Chapter 6: Tell the Gods Your Plans. They Laugh.

I finally felt like I was able to breathe again when we reached our rental cabin. The smell of the sea seemed to refresh me and made me feel like all my troubles were behind me. Some people hated the sea, but for me, it was always rejuvenating. (Yes, I know what that word means. I have seen beauty commercials on TV before.) While most people would have hated the little box, Percy, Mom, and I loved it. We loved our little pastel box with faded curtain, with spiders and sands in the sheets, and seawater too cold to swim in. I wished we could stay there forever, just the three of us. But you know what they say when you tell the gods your plans? They laugh.

Anyway, the sun was just beginning to set when we were opening the windows to our cabin to give it a sprucing-up for our stay. As I was trying to shake some of the sand out of the sheets, Percy was sneaking several pieces of blue saltwater taffy. I rolled my eyes. "You're supposed to be helping!" I hissed at him.

"You can't expect me to clean on an empty stomach," Percy retorted before he popped a piece of taffy in his mouth. "Want one, Lia? He asked me with his mouth full. I shook my head. Typical Percy. Then again, I think Mom told me once that boys usually thought of their stomachs first and my brother was no exception to that rule.

After the place was in order, the three of us went for a walk on the beach. While the water was cold, it was nice to feel the sand and seawater between my toes. Percy thought it was weird that I stood there for a few minutes with my eyes closed playing with the sand between my toes. But truthfully, it calmed me a bit. Like one of those little Japanese sand gardens with the small rake. Mom had gotten me one for Christmas once because she knew I liked them, but Gabe ended up turning it into his ashtray. I didn't have the heart to tell her what happened to it. So, when she asked me if I still liked to use it, I lied and told her I did because I figured that if I did still have it, I would use it.

We walked a little further down the beach and Percy, in true brother fashion, pushed me into the water. I fell on my butt and the waves beat against me. I stood up to run to chase after my brother to get him back, but when I looked down my clothes were dry. Needless to say, I started to have a mild panic attack. Why weren't my clothes wet? I fell in the water. They should be wet. Right? For a moment I thought maybe I was hallucinating. I looked at my mother to call her over to my freakout, but suddenly my clothes turned went and they clung tightly to my body.

Now I was really confused. Had I imagined my clothes were dry in the first place? Or was I imagining that they were suddenly wet? My brain seemed to have a hard time being able to accept either account. But thankfully, before I could go into full-blown freak-out mode, Percy ran by and taunted me. Okay, taunted me like a brother would do...not some school bully. It was enough to snap me out of my thoughts and get me to chase after him.

Mom laughed as I chased after him. Percy flapped his arms and made noises just like the seagulls we had been feeding blue corn chips. I ran through the water while Percy ran on the sand. Usually, Percy was much faster than I was, but I somehow managed to easily catch up to him. I launched myself at him and jumped onto his back. Which in retrospect probably wasn't the best idea either because now my brother was still pretending to be a stupid seagull, but I was on his back with him. Thank the gods that Mom was the only other person on the beach otherwise I likely would have been mortified.

Eventually, Percy came to a stop and dropped me on the sand beside the blanket my mother had laid out. Why he could possibly drop me on the blanket instead of the sand was beyond me. Boys are just stupid, I guess. Percy and I each sat on either side of Mom and leaned against her. I heard her sigh before she wrapped her arms around us. It was obvious that Mom loved us, no matter how often we screwed things up, which Percy did very frequently and I did sometimes.

Mom kissed each of our foreheads before she dug the candy out of her beach bag. She loved bringing home free samples from work...especially if it was blue. (Long story short: Gabe told her there was no such thing as blue food and Mom can be just as stubborn as me and Percy) We had quite a spread: blue jelly bean, blue saltwater taffy (which Percy already got into), blue Sixlets, blue gummy sharks, blue rock candy, blue caramel popcorn, and blue cotton candy. I ripped off some cotton candy and began munching on it. Percy went for the taffy...again.

Later that night, when it got dark, the tree of us somehow managed to make a fire. Percy and I were pretty much useless when it came to fire-making, but we tried to help mom...mostly by not getting in her way. Mom seemed to be good at everything. That sometimes made it that much harder to be such disappointments as children. You think between two kids at least one of us would be like her, but no. Percy and I were both miserable failures...the only difference was that I didn't fail quite as hard...but failed nonetheless.

