Wedding Bells!

My dearest cousin Joti got married last night!
It was at the GORGEOUS little bed and breakfast called the Hawk and Ivy in Barnardsville, NC.
Apparently, the more famous you are, the smaller the wedding. Because there were 150 guests.
It was beautiful, and REALLY cold. but beautiful.
The groom was Band of Horses' guitarist Tyler Ramsey. Oh my gosh, he is tall! Six foot seven actually.

here are some photos

on the way there, i took a photo of my sister's hair. I thought it was cool.

we were in the car for 2 1/2 hours to I got pretty bored.

thus this photo, which I thought was pretty awesome

We got to the venue, and it was FRREEZING. so to keep warm on the top of the mountain my sister's danced around!

all 150 guests formed an aisle for the family and bride and groom to walk down.

it took them awhile to make it up the mountain, so the groom's family got applauded when they finally made it up!

The bride's family (my family) was obviously late, because that's what we do best!

anyways, guess who was across from me?

Ben Bridewell of Band of Horses.

I met him later on, and the photographer took a photo. but I do not have that photo, but I want it.

Everyone made it to the alter! I loved how they had their family stand with them. and the pastor stood with the people. 

saying their vows. Definitely could tell they both write. the vows were beautifully eloquent!

My aunt Franzi was blessing the match. That almost made my start crying, it was so sweet!

They walked off into the path. But the path ended about 5 feet into it. 

THE RECEPTION

The Wedding Cake Menu.

 Dinner Menu. It was delicious. My uncle's coffee shop the Green Sage catered. 

Live music, my favorite instruments all together!

The heels on my shoes started coming off because I was dancing to much!

It was fabulous!

The dude's banjo was so sick awesome!

Didn't get home till 1am, but it was so awesome!!!

Good times at Wedding!

Note: I still cannot find the photogapher's photos. I WANT THE PHOTO OF ME AND BEN!

The end of summer.

So about November of last year I got this dandy thing called Tumblr.
It's my love, I love it.
And I was getting pretty popular. Not bragging but I had about 400 followers.
Totes awesome!
But in July my mother found it and was appalled by what I posted, because sometimes when I was really frustrated with her, or the world, I would vent.
Mind you, I know about 10 of the people on tumblr in real life, so it wasn't like anyone I knew was reading it.
So that was a big problem this summer.
My mom grounding me for what seems like forever from everything.
To top it off, I was grounded the week Harry Potter pt. 2 came out.
I didn't see the movie until a week later. I was pissed, really pissed.
But the movie was amazing, and I cried, and cried and cried over Fred and all the others.
So i'm still going through tumblr withrawls... Because I haven't really been stalking Mumford and Sons w/o tumblr :(
I also saw Mumford live this summer!
Annnddd in october I will be seeing Tyler Ramsey (my cousin's fiance) perform just a week after their wedding! Can't wait!

Last night I catered a wedding for some great friends... ok I didn't cater it, but my sister did, so i helped. a lot!
But there was 400ish guests and an open bar with 4 kegs of beer.
Let's just say by the end of the night it was chaos and drunk people everywhere.
I didn't get home till 2ish. and skipped church today.

So school started on friday, and I have a lot of work to do.
Not really happy about it, at all.

I need a job very badly, and I'm hoping the new Earth Fare will hire me. I need the $$ desperately.
We shall see what happens.

I wrote a story about Ents... back in 2009...

The Journey of the Ents

By Charlotte

In the first year of the Fourth age, Peregrin Took of the Shire, sent a message to his dear friend Treebeard, the oldest Ent, or tree herder. The message was an urgent one, saying that there had been a sighting of creatures like Ents, but slightly smaller, on the outskirts of the Old Forest, far West of Fangorn Forest where the Ents lived. When Treebeard received this message, he was truly out of character (for his motto is ‘Don’t be hasty’), by rushing throughout the forest to notify all the Ents that there would be an Entmoot, gathering of the Ents, the following evening. The first Ent he came across was Quickbeam, a rather tall Ent resembling a rowan tree. When Quickbeam noticed Treebeard swiftly crashing through the woods he was startled and amused. “Treebeard I have never seen you run that fast,” he said with a chuckle. Suddenly, Treebeard twirled around and in a hurried voice said, “Entmoot tomorrow night, usual place. Pass it on.” Perplexed at why the Entmoot was oh so important, that even Treebeard was in a hurry, Quickbeam went to tell the others what Treebeard had announced. Soon Quickbeam came across another Ent slowly drinking his fill of Ent draught, the Ents specialty food. “Oakbranch,” Quickbeam exclaimed breathlessly, “Have you heard? Treebeard is rushing through the entire forest telling every Ent to come to an Entmoot tomorrow night at the center of the wood.” Oakbranch just as surprised as Quickbeam that Treebeard was in such a hurry, gasped, “Well it must be very important, for Treebeard to rush about so. I shall see you tomorrow.”

Under the glistening moonlight in an opening in the wood the Ents gathered one by one into clusters whispering to each other about what might be going on. As soon as the last Ent came into the clearing, Treebeard in a loud voice yelled, “Silence! As you all may know I was quite out of character yesterday, and I am still out of character. In the morning hours of yesterday a bird flew up to me and whispered in my ear a message. This is what he said, ‘Treebeard, I have been sent to you by Peregrin Took of the Shire. He told me to tell you there have been sightings

of Entwives in the forest near there. He told me to fly as quickly as possible and to come directly to you. It seemed very important…’ and with that he flew off into the dark leafy wood. We all thought that the Entwives were gone for good, after Sauron destroyed their beautiful gardens. But by leave of the great King Elessar of Gondor, we may set off at once to find our long lost loves.” At that Quickbeam was decided, “What are we waiting for, let’s go!” “Wait one minute there Quickbeam,” exclaimed Treebeard with a laugh, “We have to discuss this matter of great importance.” Quickbeam quite disappointed that he couldn’t be hasty, muttered, “Well if it is SO GREAT, we should be going already. Humph.”

