Calypso slowly made her way to the table, carefully eyeing the monstrosity that was her friend group. Everyone at the table was screaming over each other so loudly she couldn't even decipher what they were saying. She sat down next to Hazel and whispered, "What did I miss?"
Hazel's golden eyes shone brightly as she replied, "Camp."
"What's camp?"
The simple question was met with overly dramatic gasps of surprise as the entire lunch table tuned into their conversation.
"'What's camp'?!" Leo screamed wayyy too loudly. Calypso turned to glare at him for shouting in her ear. Leo's usual impish grin was replaced by a wide-mouthed look of shock. His eyes were so wide his eyebrows disappeared under the mop of curls on his head. However, the thing that drew Calypso's attention wasn't his expression, but the bright pink floral bonnet balanced on his head. It probably had to do with another idiotic prank he'd pulled. Leo reminded her of a sarcastic chihuahua on crack.
"I keep forgetting that she's new!" Piper exclaimed, and playfully hit Jason on the arm. Piper's choppy braids brushed the table as she leaned over to whisper, "So every summer the Demigods go to camp together and have the most fun in the entire world. Seriously, it's like the best thing ever."
Calypso rolled her eyes upon hearing the stupid name they'd given themselves. The Demigods. It's as if they're some kind of clique. It made trying to be their friend super intimidating because they just seemed so together. She refused to even bother trying until he talked to her. He invited her into their group and the rest just followed his lead. But hearing that silly nickname just reminded her that even after 4 months she was still just the new girl.
"Hey, you should totally come with us!" said a voice that had just approached the table. Calypso looked up and locked eyes with Percy Jackson. He smiled, "You guys are talking about camp, right?"
Calypso felt her face flush. Here he was including her in the group, again. She watched him shake his raven hair out of his sea green eyes and swooned. He was the first person to talk to her when she came to Goode High School. Of course she noticed his looks right away; long, lean, and dreamy. But above all Percy was nice. Which made him all the more lovable. The fire in her heart was immediately extinguished though when the beautiful blonde took the seat next to him.
"Yeah you should definitely come! It'll be so much more fun if all of us are there." Annabeth nodded and absentmindedly wiped ketchup off of Percy's face.
Annabeth's kindness only made things worse. Calypso was riddled with guilt for wishing Percy would love her when Annabeth continuously tried to include her in the group. She could never compete with Annabeth. Not only was it impossible to beat that girl at literally anything, but it was clear to everyone that her and Percy were in love. They had this natural chemistry that was almost palpable. They flowed together so perfectly. It was disgusting.
"Calypso?" Piper prompted, looking between Calypso and the couple. Piper's knowing kaleidoscope eyes unnerved Calypso, like she could see right into her heart.
"Um..I don't know." She replied looking down at the table.
Hazel touched her arm and said softly, "This really is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. After this, all the first gen Demigods are graduating. They're going to college. This really could be it."
Her words hung in the air. Hazel had started getting choked up and bit her lip to stop from crying. Frank looked confused and worried, like he wanted to comfort her but didn't know how. Everyone seemed to be struggling with the realization that their group would be separated after this summer. The tension was broken when Annabeth leaned over the table to console Hazel.
"We're not leaving. It's just the next stage of our amazing adventure. You guys will make your own memories but we'll always be here to help whenever you need us." Annabeth said softly.
Then, not so softly, Percy laughed, "Yeah, you guys are the only ones who can keep up with us. Even though," he added, clapping Jason on the shoulder, "I'm totally still better than you."
Everyone laughed as the piercing ring of the dismissal bell signaled that lunch was over. Since it was the last day of school, classes had been cut short so people started milling around to leave.
Calypso smiled and her eyes fell to the Latino across from her. She'd noticed that when he wasn't being an ADHD idiot, he would look down at his hands and tap a little beat. For a second, he'd look sad. And then it was gone with a manic grin. She watched as Leo's eyes caught on something in the distance and a spark lit up behind the chocolate orbs. He stood up so fast the bonnet almost fell off of his head. Grinning, he looked around the table, "I gotta go check on something. I'll see you guys at camp!"
"O-kay. That was weird." Calypso mumbled watching him run off.
"Knowing Leo, he probably just thought of a great way to get himself killed." Jason laughed.
"So what are we doing now? Last day of school, no more classes...just head to camp?" Frank asked. Annabeth shrugged, "Go home and pack. Make sure everything's ready for the summer. I know a lot of us are carpooling so just text Percy, Piper, or Bianca when you're ready to be picked up."
Everyone looked at Calypso. Giving in, she sighed, "I'll ask," she had to yell to be heard over the cheers of her friends, "BUT my dad doesn't really let me go anywhere. I mostly just stay in my room or do chores."
Percy rolled his eyes, "You should call your dad and be all like, 'Screw you, I'm spending the summer with my amazing as balls friends. Calypso out!" He signaled dropping the mic.
"...Percy in what world would that not get me killed?"
"At least you'll have fun before you die!"
Calypso laughed, "Well that would definitely make summer interesting." Biting her lip she added, "Okay I should go home and try to catch my dad in a good mood."
"See you at camp!" Piper called after her in a sing-song voice. She walked away to the sound of her friends laughing.
She slowly made her way down the hall, careful not to bump into any of her classmates as they cheered and raced out of the building. Among the crowd, Calypso noticed a whooping Leo being chased by Coach Hedge who was swearing and tripping over his pink floral grandma dress. Calypso was completely frozen by the scene unfolding in front of her. Unfortunately, before she was able to register the fact that Leo was running towards her with no sign of stopping, she was already on the floor with a panting Latino on top of her.

