Demeter's Destiny

Why today? Everything had started off so great. Now as I looked at the horror on my classmates faces I knew my life was over.
I woke up this morning just like most Wednesday mornings. The only difference was the card on my nightstand from my dad. It was a simple handmade card. It said, Happy Birthday kid, your present is on the couch. See ya after school. I'll be in the south pasture. Love ya. I smiled and ran downstairs to the couch. On it was a hastily wrapped package. I rolled my eyes and tore the paper off. There before me was the most beautiful drawing I had ever seen. It was a picture of me on my horse running barrels at the high school rodeo state championship. It must have taken him months to draw! There was a beeping coming from the kitchen and I looked at my watch. 7:05 already! I had to kick my butt into gear if I was going to make it to the bus on time.
When I got off the bus I was attacked my ecstatic best friend.
"Happy Birthday Aubrie!" She yelled.
"Thanks Rowan," I gasped back. Rowan was a little weird. She always wore long sleeves and gloves. And because of some scalp condition she always had a hat on. Which she sometimes went overboard with. Today she had a hot pink snow-cap on that had pictures of Christmas on it. It wouldn't have bee that strange except that it was June. Rowan grinned at me, still clinging to me.
"So how does 16 feel?" She asked. I rolled my eyes and grinned back.
"Surprisingly the same that 15 felt yesterday. Hard to believe right?" I replied as we walked over to the bench just outside of the school doors. I sat and turned my back to Rowan.
"I have a special style for your special day!" she said as she sat behind me. This was a daily thing. Because Rowan couldn't do her own hair she did mine every morning. She said the color reminded her of the corn on my dad's farm. I didn't mind. My mom left after I was born and my dad didn't really have the time, or the skill, to teach me how to be a girl. When Rowan had moved here two years ago she took over after seeing how awful my attempts were.
After a few minuets of her tugging and pulling she patted me on the shoulders.
"Let's go inside so you can see it!" Rowan exclaimed as she pulled me inside to the bathroom. I stared in awe of my reflection. Rowan had created an intricate braid and wrapped it around my head. There were a few loose tendrils on the sides and back. I looked like I had a golden crown made of my own hair.
Tears sprung to my eyes, "Thank you so much Rowan. It's perfect!" I turned around and hugged her as hard as I could. She returned the hug just as hard. Just as we let go the bell rung for 1st period.
Rowan grinned up at me, "I'll see you 3rd period." She gave me another quick hug and skipped out of the bathroom. I chuckled to myself and quickly followed.
My 1st period class was Crop Production. A class that I excelled at. Most of my classmates said it was because my dad was a farmer, but even he was surprised at how well plants responded to me. My agriculture teacher tried to get me to teach the class my methods, but for some reason when the other students did what I suggested they never got anywhere near the results that I got. Eventually Mr. Jones gave up and decided that I just had a green thumb. Crop Production was my favorite class, which meant it always went by way too fast. Especially since my next class was english.
I always have struggled with english. My doctors said I had dyslexia and ADHD which made reading nearly impossible. And the only stories I could even sit still ling enough to listen to were the stories my dad would tell me about him and my mom. Though that didn't happen much. Today in class thankfully we were watching a movie about a book we had read. We had been studying Greek literature. For some reason I wasn't struggling near as much as I normally do. This stuff about the gods and war, it clicked. Ms. Dougan was so impressed she decided that she should send more books home with me. Of course she didn't know they just ended up piled on my dresser at home. I watched the movie very closely, almost memorizing every blade stroke and foot placed by the Greek soldiers on the screen. Only when Ms. Dougan turned on the lights did I come out of my half-trance.
The battle scene kept running through my mind as I walked to my 3rd period class, gym. Usually I would be excited for gym class. I'm not the most coordinated girl in class, but I'm pretty athletic. But something was rally off with Mr. Smith. He always seemed to be watching me. Evaluating everything I did. Rowan said I was imagining things, but she seemed a little edgy around him too. I quickly changed into my gym uniform and found a spot next to Rowan on the bleachers. Mr. Smith walked in looking at his clipboard. He was always a large man, muscle wise not fat. And he wore a different pair of brightly colored knee high socks everyday. Today though he seemed to be bulging. His orange and yellow socks looked like they were going to snap off his calves.