Quickbeam decided to go into the woods and wait there while everyone else was debating, since he had already made up his mind. Meanwhile, Treebeard was having an argument with Leaflock and Skinbark, two Ents who were growing quite treeish and sleepy and didn’t want to make the long and arduous journey across bare open lands with few scrawny trees. On the other side of the clearing, Oakbranch was involved in an argument with three other Ents called Elmheath, Beechbone, and Pinetrunk. Oakbranch and Beechbone wanted to travel up through Lothlorien and then over Caradhras to Rivendell and Elmheath and Pinetrunk wanted to go south to the Gap of Rohan through Dunland then up through the bare land of Hollin and then to Rivendell. The rest of the Ents stood motionless deep in thought. Suddenly, Treebeard cried out, “Everyone, Leaflock and Skinbark, you shall stay here and look after all the trees. The rest of us shall take the path through Lothlorien to Caradhras, then to Rivendell and finally getting to the Old Forest.” Grumbling to themselves Elmheath and Pinetrunk agreed for they did not dare disagree with Treebeard for he was very intimidating. Since no one challenged Treebeard, and Leaflock and Skinbark were satisfied, Treebeard called Quickbeam back to the clearing.

Almost a month had gone by since the Entmoot, and all the Ents except Leaflock and Skinbark, were busy preparing for the trip. Many of them were brewing Ent draughts as others were skillfully creating packs for their backs. As the month was drawing to an end, Treebeard knew it was finally time to leave. The next day was filled with tearful goodbyes to their trees.

At the beginning of the next week, all the Ents except Leaflock and Skinbark set off north towards Lothlorien where the Lady of Light lived.

A few days had passed since the Ents had left their beloved forest. Elmheath and Pinetrunk were very unhappy, they did not want to go this way, for they had heard many stories about the Lady of Galadhrim’s wrath and they certainly did not want to go near her. “Why do we have to go this way?” Pinetrunk asked Elmheath. Elmheath just grumbled and whispered back, “Because we didn’t disagree with Treebeard a month ago.” Hardly an hour after they had said this to one another, they could see the beautiful Mallorn trees of Lothlorien. Quite suddenly all fear left the young Ents, either because of the breathtaking beauty of the trees or Galadriel’s magic, they did not know. Minutes later, the whole forest lay out before them. At that moment, Treebeard smiled and cried out, “Behold, the forest of Lothlorien. In the depths of the forest lies the grand city of Galadhrim were the Lord Celeborn and Lady Galadriel are awaiting us. I believe that the Elves that lay waiting for us have already seen us and sent messages to Galadhrim.”

Quickbeam was excited to finally see this glorious forest and did not doubt that there was magic in the air. He could not wait to see the beauty of Galadriel again. At the very moment Treebeard put his massive leafy foot into the forest, there came a loud, “HALT!” from out of nowhere, and Elmheath and Pinetrunk jumped a foot off the ground. They were so surprised! Nervously, Quickbeam glanced at Treebeard, yet Treebeard seemed very calm and not at all nervous. The voice rang out in the silence, “Ah, you have finally arrived.” At this an Elf with long flowing hair stepped out of the shadows followed by two other Elves. The Elf smiled at the nervous Ents and at once they were put at ease. Then looking towards Treebeard he broke the silence, “The Lady has been waiting long for your arrival. I am Haldir your escort and these are my brothers Rumil and Orophin. I am to take you to Galadhrim.” Turning to the Ents, Treebeard simply said, “Follow.” Swiftly and quietly Haldir strolled through the woods singing snatches of Elvish songs. Before Quickbeam knew it they came to a large fortress built in the trees. On the ground there were Elves everywhere and in the growing darkness, Quickbeam could see two thrones and two Elves shining even in the dark. The Elves were none other than Lady Galadriel and Lord Celeborn.

 Standing to greet the Ents, Lady Galadriel smiled. As she smiled she looked into the Ents hearts and cast away their troubles and worries.

Days had past and the Ents were enjoying themselves profusely. Finally, Treebeard knew it was time to go. Galadriel sensed this in him and found Treebeard wandering about the wood. “I sense you feel like it is time to depart my forest Treebeard,” she whispered. Startled that she had found him, he stuttered, “Yes… I mean no… yes… I am very sorry my Lady but I feel like if we do not leave soon, Caradhras will be too treacherous for us to pass over.” “Yes Treebeard, for I have foreseen it. It is time for you to leave.” Galadriel said quietly.

Within the next hour Treebeard had called all the Ents together. “The Lady and I agree it is time for us to depart. If we do not we will not be able to get over Caradhras. We shall leave in a fortnight.”

The remaining days passed all too quickly, before Treebeard knew it, it was time to leave. When the Ents were drawing near the gates of the city, they were surprised to see Lady Galadriel, Lord Celeborn and many more Elves waiting for them. One by one Galadriel put a jewel around each of the Ents necks. The jewels were green and in the shape of two leaves. Very surprised, all the Ents could do was accept the gifts and thank the Lady and Lord profusely. Wordlessly, the Ents left the grand city of Galadhrim.

The Ents left Lothlorien sadly. Quickbeam gazed back at the wood wishing he did not have to leave. He knew that the journey from Lothlorien to Rivendell was dangerous.