For dinner, we roasted hot dogs and marshmallows, not the healthiest of dinners, but Mom said it was all about moderation. You needed to have a little fun with life and live a little. She then looked out toward the sea as Percy as I looked at each other knowingly. We wished Mom would follow her own advice, but it seemed that everything she did was for us...or Gabe. Never, ever for herself. Percy and I both felt a little guilty about that. Mom could have been so much more if it wasn't for the two of us.

Mom seemed to sense that the mood had changed, so she told a light-hearted story to lighten the mood. She told us of stories when she was a little girl before her parents had died. The stories she told us made us feel a little more related to her. Mom could get in as much mischief as Percy and me. She also revealed to us that one day, she wanted to be a writer and what books she would write. I smiled softly. My mom would be the best writer ever.

Percy eventually brought up the subject he always did when we came to Montauk - Dad. Don't get me wrong, I too wanted to hear about my father, but Percy had terrible timing. Mom was talking to us about one of the books she wanted to write and then bam! What can you tell us about our father? I wished I could have eased Mom into the subject a bit more, but Percy already opened his big fat mouth. I chewed my lip as I looked at Mom and her misty eyes. She always got misty eyes when she thought of our father.

"He was kind," Mom said with a sigh. "He was tall, handsome, and powerful. But gentle, too. I knew I was in love the moment I saw him."

"Yuck," I muttered under my breath, still rather immature about the subject of love. I made a disgusted expression with my face, which Mom didn't miss. She shook her head and threw her head back and laughed. She probably expected the reaction from Percy, not me. But still. Ew.

Mom tousled my hair. "You just wait, Lia," she chuckled. "One day, you'll find someone you fall head over heels for and you remember this conversation. And you remember that I told you so."

I rolled my eyes. Mom fished out a blue jelly bean from her candy bag. "I wish he could see you both," she said with a sigh before popping a jelly bean into her both. "He would be so proud of you both."

Percy and I exchanged glances once again. Would he really be proud of us? Honestly, as far as kids go, we were probably two of the hardest kids to raise. Not to mention that school wasn't exactly our thing. We were always asked not to come back to schools. We were terrible readers. Honestly, the deck was stacked against us and there wasn't really much to be proud of, but for some reason, Mom always was. She was always proud of us. It must be a mom thing.

"How old were we?" Percy asked. "When-when he left?"

Again, Percy's timing was impeccable.

Mom watched the flames. "He was only with me for one summer." She smiled softly and looked around before returning her gaze to the flames. "Right here at this beach. This cabin."

"He knew us when we were babies, right?"

I rolled my eyes and responded before Mom could answer him. "Percy, were you paying attention at all in health class? It takes a lot longer than one summer for a baby to be born and Mom just said he was here for one summer."

Percy rolled his eyes. Mom shot me a look and patted my back. "He knew I was expecting. Neither of us knew it would be twins at the time. We were just thinking it would be one. But it was the best surprise of my life to find out there was going to be two of you." Mom paused for a moment, realizing she hadn't actually answered Percy's question. "He never saw either of you. He had to leave before you were born."

Call it a twin thing, but I could tell that Percy was feeling angry. The first time Mom had told me, I had been a little perturbed as well. But I had asked her the question years ago already. I hadn't realized that Percy hadn't yet asked her the question. I chewed my lip. I knew why he was angry. Our father had taken off on an ocean voyage, never to be heard or seen from again. Mom had to raise us on her own...and we were fairly difficult to boot. Then Smelly Gabe ended up in the picture. I knew what he was thinking. If my dad had stayed, everything could have been different. I got that. But there really wasn't any use dwelling on it because it wasn't like anything was going to change. Our father was dead. Mom still basically had to raise us on her own. And Gabe, well, I feared he would never be out of the picture.

"Are you sending us away again? To another boarding school?" Percy asked, completely changing the subject...again. He really needed to work on his timing.

Truthfully, I wanted to know the answer just as much as he did. Not that I would ever admit that. "Geez, Percy, we just got out of school," I groaned before I shoved a marshmallow in my mouth.

Mom pulled her marshmallow from the fire. She blew on it to put the flames out. "I don't know, honey," Mom said, her voice heavy. "I think...I think we'll have to do something."

"Because you don't want us around?" Percy asked.

I winced at his words. Again, the twin thing told me he regretted his words. But once again, Percy and his word vomit. I looked at Mom. Her eyes were welled with tears.

She looked at each of us before she grabbed our hands and squeezed. "I don't want to send you away. I have to. It is for your own good. I promise I will explain one day, but right now I just need you to trust me." Mom had been looking at Percy and then she glanced at me. "Both of you."