"Balls, sorry." Leo lifted himself a few inches so he was now able to look down at her, his eyes covered by unruly curls. Calypso noticed that he was still grinning and, with his hair in his eyes, he oddly resembled a mad scientist. She half expected him to scream, "Pull the switch!" With a glance at Calypso, he jumped to his feet and offered her his hand.

"S'Okay", Calypso groaned while shew dusted herself off. She punched his shoulder and screamed, "Leo, what did you do?!"

"¡Oye!" Leo exclaimed, rubbing his arm. She pointed at the mess of floral pattern on the floor that was Coach Hedge as he struggled to get up and chase the teen. "He won't see me all summer," Leo replied simply, "I had to give him something to remember me by."

"Well, I doubt he'll forget this." She mumbled, a small smile tugging at her lips as she stared at Coach Hedge tripping over the fabric, "I doubt anyone will."She turned to look at the boy and incredulously asked, "Shouldn't you be getting ready for camp? How do you have time to cause this much trouble?"

"Piper's taking me, but she has an Art project she needs to turn in before we go. I was going to hang out in the Art room with her, but she said I'm too 'distracting'" he put in air quotations and rolled his eyes before he continued, "so she told me not to bother her unless it's life or death."

Calypso gestured to where Coach Hedge, who had finally torn himself out of the dress, was standing looking for Leo, "I think this counts."

Leo turned in time to to lock eyes with Coach Hedge, the short man's face turning bright red as he charged for the teen.

"Oh crap!" Leo squeaked and raced down the hall. He turned, running backwards, and waved at Calypso with a giant grin on his face, "I'll see you at camp!"

"Maybe, if you don't die first!" She called back to him.

He just winked at her and turned around, bolting towards the Art room.

Calypso rolled her eyes as Coach Hedge's echoed cries of; "VALDEZ!" followed her to the parking lot.
***************************************************************

The sun was stifling as Nico walked across the grounds of Goode High School.

He headed towards the shade of a lone pine tree and took out his headphones. Nico plopped down at the base of the tree and closed his eyes, leaning into the cool bark. He always came out here during lunch; it was quiet and he was alone. No pestering eyes or loud conversations. It was nice.

A pinecone hit the top of his head and he opened his eyes in frustration. Well, so much for that, he thought.

"Stupid tree." He muttered.

Another pinecone sailed into his face.

"What?!" He screamed and glared up at the branches. Sitting gracefully on the bough was a girl with flaming red curls, bright green eyes, and a sly grin that made her look like a ginger Chessur cat. Wrapped in her pale, delicate fingers was a pinecone.

He yanked out his headphones and scowled, "Rachel! What are you doing?"

Rachel snickered, "Lounging! I was going to climb down but you looked so peaceful! I figured it'd be a shame if someone disturbed you."

Nico rolled his eyes and put his headphones back in, deciding to ignore her. He should've known better, Rachel Elizabeth Dare was not one to be ignored. She let loose another pinecone, this one smacking him on the crown of his head. Nico gritted hit teeth as Rachel landed with a thump next to him. Leaves stuck wildly out of her fiery red mane making her look like a jungle woman. She smiled up at him and took out his headphones.

"So whatcha doing out here?"

"I come out here every day so the real question is what are you doing out here?"

Rachel shrugged, "I feel that class on the last day of school is irrelevant. There's nothing they can teach us in one day that they failed to teach for a whole year."