The days past long and uneventful for the Ents, only a few times did they hear the howls of the dreaded wargs. The mountains ever loomed tall and majestic before them. Slowly, the Ents were moving towards the Misty Mountains. Treebeard was weary but he knew they had to press forward or they wouldn’t get over Caradhras safely. Elmheath whispered to Pinetrunk, “Why are we going this way again?” “I do not know… why are you asking me?” Pinetrunk grumbled back.

That night Treebeard spoke to the Ents, “Tomorrow afternoon we shall reach the foot of Caradhras. The next morning we shall climb

the mountain and reach Redhorn gate by noon. We shall need to climb fast if we shall be able to reach the other side by nightfall.”

The next day the Ents set off hopeful, about ten o’clock Quickbeam noticed the towering mountain loomed closer with every footfall. By noon they were at the foot of the treacherous mountain. Treebeard again spoke to the Ents, “Tomorrow we shall ascend the mountain and hopefully get to the other side. Tonight, rest well.” And with that he took a swig of Ent draught and lay down to sleep.

In the morning, Oakbranch was the first Ent that wakened followed by Elmheath, then Quickbeam and Treebeard. Soon all the other Ents wakened. After everyone was awake and quite groggy, Treebeard knew they had to begin traveling up the mountain.

The mountain path was rocky and rough. The climb was steep but Ents have good balance. As Treebeard had hoped they did get to Redhorn gate by noon. It seemed that Caradhras was being kind to the tired creatures. After a quick lunch of more Ent draught, they started to descend the opposite side. Up until then the Ents had not come across any trouble from Caradhras, but the old mountain had a couple tricks up his sleeve. Powered by the evil lord Morgoth, the Black Enemy, Caradhras could do almost anything. All of the sudden massive gusts of wind tried knocking over the poor Ents. But the Ents stood their ground. This made Caradhras very angry. While the Ents were trying to recover from the sudden knock out, the mountain was thinking up more plans. It sent a sudden snow storm to try to discourage the Ents. But since it was still only June, there weren’t many snow clouds it could gather, so the snow was only about two feet deep and averaging at fourteen feet the tall Ents could travel through it with ease. Discouraged and admitting defeat, Caradhras knew nothing could stop the Ents.

 Now that the weather had cleared the Ents traveled much quicker, and reaching the foot of the mountain an hour before nightfall, brightened the spirits of all.  

Looking around them Treebeard hoped that by the end of the next day they would be right outside Rivendell. Coming up behind Treebeard, Quickbeam asked, “What next?” Treebeard replied with a sigh and said, “I hope to be at Rivendell tomorrow night, but I have noticed everyone is about to collapse from exhaustion. I believe tomorrow we will rest and then move on the next day. You may go tell everyone.” Quickbeam did exactly what Treebeard told him to do. He walked throughout the Ents and told them the news. When he was done he was so weary he was sure he would collapse.  

The next day passed quickly for the Ents. The day of moving on dawned bright and warm; it was just a day where you couldn’t be lazy. The Ents passed quickly through the land between the mountain and Rivendell. They were all eager to be in the warm gardens of the hidden valley and to see Galadriel’s kin for if they were anything like her, the Ents knew they would be welcomed.

As the sun was sinking over the horizon with a flood of orange and red, the Ents first saw the breathtaking beauty of Rivendell. Silently, they entered the quiet valley for they were speechless, the gardens and waterfalls were more beautiful than they could imagine. Suddenly, loud voices were singing from inside the huge house and elves were pouring out of it to meet their expected guests. Quickbeam gasped, for at the front of assembly was a tall ageless Elf, His hair was dark as the shadows of twilight, and upon it was set a circlet of silver; his eyes were grey as a clear evening, and in them was a light like the light of stars. At once all the Ents knew that this was Elrond, the lord of Rivendell, for he was known to all good. Beside Elrond stood a somewhat familiar figure, and yet not at all familiar. He had white curly hair and wore trousers and a vest. Treebeard laughed, it was just a Hobbit, Merry and Pippin had spoken of an uncle of theirs who had gone to live with the Elves. Uncle... what was it? Bilbo, yes Uncle Bilbo. He thought to himself.

That night after much introducing, the Ents went among the trees to rest for the night. Quickbeam came up behind Treebeard and asked, “It was a grand night, was it not?” smiling Treebeard replied, “Well it was, we will have to leave soon though. But do not worry, perhaps we shall come back to this place before too long.” Three days later, Treebeard approached Elrond, “Lord Elrond,” he spoke slowly, “I am afraid the Ents time in Rivendell has to come to an end. I know that you of all people know and understand that. I feel we must depart your house before the week is spent.” “Yes, Treebeard you are right, I too feel that you are to leave my abode and keep to your travels.” Then Treebeard left to notify the rest of the Ents of their departure.

The days passed even quicker than before to the Ents. The day that the Ents left Rivendell started clear and enchanting.  

The Ents passed quickly through the gates and over the bridge and past the ford. Heading straight towards the Trollshaws, Treebeard was determined to make the last half of their journey quickly and he hoped soon he would be reunited with his long lost Fimbrethil.  With the Ents taking massive strides westward, it only took a few hours to make it to the Trollshaws. Walking through the dark and gloomy forest the treelike creatures soon came across three huge stone Trolls. Laughing at them, Elmheath remembered the story Bilbo had told him in Rivendell about how these very Trolls had wanted to eat him and a group of Dwarves.

It wasn’t long before the Ents were at the edge of the forest. Looking out on the bare land Treebeard knew it would take at least four days to travel across the exposed land with just a small river in front of them. But now it was growing dark and time for rest.

The next day passed uneventfully, as did the next few days. Pinetrunk was beginning to believe that no trees grew except for little shrubs until the edge of the world. When he told Elmheath that, Elmheath replied with, “Perhaps, but I sure hope not. I mean we are supposed to be heading to another forest, but I heard it’s not as large as ours though. But maybe more magical.”