I nodded my head. There were only two people in this world I trusted: Percy and Mom. I wasn't about to stop trusting my Mom now. I leaned toward her and rested my head on her shoulder.

"Is it because we're not normal?" Percy asked.

Mom sighed and pulled him so that his head rested on her other shoulder. "You say that as if it's a bad thing, Percy."

"It usually is," I mutter coming to Percy's defense.

"You don't realize how important you both are," Mom said. Her words struck me as odd. But I didn't question them. After all, it was Mom who told me I could be president some day. Mom sighed once more. "I thought Yancy Academy would be far enough away. I thought you would both finally be safe."

Both Percy and I raised our heads from her shoulder and simultaneously asked, "Safe from what?"

Mom looked between us as Percy and I made eye contact. The memories came flooding back. All the weird things that had happened to us over the years hit us like a ton of bricks. In every single school, something creepy had happened. Something was unsafe and we were forced to move or transfer schools. I looked at my mom curiously. Maybe it hadn't been our fault.

"I have tried to keep you both as close to me as I could," Mom said. "They told me that was a mistake. But there's only one other option-the place your father wanted to send you. But I just...I just can't stand to do it."

"Where did our father want to send us?" I asked, focusing on my mother's words than the sudden realization I had earlier.

"Was it a school for special kids?" Percy asked.

Mom pursed her lips for a moment before she responded, "Not a school. More of a ...summer camp."

Both Percy and I were confused. Summer camp? First of all, why would a summer camp be so special? Also, didn't summer camps happen in summer? So why would the other schools have mattered?

"Mom, what aren't you telling us?" I asked.

She chewed her lip and shook her head. Tears brimming her eyes once more. "I'm sorry, Lia. I can't talk about it. Not yet." Mom glanced over at Percy and then back at me. There was something in her expression I could quite read. "Just know that I couldn't send you to that place because it might mean saying good-bye to you for good." Mom then turned toward the fire.

Percy and I looked at each other. We both knew better than to keep pressing the matter otherwise she would start to cry. The last thing either of us wanted was to make our mother cry. I popped a marshmallow into my mouth and allowed myself to fall back onto the sand to look up at the stars.

Eventually, we made our way back to the cabin. Mom and I were sharing the full-size bed in the corner, while Percy slept on the pullout couch. We readied for bed. Mom kissed Percy goodnight before he crawled into his bed on the other side of the room. I snuggled up against my mom as she read aloud to me. I had no idea what was happening in her book, but I loved it when mom read to me. It was one of my favorite childhood memories growing up.

Soon Percy's snores were louder than my Mom's voice. She paused and looked over at Percy before she looked down at me. We giggled at my brother's expense and she set the library book down on the bedside table. Mom turned the light out and lay down beside me. While I knew I was getting older, I still snuggled up against my mom like I did when I was little.

I stayed silent until I heard another one of Percy's snores. He was asleep. Now was as good a time as any to ask her. "Mom," I whispered.

"Yes, sweetie?" she asked gently squeezing my arm with her hand.

"I-I know you're keeping something from me and Percy. I want to know what it is."

"Lia."

"Mom." I knew I probably shouldn't be pressing her. But I was. Sometimes I was just as impulsive as my brother...sometimes.

Mom sighed. "You always have been a little more perceptive that your brother."

I sat up so that I was leaning on my elbow. "You can tell me, Mom. I won't tell Percy."

"It's not that simple. It involves both of you."

"Would it explain why all the weird stuff keeps happening to us?"

Mom abruptly sat up and turned on the bedside lamp. "What weird stuff keeps happening?" She looked at me pointedly. I knew I wasn't getting out of this situation until I answered her.

I winced. I too apparently had the curse of word vomit. I hadn't meant to tell her, but it just came out. My bottom lip trembled. "You'll think I'm crazy," I whispered. "I'll be locked away forever."

"Sweetheart, I promise you. I won't," Mom said. She cupped my face in her hands and looked me in the eyes. "You can tell me anything, Lia."

Maybe if I started out small and worked my way up to the really weird stuff. Just kinda dangle my toes in the water. "When-when we were at the beach and Percy pushed me in the water…" I paused, but Mom kept looking at me to continue. I took a deep breath. "At first...at first my clothes were still dry and then I thought about how they shouldn't be dry and then they were wet. I'm not sure which time I was imagining. Please don't send me to the insane asylum." Tears were starting to fall down my cheeks.

