Angel groaned a little as she hunched over the piece she'd been trying saw in half with a grinder. Her back was sore from leaning over like that and her eyes were tired of staring of the pale sparks that were flying to and fro from her project. She sat back quickly with a yelp as the bolt she'd been working on split in half and flew to opposite sides of the garage with loud double clatters.
"Angel Andromeda Thorpe!"
Angel rubbed her sore elbows, the body parts that had violently collided with the hard concrete, and flinched at her Grandma's shrill call. "Yes?!" she answered in an equally loud voice.
"Your dad called a few minutes ago and said he'd be her in about three-quarters of an hour. Come in and take a shower!-" a pause "-You're all packed, right?!"
Angel shook her head and mouthed 'three-quarters of an hour?! Who even says that?!'. "Yes! I'll be there in a minute!" She sat forward on her knees and dusted the freed piece with a grease-darkest finger. "Lovely," she muttered sarcastically before standing and dusting her stained t-shirt off. "Off to another camp."
She exited the small garage-shed and tramped across the perfectly manicured lawn to the back door of her grandparents' small, flawless suburban house. She stomped her steel-toed work boots off in the utility room and slipped down the hall to the pastel guest room she'd been staying in for the past school year.
Half an hour later, she emerged, milky tan skin squeaky clean and wavy golden hair held back by a headband with feathers hanging on the ends. She'd donned a tan dress with reached nearly to her knees in the middle, then angled up to her upper-thighs at the sides. The bottom hem was fringed, as was an overlapping strip on the top. She had also pulled on a pair of mid-shin high, golden gladiators.
She was struggling with a giant suitcase, a worn army duffel, and a backpack. She finally freed her luggage from the doorway and drug it to the front porch where she dropped it to the ground with a sigh. She produced a makeup bag from the front of her backpack and applied dark-brown eyeliner around her corresponding eyelashes. Her father had told her 'no too dark eyeliner or makeup-you look like a raccoon' and, as he rarely commented on her apparel or limited her wardrobe, she'd obeyed.
Her little prep was cut short by the arrival of her father, Matthew, who pulled up in his little '12, lime green Ford Fiesta. She smiled a little as she'd chosen the car and the sight of it rather made he happy.
She rose and tugged her suitcases down the few front steps, then slung her duffel and backpack across her shoulder and tossed them into the backseat as Matthew tucked her largest bag into the trunk.
"Wow! For a minute I thought it wouldn't fit! I need to teach you how to pack more lightly!" He grinned at Angel and wrapped an arm around her and squeezed. "Good to see you, kiddo!" Angel gave him a flat look in response.
A little bit later, after they'd said good-bye to Angel's grandparents, or Matthew's parents, whichever you prefer, they trundled into the car and drove off. They stopped at Matthew's place for the night quite a while down the road, then got back into the car and kept driving. It wasn't too late when they reached their destination, only 10 or 11 in the morning.
"Camp Half-blood?" she wondered quietly to herself as they turned at the sign.
"Hmm?"
"Nothing."
She pushed the car open and stepped out, long, legs showing under a denim miniskirt. She tugged on her layered tanks and slung her duffel bag and backpack across her shoulders. Her dad pulled her suitcase out of the back and slammed the trunk door shut.
"Well," he said, rubbing the back of his muscled neck.
Angel took her suitcase from her grasp,"I got it. Go on." She made a shooing gesture with her hand. Matthew complied, albeit seemingly rather unwillingly, and pulled out a few minutes later. Angel looked up at the house in front of her and sighed heavily. She struggled with her suitcase, finally managing to yank it onto the porch, and was about to knock on the front door when voices drifted towards her from the back of the wraparound porch. She pulled her bag over towards the source of the mysterious sounds and was met with the sight of a rather child-faced man in an interesting, animal print shirt.
"Um," she knocked on the side of the house. "I'm here for the camp. Or whatever."
The man gave her an unimpressed look. "Most kids are," he mumbled.
Angel sighed. I detest people like this, she thought irritatedly.
"Who is your god-parent?"
"My what?" she questioned.
The man looked up at her, giving her a look as if she were insane. "Your god-parent. You know, the immortal one!" He shook his head in disbelief.
"H-how do you know about my mother?" she stuttered.
"It's Camp Half-blood-I think the name explains it all! Now who is she?"
Angel shook her head to clear away her surprise. "I don't know," she replied, "My dad never talks about her. All he folded me was she was a goddess." She shrugged.
The man sighed. "I hate these-they always cause problems," he muttered then beckoned to a sandy-haired teenager playing volleyball with a few more kids his age. "Jason! Come here!"
The boy obeyed, abandoning his game to jog over to the porch. He darted up the stairs and stood panting a little ways off from both Angel and the man. "Yeah?" he asked, running an inspective, brown-eyed gaze over Angel.
"Take-," the man paused mid-sentence and looked at her.
"Angel, Angel Thorpe."
"Take her to Hermes' cabin, she's another unknown."
Jason nodded and gently tugged Angel's suitcase out of her grasp. "Hey! I can-," she cut off as he started to walk away without acknowledgement. She gave the other man another look before re-shouldering her duffel and backpack and following him.
"Hey! I can get it!" she exclaimed, then reached for her suitcase. He held it up over his head and tilted it away from her as he gave her a playful smile. The pure cuteness off his smile rather caught her off guard and she let the controversy rest.
"So," he rested the suitcase back on the ground,"where are you from?"
"North Carolina. I guess."
"You don't know where you live? he laughed.
"I do," she flicked him an annoyed sideways glance,"it's just complicated."
"It's always complicated." After Jason's enigmatic statement, they fell to silence. As they approached the twelve cabins, they were joined by another boy. This one had brown hair with a multitude of dark red highlights parted on the left and swept over in a rather boring, gentleman-like manner, though it waved at his left temple in an adorable way. He was about an inch shorter than Jason who looked to be almost 6' tall, with a much sturdier, more muscled build than the athletic boy's.
"Pheonix," Jason greeted him," can you take Angel to Hermes' cabin? Chiron wanted to help someone, or something. You know."
Pheonix nodded,"Yeah, sure."
"Good! Angel, this is Pheonix, son of Ares. Pheonix, this is Angel."
Angel and Pheonix exchanged nods and suspicious glances then Pheonix took her suitcase from Jason an hoisted it onto his broad shoulders, making Angel cringe. As Jason hurried off, Angel walked by Pheonix to a nice cabin with a caduceus poised precariously over the doorway. Pheonix set her bag down in an unoccupied corner before standing back and leaning against the wall to watch her.
She unzipped he suitcase and began arranging her sleeping bag and luggage to maximum comfort. A moment of Pheonix watching her, dark eyes following her movements, caused to pause and look up at him. "Stop staring at me! It's starting to creep me out!"
"Sorry," Pheonix apologized softly and exited the cabin.
Angel watched him leave, feeling a pang of guilt then sighed and continued her work. She finished up in a few minutes then stretched and moved to stand in the doorway, bi-colored eyes flicking over the empty courtyard and the other cabins. She sighed heavily and exited. As she passed a cabin with a boar's head over the doorway, she stepped into a girl's way.
"I'm sorry!" she apologized, not really feeling sorry so much as feeling as if she should apologized.