoothed them down with her fingers, but they were still ruffled.  She checked her closet before remembered that her only suitable clothes for training were the ones that Piper gave her.  She could only wear those so many times before they started to stink.

So what?  Wear a ball gown and heals?  Ugh.  Birdie covered up her body by wrapping her wings around herself.  

Then she heard a knock on her door.  Should she answer it?  It was only five fifty.  Who would be calling at this hour?

She decided to just open the door a crack.  There was no one there.  Just a bag on the ground.  She reached her hand out of the door and took hold of the bag.  A note was pinned to the strap of the bag.

Hey Princess!  I used to steal toiletries and other camp stuff for new campers, so I thought I'd pick up the practice again.  Here's some stuff you might need that your mom might not have supplied you with.

Your Pillow, Luke

Birdie smiled.  Perfect timing.  Inside the bag were some necessities like soap and toothpaste.  Then there were two camp T-shirts and a pair of jeans.  Oh how she loved this little Skywalker!

She pulled on the new clothes.  They were a little big, but that was't a problem.  She pulled on her shoes, and socks, and jacket.  Then she heard a crash from under her bed.  She checked it, and found Leo and Calypso's birthday present to her.

"Where have you been?" she asked it.  Then she set it on the window sill, and walked out the door.

The air was cool on her face.  She smiled and sucked in the cold April air.  Or was it May now?  Who cared?!

As she waked to the dining pavilion, she saw people walking out of their cabins, rubbing their eyes and stumbling.  Birdie yawned.  Not much sleep last night.  Oh, training would be torture. But she could do it.  That's what she had learned going from one monster camp to another.  She trained hard every day, and hunted at night.  Sleep was for weaklings.

She got to the pavilion and sat at her table.  No one else was there yet, and it felt good to put her head down on the cool wood.

Her thoughts were immediately directed to Luke, and she let them linger there.  His sandy blond hair, his light blue eyes, his small smattering of freckles, and his nose that would crinkle up a little when he smiled.  Her damp hair was cold against her back, but she hardly noticed.

"'Sup?" asked a voice in front of her, waking her up from her daydream.  She looke up and saw Reyna and Nico (Death Breath looking way too tired to be sitting up strait) sitting in front of her.

Birdie stretched and said, "Not much.  You?"

Reyna was at the slumber party the night before, so she knew very well that 'Not much' was a flat out lie.  But she didn't ask about it.  Instead she just said, "Eh.  Nico and I broke up."

"WHAT?!" Birdie shouted.  Good thing nobody else was there yet.  

"We're just not very...couply?" Nico said.

"We're more like siblings than anything else, so it was just awkward to be in a relationship," finished Reyna.  End of discussion.

Birdie nodded.  Made sense.  They mad small talk until everybody else showed up.  Word spread that Reyna and Nico were no longer together.  When Jason heard this, he jumped up and yelled, "My OTP may still happen!"

Piper looked scandalized.  "Who's your OTP?!"  Apparently she thought that Jason meant him and Reyna.

"Nico and Will," said Jason mischievously.  Upon hearing this, Piper just laughed and gave him a high five.

Nico looked like he was ready to summon an army of undead warriors and Reyna rolled her eyes.

When Luke showed up, he sat next to Birdie, and she put her head on his shoulder.

"Did you get the bag?" he asked her.

"Mhm," she said.  "No more talking.  Pillows don't talk."

Luke laughed.  "Are pillows allowed to eat?"

"Yes pillows are allowed to eat.  But only because pillows aren't allowed to starve."

Everyone looked very confused at this conversation between them, so Luke just said, "I'm her pillow.  Inside joke," and they let it go.

After breakfast was over, Will came over and hauled Birdie over to the training arena.

"All right, we'll start with stretches, and then move on to the hard-core stuff, and then lunch, and after that, we'll study the wings in general, so we know what to work on."

Joy.

This is so much fun to write!  And yes, I support Solangelo.  Then again, I support Brason, so I guess that will tell you a little about my sanity.  Read!  Comment!  Vote!  Adieu.