Finally, after four days of traveling Treebeard noticed on the horizon line they were coming to marshes. Turning to Quickbeam, who had come behind him and also noticed the marshes, he stated, “Midgewater Marshes, Elrond mentioned these, he said we should not try to go through them, we shall go around them.”  Treebeard had heard these marshes were as dangerous as the land they were on, and he did not want to take any chances.

The next morning as they woke up, the Ents could sense they were so close to their destination, only a few days to travel. Treebeard didn’t need to prompt anyone to hurry up because there was a sense of urgency in the air. It did not take long to pass beside the marshes, for they were not very large.

The next step of their journey was to get around the town of Bree. Now before this, people were not a problem, not many humans lived on their path and those that did had lived in Rohan and the Rohirrim were grateful towards the Ents for putting an end to the dictatorship of Saruman the White.

Quietly, the Ents assembled for yet another meeting. Breaking the strained silence Quickbeam quickly suggested that they just walk around the town. If the townspeople noticed them and were frightened, that was their problem, not the Ents. Since this was by far the most straight forward suggestion that anyone had thought of, Treebeard agreed to it.

Within the next hour, the Ents had already passed the town. Thankfully, no one spotted them. Bypassing the Barrow-downs, the Ents entered the Old Forest just as the sun was setting. Looking around Quickbeam whispered, “This is not that bad. Why the Trollshaws were worse than this. Truly, I do not understand why Pippin warned us about this forest. Yet then again, the Hobbits were scared of Fangorn Forest.” Laughing Treebeard replied, “Why no Quickbeam, this place is much better then what Pippin described it as. Any place that Fimbrethil would live in just has to be nice. For our dear Entwives would not live in a dangerous or dismal place.”  Then turning to the rest of the crowd, he shouted, “It is time we rest. This is where we shall stop for the night.”

Everyone woke bright and early the next morning, for they were all excited. Perhaps today they would see their long lost loves. Not sure which way to turn next, Treebeard consulted Quickbeam, for they had grown very close on the trip. “Which way do you think we should go?” Treebeard whispered to Quickbeam. “Hmm, south perhaps, for that is the center of the forest where jolly ol’ Tom Bombadil lives, he should know where the Entwives reside,” Quickbeam mused. “Of course Quickbeam, I simply forgot, Elrond did tell me that in Rivendell,” cried Treebeard enlightened. Turning southward, Treebeard chided himself for not remembering.     

It took a few hours for the Ents to reach the middle of the forest, though it was not hard to find, for the Withywindle river flowed right past Tom Bombadil’s house.

Knocking on the door of the cottage Treebeard was not surprised when the door opened almost immediately. “Ahhh,” a buoyant voice cried out from the door, “You have come! I was hoping you would arrive soon. The Elves that came through here about a week ago told me you would be coming to see me soon.” The voice explained quickly, then turning from the door the little man called into the house, “Goldberry, dear, they have finally arrived!” Turning back to the guests at the door the man kept on talking; “Now I believe you are Treebeard. It’s no doubt you know who I am, and for those who do not know who I am, my name is Tom Bombadil! I would invite you in my house, but I am afraid you are a bit too tall, either that or my house is too small. Now, yes I know that you are not here to see me, though I hoped you would visit a bit, Gandalf has told me much about you and your forest. I love to hear about your forest. Dear me, I am afraid I have gotten rather off track.” He paused allowing Treebeard to add a bit, “Well as a matter a fact, I would like to visit with you for awhile, but it is true, that is not the reason for our trip. As the Elves probably told you, we are here because a certain friend of mine sent word that there had been sightings of Entwives in this forest. I felt it necessary to come because; we have been searching for our loves since they went missing back in the Second Age, when Sauron destroyed their gardens.”

Tom was quiet for a few minutes lost in thought, and then seeming to come back, he jumped up from his stump he was sitting on and cried, “Yes, what are we waiting for? I will lead you to them. I gave them permission to live in the south of the forest a couple hundred years ago. I mostly stay away from there, to give them their peace. But occasionally they come and visit with Goldberry and me.” With that Tom started down the path singing, "Hey dol! merry dol! ring a dong dillo! Ring a dong! hop along! fal lal the willow! Tom Bom, jolly Tom, Tom Bombadillo!"

The path wound around another turn, and a clearing came into view many, treelike creatures with golden hair wandered about well tended gardens. Giddy with excitement Treebeard ran up to one of them and cried, “Fimbrethil my dear, how I have missed you!” Beechbone ran up to another Entwife and cried, “Oh Elmerthil!” One by one each Ent was reunited with their long lost love. Smiling, Tom Bombadil left the Ents for their reunion.

Looking around Quickbeam spotted Elmheath with one of the younger Entwives, Willowleaf, smiling Quickbeam left his Mallormist just for a few minutes to see Elmheath. “This is why we came, Elmheath. Have you stopped complaining?  Yes I did notice,” said Quickbeam. With that Elmheath apologized. Satisfied, Quickbeam walked back to Mallormist.

Treebeard asked Fimbrethil if the Entwives would return to Fangorn since Sauron was destroyed and Saruman was no longer a threat either. Fimbrethil replied, “We shall return with you, I think the others will agree that they wish never to part with you again.”  

Smiling to himself, Treebeard thought, The journey of the Ents ended as a success.

the unnamed and very unfinished and partially written fan fiction story

Chapter 1

Look, I didn’t mean to destroy half the school. Actually I hadn’t destroyed it. But all evidence pointed to me, and I didn’t have a believable alibi about what actually happened. The punishment was… I was expelled. I’m only 14 and I’ve been expelled seven? No, eight times.