"Then why even bother coming to school?" Nico asked.

"'Cause it sure beats being at home." Rachel muttered.

Nico nodded. It was well-known that Rachel was the daughter of a wealthy businessman, but Rachel despised the work her father did. She distanced herself from them and their money in any way she could, from charity work to wearing the same raggedy, sharpie covered jeans everyday. She never liked talking about her home life, which Nico understood. He liked Rachel. She seemed to be one of the few people who wasn't awkward around him. But he never knew how to talk to her so they sat in silence for a while before a familiar figure approached them. Wow, Nico thought, I must be popular today.

"Hey guys, have you seen Fletcher?" Kayla asked. She looked similar to her brother, but their personalities could not be more different. Nico had never spent a lot of time with Will but he seemed nice and calm whereas Kayla was sassy and rambunctious. Nico couldn't handle being around her for fear of getting a migraine.

"I haven't seen him. Why?" Rachel responded.

"I appear to have temporarily misplaced him." Kayla said with pursed lips.

In her most condescending adult voice, Rachel asked, "Where were you when you lost him?"

Kayla exaggerated looking thoughtful and replied, "It was in the lunchroom….he was being stalked by Drew Tanaka."

"Oh, well then he's a goner. I'm sorry to be the one to tell you this, but Lee is no more." Rachel said in a grave voice.

"Damn. There goes another one." Kayla stomped her foot and shook her head dramatically.

"He had such potential." Rachel tsked.

Nico shook his head, "How did I get stuck with you guys?"

"Fate took pity on you and decided to overload your life with awesome." Kayla flourished her hands out in a "Voila!" gesture.

"Why didn't you save Fletcher from Drew Tanaka while you had the chance? He's probably dead by now." Nico asked.

"He tried saying he was a better archer than me and well, I figured payback is a bitch best served in the form of Drew Tanaka. I kinda...told her he had an extra ticket to a Taylor Swift concert and was trying to find someone to go with." Kayla said looking down at her shoes in shame.

"Kayla!" Rachel and Nico chastised in unison but Rachel immediately fell over laughing hysterically.

"Remind me to never get on your bad side." Nico mumbled.

Kayla shrugged, "I'm sure he'll be fine. Nothing too permanently damaged." She sat down on the grass opposite them and added, "So what are you guys doing out here? The bell already rang. You can leave."

"Well, Percy and Annabeth are taking me to camp and I already have my stuff in his car so I'm really just waiting for Annabeth to get her multitude of textbooks out of her locker." Rachel said looking up at the tree. She'd made herself comfortable by laying on the grass. Her entire personality reminded Nico of a temperamental house cat.

"Bianca is probably looking for me but I don't care. They're just going to yell at me for not packing." Nico indignantly started pulling up the grass.

Kayla noticed Nico's expression and questioned, "What? Are you not planning to go this year?"

Nico hesitated. He didn't want to go to camp, but he knew that regardless of his feelings his father would force him to go. They go every year. Still, the idea of spending another summer in the shadows, being ridiculed and feared set Nico's teeth on edge.

Before he could answer, Rachel interjected, "Of course he is! He has to."

Kayla shrugged, "You and Calypso, you'll be missing out."

"Is Calypso not going?"

Kayla smirked, "I heard them talking about it at lunch. She said no, but she's gonna cave. Mark my words, Calypso is going to be at camp with us this summer. I think this year's going to be a big one. Besides I hear that Percy's throwing a huge party to celebrate graduation. It's gonna be even crazier than the Rager of '09."

Nico's body tensed at the name. It always seemed to send electricity through his body, immediately followed by deep, deep dread. Just another reason to stay home this summer. Nico thought bitterly.

Kayla suddenly got to her feet and said, "Well, I have to go save a man from the feminine wiles of a crazy bitch," and turned on her heel and walked away.

"What? No goodbye? That's a bit rude." Nico said sarcastically. He turned to find Rachel's face startlingly close to his. Nico exclaimed in surprise and fell backwards.

Rachel ignored his flailing and said knowingly, "You're going to camp. So is Calypso."

Still splayed out on the ground, Nico glared up at her, "And what on earth makes you so sure?"

Rachel smiled as if she knew some inside joke, but refused to tell, "Because something big is going to happen to you guys this summer. Something that's going to change everything." She stood up and looked down at Nico.

In response to his skeptical expression, she added, "Trust me, if you go to camp, you won't regret it. I know these things." She laughed and danced away, leaving a dumbstruck Nico alone, sprawled out underneath a tree.