The Traitor

"Summer, can you read page 67, paragraph 4, please?" The teacher's voice echoed in my head. I stared at the book in front of me. "Uh..." A couple kids snickered. Someone threw a ball of paper that stuck in my curly blonde and brown hair. I saw Ashleigh Williams, the popular girl, roll her eyes. Ashleigh had long, dark, shiny brown hair and a tan. She had green sparkling eyes, that always "hypnotized" boys. She started whispering to her friend, shooting glances at me. I glared at her. Her book fell on the floor. I smiled. "Summer." The teacher was making her way to my desk, her sharp eyes flashing. "Is there a problem? This is the 4th time this week that I asked you to read, but you never do. Are you trying to be funny?" I saw Ashleigh smirk. "No, ma'am." I mumbled. "Mrs.Sandler." Ashleigh called, smiling oh-so-innocently, "I don't think she knows how to read. Why not sign her up for lessons after-school?" The kids laughed at this, and I shot Ashleigh a mean look. She just flipped her long brown hair over her shoulder. Mrs.Sandler always sided with Ashleigh. She was like a perfect little angel near Mrs.Sandler. "Well said." Mrs.Sandler said. She turned and started to walk back to the front of the class. I sighed. Okay, I know I was acting stupid, but what was I supposed to do? Tell everyone I have dyslexia? No way. I would be humiliated forever. Ashleigh flashed a smile at me, and the guy sitting next to me fainted in his chair. "Meanwhile, Ashleigh, would you read for her?" Ashleigh's smug smile melted. "Um, yeah." She looked around. "Um..." I realized that she forgot where her book was, and I smirked at her. She shot me a murderous look that turned into a smile as Mrs.Sandler looked at her, questioning. Her friend came to the rescue, and passed Ashleigh her book. Ashleigh furiously snatched it up and began to read. "The Greek gods and goddess of Olympus usually came down to Earth and had kids with humans. These kids were called demigods..." I sighed and waited for the class to be over.

"Dismissed." The talking broke out as one as the kids walked together in groups of 2s and 3s. I had no group, though. I wasn't exactly "popular.'' I sighed and grabbed my books, and got ready to leave for English. I checked the clock. 11:28. The teacher left the room, only leaving me and a few other people. I started walking to the door when a kid started running past me and hit me in the arm. My books fell to the ground. I cursed silently and bent to pick them up again. I always organized my folders and textbooks in alphabetical order. I started to work on the pile of books on the floor. I sighed and reached for the last one, but it wasn't there. A shadow fell on the floor in front of me and I looked up. There was Ashleigh and 2 of her bully friends. The twins, Irena and Kiara. They both had choppy brown hair that grew in clumps and squashed noses. They had amber-ish eyes and a crooked smile. They were big and sturdy and acted like Ashleigh's bodyguards. Irena and Kiara looked so much alike, I couldn't tell them apart. "Hi. Thanks for embarrassing me in class." I told Ashleigh. Ashleigh didn't reply. The trio's arms were crossed, and were glaring icily at me. Ashleigh looked scary now, but still pretty. Her blue eyes were as cold as frost. Wait a minute...I blinked in confusion. "Ashleigh, you have blue eyes." Ashleigh smiled coldly. She was really pretty now, and her eyes were really attracting, but why was my instincts telling me to run? The twins backed up and blocked the door. "Um, guys? We're should really be going to our next class now. You know, English?" I said nervously as I stood up uneasily. Ashleigh took another step towards me. "You're seriously creeping me out." I told her, my voice trembling. Then it hit me. "You're trying to creep me out to make me look bad, aren't you? You probably got a video camera or a recorder hidden somewhere." Ashleigh took another step. "Just stand still." She said, and her eyes started to glow red. Suddenly, there was an explosion, and I was blasted off my feet onto the ground. When I opened my eyes, there was dust everywhere. I remembered what happened. The girls were in the room with me. I looked up. Sunlight was streaming into the room. The roof had exploded. I couldn't see anything inside the room. "Ashleigh!" I called. Suddenly, she was right in front of me. There was no sign of the twins. Then I heard a growling and I turned my head quickly. The twins were right behind me, and growling. I whipped around immediately and saw that they were growing taller and wider by the second. Their teeth grew sharper and longer until their lips couldn't hide the yellow teeth. They grew until I was looking at 8 feet tall giants. I yelped. I felt a cold breath on the back of my neck. I had almost forgot about Ashleigh. I spun around. "Ashleigh, we have to get out of here! They, they're mon-" I broke off as my gaze traveled to Ashleigh's legs. They were mismatched, one shaggy donkey hoof and a bronze mechanic leg. A growl brought me up to her face again. Her eyes were flashing red and green now-no mistake-, glaring into my sky blue ones. I started to notice how her long, braided, dark hair fell down her shoulder. How her green eyes made her face seem brighter. How her fangs slid out of her mouth. I blinked and gasped in horror. There was a monster in front of me. The word crossed my lips. "Empousa." I started to back up, keeping Ashleigh at arm's distance, until I backed up into the giant twins. They roared and gnashed their teeth. I spun around and leaped back right into Ashleigh. She hissed and smiled. "First sacrifice to Hecate!" //Hecate? The Greek goddess of magic?// I was so freaked out, I couldn't think. Suddenly, I heard a sound, like the air let out of a balloon and I got covered in orange dust. "Yuck!" I cried. Ashleigh was looking at something behind me, her mouth open in shock. I turned, too, and saw a guy about 13. He had blonde ruffled hair and green eyes and was kinda good-looking. "No!" Ashleigh shrieked. "You killed my servants! Now lady Hecate won't let me hunt down challenging half-bloods, and I'll be a junior empousa again! I just got to senior! You will pay for that, son of Apollo!" //Apollo? The god of music?// The empousa lunged at the boy. "No!" I thought he was a goner for sure, but then he whipped out a golden sword and slashed at Ashleigh. I looked away for a second. When I looked again, Ashleigh was no where to be seen and I was covered in a new layer of monster dust. Now the boy was marching over to me. "I'm not a monster!" I blurted out, which sounded stupid. "I know." He assured me. "I'm Alan. I'm here to take you to a camp. Camp Half-Blood." I looked at him in confusion. "My parents never sign me up for any camps, especially not during school." I didn't know why, but I felt like I needed to tell him that both my parents were alive. Alan smiled. "I'm sure your mom will know where you went, Summer." I backed up. "How do you know my name?" This Alan guy was starting to creep me out. "We don't have much time. The camp said I could only borrow the chariot for a few hours, since you live in New York." Alan said, not answering my question. I blinked. "Chariot?" Alan remembered something. "Oh, right! You still don't know who you are, do you?" I scoffed, offended. "And you do?" Alan replied simply. "You're a half-blood. A special one, too. Chiron wouldn't just send me here for something a satyr could do. That would be an insult to my skill." He grinned while I stared at him like "oh, really?" "Come on. The pegasi are waiting, and I promised to buy them some coffee." He sighed. "Pegasi?" He stared at me like I was just figuring it out, which of course, I was. "Yes. Pegasi. Winged horse. Whatever you like to call them." An irritated neigh came from outside. "But they prefer pegasi." Alan added hastily. So I followed him out to greet the horses, Light and Flash.