It was December and my mom would once again have the problem of finding a new school for me. I felt bad about it sure, but I was just glad to be alive. If it wasn’t for my training at Camp Half-Blood I’d have been dead long before the school blew up.

My name is Kristen Bradford and I live in Atlanta, Georgia. I live in this nice sized apartment in the outskirts of the city with my mom. My dad doesn’t show up that much, actually never, but that is not his fault, that’s standard. My dad is Zeus, the king of the gods in Greek myths. Which may sound cool… but it means I get attacked by monsters pretty frequently and that is why a hall in my school is a little destroyed.

 I know that the majority of the schools in Atlanta know about me and know not to admit me into their school. So I would probably have to go to some boarding school somewhere or live year round at Camp Half-Blood, which is always a possibility.

Camp Half-Blood is a summer camp, for kids like me. Kids with problems? Yeah, kind of, but it isn’t our fault we have problems. Most of us are either labeled with problems like ADHD or Dyslexia or just labeled troublemakers. Me? Yeah I was labeled all three. Actually, these ‘problems’ as they are called, keep me alive. Most demigod children are labeled those three things, or at least one of those.  I've got this one friend at camp that has been kicked out of more schools that I have. He is in college now though, and that makes me feel like I have some hope.

So anyways, today sucked, the day before Christmas break of my freshman year and one of the halls was completely in ruins.

This morning I woke up and got ready to go to school, said goodbye to my mom and got on my school bus. I knew from the minute I walked into school that something was not right. I got to my first class and I slipped into my regular seat next to my friend, the school’s satyr-that locates demigods in school systems before they get killed- and he looked pretty worried.

“What's up, Jack?” I asked with a quizzical look.

“I smell monsters,” he whispered.

Jack is a short little guy that looks about 14 or 15 with a wispy goatee, curly hair, and he walks funny. The way he gets around school is on crutches, because he has a “muscle problem.” If you know anything about satyrs you would know this is partly true. If you don’t know anything about satyrs, I suggest you Google it, I’m sure Wikipedia has plenty to say about them. Satyrs are part of Greek mythology and from the waist down they are goats. So yeah, they run funny, and eat anything. They can also read emotions and they can tell if there are demigods and monsters close by, and they can use woodland magic.

“Just great,” I said, “and I was hoping not to get kicked out of school this semester. How many do you smell?”

“More than three.”

“Okay, let’s hope we can handle them. I should’ve known I wasn’t going to stay hidden in this school much longer.” I looked down at my hand, good my bracelet was still on, and then I checked my pocket and I could feel my 5 inch blade of celestial bronze.

After lunch we had gym but Jack doesn’t have gym because of his “problem” so I was on my own. I was hoping the monsters wouldn’t attack while I was in gym class, with no one to help me, but of course, they did.

We were playing a game of basketball, and I was helping my team win, when it came to basketball it was simple for me, because they ball was usually in the air. Air is my dominion. And then I realized that there were some spectators that were watching me intently. I feigned a fall, and limped over to my coach,

“Coach, I hurt my ankle, can I get off the court?”

“Is it that bad?” coach didn’t see through my act. I nodded and took a step, then faked a wince, “Oh okay fine, go have a seat.”

Sitting down I glanced behind me, the four strange characters were still staring at me. When coach was distracted I slipped out of the room to find Jack, knowing the monsters would follow me, away from the gym.

Gym is my last class, and since Jack is on the same schedule as me I knew he couldn’t be that far away. But I had to hurry because I could hear footsteps behind me as I ran, searching for Jack. “Ugh, where is he?” I asked myself out loud.

“I’m right here,” Jack said, “I was standing right outside the gym because I knew the monsters were in there, and then when you didn’t see me I followed you. Pay more attention Kristen.”

I breathed a sigh of relief, “I thought that they were behind me.”

“We are,” a sweet voice answered. We turned around and I quickly twisted my bracelet and it turned into a shield-a gift from my sister- then I grabbed my knife, I wish my locker was nearby, I wanted my sword, but the short knife would have to do. Jack pulled out his reed pipes and began to play. I hoped that no one from the school would come into the hallway, because I couldn’t believe what I was up against.

In the gym, the mist had twisted the figures of the four monsters to look like a couple and a kid and a dog, well the dog was definitely not a dog. It was a drakon. Not a very big one but it was still a drakon. Drakons are like dragons except they have no wings and breathe poison, oh and they paralyze you with fear just by looking at you. That alone would be hard to beat. The “kid” was actually a telekine. Why a telekine was here I had no idea. Telekines are half dog half human and are usually a pretty easy monster to defeat. They usually make weapons, but I guess recently a lot of monsters have died, so everyone had to fight. 

As for the other two monsters, well they were an empousa and a Fury, or a ‘kindly one.’

The empousa was nice to look at but I know that all the stories about vampires originate from their bloodthirsty race. I had never fought one before, I prayed to my father for strength.

There are three Furies and they all worked for Hades the god of the Underworld. Hades wasn’t that friendly of a guy. But the Furies, they are even less friendly than their master. And they can fly, which would be a problem, because it would cut off my only escape, the air. I can fly, sort of, the air bends around me and I float, so I guess you can call that flying. But if I needed to run from the fight, I would be chased in the air too, not so fun.

I charged and jumped into the air right above the telekine and hovered, and stabbed down, the telekine screamed and I stabbed again it, crumbled into sand and blew away

I turned toward the fury and did what was natural, slammed the shield into its face and slashed with my knife. It fell against some lockers and they crumbled under its weight. It took to the air and tried to claw at me, but I jumped into the air and hovered, in front of it. The fury opened its mouth to curse at me, but I was ready for that, I threw my knife right into its mouth. It chocked, fell from the sky and turned into dust. My knife hit the floor. I willed the air to put me down. When I landed, I grinned and picked up my knife.

