Not Quite Mortal • HoO

II Andrew Kerr

"So." I slammed my lunch tray on the table, and sat down across from Percy. "What's your explanation?"

"I went for a short trip with a group from the summer camp I go to, and I fell and hit my head pretty hard. I got amnesia, and I couldn't come until my memories came back," said Percy. His hands twitched as he talked. Was it because of his ADHD or because he was hiding something?

"Right," Leah whispered. "And, will we ever meet any of these mysterious camp friends, or are they all just a myth like your girlfriend?"

Percy looked kind of hurt. I guess I could kind of see why, but I could also see our side of the story. The side where none of us ever got the whole truth, even though, as far as we knew, we were his closest friends.

"My girlfriend isn't fake, and neither is camp, I promise! I'd take you there but -"

"- we don't qualify to get in, we get it," Henry interrupted. "We know. Can't you tell us something new? Anything at all?"

Percy avoided all our eyes when he said that he couldn't, and he was sorry. After that, none of us were sure what to say, so as Leah continued to try and make Percy talk, Henry and I pulled out our smartphones.

My friend Savannah had sent me a text. Savannah and I habn't seen each other in person since we were 13, when she moved to San Francisco, but we keep in contact, mostly through videogames, but occasionally we have actual conversations as well.

Savannah: Hey, my parents have decided we're moving back to Manhattan! Not sure what school you go to, but a friend suggested Goode.

Me: You should go to Goode, it's where I go. Who's your friend?

Savannah: A girl here that's moving as well. You'll meet her when we get there.

Me: Ok. When's the move?

Me: Hello?

Apparently Savannah had been forced to leave her phone, because I didn't get a response after that.

I looked up from my phone, and tried to focus on the ongoing conversation held by Percy and Leah.

"So, are there any other names you can tell us besides this mysterious 'Annabeth?'" she asks.

"Um, yeah I guess so," Percy mutters. "There's Hazel and Frank, they're from another camp that my camp associates with, and then there's Jason, Piper, and Leo. But those are just names. What do they matter to you?"

"I was just seeing how fast you came up with them. I'm guessing they're real by the way you listed them off pretty quickly, and they aren't common names," Leah explained.

Only Leah would do something like that as a test, at least in this group of friends. I almost laughed at the smug look on her face.

"So," I addressed the other three at the table. "Now that Percy is back, we have to go celebrate somehow. Suggestions?"

"Let's invite all the people we know to my house this weekend," suggested Henry, just as Leah said, "Let's ask Percy's mom if she can teach us to make those blue cookies she gave us."

"I vote cookies," Percy said.

"Well, that's decided then," I got up from the table. "It's Percy's celebration after all. Perce, let us know when your mom's available, okay? I'm guessing you still don't have a phone, so just tell us tomorrow."

"Well, actually I do have a phone. As of a couple weeks ago."

We all stared. A Percy that was up to date in tech? No way! He showed us his phone. It was a silver smartphone from a brand I hadn't seen before. It had some greek letter or symbol engraved in the back.

After we were all done staring at the phone, we all exchanged phone numbers and separated to go to our classes.