Elaine Young found herself counting down the days to the start of her summer vacation in January.
Luckily for her, it was Monday morning, the first week of June, and she was on her way to New York.
Ever since her brief stay at Camp Half-Blood during her winter break six months prior, all Elaine could think of were the friends she'd made.
Her older brother, Lee Fletcher, sent her letters and kept her updated on new siblings their father had claimed during her absence. They were looking at nearly a full cabin that summer. Elaine couldn't be more excited. The mere prospect of having siblings was something so foreign to her. For so long, it had just been her, her mother, and step-father James in their apartment in Bennington.
Her friend, Percy Jackson, consistently Iris-messaged her in the beginning. But as the school year progressed and he got ready to begin high school, their calls became less and less frequent.
One person Elaine wasn't expecting to stay in contact with was Annabeth Chase, though she supposed going on a quest to save someone's life could invoke a sense of gratitude.
They Iris-messaged almost everyday after school. Annabeth would help Elaine study and Elaine would listen to Annabeth's weekly updates on Thalia and her family in San Francisco.
Together, the new friends planned to meet up with Percy in New York when Elaine traveled south to go to camp. Percy would go to a high school orientation for a school that his mom's boyfriend taught at in the morning, and by the afternoon, Annabeth and Elaine would be in the city to hang out. Annabeth would bring Elaine back to camp and Percy would join them later in the week.
Elaine's mother, Vera Young, had initially been reluctant to allow Elaine to return to camp. After her last visit had resulted in a quest with two of her friends sacrificing themselves, she'd noticed a major change in Elaine's mood.
As the summer approached, however, Elaine had something to look forward to and her mother didn't want to take away the one thing that made her get out of bed. She saved up, and bought her a bus ticket that would take her to Albany, and from Albany a train ticket that would take her to Manhattan by midday.
As they drove to the bus station, Elaine spoke excitedly of all the activities she looked forward to most. The early hour didn't bother her, and her mother's ability to work odd hours at their local clinic was considered a blessing as she actively kept up with what Elaine was saying.
"Lee said another arrival came to Apollo cabin last week. He's a little younger than me. He said he was going to wait until I got there to start us in the infirmary."
"Do you want to work in the infirmary?"
"Only if I'm good at it. Thank gods for you and Annabeth helping me with my biology homework."
Their arrival at the bus station was greeted by a pink sunrise. A few people bustled about, mainly adults going to work out of state, and a couple of travelers like Elaine.
Her mom helped her unload her suitcase and schoolbag from the trunk and walked with her inside the station.
"Well, this is as far as I go." Vera said, stopping right in front the ticket booth. "Will you write to me?" She asked. She looked weathered and ... sad. She wasn't very old, just in her early forties, and her wrinkles weren't very defined—except for when she frowned.
Elaine felt guilty for leaving her mom and James on a rare summer she didn't have summer school. They had relatives, Vera's sisters and their children who lived in their proximity, but she knew it wouldn't be the same.
"All the time. We can even set up Iris-message calls when we're both available. It'll be like I never left." Elaine promised.
They embraced one last time, and then they parted.
If Elaine knew the events that were going to unfold that summer, she would've held on a bit longer.
***
The hour long bus ride, combined with the train commute from Albany, and the short distance covered by her subway ride, ended nearly five hours after her mother dropped her off.
Normally, journeying such long distances would result in Elaine feeling fatigued and irritable. But the closer she got to Manhattan, the more lively she became. The moment she'd been waiting months for was becoming real.
She waited inside a coffee shop on 86th street near where she got off her subway ride to wait for Annabeth, who agreed on the location days prior.
She ordered two lattes and sat across an empty chair near a wall lined with books.
Elaine saw Annabeth before Annabeth saw Elaine.
The moment she crossed the threshold, Elaine was in her arms, squealing loudly despite the strange looks customers gave her.
"You're here!" She cried.
Annabeth seemed to recognize her friend and melted into the hug, wrapping her arms around the shorter girl. She wore a camp shirt and her chord of clay beads around her neck, showing the amount of years she'd been at Camp Half-Blood.
"I'm so glad you're here, I was starting to look sad, having coffee all by myself." Elaine joked.
"Tell me you still have some, I'm dying." Annabetth pleaded.
Elaine led her to their table and handed her her own mug. She took a sip.
"I'm going to ask them to heat this up." She said.
"Leave that to me." Elaine said, taking the mug away.
Annabeth starred at her. "What if someone sees you?" She asked.
"No one's said anything yet. Why do you think my coffee's still hot? Don't worry, I've been practicing." Elaine reassured.
