Not Quite Mortal • HoO

IX Andrew Kerr

Hey!! It's been months since I updated, but now that I have made an update, I've made it a huge one. No, this chapter isn't long, but I've changed some stuff in previous chapters. You don't have to re-read, but just know that I made a lot of characters less important. I deleted all mention of the character "Jackson" he's not a person anymore. The main people you need to remember are Andrew, Mira, and Savannah. 

To be honest with you, not that I hadn't missed Percy, but I missed the normalcy of life before his sudden reappearance. Percy's a good guy, and I like him, but his return had caused such a stir in school social circles. People I'd never given more than a nod during my life came up to me, in school and out, to ask if I knew anything that confirmed or created new rumors.

That's why I was relieved to hear that Percy and Annabeth wouldn't be coming to the park with us that afternoon, even if Savannah was coming with us. Spending time with Mira and Savannah didn't seem like it would be too bad. Yeah Mira could be annoying, fickle and way too full of herself, but I know that she's not always like that. I've seen her at her most vulnerable. And besides, there was no way I would go to a park with just Savannah, who I barely knew.

The only reasons I wished Mira hadn't come with us, are that A, it meant Henry might turn up with Leah, and B, that all she wanted to talk about was Percy. Percy and Annabeth this, and Percy and Annabeth that was all I could hear as I lay in a field of flowers. Generally, laying in a field of flowers is supposed to be relaxing. This was not.

I sat up and looked at the others. Mira and Savannah sat propped against an old oak tree, while I relaxed in the grass that was shaded by its branches. The leaves on the tree were just barely visible, having just begun their return from winter, and the grass was thin and new.

"Why don't I make a deal with you, Mira," I told her.

She narrowed her eyes and waited for me to continue.

"Savannah and I participate in your conversation about your two favorite people for ten minutes, and in exchange-"

"You'll shut up about it for a whole week," Henry interrupted. He had turned up finally, seemingly on their way back from their ice-cream date, or whatever they had gone to.

Miranda frowned. "I want thirty minutes."

"Fifteen," Henry bargained.

"Twenty."

"Fine."

Miranda looked genuinely pleased with this arrangement. "I want all of you to help me figure out how to get to their camp."

Savannah spoke for the first time in the whole conversation. "I actually tried to find it yesterday. I searched the internet for hours - couldn't find a thing. I don't know about you, but I've never heard of the camp's name, only that it's greek themed. I think if you want to find the camp, you're going to have to contact someone who knows about it already."

"So, we get them to bring some other camp people here - it's almost spring break, we could do something as a group," said Mira.

"You want us to invite strangers on our Spring Break camping trip?" I asked incredulously. "Percy never even goes to that, he always goes to his camp. What would be different this time?"

"He's only been back for two months, that's short enough for us to make him feel guilty about leaving for so long, isn't it? And if he can get his camp friends to come too, there's really no reason for him to refuse."

The rest of us don't bother to point out the flaws in this plan. We let her talk out everything for her remaining time, and then move on. The next day, we let Mira ask Percy to invite his friends, and we all received a surprise.

"Sure, sounds fun," Percy said. He threw us all a smile and nods his head. "It might be fun to go camping and not to camp."

Annabeth turned a shocking shade of pale and whispered something to her boyfriend. Percy frowned for a second, then shrugged.

"We'll figure it out, don't worry." He gave Annabeth a quick kiss on the forehead.

She pulled her head away from his, and kept talking. "But bringing the others, Percy? That's a really, really bad idea."
Percy shrugged. "We wouldn't have them all there at the same time. Maybe just two of them could come, or they could take shifts. Besides, I doubt all of them would be available. Frank has his work at - at the other camp, Hazel will probably stay with him, Jason was going to visit Thalia -"

"I get your point, Percy," Annabeth said. She pushed past him to grab a bag with two blue cookies that she had inside her locker.

Percy eyed them with a sudden loss of will to argue, following Annabeth's hand as she shoved them in her backpack.

"Get your own snacks, seaweed brain." And she let herself fall into the river of students passing by.

Percy reluctantly turned back to the rest of us. "So, who else is going? Me, Annabeth, Andrew, Mira, and are Leah and Henry going?"

Mira shrugged, and I took it upon myself to answer. "Neither of them are sure they are going. And we're still supposed to find an adult to go, because Mira's mom won't let her go otherwise. Usually she comes with us but..."

"My Dad and sister might come, if you want them to," Savannah said.

I looked at her. She was already blushing - for what reason, I don't know, but she seemed to act nervous anytime she spoke when no one had asked her anything. That, or maybe she was just thinking about how embarrassing family members could possibly be.

"That would be great," I said. "Text details later?"

"Sure."