Heroes of Olympus (The Throne of Stone)

Chapter 04 Emma Grows a Passion for Vandalizing

Chapter 04

 Emma Grows a Passion for Vandalizing

Emma

Well, I could have thought that through better. I thought. I should have grabbed a hamburger and then ran. Now I’m back in the Athena cabin with nothing to eat besides a stick of gum! I sat crossed legged in my bunk inside the Athena cabin. Nobody came back to look for me, they all knew where I would be. I fell back into my bed and looked up and the ceiling of the Athena cabin. Whoever used to sleep there wrote almost a million complicated math problems all over the ceiling. I crawled down from my bunk and crashed onto Annabeth’s. On the bottom of my bunk Annabeth had carved a list labeled, “Hours Since I Last Saw Percy.” There were at least million tally marks under the title and off to the side were the words inscribed inside a heart, “I will find you. P+A” Those words made my heart throb, I wondered if Percy ever saw this,

“Yeah. She missed him a lot.” The voice made me jump half a mile, I was certain I was alone in the cabin a few seconds ago.

“Hi. I’m sorry I didn’t get to introduce myself, I’m Piper.” The girl with the eagle feathers stepped out of the shadows, “Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you.”

“Hi I’m Emma.”

“Yeah. I know.” Piper smiled, “Percy disappeared a few years ago. His disappearance crushed Annabeth. I had to try and hold her together while search teams went looking for him. She spent her time staring at the bottom of your bunk and marking off the hours since she last saw him. I tried to get her to climb out of her hole but she couldn’t leave without bursting into tears. I didn’t get to have much time to console her because I was almost always busy with my quest but when I got back she was almost impossible to repair. Since Percy returned I have never seen her happier.”

“Then it’s great that Percy is back.” I grinned.

“So what is your story? What happened to you before you came here?” Piper looked down like she was afraid that she was prying, “Sorry. You don’t need to tell me if you don’t want to.”

“No that’s ok. Um...well...it started out with me. I was only a baby and my dad neglected me. I mean he didn’t abuse me or anything but he, like, spaced out. He just stared at the wall. I was starving so I had to learn to find food for myself since my father wouldn’t feed me. A few days after I was born he grabbed me. He jumped out of his rocking chair and grabbed me. I screamed and screamed but no one could help me. He dragged me out into the snow and dropped me onto the neighbor’s doorstep……….” I trailed off as if I was remembering a really sad memory, which I was.

“Keep going.” Piper urged with concern in her eyes.

“Ok. So the next day after screaming in the snow the neighbor’s opened the door and took me inside. They were so nice to me, but they kept arguing over whether or not to keep me. The mother wanted me to stay but the father said that he couldn’t afford anymore messes and that he wanted me to go to the orphanage. The mother won the argument and I stayed with them for 5 years, then, on my 6th birthday we were driving to a bouncy house across town and….and….” My face grew red as I fought the tears but one managed to slide down my cheek, “And then we got into a car accident. I-I was the only survivor of the crash. The police found me and said that I should go back to my real dad, so they sent me back. I found him crying on the edge of his bed muttering something about an angel that came to him. My mother must have went back and demanded that he treat me better because he didn’t throw me out in the snow, but him seeing her made him even more….mad. He was crazy. He spent all of his time sitting on the edge of that bed like he was frozen in time. Every once in a while he would get up to feed himself and then he would return to the bed without a word spoken to me. I got a job to pay for food, I mowed lawns and did lemonade stands and I always had good luck, people would always tell me to keep the change and things like that…” I shuddered and curled into a little ball as if to stop the tremors,

“Then after a while I knew that I couldn’t stay. So I took a box of cereal and ran away from home. I made it all the way to New York. I was being chased by snake ladies until I got to here. I was completely unarmed except if cardboard counts. I made it all the way to the hill. I was doomed. I just couldn’t run any longer I collapsed and Chiron saved me. And then he sat on me when Annabeth crashed into him.” I managed a weak chuckle, “That’s it.”

“Wow. I’m sorry.” Piper blushed. You could tell that dinner was over because you could hear the campers singing campfire songs, “Well...do you want to go with me to campfire?” Piper asked innocently.

“Sure.” I said, “Better to get away from sad memories.” I sighed. Piper reached out and I took her hand. It was warm, it felt really good to have someone to just listen,

“Friends?” Piper asked.

“Friends.” I answered. We walked down the path towards the bonfire which was burning a bright purple from the excitement of the campers. They were singing a song about a hero who, instead of wearing armor, he wore a pair of lucky underpants. The song made me laugh, and for once, nobody was staring at me.

“Hey! You alright?” Annabeth said with concern in her eyes. I felt awful. I knew that Annabeth was doing her best to let me have a good time here at the camp, and so far all I had done was cause trouble.

“Yeah. I’m fine!” I shouted over the roar of singing campers. Chiron appeared to announce that it was time for everyone to return to their cabins, as he exchanged a worried look with Annabeth. I wondered what he thought of my little scene, then he turned towards me and winked and I knew that everything would be alright between us.

“Time for you to go then.” Piper murmured. Her eyes shone bright in the light of the campfire,

“Yeah, I guess.” I replied.

“Bye!” A very handsome blonde boy ran up to her and kissed her on the cheek and dragged her away. I watched them run away,

“That’s Jason.” Annabeth answered my thoughts.

“Can you read my mind?”

“I don’t need to. I can see your thoughts in your face. Time to go back.” Annabeth held out her hand and I took it. We walked back towards the Athena cabin. Percy glanced at Annabeth and blew her a kiss.

“Good night Annabeth!” He yelled back at her before he disappeared in the shadows of his cabin.

“Night Seaweed Brain!”Annabeth opened the door of the Athena cabin and pulled me inside. I crawled up into my bunk and changed into my Camp Half-Blood pajamas. Then I crashed onto my bunk and turned on my Camp Half-Blood flashlight.

“Have you ever shown him the bottom of my bunk?” I asked. The question flew out of nowhere and it clearly startled Annabeth, because it took her a few seconds to answer.

“No. It seemed too personal.” Annabeth whispered, “He already loves me. I don’t want him to feel the pain I felt when he disappeared. I have never shared that with anyone besides maybe-”

“Piper told me everything.” I blushed, “Sorry, I didn’t mean to pry.”

“That’s OK. Everybody lights out!” Just like that all of the lights in the cabin turned off.

I stared at the ceiling in the faint glow of the moon. I drew patterns with my fingertips on the ceiling. I thought about how my mother kept on using me, like a puppet. I didn’t like it. I wanted it to stop.

I could hear the voice inside my head as I closed my eyes,

“I’m watching you my dear. It is almost time. Tomorrow you shall be tested. Be prepared, or you shall die.” Then I closed my eyes and hoped that the voice wouldn’t follow me into my dreams. But like always it did….