Sky Boy ~~~ Jason Grace

~Chapter 14~

As soon as Jason saw the house, he knew he was a dead man.

"Here we are!" Drew said cheerfully. "The Big House, camp headquarters."

It didn't look threatening, just a four-story manor painted baby blue with white trim. The wraparound porch had lounge chairs, a card table, and an empty wheelchair. Wind chimes shaped like nymphs turned unto trees as they spun. Jason could imagine old people coming here for summer vacation, sitting on the porch and sipping prune juice while they watched the sunset. Still, the windows seemed to glare down at him like angry eyes. The wide-open doorway looked ready to swallow him. On the highest gable, a bronze eagle weathervane spun in the wind and pointed straight in his direction, as if telling him to turn around.

Every molecule in Jason's body told him he was on enemy ground.

"I am not supposed to be here," he said.

Drew circled her arms through his. "Oh, please. You're perfect here, sweetie. Believe me, I've seen a lot of heroes."

Drew smelled like Christmas--a strange combination of pine and nutmeg, Lily smelled better, in Jason's opinion, she smelled like coconut. Jason wondered if Drew always smelled like that, or if it was some kind of special perfume for the holidays. Her pink eyeliner was really distracting. Everytime she blinked, he felt compelled to look at her. Maybe that was the point, to show off her warm brown eyes. She was pretty. No doubt about that. But she made Jason feel uncomfortable. Unlike Lily who was the only person he really comfortable with. Now, here, with Drew, Jason felt like he was somehow betraying the kind Valdez girl.

He slipped his arm away as gently as he could. "Look, I appreciate--"

"Is it that girl?" Drew pouted. "Oh, please, tell me you are not dating the Dumpster Queen. Or is it the little timid one? The one that doesn't talk much?"

"You mean Lily and Piper? Um. . ."

Jason wasn't sure how to answer. He didn't think he'd ever seen Piper before today, but he felt strangely guilty about it. He knew he shouldn't be in this place. He shouldn't befriend these people, and certainly he shouldn't date one of them. Still. . .Piper had been holding his hand when he woke up on that bus. She believed she was his girlfriend. She'd been brave on the skywalk, fighting those venti, and when Jason had caught her in midair and they'd held each other face-to-face, he couldn't pretend he wasn't a little tempted to kiss her. But that wasn't right. He didn't even know his own story. He couldn't play with her emotions like that. And he felt some connection with Lily. The small Latino girl had caught his attention as soon as he woke up and he couldn't deny that he wanted to talk to her and figure out why he remembered her.

Drew rolled her eyes. "Let me help you decide, sweetie. You can do better. A guy with your looks and obvious talent?" She wasn't looking at him, though. She was staring at a spot right above his head.

"You're waiting for a sign," he guessed. "Like what popped over Leo and Lily's head."

"What? No! Well. . .yes. I mean, from what I heard, you're pretty powerful, right? You're going to be important at camp, so I figure your parent will claim you right away. And I'd love to see that. I wanna be with you every step of the way! So is your dad or mom the god? Please tell me it's not your mom. I would hate it if you were an Aphrodite kid."

"Why?"

"Then you'd be my half brother, silly. You can't date somebody from your own cabin. Yuck!"

"But aren't all the gods related?" Jason asked. "So isn't everyone here your cousin or something?"

"Aren't you cute! Sweetie, the godly side of your family doesn't count except for your parent. So anybody from another cabin—they're fair game. So who's your godly parent—mom or dad?"