I thought it over for a while. Let's weigh the options, I said to myself. Stay out here, where monsters can attack at any time; or follow this beautiful girl into the camp my father told me to come to? It was kind of a one-sided contest, and I don't have to tell you which side won. I followed her into the camp. The dragon eyed me suspiciously and blew smoke out of his nostrils. Annabeth ignored him, so I did too.
We walked through this place that looked like a normal camp, I guess. There were these huge cabins all in one circle. Some of them looked really crowded, but there were two or three that looked like there were only a few kids in them. There was a lake with a bunch of canoes, a sand volleyball pit, and a large circle with a bunch of dummies in it. I guessed that was for football practice? A wild-looking forest made up the border, and it stretched on for as far as I could see. I saw a girl, probably only about eight or nine, walking into the woods alone, and I nudged Annabeth. "Hey, is she going to be okay? Is she allowed in there?" Annabeth looked at me with a bemused expression on her face, that morphed into a smile. She shook her head and kept walking. When I looked back, the girl was gone. I blinked and looked again. That small oak tree had not been there before...
"Annabeth! Who's this?" Two guys were coming towards me. They both looked a little older than I was. One of them was kind of thin and scrawny, with a cap covering his curly head. He walked with this weird shuffle-step that looked like he had something wrong with his legs. The other one had black hair and green eyes that kind of reminded me of the ocean...I don't know why. This guy's walk looked pretty confident, which didn't match the slightly nervous expression on his face. He was twirling something between his fingers, and I realized it was a ballpoint pen.
"Lyner, this is Grover," Annabeth pointed towards the scrawny guy, "and this is Percy." When she motioned towards the black-haired dude, I noticed a small blush creeping up her cheeks. "Percy and Grover, this is Lyner. His, uh, dad told him to come, and he did. Alone," she added, with a pointed look towards Grover, as if it meant something. He looked surprised.
"Without a, um, guide?" Grover frowned. "And he's...what, thirteen?" I nodded. "That's the age, Annabeth. Bla-ha-ha! That shouldn't be possible. And you say his dad told him to come?" He looked at me. "Who is your dad?"
That kind of unnerved me. My dad left when I was really little, so I don't know much about him. The first sign he knew I even existed came in a letter, telling me to go to this place called Camp Half-blood.
Percy was scrutinizing me closely. It hit me that his eyes, the ones that looked like the ocean, are the same color as mine. "Lyner," he said aloud, like he was testing my name. "Uh, let's go down to the dock." Annabeth looked at him strangely, and he pulled her close and whispered something in her ear. Her eyes widened, and she grinned nervously at him, whispering something back. They both laughed, and it made me feel uncomfortable. I mean, it was kind of obvious that Percy liked Annabeth, and I think Annabeth liked him too.
"Come on," Percy motioned with his head towards the lake. We walked in silence for a little bit. I was aware of Percy sneaking looks at me, appraising me. What did this guy want from me?
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