A Very Cold Reunion

Kyle Marconi hated his last name. It wasn’t his fault that it sounded somewhat like a delicious Italian dinner.

“Hey! Macaroni!” Connor Stoll called again, smirking. “It’s our turn for monster cleanup duty again,” he announced, striding up next to Kyle and throwing an arm over his shoulder.

“Great,” Kyle muttered. “And right after I get a new pair of pants.”

“Aw, man, the basilisk acid incident wasn’t your fault,” Connor replied, ruffling Kyle’s hair. Kyle slapped his hand away, his tan face flushing darker as he drove his hands into his pockets.

“Whatever. At least I got these awesome, pretty much everything-proof pants from the...”

Suddenly, there was a loud crash from the Hephaestus cabin. “HAS ANYONE SEEN MY PANTS!?”

Kyle grinned, and Connor chuckled along with him. “Not your usual style, little bro, but not bad. Now me, I would’ve stolen them right off his-oh look! Percy’s group is back!” Connor ran over to greet them, leaving Kyle to himself. Kyle grinned and, removing his hands from his pockets, palmed the large silver watch he had slipped right off Connor’s wrist.

Whistling, he strolled back to the Hermes cabin, which was nearly deserted as most campers were out picking through the woods for monsters or chatting with the group that had just returned. He flung himself down on his messy sleeping bag and ran a hand through his shaggy brown hair. He tucked the watch underneath his pillow, threw on his faded blue windbreaker, and headed back out into the crisp air.

Kyle glanced around the camp, looking for Connor, but frowned when his gaze fell on a large knot of campers gathered by the tree that held the Golden Fleece. He wandered over, shouldering his way through the crowd, resisting the itch in his fingers as he brushed by the campers’ pockets. He broke through the circle and caught a glimpse of what everyone was staring at.

It was a new demigod; a girl, probably around 15, with feathery, pale blonde hair and earthy green eyes, who looked both very uncomfortable and confused. Kyle stared for a second; she was definitely cute. Maybe he would steal her something as a welcome gift, you know, just to break the ice.

“Excuse me, guys. Please let me through. Thank you!” Piper’s sweet words drifted over Kyle and he found himself instinctively stumbling to one side as the daughter of Aphrodite stepped out of the crowd with her most charming and calming smile lighting up her face.

“Welcome to Camp Half-Blood! I’m Piper,” she said warmly. The new girl smiled shyly as the other campers mumbled their greetings.

“I’m Hailey,” she replied. Her voice was quiet and calm, although her face was pale and her eyes shifted nervously. “Um, my friend Dusty brought me here. He said I should talk to-”

At that moment, Dusty the satyr burst through the circle. “Sorry it took so long!” he bleated nervously. “I, um, had to explain things to Chiron,” he muttered to Piper, probably louder than he intended. Dusty adjusted his glasses and smiled nervously at Hailey, then glanced expectantly back to Piper, who instantly took charge.

“Thanks, Dusty. You did a great job. Why don’t you go grab yourself a granola bar?”

“Awesome! See you later, flower girl!” Dusty burst out, relieved, and stumbled back out through the crowd.

“So, Hailey,” Piper continued, “why don’t we go for a walk? I can help you find your way around.”

“Sure,” Hailey murmured, glancing nervously around the still-encircled demigods. For a second, her eyes met Kyle’s. He grinned at her automatically and brushed his hair out of his eyes, then shoved his hands deep into his pockets. She shyly returned his smile as he watched her fall into step with Piper, wondering who her godly parent could possibly be.

His thoughts were broken into by the sound of Connor yelling his name. “Hey! Macaroni! KYLE BUTTERFINGERS MARCONI!”

Kyle cursed under his breath and made a mental note to swipe every pair of underwear Connor owned as he jogged over to join his monster cleanup group. Hopefully he'd get a chance to introduce himself to Hailey later.

Notes

I know this chapter isn't that exciting, but don't worry. Action is coming, I promise! I've been working on another story recently, so I haven't had much time to work on this one, but I still managed to get it updated on time! Thank you for reading!