In love with the sun

Chapter One
The sun.
It's so lovely and warm. No matter how bad of a day I'm having it will warm me up. It always gives me the biggest of hugs and the best of feelings.
So, naturally, I felt completely safe with the sun all around me as I walked along the little trail at the beach.
My step mom had brought me to the beach for the start of summer break. She was lounging in the sand, while letting me wander the trails. Summer break had finally graced me with its presence and I couldn't be happier. My entire schooling career has been struggling to read assignments no matter how well I understood the subject. So my stepmother, being the amazing woman that she is, brought me to the beach as a treat.
Just to let you know about the wonderful woman that is my stepmother. She is so understanding and more of a mother than my biological mother ever was. I've never met my biological mother, no pictures of her in the house, and all my father will tell me is that she couldn't care for me in the way that she would like to and that she is incredibly smart.
I found the old observation tower and, since it was an early Wednesday morning, climbed to the top without a single person joining me. I curled up at the top and began to read with the cool beach air fanning my face.
I was turning to the next chapter in my book when a feeling of something watching me caused the hairs on the back of my neck to stand up and my body to freeze. I looked up and screamed at the monstrous beast breathing it's awful hot breath into my face. Standing above me was something I thought was only in myths, a griffin, with a jet black body and its beak so close to my face it almost poked my nose.
I quickly sprinted into the tower to hide when the thing shoved its beak into the windows and started snapping at me. I headed completely away from the windows, and was submerged in darkness, with no sun to protect me.
I called my best friend Calee, hoping she would know what to do since she studied this kind of stuff. She told me she would be there soon and to get as far away from it as possible.
I sprinted through the tower and all the way out, almost tripping over tree roots, tearing my new skirt as it got caught on trees, and trying really hard not to just stop and start crying.
I turned a corner and almost ran straight into Calee, who then handed me a bracelet she always wore and told me to pick a charm.
"Why?! What's going on Calee?! Why is there a griffin chasing me?"
Calee turned away and started running, screaming that she would tell me later as long as I didn't die.
With that comforting thought, I grabbed off the knife charm and it grew in my hand to a full sized dagger. I had never fought before or used any type of weapon like this, but something wanted me to have a good day because it landed right in between its eyes,and it turned into dust.
I began to run again when I passed my dad's car with Calee riding shot gun. She rolled down her window and told me to jump in. I pulled the door open and leaped in without my dad even contemplating stopping, gasping for air.
Calee started talking to my dad about where to go and about how I had to go, there was no time left to wait. I was utterly confused, but by this point in my life I knew it was better than to ask. I wouldn't get an answer anyways. My Dad and Calee had always had this relationship where if they knew something and I didn't, they wouldn't let me know. I decided I would look at my bracelet Calee gave me and saw the knife charm was back. I had so many questions but I understood one thing, I wasn't going to get any answers as long as I was in this car.
When I finally looked out the window, about four hours later, I saw a large strawberry farm, next to a lake, and a majestic looking pine tree on top of a hill.
Calee turned around in her seat, "Eliza, you need to make it behind the pine tree there in order to be safe. Someone will answer your questions then because there just isn't time right now. We'll see you soon, hopefully."
I took one long look at my father and best friend, I thought about how my mother was still at the beach, not knowing the danger I was about to plunge headfirst into. I jumped out of the car, tucking and rolling as my dad has always joked, and sprung up, a bit clumsily, sprinting towards the tree ahead of me. I heard a defiant roaring like sound from behind me, and lo and behold there was the first griffin's two kids. I ripped a random charm off of my bracelet and felt a bow grow in my hand. I had only done archery a few times with 4-h, but I knew generally what to do. I knocked one of the arrows in the sheath on my back, and aimed for the larger of the two Griffins, the brother I guess. It wasn't a clear shot with the swerving beast, nor was it precise with my shaking hands, but it hit the monster's chest and soon it was raining golden dust.
I turned my attention to the sister who had shrieked in shock over the loss of her brother. After shooting the first one my confidence soared and when I pulled my arrow back it felt like the most natural thing in the world. The arrow soared directly into the grieving griffon's heart before she could cry, and soon I was standing on a hill top alone, with noting but a charm bracelet.
I turned and limped up to the pine tree, my ankle having taken the blow from jumping in and out of the car and tripping so much.
There was a centaur and a young boy with blonde hair and a trickster smile on his face at the tree. They had been waiting for me and watching me fight. Anger wanted to surge inside me about how they hadn't even offered to help, but it didn't last very long. I was a pacifist at heart, and could only get angry about major things
The boy was animatedly talking to the wise looking centaur about how I was able to fight the beast so well and how I must be Apollo's savior.
"Hush Luke, you sound like little Annabeth," chimes the centaur who then turned to me, "Hello Eliza, Calee had warned me you'd be here soon. I am Chiron, I will be your teacher. I know you are very confused, just come with me and we'll get your ankle fixed up and you changed into clothes that aren't ruined. Then Luke here will explain everything."
We turned away from the tree and headed to the big building in front of us, leaving the tree and my regular life behind.