"Whoa. What happened to him?" Rowan whispered to me. All I could do was nod. I looked behind me to see what everyone else reactions were. i was surprised to see that no one else seemed to notice. I looked back at Rowan who just shrugged. She acted like it didn't matter, but in her eyes I could see she was worried. Mr. Smith cleared his throat to get everyone's attention.
"Alright kids. Today we're playing dodgeball," he said. The class broke out in excitd whispers. Mr. Smith named off the teams and went to get the dodgeballs. Rowan and I ended up on different teams, which was unusual. Mr. Smith came back and lined the dodgeballs up on the middle line. H backed up out of the playing court and looked at both teams. "I assume you all remember the rules?" There were nods from both teams. Mr. Smith blew his whistle to start the game. Soon the air was filled with dodgeballs, thunks signaling someone getting hit. I became so involved in the game I barley heard the deafing crack behind me. I turned around and saw a basketball sized golden ball siting in a crater on the gym floor.
"Aubrie!" Rowan yelled from across the room. I turned just in time to see one of the dodgeballs turn into a golden ball in the air. I rolled out of the way and heard it crack behind me. As I watched, all of the dodgeballs that came near me turned into the giant golden balls. As if that wasn't bad enough, Mr. Smith started laughing. As he laughed he grew in size and his laugh deepened. His socks snapped off and his shirt ripped off. And if that was terrifying enough he sprouted four more arms. It was almost too much for me to keep dodging the giant death balls and not scream my head off like a baby. The Mr. Smith monster started stomping towards me with a deadly gleam in is eyes. Finally the other kids started realizing that something was wrong and the balls stopped flying. They started chattering nervously. All I could really focus on was the six armed freak coming at me.
"Aubrie catch!" Rowan yelled as she threw something shiny at me. I caught it and saw it was a sword made of some brownish orange metal. Wait a sword? Where did she get that from? I didn't have much time to think as I now had six fists swinging at me, I ducked and then rolled as fast as I could, popping to my feet again. I saw Rowan charge the monster holding a dagger made of the same metal my sword was. She didn't get very close when Mr. Smith backhanded her, sending her flying in to a wall. The impact made her hat fall off and her green hair spill over her shoulders. Green hair? It didn't even look like hair really. More like...leaves? I didn't dwell on it as Mr. Smith turned his attention back to me. Without really know what I was doing I ran forward and dove between between his legs, slicing his right leg as I went. The giant gave a shriek and then...EXPLODED! He burst in to gold dust and disappeared.
So here I am in the aftermath of my exploding teacher. My classmates in silence from what they had just witnessed. Then they started screaming. The wails must have reached the hallway because Mr. Linds, the principal came storming into the gym and looked over the damage.
"What happened?" he boomed, looking at me like I had grown another head. I looked at the sword in my hand and then back at Mr. Linds. Rowan had picked herself back up and made her way to my side.
"It was Aubrie!" a girl cried, "She blew up Mr. Smith." Mr. Linds's eyebrows went up as he assessed her.
"Yeah! She hit him with that bat and he exploded!" a boy yelled from behind me. Cries of agreement came from other students. A bat? I looked down at my sword. What bat? Mr. Linds took a couple of cautious steps towards me with his hands in from of him.
"Alright Ms. Williamson. Put that bat down now," he said firmly. i just stared at him. What bat? Rowan grabbed my hand and tugged on it.
"When I say, you need to follow me outside. There's a car waiting for us," she whispered. I really looked at her for the first time since this had started. Her leafy green hair reached the middle of her back. What was more surprising was that it looked like her skin had smeared. Underneath the flesh color was a light green color that I think was her actual skin. "Now Aubrie run!" she yelled as she drug me to the back door of the gym. The other students ran to get out of the way. I wasn't sure if I should be following my newly green friend, but it seemed better than facing Mr. Linds. Plus I was still trying to process what has just happened. Rowan kept pulling me down the sidewalk and around the corner. Sitting on the curb was a black town car. Rowan opened up the back door and shoved me in. The window between the back seats and the driver seat was closed so I couldn't see the driver. Rowan sat on the seat next to me and slammed the door. She knocked on the window and the car took off. I leaned back and took a deep breath. Then I realized I was in a car speeding off to who knows where by some stranger with my green best friend.
"Um Rowan?" I asked as I looked over at her. She was wiping what must have been makeup off of her face and neck. She paused and looked up at me. "Where are we going?"
"I'm taking you somewhere safe," she replied.
"Safe?"
"Yes, I'm taking you to Camp Half-Blood."

Notes