She clasped her hands tightly around the mug and manifested a comfortable heat from her palms for a few seconds. When she handed the cup back to Annabeth, a faint trail of steam floated in the air.
"Thank you ... Glowstick."
Elaine's smiled morphed into a look of annoyance.
"Not you." She whispered.
Annabeth smirked above the rim of her mug. "Percy told me all about your little nickname."
"Figures." Elaine said, watching Annabeth sip from her cup.
Annabeth glanced at a clock on the wall. It was nearing one o'clock.
"We should get going. Percy's orientation ends at one-thirty." Annabeth suggested.
Elaine collected her suitcase while Annabeth shouldered her backpack and led the way out of the shop.
***
The blonde led her friend to East 81st street and stopped in front of a large building with words that read "Goode High School" in bold lettering.
"Well, at least he won't be going to a bad school." Elaine laughed. Annabeth gave her a look. "Right, lame joke." She chuckled.
Just then, Percy burst out of the alley and ran straight into Elaine.
"Hey, you're out early!" She laughed, grabbing his shoulders to keep him from tumbling into the street.
"Watch where you're going, Barnacle Boy." She noticed how much higher his shoulders were. It'd only been a few months since they'd seen each other, and now she only came up to his chin.
Then a red-headed girl wearing a maroon T-shirt and ratty jeans decorated with marker drawings, ran after Percy. She came charging out of the alley covered in monster dust yelling, "Percy, wait up!"
Annabeth's smile melted. Elaine's brows furrowed in confusion. She stared at the girl, then at the school. For the first time, she noticed the black smoke and ringing fire alarms.
She frowned at Percy. "What happened? And who is this?"
"Oh, Rachel—Elaine and Annabeth. Elaine and Annabeth—Rachel. Um, she's a friend, I guess."
"Hi," Rachel said, briefly acknowledging the two other girls. Then she turned to Percy. "You are in so much trouble. And you still owe me an explanation!"
Police sirens wailed on FDR Drive.
"Percy," Annabeth said coldly. "We should go."
"I want to know more about half-bloods," Rachel insisted. "And monsters. And this stuff about the gods." She grabbed Percy's arm, whipped out a permanent marker, and wrote a phone number on his hand. "You're going to call me and explain, okay? You owe me that. Now get going."
"But—"
"I'll make up some story," Rachel said. "I'll tell them it wasn't your fault. Just go!"
She ran back toward the school, leaving Elaine, Annabeth, and Percy in the street.
Annabeth began power walking away in anger, leaving Elaine stumbling after her with her suitcase.
"Hey!" Percy jogged after them. "There were these two empousai," he tried to explain. "They were cheerleaders, see, and they said camp was going to burn, and—"
"You told a mortal girl about half-bloods?" Annabeth snapped.
"She can see through the Mist. She saw the monsters before I did."
"So you told her the truth?" She questioned.
"She recognized me from Hoover Dam, so—"
"She's the girl you almost killed?" Elaine blurted. "You said she was annoying." She mumbled.
She vaguely recalled the conversation they had while flying with angel statues about a mortal girl who could see through the Mist. She hadn't thought about it since.
"She is. Seriously, I barely know her."
"She's kind of cute." Annabeth said.
Elaine almost tripped onto the pavement. She didn't like the way her words caught her off guard.
He spared Elaine a brief glance before turning beet red. "I—I never thought about it." He said.
Annabeth kept walking toward York Avenue.
"I'll deal with the school," he promised. "Honest, it'll be fine."
Annabeth wouldn't even look at him. "I guess our afternoon is off. We should get you out of here, now that the police will be searching for you."
Behind them, smoke billowed up from Goode High School. In the dark column of ashes, Elaine thought she could almost see a face—a girl with red eyes, laughing at her.
"You're right," he told Annabeth. "We have to get to Camp Half-Blood. Now."
***
Nothing caps off the perfect morning better than a long taxi ride sitting between an angry girl and an awkward boy.
Percy tried to talk to Annabeth, but she kept giving him one worded answers. Elaine decided remaining silent would be the better option. She didn't understand why Annabeth was being so stand-offish, but she didn't want to end up in the same trouble Percy was in.
All Percy managed to get out of her was that she'd had a monster-infested spring in San Francisco; she'd come back to camp twice since Christmas but wouldn't tell him why; and she'd learned nothing concerning the whereabouts of Nico di Angelo.
"What about Grover?" Percy asked.
"He's at camp," she said. "We'll see him today."
"Has he had any luck with his search for Pan?" he asked.
