Apollo, Summer, and the Camp for Greeks | DoS #1

III. I Get Claimed by the God of Arrogance

I sat in the only available seat, across from two girls who looked my age. One was tall and Hawaiian-looking, her skin a beautiful bronze and her hair long and wavy. She was politely eating a plate of pork, keeping perfect etiquette. The other was shorter, with olive skin and freckles and black hair with dual french braids; she was chowing down on a sandwich with french fries on top. That seemed a bit strange to me, but I didn't say anything.

In fact, I kept completely quiet, not daring to bring attention to myself. But any attempt I had was failed when the girl with braids looked up from her sandwich right into my eyes.

Her eyes widened, and she quickly swallowed her food before saying, "You're the girl from the woods!"

The other girl glanced up at me. Surprise flashed across her face, then she elbowed Braids. "Kiera, be polite."

"I'm being perfectly polite," Braids -  Kiera - replied, glaring at the other girl before looking at me. "Hi. I didn't realize you were out of the infirmary. You suffered a nasty concussion."

"Um..."

"Kiera!" The other girl exclaimed. "I'm so sorry," she said to me. "She doesn't know how to introduce herself. She's the person who found you on the hill while on border patrol."

My mouth went into the shape of an O. So this girl was the reason I was here. Thanks a lot, Braids.

"Yep," Kiera said, popping the p, which was a bit annoying. "Kiera Bane, at your service. And this is Aria Nalau'i. What's your name?"

"AJ. AJ Hood," I said, a bit hesitant.

Kiera took a bite of her sandwich, then said, "Well then, welcome to Camp Half-Blood, Miss AJ," except her mouth was full and it came out sounding more like complete gibberish.

"Thanks," I replied, although I didn't know if I meant it. I looked at the two girls, who seemed to be waiting for me to say something else, then at the food laid out in front of me. There was a platter of pulled pork slathered with barbecue sauce that was really calling my name. Reluctantly, I picked up my fork and threw some on to my plate. But though I had food, I didn't see a source of hydration in site. To Aria and Kiera, I asked, "Um, where are the drinks?"

"There are none. You summon them yourself. Say whatever you want, and it'll appear," Aria explained. After I just gaped at her for a moment, she said, "Go on, try it!"

Slowly, I looked at the glass and said, "Cream soda - no, strawberry cream soda." I didn't even know if that was a thing, but it sounded good. Sure enough, it was a thing, because my goblet proceeded to fill up with a foamy pink drink, complete with ice.

I blinked. Once. Twice. And the drink was still there. This place was getting more magical by the second.

Comforted by the familiar vanilla buzz of cream soda and warmth of barbecue, I started to dig into my food. My fork was halfway in the air when Kiera said, "Wait! Don't eat that. You have to donate some of your food to the brazier in the middle. It's for the Gods."

"O-kay."

"I know it sounds a little weird, but you'll get used to it. I'll come with you."

So, Kiera led me to the center of the dining pavilion, where a small, standing fire pit sat. Then she turned to me and instructed, "Throw the crust in the fire. And dedicate it to a god."

I did as she said. But I didn't know what god to dedicate it to. It wasn't that I didn't know Greek mythology, because I did, vaguely. We'd learned about it all throughout middle school. I remember my favorite being Apollo, because he was the god of music, and music used to be the reason I woke up in the morning. So, randomly, I said internally, "I guess this is for Apollo. You always seemed kinda cool. If you know who my dad is, please tell him to tell me. Thanks a bunch."