Not Quite Mortal • HoO

XIX Savannah Bell

With all the tension going around at school, I was glad for an escape, even if that escape left room for me to think about the fact that I wouldn't be living with my family anymore. Lara and I had gone to meet Claire the previous afternoon, and it was clear that the two of them would get along almost immediately. We hadn't been planning to visit her two afternoons in a row, but Claire and Lara had it arranged as soon as we had left.

Claire's apartment had space enough for the three of us as long as Lara and I shared a room, and if we didn't mind the occasional demigod popping in to say hello or receive medical supplies.

Claire had slapped Lara's hand when she had reached for the ambrosia.

"Do you want to die?"

"Sorry," Lara jumped back. "I thought this stuff was supposed to heal people!"

"Some people. Not everyone."

Aside from the magical healing food, nothing was off limits to us either, even though we wouldn't be moving in until summer started.

The rest of the school year went fairly smoothly. At home, everything that hadn't been fully unpacked from our first move stayed unpacked since it was only a matter of time before everyone would leave again. The items that belonged to Lara and I gradually found their way over to Claire's, where we ended up spending the night just as often as we didn't.

At school, tensions died down and things went back to normal. Once Mira and Andrew officially announced that they were dating, Annabeth relaxed around Mira again, and I found that hanging out with the two of them (and occasionally, Leah would join us) became one of my favorite things to do.

To start with, I had only had Annabeth. Annabeth was smart and witty when she wanted to be, but she was serious, and sometimes her serious attitude could be exhausting. Now that we had a larger group, Percy could lighten the mood with humor, Andrew with an interesting conversation topic, and Mira with - well, Mira and Annabeth still argued. A lot. But their arguments were trivial and we usually all laughed at the stupidity of it all.

The final school dance of the year crept closer as well. I wasn't expecting anyone to ask me, and no one did, but I noticed that the others talked about prom as if I were going.

"You know I'm not going, right?" I asked one lunch time.

Mira looked at me, wide eyed. "Don't be ridiculous. You have to go."

"Why?"

"Because," she leaned in to whisper, "Percy and Annabeth still aren't going. I can't go without a friend!"

I laughed. "You have Andrew."

"That's different."

I shook my head.

"Please, just come?"

"I'm not into being a third wheel."

Mira shook her head vigorously. "I promise you won't be."

"Fine."

0o0o0

When the evening of prom actually came, I wasn't a third wheel because Mira's brother had gotten strep, leaving Leah on her own.

Not to say I wasn't sorry for Henry, but Mira and Andrew were so absorbed in each other, there was no way I wouldn't have felt left out if I hadn't had Leah there.

Mira looked amazing in an a-line dress of deep blue that matched Andrew's suit. Leah was sporting a much more casual purple sweater dress with half sleeves for warmer weather. I had chosen a simple dress in yellow that Claire had loaned to me since we were of similar size.

Prom wasn't anything outstanding in my opinion, but then again, I was never very fond of dances. The food was good though, and I was convinced to dance for a few songs by Leah and Mira.

"To next year being a good one!" Mira yelled over the noise of people and music. She held up one of those fancy plastic cups in a toast. The rest of us raised our glasses and touched them to hers.

"Cheers to that," I said.

At some point, Leah and Andrew were out dancing while Mira and I watched. This is when she brought up the topic I had thought she had forgotten about, or at least chosen to ignore.

"You go to camp now, don't you?"

I shrugged. She didn't need to clarify which camp she was talking about - there was only one that she could possibly be interested in. "I will. I've only been there twice, but I'm going this summer."

Mira nodded, looking into her glass without focusing. "Do you think it's worth trying to find? For me, I mean?"

"You won't find it if no one wants to you."

"You and your sister did."

"We could have searched forever and not found it had Piper not wanted us to be let in," I said. I wasn't sure how the rules of Camp Halfblood worked, but from what I had been told, I wasn't lying with that answer.

"So you're saying I should have made a better impression with Piper?"

I laughed. "No. I don't think it would have helped."

Mira sighed. "I hate not knowing such a big secret."

"I know."

"Someday," she said. "Someday one of you will tell me. I'll wait."

I tried to give a genuine smile even though I knew no one would ever be telling her anything. The fact that she was willing to trust us with our secrets meant more than she could know.