Mom pressed her lips against my forehead. "I believe you, Lia," she whispered. "I don't think you're crazy."

Her words made me feel a little better, but once again words came tumbling out of my mouth before I could stop them. "You don't even know the half of it."

Mom pulled back slightly and looked at me with a furrowed brow. "What else aren't you telling me, Lia?"

I couldn't help it, I started to cry. "Mommy, is there something wrong with me?"

Mom was immediately there to comfort me. She quickly enveloped me in her arms and held me tight. "There is absolutely nothing wrong with you, Ophelia Jackson," Mom whispered to me. She rocked me and hummed a lullaby she would sing to me when I younger. I clung to my mother, still crying.

Then out of nowhere a terrible storm began to pummel the earth outside. Lightning flashed so many times that it almost seemed as if the sun was out. It took about four thunderclaps for Percy to finally sit upright with his eyes wide. Mom looked somewhat nervous, but hurricane was all she said.

While science hadn't been one of my good subjects, I was pretty sure that it was too early for hurricane season...let alone for Long Island to get a hurricane. And yet, we were apparently in the middle of one. Through all the storm sounds, came an angry unfamiliar bellow I didn't recognize. I clung tightly to the blankets that covered me.

Please let it stop. Please let it stop.

There was a new sound outside the cabin-someone yelling and pounding on our cabin door. Who would be stupid enough to come and check on us? Unless it was a nearby neighbor who had seen us and wanted to offer us shelter.

Mom quickly sprang out of bed in her nightgown and threw open the door. Needless to say, I was shocked to see Grover...from school standing outside our door in the pouring rain. Only something wasn't quite right about him. He-he was different. Although, I could have been hallucinating again. Maybe Mom should send me away to the asylum.

"Searching all night!" Grover gasped. He looked first at Percy, then at me, then back to Percy. "What were you two thinking?"

Mom seemed to be handling Grover a lot better than we were. In fact, she looked more terrified by us than Grover.

Meaning that I was very likely hallucinating.

"Percy, Lia," Mom shouted to be heard over the rain. "What didn't you two tell me?"

Percy blinked slowly, his eyes were focused on the floor near Grover. I'll confess, my eyes were there too. Maybe I wasn't hallucinating if Percy could see them too.

"O Zeu kai alloi theoi!" Grover yelled. "It's right behind me! DIdn't one of you tell her?"

What I didn't know then was that Grover had cursed in Ancient Greek...and I had understood him perfectly. So, did Percy. But both of us were too focused on Grover. Not by the fact that he had somehow managed to find us in the middle of nowhere in the middle of the night. No, we were both shocked by the fact that Grover wasn't wearing pants. And where his legs should have been…

But Mom snapped us out of it. Neither of us had ever heard the tone she used then. "Perseus! Ophelia! One of you better tell me right now!"

Percy and I both pointed a finger at the other. While I had kinda sorta started to tell her, neither of us wanted to be the one to tell her right now. Mom then turned toward me. I groaned. Why couldn't Percy do it? Why did I always have to be the one to do the right thing.

I quickly spouted off some words about Mrs. Dodds, our former math teacher and how she had tried to kill us...although I left out the part about how I actually almost died. I was going to end it there, but Grover coughed the words fruit stand. So, then I told her about the three old ladies knitting giant socks and how they snipped the yarn. I finished up by asking her not to send me to the insane asylum.

Mom looked deathly pale in the flashes of lightning. Thinking quickly, still in her nightgown, she grabbed her purse before she tossed Percy his rain jacket and me my rain jacket. "Get to the car. All three of you. GO!"

I was slightly frozen, but Percy knew exactly how to deal with me. He ran from the pullout couch over to my bed and yanked my arm before he put the hood of my jacket on my head. He then tugged me by the arm as we followed Grover outside.

"Do you see them too?" Percy asked me as we ran. He was pointing at Grover's backside.

I nodded my head.

Where Grover's legs should have been, was a shaggy hindquarter. And where his feet should have been. There were cloven hooves. But Grover and his backside were the least of our concerns at the moment.

Author's Note: These cold days from school have been very helpful to my writing. Haha. Again, life got in the way since I last updated. I got sick. My godmother was diagnosed with Alzheimer's. A friend died. My grandpa died. I'm doing okay, but I had a lot going on the last few months. Hoping life slows down. But like Lia said, when you tell the gods your plans-they laugh.

To those who reviewed, a HUGE thank you!

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