 Jack’s reed pipe playing was slowing down the other two monsters. Grass grew and vines wrapped around the drakon and empousa’s legs, they were both furious and struggled against the vines. The vines were only strong enough to tire them and distract them. I wished I had more help. Not that Jack wasn’t doing great, but this was tough, and I was used to more demigods, or fewer monsters. I turned to the empousa and slashed with my knife.

“Who do you think you are to kill me? I have lived thousands of years and no hero has been able to kill me.” She laughed and slashed her sword, it cut my arm. I parried another blow. She was gorgeous, and I was jealous that an evil monster could be that pretty. But a few seconds later she shifted into her true form, and it was not pretty. She bared her teeth.

“I am Kristen Bradford, daughter of Zeus, and the sister of the Thalia and Jason Grace, heroes of Olympus! If that is so then I will be the first hero to send you to the depths of Tartarus just like your little friends!” I sounded way more confident than I was.

“You are a daughter of Zeus?” she laughed scornfully, “I did not know that a child of Zeus could be so weak and easy to beat.”

I lunged, she sidestepped. I need to get into the air I thought. I jumped up and I could feel energy surge through my body. Flying over her I spun around bringing my shield down on her head and my knife slashed her face. She screamed out curses in ancient Greek, and I grinned, “Easy to beat?”

She snarled.

 I glanced at Jack. He was doing a pretty good job at distracting the drakon and also dodging it poison. The hallway was in ruins though. Almost all the lockers were trashed. The teachers and the principal weren’t going to be so happy.

The empousa was trying to get up off the floor but I put a final end to her with my knife, and she crumbled to sand. My own wounds weren’t as bad as hers were but they still hurt.

Then I turned to the drakon, at 5 feet long it wasn’t as big as some of the other I had fought, but it was still big. And I had to consider the fact that I hadn’t fought the other drakons alone, I had had lots of help.

I need my sword.

Jack’s vines would slow it down a lot. I would probably have enough time to get my sword out of my locker.

I flew as fast as I could down the hall and turned and flew down another hall, in a few minutes I was at my locker. I quickly unlocked it and grabbed my sword and turned and ran back to the fight. Jack’s vines were really aggravating the drakon and it was spewing poison all over everything.

I yelled and charged.

The drakon turned its huge head towards me and charged back.

Jumping over it I landed on its back and brought a sharp edge down on its neck. It rolled over, giving me a perfect angle to slide my sword into its unguarded stomach. I stabbed down and the drakon lay still and turned to dust.

“Great job, Kristen!” Jack congratulated me.

“You were very helpful, thanks,” I returned.

At that very moment the bell rang and all classes were out. The hall flooded with students and they all gasped at the wreckage. This was not going to go well.

Jack and I left the hall, but someone had already told a teacher that we were the only ones in the hall when the bell rang. The principal stopped us.

“May I have a word?” I knew we were doomed.

We turned into the Principal’s office and he took a seat.

“Kristen Bradford, can you please explain why the hall is in ruins? I did not know a high school student was capable of such destruction.”

“I didn’t do it.” I replied.

“Well then please enlighten me? Who did?”

Jack jumped in, “I was waiting for Kristen to come out of gym, and when she did we walked into the hallway and it was all messed up.”

“Hm, I will ask Coach when you left, stay here.”

He left the room.

“Thanks Jack,” I smiled nervously, “but I doubt he is going to believe that.”

Blahh-hahh “I hope he does.” Jack pulled a crushed aluminum soda can out of his pocket and started eating it.

I thought about the fight, and the poison spewed all over the lockers, there was no way we were gonna not get expelled.

The principal walked back into his office. “I’m afraid that coach says you left the gym about half an hour ago. I don’t know what happened but I cannot let something like this go unpunished, both of you are not going to be allowed to come back next semester. However, tomorrow is the last day of school, and since you have exams, I will permit you to take those home and take them there, and then I will expect them in the mail before next Tuesday.”

Great, more work for my mom.

“Yes sir.” We walked out of the office got our exam work and decided to walk home.

“I was thinking about spending next semester at camp,” I told Jack, “I’m sure that Grover needs your help with something.”

“I didn’t like that school anyways,” Jack sighed, “Grover always has work for anyone that wants it. It’s facing Mr. D again that scares me most. But it’s all going to work out, let’s go talk to your mom.”

Chapter 2

“Mom!” I called as I walked into our apartment, “Where are you?”

“I’m in here honey, I just got back from work. You sound worried. Is everything ok?”

My mom’s name is Karen Bradford, and she is the most amazing woman on planet earth. She works as a receptionist for a law firm in Atlanta.

My mom walked out of her bedroom and stared at me and Jack.

“What happened? You look like a mess.”

I looked down, I hadn’t really realized how awful I looked, my shoes were almost destroyed by the drakon’s poison and the cut on my arm didn’t look too great.

“Well, we had a surprise visit by a couple monsters during gym, I look much better than one of the halls at school. But hey, I won.” I smiled halfheartedly.

“Expelled?” my mother asked.

“Yeah, sorry.” I said, then added, “I was thinking I might want to spend next semester at camp. These monsters were hard to fight, and I want more training.”

My mom sighed, “I was afraid of that, I wish you could stay but I know that you need to do what you think is best.”

“It’ll be okay mom. Don’t worry about me, I can handle myself,” I gave her a huge hug, it would be hard to be gone so much, “and hey I got Jack to help me.”

“All right, I guess so.” She replied hesitantly

Walking in the bathroom I turned on the shower and threw a golden drachma into the water, “Oh Iris, please take my offering, I need to speak to Chiron.”

The mist shifted and I saw a picture of Chiron.

