Not Quite Mortal • HoO

X. Andrew Kerr

 "Ben," the man said, introducing himself as he shook my hand. It was day one of our planned camping trip, and Savannah's family had pulled through and offered to be chaperones.

"I'm Lara," said the girl that must have been Savannah's sister.

"Nice to meet you," I muttered. I hoisted my bag and sleeping bag into the back of their van, and leaned against the door as I waited for others to arrive. Savannah was already there of course, but Mira, Percy, and Annabeth had yet to show their faces.

"So," I began awkwardly, "How've you been liking New York?"

Lara shrugged. "It's okay I guess. I'm trying to find a job, and look at college opportunities while I'm here."

"While you're here? You're not planning to stay?"

"I'm not sure." Lara gazed off into the city. "I think I might go somewhere on my own, you know? I love my siblings, but, I think I'm ready to get out."

"Yeah, I get it," I said.

I didn't have to think of any other topics for conversation, because Percy and Annabeth showed up, walking down the sidewalk towards us with their miniscule bags, both dressed in jeans and t-shirts.

"You two know we're camping, right?" Lara asked them.

Percy laughed. "Yeah. We camp a lot. We know how to travel light."

It still seemed somewhat sketchy to me, but I went along with it. The two threw their bags in the van.

"When are your friends getting here?" Savannah asked. She'd finally popped out from inside the house, a bag full of unhealthy snack foods looped over one arm, and a cooler with drinks held in the other.

"Piper and Leo will be meeting us at the campsite. Hither Hills, right?" Annabeth confirmed. "They were already closer to the park than us, so they decided to drive separately."

"Well, I'm here," Mira said from behind the van. She was wearing deep green cargo capris with a black crop top and, compared to the rest of us, she looked seriously overdressed. She, too, threw her bags in the back.

"Let's get going, then!" Ben cheered. He took the driver's side of the van, and waited for us to decide how to split up. Percy and I ended up in the van with Ben and all the camping gear, while the girl went in Lara's car.

~0~

Nearly three hours later, we arrived at our reserved spots in the park.

"Do your friends know where to meet us, Percy?" Ben asked him as we pulled up.

Percy leaned out the open window. "Yep. They're already here." He pointed at the silver volvo* parked behind us. A volvo. To go camping. Who were these people? It looked like an older model, but still very nice car. On top were two kayaks, orange and labeled 'CHB.'

Ahead of us, the girls got out of Lara's car and walked back to the van. Behind us, a boy and girl stepped out of the volvo. Once everyone was out, we gathered around the rear of the van, and looked towards Percy and Annabeth.

"So, guys," Percy said. "This is Leo and Piper. Leo, Piper, meet our school friends." He left off without telling the two everyone's names, whether because it was just too many to list, or because he had already told them about us before was uncertain.

I didn't get to talk to Piper until later that day, but I spoke briefly to Leo while we set up the boys tent.

"So, what's your name again?" Leo asked me. He had opened the tent bag and had started putting together the poles.

"I'm Andrew."

"Right," he said. "Styx," he seemed to curse as one of the poles snapped. "Well, what could you expect." He looked over at me and rolled his eyes. "It's made of plastic. Who Makes tent poles out of plastic?"

"Er," I mumbled something about not knowing, and how it was a bad idea before I walked away to help with the part of the tent that wasn't broken.

Even with a broken piece, which Leo had soon fixed, we finished setting up our tent long before the girls did.

"No, it says that we put that over here," I heard Mira say. She and Annabeth were in an in-depth debate on how to most efficiently set up their tent.

"Forget efficient, you two," I said. "We've already got our tent up."

Leo asked the two of them to explain their sides one more time. "You realize that you're both saying the same thing, right? If you'd just listen to each other, you would know that already."

Mira and Annabeth froze, and looked at each other.

"You mean?" Mira questioned.

"You wanted to do this?" Annabeth turned the flattened tent around and started putting it together.

Mira scratched her head. "Yeah. Thanks Leo."

With the girls in agreement, they finished putting up the tent and organizing their belongings in only ten minutes.

*No, the demigods do not each have their own fancy car as in many fics, but Piper does. I sort of picture her dad doing all sorts of things trying to make it up to Piper, and so yeah, a car. But she's the only one that I think would even have their own car, fancy or not.

Yeah, so... I updated???? Lol, I really can't apologize enough for leaving everyone hanging here, and, if I'm honest, still not doing my best work. My writing ideas and ability have changed so much since I started this story, and really the reason I'm still writing this is because I refuse to have another abandoned story out there, not because I like writing it. Which is bad, you should write for enjoyment, but yeah.

So, other characters for my other stories are so much more real to me (several are unpublished stories). I'll imagine them in situation throughout my day. I don't only think about them when I'm writing. But these characters? They seem so flat, because I haven't taken the time to make them real to me, and I don't know if I ever will. Anyway, if you're content with my current writing style, then this little rant probably won't matter to you :)

Happy reading!