"You'll see," she said. But she didn't explain.
Percy, apparently unsatisfied with Elaine's silence, turned toward her.
"Your hair is braided." He observed.
She played with the bottom of her intertwined hair that reached past her shoulder. It was something she'd started doing when the weather got warmer.
"My hair makes me hot in the summer." She explained.
A hint of a smile pulled at his lips. "Well, I like it. I mean—it looks good on you."
Elaine was glad for her perpetually tanned skin, it made the blush less obvious.
"You stopped calling." She said. She didn't meet his gaze, feeling almost embarrassed by how upset she sounded. Percy was allowed to not talk to her. So why did it upset her so much when he didn't?
"You're right, I'm sorry. Things at home have been crazy lately. I guess I'm still adjusting to high school, and Paul, and getting closer to turning sixteen ... Still, I should've said something. I shouldn't have iced you out like that."
"Just don't do it again, Barnacle Boy." She said, giving him a playful glare.
As they headed through Brooklyn, Percy used Annabeth's phone to call his mom. He left a message on his home voice mail, trying to explain what had happened at Goode. He told his mom he was fine, she shouldn't worry, but he was going to stay at camp until things cooled down. He asked her to tell Paul Blofis he was sorry.
Him and Elaine began catching up after that. He asked her about her mother and she asked how Sally was doing with Paul.
He asked about her birthday that passed recently in April on the seventeenth. She was very pleased that she was the same age as Percy—fourteen, even if it would only last until August.
She told him about the pomegranate soda tradition that her mother upheld, and the gold locket her lola had given her. She wore it around her neck, containing photos of her, her mother, and her mother's mother.
The city melted away until they were off the expressway and rolling through the countryside of northern Long Island, past orchards and wineries and fresh produce stands.
The taxi exited on Route 25A. They headed through the woods along the North Shore until a low ridge of hills appeared on their left. Annabeth told the driver to pull over on Farm Road 3.141, at the base of Half-Blood Hill.
The driver frowned. "There ain't nothing here, miss. You sure you want out?"
"Yes, please," Annabeth handed him a roll of mortal cash, and the driver decided not to argue.
Elaine, Annabeth, and Percy hiked to the crest of the hill.
The young guardian dragon was dozing, coiled around the pine tree, but he lifted his coppery head as they approached and let Annabeth scratch under his chin. Steam hissed out his nostrils like from a teakettle, and he went cross-eyed with content.
"Hey, Peleus," Annabeth said. "Keeping everything safe?"
The last time Elaine had seen the dragon he'd been six feet long. Now he was at least twice that, and as thick around as the tree itself. Above his head, on the lowest branch of the pine tree, the Golden Fleece shimmered, its magic protecting the camp's borders from invasion. The dragon seemed relaxed, like everything was okay.
Below them, Camp Half-Blood looked peaceful—green fields, forest, shiny white Greek buildings. The four-story farmhouse everyone called the Big House sat proudly in the midst of the strawberry fields. To the north, past the beach, the Long Island Sound glittered in the sunlight.
They walked down into the valley and found the summer session in full swing.
Most of the campers had arrived last Friday, so Elaine already felt behind. The last time she visited camp, there were less than fifty half-bloods occupying its residence. Now, there had to be nearly three times as many.
The satyrs were playing their pipes in the strawberry fields, making the plants grow with woodland magic.
Campers were having flying horseback lessons overhead, swooping over the woods on their pegasi. Smoke rose from the forges, and hammers rang as kids made their own weapons for Arts & Crafts.
The Athena and Demeter teams were having a chariot race around the track, and over at the canoe lake some kids in a Greek trireme were fighting a large orange sea serpent.
Elaine wanted to try everything.
"I need to talk to Clarisse," Annabeth said.
"What for?" Percy asked, starring at Annabeth as if she'd grown a second head.
Elaine had heard about Clarisse La Rue from the Ares cabin. She was mean and often times intolerable, and apparently gotten into plenty of arguments with Percy, according to Annabeth, so his reaction was understandable.
"We've been working on something," Annabeth said. "I'll see you later."
"Working on what?" Elaine asked. She hated feeling out of the loop. All the hours they'd spent Iris-messaging, and the blonde had never mentioned working with Clarisse on anything.
Annabeth glanced toward the forest.
"I'll tell Chiron you're here," she said. "He'll want to talk to you before the hearing."
"What hearing?" Elaine asked.
But she jogged down the path toward the archery field without looking back.
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here's a celebratory photo from my friend's dog with a rubber ducky to kick off this story :)))