CHAPTER 13: THE MYTH
They were divided up into their teams and were paraded into the dining hall, which was the right hand extension on from the main block.
The hall was reasonably large and could probably fit most of the campers, if not all. There were tables in six long rows, and each one was coated with a thick glaze upon its deep-honey coloured wooden surface. Everybody was seated on the table that matched their team, and Athena was ecstatic to find out that Tom was in team Griffin too. However, Timothy belonged in Hippogriff. Together, they sat down and a couple of tables away, Athena noticed the boy who had knocked her down; his glossy hair in perfect condition. Someone near him called ‘Seth’ so Athena gathered that that was his name and someone else referred to him as ‘Rogue’ which she thought must be his surname, either that or it was his dumb nickname. He was sat on the Minotaur table and that gave her no great shock at all.
Eventually, all the other years of campers entered the hall and Leon too was in Griffin, unlike Chloe who belonged to Phoenix. Leon came and sat next to Athena and on her other side was Tom, whose static blonde hair quivered in the afternoon light. Another girl wondered over to the Griffin table, she looked unsure of what to do, so Athena guessed that she was new too. The girl had shimmering ginger hair that was thick and long. Her eyes were of a light, intelligent brown. Athena remembered seeing her in the line, so she must be a second year. Awkwardly, the girl sat down opposite Athena.
“Hello” she timidly said
“Hi” smiled Athena “new?” she knew the answer, but she wanted the girl to feel at ease.
“Um yes, but I’m in second year, supposedly” she replied
“Me too!”
“You mean your new or in second year?”
“Both”
“Oh” the girl seemed to feel less awkward now “my name is Emma by the way, Emma Newton”
“Athena Williams” the two shook hands and grinned
“And I’m Leon Noble” Leon put out his own hand “I’m with Athena”
“You’re together? Like a couple” Emma excitedly grinned, slight tears in her eyes. Before Athena could intervene, Leon said:
“Well nothing’s official or anything” he winked and Athena felt her cheeks turning red as Leon put his arm around her.
“Oi!”Stressed Tom, slapping his hand away
“Just kidding, she’s all yours” laughed Leon
“We’re just friends” Athena added, before Emma said anything about her and Tom.
“So you say that about me” he mumbled “I’m Tom Noble, this douche-bag’s my brother” he pointed at Leon.
“Attention camper” called Ms Ranch “each team has a rotor of assigned chores, so today it is third years turn, Centaurs and Minotaur’s will be setting the tables, Hippogriffs and Phoenixes shall prepare the rooms and the Griffins shall wash up after the meal, thank you.”
Screeching chairs sounded all around the hall and the teams gradually dispersed and followed their leaders. Ms Kwin beckoned to the Griffins and they got up too and followed her out of the comfort of the main block. Emma seemed to have taken a liking to Athena and was now asking her a bunch of questions. Perhaps she wasn’t used to making friends either.
“So, where do you live?” she was saying
“Perrenporth in Cornwall, it’s a small town”
“That’s nice, do you surf?”
