The Second Jackson- Piper McLean book 1

I Didn't Forget About Frank

Frank

As we marched to the war games, I replayed the day in my mind. I couldn't believe how close I'd come to death.

This morning on sentry duty, before the Jackson twins showed up, I had almost told Hazel my secret. The two of us had been standing for hours in the chilly fog, watching the commuter traffic on highway 24. Hazel had been complaining about the cold.

"I'd give anything to be warm," she said her, her teeth chattering, "I wish we had a fire"

Even with her armor on, she looked great. I liked the way her cinnamon-toast-colored hair curled around the edges of her helmet, and the way her chin dimpled when she frowned. She was tiny compared to me, which made me feel like a big clumsy ox. I wanted to put my arms around her to warm her up, but I'd never do that. She'd probably hit me, and I'd lose the only friend I had at camp.

I could make a really impressive fire, I thought. Of course it would only burn for a few minutes, and then I'd die...

It was scary that I even considered it. Hazel had that effect on me. Whenever she wanted something, I had the irrational urge to provide it. I wanted to be the old-fashioned knight riding to her rescue, which was stupid, as she was way more capable at everything than I was.

I imagined what my grandmother would say: Frank Zhang riding to the rescue? Ha! He'd fall off his horse and break his neck.

Hard to believe it had only been six weeks since I'd left my grandmother's house- six weeks since my mom's funeral.

Everything had happened since then: wolves arriving at my grandmother's door, the journey to Camp Jupiter, the weeks I'd spent in the Fifth Cohort trying not to be a complete failure. Through it all, I'd kept the half-burned piece of firewood wrapped in a cloth in my coat pocket.

'Keep it close', my grandmother had warned. 'As long as it is safe you are safe'

The problem was it burned so easily. I remembered the trip south from Vancouver. When the temperature dropped below freezing near Mount Hood, I had brought out the piece of tinder and held it in my hands, imagining how nice it would be to have some fire. Immediately, the charred end blazed with a searing yellow flame. It lit up the night and warmed me to the bone, but I could feel my life slipping away, as if I was the one being consumed rather than the wood. I'd thrust the flame into a snowbank. For a horrible moment it kept burning. When it finally went out, I got my panic under control. I wrapped the piece of wood and put it back inn my coat pocket, determined not to bring it out again. But I couldn't forget it.

It was as though someone had said, "Whatever you do, don't think about that stick bursting into flame!"

So of course that's all I thought about.

On sentry duty with Hazel, I would try to take my mind off it. I loved spending time with her. I asked her questions about growing up in New Orleans, but she got edgy at my questions, so we made small talk instead. Just for fun we tried to speak French to each other. Hazel had some Creole blood on her mother's side. I had taken French in school. Neither of us was very fluent, and Louisiana French was so different from Canadian French it was almost impossible to converse. When I asked Hazel how her beef was feeling today, and she replied that my shoe was green, we decided to give up.

Then Percy and Lani Jackson arrived.

Sure, I had seen kids fight monsters before. I'd fought plenty of them myself on my journey from Vancouver. But I'd never seen gorgons. I'd never seen a goddess in person. And the way the twins controlled the Little Tiber- wow. I wish I had powers like that.