Miles Dilara and the Quest for Legends (A Percy Jackson fanfic)

6: We Negotiate With A Monster

"And that's when I fell over into the lake," Tony said, laughing. I chuckled at his story. We had been traveling for a while now, and we had resorted to telling dumb stories about ourselves. It was nice to get to know the other campers more, even though I was sure I knew more about the others than anyone else did.

Jackson directed the hovervan to a charging port, and we all got out to stretch and take a bathroom break. Jackson plugged in the hovervan to the charger, then placed his forearm under the scanner, starting the power so that the hovervan could charge, and paying for the power with the chip in his arm.

Jackson was one of the demigods that went home during the school year, so he had things that weren't needed by year-rounders, like chips. He had a small chip in his forearm that functioned as a phone, but it was also connected to his bank account, so he could easily buy whatever he needed. Most people just used a card, as the surgery required for the chip still cost money, even though it wasn't overly expensive, but Jackson was seriously rich and chips were safer because no one could steal it and you couldn't lose it. You would always have money. I had wanted one when I was younger, but my dad didn't let me, for obvious reasons. I think he would let me now that I'm older, but I didn't feel the need for it since I was at camp all the time.

All the same, it was nice that at least one of our group would always have money.

I walked to the small store with Jackson and Soma. Everyone else had already entered, and I could see Jay and Xander checking out some snacks, and Jackson ran over. I rolled my eyes, but joined them.

"We should get food," Jackson announced. "What do you want?"

We all grabbed a few things, and as the rest of our group walked over, they grabbed some chips, candy, and drinks as well. The eight of us probably made an interesting sight, as the store worker eyed us. "You kids all together?" he asked.

Alyssa, always the sneak, knew where this situation could go. She glanced at me, and I gave her a small smile and a nod. She was about to use a trick that we used all the time when we were younger. Alyssa began talking, incredibly fast. "Yeah, we are going on a trip across the country! It has been so fun so far. We came from New York, and we have seen so many amazing things. Oh my goodness, New York City was amazing. Have you been there? It was so busy and Times Square was awesome. We also went to a bunch of places that were from movies and that was fun because we could recreate movie scenes. Our parents were so great to let us all go together on a friends trip! This has been the best. Do you have any kids?" Alyssa paused for a split second, waiting for his answer. He opened his mouth, but then Alyssa took a deep breath, and I grabbed her arm. I smiled at the cashier, then turned to Alyssa and whispered, just loud enough for everyone to overhear, "Alyssa, it's so awkward when you talk so much." Then I pushed Jackson's arm, and louder, said, "He's paying for everything."

"Yeah," Jackson agreed, holding out his forearm. "I'll be paying by chip." He looked at me and Alyssa quizzically as the cashier scanned his arm. I rolled my eyes, but didn't say anything. Our job was finished. The cashier either bought our story, or he assumed that it was fine, but wasn't really paying attention to Alyssa's chattering. I tried to stifle a smile unsuccessfully as we walked out.

It wasn't until after the automatic doors slid shut behind us were we confronted. "So what was that about?" Roxanne demanded as we made our way back to the hovervan.

Alyssa snorted. "You should be thanking me. People get suspicious when a bunch of teenagers are at a charging port in the middle of nowhere, using the bathroom and getting snacks. It looks like we are running away. And, when they ask what you are doing, your answer tends to sound like a story, not the truth. So my wonderful skills come in handy, especially if I didn't have any money and also had to steal from said store."