“Jack, Kristen is everything alright?” he asked, looking worried.

“Hey Chiron, not exactly. Jack and I were expelled today after a fight with four monsters that destroyed part of the school. I’ve been thinking about staying at camp next semester, what do you think?”
            The centaur stroked his beard, “Hmmm that is not good news, four monsters attacking in Georgia, were they all the same kind?”
            “No, there was a telekine, a fury, an empousa and a drakon. I wouldn’t have survived if it wasn’t for Jack.” I replied.

“Telekines haven’t fought in any battle since Kronos was defeated,” Chiron mused, then looked up, “Yes, I think it would be best if you came to Camp Half-Blood next semester, we will discuss this more when you get here. Have you discussed this with your mom?”

“Thanks Chiron. Yeah I have, she wasn’t too happy about it, but she understands. I’ll be there in the first week of January. Bye.”

“Goodbye Kristen, and be careful.”

The image faded, and I turned off the shower.

Chiron had said to be careful, and I was going to be very careful, I had to. It’s always dangerous for the children of the Big Three. The Big Three are the Olympian brothers, Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades. When my older sister, Thalia was my age, she was chased by tons of monsters and ended up turning into a tree. Thankfully that was undone when another child of the Big Three was found. Percy Jackson always is in trouble, he has been chased by tons of monsters and even led the attack against Kronos a few years ago when he was only 15. He and his girlfriend Annabeth are an unstoppable team. Other campers have told me stories about all their adventures, like when they were 12 and he had to battle Ares the god of war, and also had to escape the underworld. Or when they had to rescue his best friend Grover from the huge Cyclops, and then escape a cruise ship that was infested with monsters. Or when Annabeth was captured and Percy, Grover and my sister along with a daughter of Hades and another girl had to travel across the entire country, while being chased by living skeleton zombie guys. He and Grover and Annabeth and Percy’s Cyclops brother Tyson once traveled all through the Labyrinth to try to save Camp Half-Blood from an enemy invasion. Next to Percy all my accomplishments look miniscule. Even though he is in college, Percy still comes to Camp Half-Blood in the summer and he always has time to talk to me about the problems of being a kid of the Big Three.

There are only five known children of the Big Three living right now. Percy, Thalia, Jason, me, and Nico. Nico is a child of Hades and he only sometimes comes to stay in his cabin at camp. He doesn’t really talk about it, but one time I asked my sister Thalia about him.

“Thalia,” I said, “why is Nico such a loner?”

“Well, he has gone though a lot.” And she began to tell me some of his adventures. Nico and his sister Bianca had been taken to a hotel in Vegas that wouldn’t let you escape easily, you wouldn’t age. They had stayed there for about 50 years and then a lawyer had come into the hotel and told them it was time to leave. So they went to a boarding school. Grover found them and called Percy, Thalia and Annabeth to help him take them to camp. In the process Annabeth was captured and Bianca joined Artemis’s team of maiden hunters that are immortal.

Nico went to camp with them and was left when Thalia, Percy, Bianca, Grover, and another maiden hunter left to rescue Annabeth and Artemis, who was also captured. On the trip Bianca died, and Nico was heartbroken, he left the camp and wasn’t seen for awhile until Percy and Annabeth were searching the Labyrinth. Nico was calling up ghosts from the underworld to figure out how to talk to Bianca, and to figure out what had happened to their mother. When he learned what had happened to his mother he was again heartbroken. It wasn’t until the battle against Kronos that Nico came to terms with all that had happened and he helped save New York and the rest of the world from being completely trashed.

As I’ve already said, it is dangerous being a kid of the Big Three. Bad things always happen.

I walked into the kitchen and grabbed a can of Dr. Pepper out of the fridge.

“Want one?” I asked Jack.

“Duh.” He replied catching the can that I had tossed.

I sipped my soda and thought about the fight. Why had a fury been there? And why were telekines fighting?

Jack finished his soda and started chewing on the can. I tossed him my empty can and he ate that too.

“What did Chiron say?” my mom asked.

“He wants us to come in January.”

“That sounds…” Mom hesitated before saying, “Good.”

The next day Jack and I sat around the kitchen table while mom was at work and took our exams.

It’s a lot easier to take exams at home, because you don’t have a time limit or teachers looking over your shoulder every few minutes. My ADHD though was making it hard for me to concentrate.

“Di immortales I just can’t concentrate. Too bad the exams aren’t written in Greek, and then I would be able to finish these things with no problem.” I fumed.

Jack grunted and nodded in agreement.

I grabbed a coke from the fridge and tossed one to Jack. Somehow soda helps me concentrate. Most ‘specialists’ would say that for people with ADHD pure sugar coursing through your body would be the last thing that would help someone concentrate. But for demigods, it really helps us focus.

Hours later the exams were finished, and in a sealed addressed envelope. Waiting to be mailed the next day, Friday.

Jack stays at our apartment; it was easier then having to find some other place for him. He had been with me at different schools for three years, and he had been staying with us for almost that long.

The next day was boring. I mean what can you do for hours at a time in Atlanta with your mom at work? After awhile facebook gets boring and then youtube, and then the tv. So Jack and I went down the street to a coffee shop. Jack got an espresso-what is it with satyrs and those drinks? And I got a chai tea latte, my favorite.

I should make something clear; Jack is just one of my best friends. He has a tree nymph girlfriend who lives at camp. So this definitely wasn’t a date. And also he is about 29 years old. Satyrs age twice as slow as mortals.

The next day was just as boring, Saturday.

Sunday was better, I had a surprise visit from one of my camp buddies, Piper, a daughter of Aphrodite. She is almost 18 and dating my brother, but she is still pretty cool. Her dad was in the area shooting a movie. They were gonna be in Georgia until after Christmas. And she decided to drop in. Instead of going to school, Piper home schools herself. The last school she went to was a disaster so after talking to her dad he agreed to let her home school.

