When the Sun Sets || Twilight & Percy Jackson {slow.updates}

One

{IZZY}

I missed Forks, or rather I missed my mom and my old friends.

It was maybe three years ago when I ran away. I still remember meeting the satyr who then took me to camp. It was hard to believe that I was the kid of some Greek god. When we arrived at Camp Half Blood, I was claimed by Apollo. Being put in a cabin with a bunch of my siblings made me uneasy. I never thought I would actually find out who my dad was. Mom had always told me the truth whenever I asked about my father -- I was the result of a drunken mistake, but she didn't regret a single thing.

It's weird now that I'm back. I had told myself before that I wouldn't be walking these streets again, but here I was.

Forks High School was too far from my house for me to walk the distance. Sitting in the yellow school bus crowded with noisy teenagers was definitely not what I wanted to be doing but it couldn't be avoided.

I ran away when I was thirteen, sometime before the end of seventh grade. The only reason I'm being put in the sophomore class (where I really should be) even though I haven't been to school in three years is I have a friend in the Athena cabin who insisted I still needed to study mortal subjects. I have her to thank since being a sixteen year old middle schooler would have been embarrassing.

"Bella?" I heard someone call out and soon the space beside me was being occupied.

"Oh my gosh. It really is you," Mandy, my old best friend, mumbled as she locked me in an embrace. I tried to hug her back, my mask slipping and the old me missing her just as much as she missed me. It was awkward since we were sitting in the bus. She pulled away and I let a smile stay on my lips.

"Where have you been all these years?" she asked and immediately my mask was on again.

"I've been around," I replied dryly. She frowned, obviously not expecting my change.

Mandy and I barely spoke after that. I ignored the awkward silence while she seemed uncomfortable. It was like she wasn't sure if she should ask me about what I had been doing for the past three years.

The rest of the day went by in a blur. I passed by some people who recognized me. "The girl who went missing," they called me.

Isabella Meyer, the girl who went missing. Not the girl who ran away. As if I wouldn't have handled being on the road on my own. I admit that I wasn't exactly ready to venture on my own, but I did survive for a few weeks before I met Draven the satyr.

Lunch time rolled in and I made it to the cafeteria. I spotted Mandy sitting with some other kids -- her friends, most probably. She was always the social one between us two. -- and I was about to make my over.

"Bella!" a voice called and I turned to find a familiar girl heading my way.

Lauren Mallory was always one of the popular girls, and we were never really good friends. She lived across the street and was two years older but I never really liked her too much. Her older sister was much nicer than she was, really.

I must have looked confused when she came sauntering over to me. "Hey, neighbor," she greeted. "I didn't realize you were back. Where have you been?"

I lied, telling her I went to live with my grandmother. She believed me so I was sure she wasn't one of those nosy neighbors who knew that my mother and my grandmother didn't speak to each other. The whole getting pregnant after a one night stand thing was unacceptable to my grandmother.

"You wanna sit with us? We have an extra seat at our table," she said. I looked over at Mandy's table, I didn't think she even noticed me. She was too busy with laughing with her friends.

Lauren led me to her table and I recognized most of the people there. I didn't recognize some but I guessed that was because I'd been gone for three years. Of course, people would move into town during my years in camp.

As I came closer to the table, I could feel my demigod instincts shouting at me to run. Forks was always a really boring town -- nothing really ever happens here -- so I wasn't sure if I should run. Were there always monsters here or did this happen when I left?

The bad feeling heightened when we stopped at the table.

"So, Bella-"

"Can people stop calling me that?" I complained. The whole day, I had been called Isabella or Bella. I hated being called those names. I wasn't Bella, not anymore. Izzy. I was Izzy, the demigod. The daughter of Apollo who fought in a war against monsters. I was a survivor, and Bella was dead.

"What's wrong with 'Bella'?" a brunette asked. She was sitting next to a stiff bronze-haired guy. He looked uneasy and I noticed him put an arm around her waist. I guessed they were together.

"I go by Izzy now," I replied. "Ever since I realized how stupid it is to be called Bella."

"Bella isn't a stupid name," the boy defended.

I rolled my eyes. "Never said it was. I meant, I'm not Bella anymore," I said. "Why are you so defensive?"

"My name is Bella," the brunette girl said.

"Those are Bella Swan, and Edward Cullen." Lauren sneered as she said the names. "Ignore them if you want to." I wondered for a moment why she bothered hanging out with them if she didn't like them, but then I remembered she was Lauren Mallory. I didn't think she knows what real friends are.

I could feel the goosebumps on my arms, which only usually happens when monsters were near, and my instincts told me it was fight or flight. I decided on flight.

"Hey, I think I spotted an empty seat somewhere," I told Lauren. "I'm gonna sit there. It feels a little crowded here." The blonde didn't look pleased but I didn't care. She let me go and, thankfully, there really was an empty seat.

Of course, when I sat down the other kids sitting there started asking questions. I snorted at the mention of the town's different theories. Some said I was kidnapped. Ha. Suicide? Never.

Was I really this popular? Did people try looking for me? I didn't know.

Even as I was distracted by the questions, I could feel it. It was like someone was watching me. I was definitely sure that there were monsters here.

"Hey, bitch," a familiar voice said from behind me. I didn't have to turn around to know who it was.

Caroline Meyer. Also known as my evil step-sister. She wasn't a monster, but much worse. She's the devil's daughter, if there were such a thing as the devil. I wouldn't be surprised if she ended up in the Fields of Punishment one day.

It killed me to have to share her last name. If you asked me, Izzy Gordon sounded better than Izzy Meyer. I'm biased, but whatever. Mother refused to let me keep her maiden name. It might have had something to do with her parents, I guess.

I glared at the brown-haired girl standing in front of me. Surely everyone at the table could feel the tension in the air. "Caroline," I greeted.

"Thought you could avoid me all day, didn't you?"

Actually, I didn't. We lived in the same house and, although it was impossible not to have seen her, I didn't. I had gotten back just two days ago but she was always out with her friends. When she was at the house, I made sure to lock myself in the room.

"So, I guess you decided your life in the streets wasn't all that great," she muttered. "Hope you don't go spreading your STDs around."

Bitch thought I became a prostitute? I snorted. "Huh, at least I can get some." I stood up, taking my tray of half eaten food. "Now excuse me," I muttered, bumping her shoulder as I walked away. "I'm not hungry anymore. They really got to keep the trash in the trash bin."

I didn't care about the rumors that I was sure would start spreading like wildfire and kept moving. I dumped my food in the trash and walked out of the cafeteria, glaring at anyone who I caught watching. My walls were up and I wasn't going to be bringing them down anytime soon.