(POV Demetria)
Rachel fiinished packing, shoving her plastic hairbrush into her purse.
"Let's catch the bus." She yelled from the bathroom. She walked out in her splatter paint covered jeans, a holy white shirt, and a randomly colored tank top, classic Rachel. We walked the 2 blocks to the bus station, Rachel acting calm, but I could see through her fake happiness.
"Rache, what's wrong?"
"Nothing, just buses freak me out."
"Oh, well we only have to ride for 4 hours, play on your phone, distractions always help." She gave me a weird look so I added. "My ADHD doesn't like buses either."
She just nodded her head in response, looking paler than usual.
Rachel's phone started to ring. "I hate Everything About you, why do I love you?" Rachel loved Three Days Grace, and so did I. We had similar tastes in music which was great, I dont think I could have survived the year if this girl listened to bad music.
"I have to take this." She said, then she promptly got up and walked into the bathroom. We were sitting right next to the bathroom, so I unintentionaly overheard her conversation.
"No Chiron, everything is fine. (Pause while other person speaks)... I promise, I'm watching her. ... Yes, I know Grover screwed it up with Percy, but Percy is fine now. ... She's not going to die! I can handle this ... Chiron I know I'm not a satyr, but .. Yeah I know we shouldn't have got on a bus... Its not going to be like last time! ... Shut up, I can't be on the phone much longer, history is NOT going to repeat itself." She was angry, I heard her fiddling with the lock, the driver had warned us that it tends to get stuck. I heard her kick the door, and it flung open. She came and sat down, smiled at me, and crossed her arms over her chest.
"Everything okay?"
"Yeah, it will be."
"Okay, if you're sure." Everything was not okay.
(POV Rachel)
Chiron was really getting on my nerves about Demetria, calling me on a cell phone when I am that close to her. How stupid could he be? I know he couldn't Iris message me, because Dem still didn't know that she was a half-blood. I didn't either, at first. I had talked my dad into letting me switch boarding schools, and I had met her my first day. I hadn't sensed anything godly about her like I usually do, being the Oracle you would think I would have seen it coming. I was worried that Demi had overheard my conversation with Chiron. I knew I had to get her to camp, but I didn't know how to convince her mom to let her. Henley, she had always been over protective of Dem, but for good reason. She was gorgeous, even though Dem doesnt like to talk about her life before her mom met Adam, I knew enough. She's had a rough life, but almost every half-blood has.
Johnson is supposed to meet us at the bus stop, I can see monsters, but Johnson can smell them which is pretty helpful. I thought I had seen a monster, but I couldn't be sure. I have felt like I was being watched since I started school at DeLaSalle, in Minneappolis, Minnesota. Something was off, I thought it might be the fact that is was a private school, but the feeling had followed me onto the bus. I felt like my privacy was being violated.
That's when I noticed Houston, he wasn't a close friend of mine and/or Demetria, but he was fairly nice to people from what I could tell. He was sitting alone, I got up, ignoring Demetria's questions. He looked sad, I tapped on his shoulder.
"Hey, what's up?"
"Oh, hey Dare. Just going home for summer break. And you?"
"Oh, just going to Demetria's for a few weeks, before we go on vacation." He tensed ever so slightly at her name, like he knew something.
"That's cool."
"Yeah, you can come back and sit with us if you want."
"Oh, sure."
He grabbed his stuff and stood up, we walked back, he waved at Demetria.
"Hi Houston, I didn't know you were going to be on this bus!" She smiled brightly, Demetria didn't like the majority of people, but she was nice unless you gave her a reason not to be.
"Umm.. Yeah, I live in Watertown, South Dakota.."
"Bruh, why have I never seen you? That's where I live!"
"I've been going to DeLaSalle since I was in Kindergarden. So, when I am home, I'm spending as much time with my grandma as I can. I live with her, but I would rather not get into that."
"Understandable, I had a rough childhood too.." The more Demetria and Houston talked, the more I felt a connection to them. Houston looked Greek, he had olive colored skin, big mouth, straight nose, giant dark brown eyes, and curly brown hair. If that didn't scream Greek, I didn't know what did. I could sense something godly about him, so I went and called Chiron back.
"Chiron?"
"Yes..?"
"Umm.. I think I found another demigod."
"What? Another one?"
"Yeah, his name is Houston. Not only does he look greek, but he feels almost god-like, he feels like a half-blood."
"What about his parents?"
"He lives with his grandma, he says he doesn't like to talk about it."
"Wait and see what Johnson thinks, if so do everything you can to get him to Camp, along with Demetria."
"Of course."
(POV Demetria)
Rachel was taking another phone call with this Chiron guy, the only people she ever talked to before on her phone were her parents, and she didnt exactly try to hide those conversations. I would have asked her about it, but Houston was right there, and she was more likely to tell me the truth if I confronted her alone.
"Yeah, I have ADHD and dyslexia too." Houston continued to talk.
"Sucks doesnt it.?"
"Yep, pretty much. I mean we could have it worse."
"I know." And with that Rachel joined the conversation.
"Hey, your back. Houston and I were just discussing our disorders, first step to becoming friends."
"Your lucky that I'm used to weird." She joked.
Houston sat with us the entire trip to Watertown, when we got off the first thing I noticed was Johnson. He wasn't exactly hard to spot, he usually wore ridiculous hats, and he was fairly tall. He looked like he was trying to hide, but from what was the question.
(POV Johnson)
I had been chased for hours, the monster kept calling for Demetria. I was wearing one of her hoodies, that I stole out of her dorm. Her scent was so strong I could barely stand it, but I would do whatever it took to keep her safe. She was by far one of my favorite demigods, at least that I had been assigned. She was mean, and nice at the same time. We were so much alike, we could have been related. Connor is one of my best friends, and I am glad he met someone as great as Demetria.
So, when I got to the bus stop, and saw three empousai, I got a little mad. The bus would be here in 10 minutes, I just had to stay hidden until then. The smell of the empousai was almost to much to handle. I pulled my oversized hat down just a little further, making sure that my horns were covered. The bus finally pulled up, Demetria, Rachel, and... Houston? Yes, that was definitely Houston. They all got off of the bus together, Demetria looked straight at me with a questioning glance. I motioned for them to come over, they hurried over, Rachel tugging along Houston.
"Dem, can you stay here with Houston, I need to talk to Johnson."
"Umm.. Sure?" She knew something was up. I didn't have time to figure everything out before Rachel pulled me away.
"What was that about, we have to watch Demetria?" I said trying to walk back to where they stood.
"I think Houston may be a demigod too, just look at him, his profile screams Greek. He's dyslexic, and has ADHD.He lives with his granda, and I just got that feeling. So, will you check him out?"
"Yeah, if he is I'll just nod at you okay? OH! There are three empousai waiting here."
"Okay. Lets get out of here."
We casually walked back over, and asked if we could all go to Demetria's. Demetria said it would be fine, and invited Houston along He said he had to call his grandma. He came back and nodded his head. I looked over at Rachel and nodded my head, this boy reeked of godly heritage.
We all found Henley, Demetria's mom, and piled into her giant SUV.
(POV Demetria)
I had only invited Houston, because 1. Rachel and Johnson were creeping me out, and 2. He didn't get invited to a lot of things. Houston was actually really cool, he liked Pop Punk, and 80's rock. He understood what it was like to have dyslexia, and how it felt to be teased for it. We had just pulled into my driveway when I saw the smoke pouring out of the kitchen window.