10 Chapter 9

While campers had swarmed the dining pavilion, I went off to check the big house to talk to the dryads. Well it was that and how I didn't want to see my new cabin mates, but that's not important.

The stereotypical blue farmhouse looked surprisingly nice against the sunset. It was already starting to get dark, but light was able to barely peek out over the horizon.

I walked up onto the porch of the big house and was about to knock on the screen door. However a man stepped out. He had dark black hair, probably the darkest I've ever seen, and very beady eyes. "Ugh, what do you want, kid?" He grumbled in an annoyed voice.

"Ah I wanted to use the kitchens for a bit," I said carefully. Some part of me could tell that I probably didn't want to make this guy angry.

He merely grunted and walked past me in a lopsided manner. He didn't seem to care about his appearance at that very moment. I held the screen door open for him and then walked inside.

The first thing I noticed was the giant leopard head above the fireplace. The second thing I noticed was that it was moving.

I avoided the leopard head and looked around. There was a couch in the middle of the room and stairs to my right. Bookshelves lined the walls and a fire burned below the leopards head that was currently snarling at me.

I diverted my eyes from the cat and walked around the room in a wide circle away from it. I'd only lived nine years after all, I wasn't about to die to these psychopaths.

Straight ahead of me, as expected, was a kitchen. It didn't seem very busy, probably because all the dryads had already carried food outside. However there were still about two there as well as someone who looked distinctly human. Demigod? I'm not too sure. He was probably only a few years older than me, though.

He looked up at me and offhandedly said, "Can I help you?"

I nodded since he looked like the main chef. "Would you mind if I use the kitchen every once in awhile? I can help prepare food as well."

The chef looked a bit annoyed with my statement. Perhaps there were other people who bothered him about this? Or maybe he just didn't like other people in the kitchen besides the dryads.

"Hmm, alright, but you'll have to help with meals. Since we might be here a lot, my name is Alex. Yours?" He sighed a tad, but he was probably happy for extra help.

"Charlie, thanks for having me." I said with a grin.

He looked suspiciously at me but continued. "Alright, well I've already prepared everything for the evening, but if you get up early tomorrow you can help with breakfast. Everyone prepares lunch so all we have to worry about is breakfast and dinner."

I nodded happily. Hopefully they'd have ingredients for things I want to make.

Alex continued by saying, "Let's head to the dining pavilion." The dryads had already left while we were talking.

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The dining pavilion was, interesting, to say the least. I couldn't fathom why no one would think to put a roof on it though. What if whatever magic that holds this place together malfunctioned and it just started raining?

Alex went over to sit by some people. I thought it'd be awkward to follow him so I scanned the crowd for Ophelia. She sat next to our cabinmates at the edge of the table, probably annoyed by them.

From what it seemed, the tables were divided by godly parents, which was annoying, in my opinion. All it did was serve to create tensions between other cabins.

I let out a sigh and went to sit next to Ophelia. At our table, everyone seemed rather loud, but Ophelia and I sat in silence. Ophelia, because she couldn't speak, and I, because I was tired.

We were served barbecue, fruits, cheese, and bread. It felt very Greek, but also rather nice. Well, if you don't count the children screaming next to me.

The guy next to me took a break from shouting loudly to someone across the table and explained the goblet to me. I gave him an annoyed look but thanked him nonetheless. Apparently they can make any non-alcoholic beverage appear in them.

I just asked for water since it was all I could think of. After I finished eating I tapped Ophelia on the shoulder and got up. She followed suit and walked after me when I left the pavilion to somewhere a bit away from it. I sat down on the grass and said to her, "Sorry, they were so loud they gave me a headache, haha. You didn't look like you wanted to be there either."

She nodded and pulled out a notepad and pencil. She passed me a note that simply said, "Thanks."

I smiled and looked up at the sky. The one, singular thing I liked about this camp was the lack of light pollution. It reminded me of home, in a way.

The lights eventually dimmed at the dining pavilion and the mob of people headed over near us. Eventually they started singing songs by a fire. It was rather homely in a different way to me. Not that I still didn't like them though.

Ophelia and I watched wordlessly until they finally finished their last song. I merely got up and held my hands out to her. She took them and I pulled her up.

It felt a bit awkward walking back to the cabin without talking, but it was also rather relaxing.