When she came in the door I was so excited. For a daughter of Aphrodite, the goddess of love, she was pretty cool.

“Hey!” she screamed when I opened the door.

“Oh my gods, Piper! It’s so great to see you! Come in!”  I smiled.

We talked for hours just stopping to eat the delicious southern home cooked meal my mom made. Finally I asked her, “Why don’t you come over everyday, I’m just waiting for January to come, because I’m going back to camp.”

“That sounds amazing! I get so bored staying on set or in our hotel all day. You could even come to set a couple times probably. I’ve graduated high school you know, I just crammed two semesters worth of work in one, do maybe I’ll go to camp too next semester, I’ll talk with my dad. Besides this head councilor needs to make sure that everything in the Aphrodite cabin is under control.”

Piper’s dad is a famous Cherokee actor named Tristan McLean.

“Does he still not know about your mom?” I asked.

“Yeah, I haven’t told him, because of how it would affect him so much. Mom has talked to me some about it. It would probably tear him apart. So maybe in a few years. I’ve known for three years, and he is spending much more time with me, since his personal assistant is Mellie the aura, she has made sure that he has at least an hour in his daily schedule set aside for just hanging out. And the next movie he is going to be in is set in the mountains of NC and he is going to play a Cherokee! That’s the first time he will ever play a Native American, and I’m glad!”

            “Aw, that is really great! I really don’t know how I would make it if I didn’t have my mom knowing, but it’s different for all different people. But I’m glad that you have Mellie and Jason close to you.”

            She nodded, “After dad’s last personal assistant, Mellie is a breath of fresh air,” she giggled, “literally. Yeah, we’ve been dating for almost exactly three years.” She smiled.

            My brother, Jason has an interesting and complicated life. Very complicated. In the beginning even his relationship with Piper was complicating. But thankfully after her first quest, before I was a camper, they straightened things out.

            It was almost three o’clock and Piper said that her dad would be looking for her soon, and she didn’t want to miss dinner with him.

            “Don’t forget to talk to him about camp,” I reminded.

            “Oh, don’t worry, I will! Cya later,” she gave me a hug and walked out the door.

I was glad she was in town. It would make the time pass so much faster.

            Between spending time with mom, hanging out with Jack and Piper, visiting the set and Christmas, the three weeks before I was to leave for camp flew by. Piper and Jack were going with me to camp.

            The first time I had been to camp was when I was 11. It was right before the seven half bloods left for Greece. That was a crazy summer. My mom had told me that I was going to a new summer camp. I thought that was strange because I had never gone anywhere during the summer other than one short vacation to the beach every year, and that was always with my mom. She said that I was going to go with Jack, one of my only friends, who I had met that year. She seemed pretty sad, but I was just glad to do something else for a change. And I was going to get to fly to the camp, since it was all the way up in New York. I had never flown. My mom didn’t make enough money to fly us anywhere, and where would we go if she did? Everyone we knew was in Georgia, or close enough to drive to.

            I remember flying being exhilarating, I felt like I was floating in my seat. Actually I was, and it wasn’t until later that I realized that when people fly they stay in their seat, not hover above it.

            When we got to the New York airport there were two people waiting for us, a dark haired guy about 17 and another guy that looked kinda like Jack, just a little older waiting for us. The second guy saw Jack and waved.

            “Wassup, Jack? How ya doin?” he said.

            “Grover! Long time no see man. This is Kristen,” he motioned to me.

            The first guy smiled and nodded, “Hey, I’m Percy Jackson and this is my friend Grover, nice to meet you. Come one, Argus is waiting in the van.”

            “Sweet!” Jack said, “We just have to get our luggage.”

            Percy looked around, and nodded, “Yeah but we have to hurry, we need to get to camp before anyone finds us.”

            Anyone finds us? I thought, this Percy guy looks really scared about the thought of “ anyone finding us.” This is strange. And jack has been acting strange ever since we got off the plane.

He led me to the baggage claim and we grabbed our bags and left the airport.

            When we got in the van I could’ve sworn the driver had at least a hundred eyes, but then I blinked and thought my mind was playing tricks on me. 

            Argus, the driver turned onto a highway and got stuck in traffic. I thought the traffic in Atlanta was bad, but New York City traffic was 10 times worse. Finally we got onto another road and drove down that for like forever, until I saw a huge, and I mean HUGE pine tree with a gold sheet glittering on the bottom branch, or was it a sheet. Then I noticed a huge farm house and field after field of strawberry fields.

            “Welcome to Camp Half-Blood. C’mon lets go.” Percy said as he grabbed a backpack and jumped out of the van, “Follow me.”

            I followed him, with my bags, to the big farm house, where I met Chiron the centaur. Which freaked me out. I was even more freaked out when he told me that the Greek myths I heard about in school were true, and that my father was one of the gods. The more I was at Camp Half-Blood the more I got freaked out. Like when the night I arrived at camp a huge lightening bolt flickered above my head and lightening flashed in the sky. Everyone looked pretty startled and whispered things like, “Another child of Zeus?” and “He broke his vow three times?” and, “Hades and Poseidon aren’t going to like this.” I was so confused. But Percy, who turned out to be a son of Poseidon and another girl who wore silvery clothes and had black hair, named Thalia and also my half sister, explained some things and welcomed me.

            I remember that that summer had been really crazy because of the quest that some of the halfbloods were going on. Everyone was worried. And Rachel, the oracle who lived in a cave frequently studied all things known about the great giants that were formed to defeat the gods.

            Looking back I have to laugh at my own ignorance.