The Lightning Theif

Chapter 10

I was sitting in a deck chair on a huge porch, gazing across a meadow at green hills in the distance. The breeze smelled like strawberries. There was a blanket over my legs, a pillow behind my neck. All that was great, but my mouth felt like a scorpion had been using it for a nest. My tongue was dry and nasty and every one of my teeth hurt.

On the table next to me was a tall drink. It looked like iced apple juice, with a green straw and a paper parasol stuck through a maraschino cherry.

My hand was so weak I almost dropped the glass once I got my fingers around it.

"Careful," a girl's voice spoke up.

I turned to see a blonde girl sitting next to me, a book was lying in her lap. Her hair fell like princess curls over one shoulder, and her stormy gray eyes seemed to hold wisdom in them. She was beautiful, with an air of intelligence and determination that captivated my attention.

Without thinking, I blurted out, "Wow you're really cute."

She shot me a bemused look and rolled her eyes. "Well, thank you, I guess," she replied, her tone laced with a touch of amusement. She didn't seem flustered by the compliment. "and you drool when you sleep."

I coughed a bit, feeling slightly embarrassed. As I wiped my chin. "Yeah, that's... charming."

Annabeth chuckled and stood up, extending her hand toward me. "I'm Annabeth Chase. Daughter of Athena."

Taking her hand, I replied with a smile, "Perseus Jackson."

She snorted softly. "I know, everyone is talking about you wondering who your godly parent is, from what we had seen that night you are quite strong. Here." She helped me hold my glass and put the straw to my lips.

I recoiled at the taste, because I was expecting apple juice. Instead I got caramel frappuccino, with hints of strawberry and sweetened condensed milk? Drinking it, my whole body felt warm and good, full of energy.

Before I knew it, I'd drained the glass. I stared into it, sure I'd just had a warm drink, but the ice cubes hadn't even melted.

"Was it good?" Annabeth asked amused

"Yeah pretty good." She took the empty glass from me gingerly, as if it were dynamite, and set it back on the table. "Come on. Chiron and Mr. D are waiting."

The porch wrapped all the way around the farmhouse.

I hopped off my chair, feeling a bit wobbly but soon found my bearings. I couldn't help but admire the way she carried herself – confident, intelligent, though the way her ass moved... I could see why Seaweed Brain had fallen for her.

As we came around the opposite end of the house, I caught my breath.

We must've been on the north shore of Long Island, because on this side of the house, the valley marched all the way up to the water, which glittered about a mile in the distance. Between here and there, I simply couldn't process everything I was seeing. The landscape was dotted with buildings that looked like ancient Greek architecture—an open-air pavilion, an amphitheater, a circular arena—except that they all looked brand new, their white marble columns sparkling in the sun. In a nearby sandpit, a dozen high school-age kids and satyrs played volleyball. Canoes glided across a small lake. Kids in bright orange T-shirts like Annabeth's were chasing each other around a cluster of cabins nestled in the woods. Some shot targets at an archery range. Others rode horses down a wooded trail, and, unless I was hallucinating, some of their horses had wings.

Down at the end of the porch, two men sat across from each other at a card table. Grover was standing nervously near the fence. The man facing me was small, but porky. He had a red nose, big watery eyes, and curly hair so black it was almost purple.