The Life I'm Running From

14\ Bands Can't Break

A cold startled feeling settled on my skin the next morning, making my blissful dreamless sleep end. Even before my eyes opened I felt the ache in my wrist. The dull pain intensified and when I shifted my position, pain arched up my arm. All of last night seemed like some weirdly-devised dream that shouldn't have happened.

It started off good, watching Legally Blonde with Skylar, until it all went downhill. The strange black shadow and the unconscious woman, being pushed off the roof then... Spider-Man.

I pushed myself upwards in bed with my good hand. According to my clock, I had slept the morning away. That was rare for me. But I guess when your life flips, so does your sleeping schedule.

My phone buzzed, but I ignored it. I didn't feel like talking to any of my friends now. The only people I wanted to talk to right now we're people who'd understand. And that was limited to a very small group.

The white band on my wrist felt glaringly obvious on my arm, pronounced by the red skin around it. But though it felt so strange, it would have been completely foreign if I had disconnected it last night. I wasn't getting rid of it now, despite what everyone else thought about it. Danny disapproved, Percy disapproved, Annabeth disapproved—almost everyone disapproved. Even Leo and Will, who were vital in creating it, had thoughts of disapproval.

I leaned my head against the backboard of my bed. And as I closed my eyes, the memories rushed in.

"Sometimes being a demigod is such a hassle." I grinned. "Normal kids don't have to worry about the maintenance of mechanical dragons or being burnt by the lava on the rock climbing wall."

"Or Mr. D turning you into a dolphin," Leo Valdez joked. He leaned back on his hands, his legs dangling over the edge of the dock. "You'd make a funny dolphin."

I flicked my fingers, sending ocean water flying at him.

"Too bad there isn't a thing that made you normal." He laughed, wiping away the droplets that had landed on his face. "Maybe I would be able to not spontaneously light myself on fire."

I smirked. "Then I wouldn't be able to toss you into the bonfire. You can't take that joy away from me."

Leo laid back on the dock, resting his hands behind his head. "Now that's something I wouldn't miss."

I squeezed my stress ball, my heart beating fast. The idea had been playing around in the back of my head for awhile, but only last night had I thought to make it a reality. But was it a good choice to make?

"McKinnley?" Danny stepped out of the Apollo cabin, her clothes soaked with sweat from training. "What'd you want to talk about?"

I led her away from the cabins to the forest. We settled in one of the outermost clearings of the forest, not deep enough in the trees to worry about monster attacks. I fiddled with my necklace, not sure how to start the conversation.

"Danny, have you ever wanted to be normal?" The question came out of my mouth before I could think over it.

She shrugged. "We are normal. For demigods. But, normal like mortals?" I nodded. Danny pursed her lips. "Well, I'd like to live in the city one day, and get a job and that stuff."

"But..." I took a deep breath. "But get rid of your demigod-ness. Your powers. Would you ever do that?"

"No." Her answer was so immediate it shocked me, and it seemed to shock her too. "Well it's a part of who I am," she explained. "I don't want to get rid of that."

I straightened my back. "Well, I think I want to do it."

Danny's eyes widened. She stared at me for a few long seconds asking, "Why? Why would you ever—why would you do that?"

"To be normal." I ran a hand through my hair, the grey streak standing out. "I want to live a normal life like any other teenager. Not deal with monsters attacking me, or titans or giants. I want my biggest problem to be the failing mark I got in school, or my friend betraying me. And not betraying me by joining a group trying to take over the world, but betraying me by doing something petty like kissing my boyfriend."