Arabella woke up early that morning. It was still dark when she stepped out of her cabin, wearing a navy blue skirt and a red top with long sleeves. The whole camp was quiet, everyone still asleep. Arabella took a small breath, looking around at her home, pulling her hair back into a braid. She was going to miss it. It was the longest that she had been away from camp since she was little. She was going to miss all of it and she was going to really miss some of the people there.
Part of her wished that she had said goodbye to more people than she did. She wished that she had said goodbye to Hunter and Jake. They were her friends and she was going to miss them. Arabella closed her eyes for a moment, thinking about the night on the beach with Hunter. Right away, her stomach started to get all knotted up and she shook herself. With a small sigh, she bent down to pick up her duffel bag and she walked away from the Aphrodite cabin.
After making sure that Argus knew that she was leaving, Arabella walked over the other side of Half Blood Hill and towards the limo that was waiting for her. An older man with a kind face and a warm smile stepped out of the front seat. He was a little over weight and he had salt and pepper hair. "A good morning to you, Ms Foster"
"Jeffrey...how many times do I have to tell you to call me Arabella?" She giggled and she put down her bag, falling into Jeffrey's arms. He hugged her tightly, lifting her off of the ground for a moment.
"How has your summer been?" He asked her as he held the door open for her.
"It was good" Arabella replied simply as she slid into the back of the limo, placing her bag at her feet. Jeffrey closed the door behind her, walked around the car and got into the driver's seat. She let out a small sigh as he started the car and drove towards the city. It was a long drive to get back, so she put her pillow against the window and curled up on the seat. She yawned and glanced towards the front seat, smiling softly. Jeffrey had been driving for her father for as long as she could remember. Before Arabella decided to stay at camp all year, Jeffrey drove her everywhere. He was like a second father to her. In fact, he was often more like a father than her actual father. Arabella yawned again and she closed her eyes, focusing on the sounds of the limo as they drove down the highway.
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When Arabella woke up, they were just pulling up to her home. She looked up at the familiar brownstone with ivy crawling up the wall and she smiled a little bit. Camp Half-Blood had her heart and her soul but this was still home to her. When Jeffrey opened the door for her, Arabella grabbed her bag and headed up the stairs, taking out her keys. She unlocked the door and took a step inside, looking around the beautiful home. "Hello?" She called out. Silence answered her. Arabella sighed and she slid out of her shoes, walking into the house a little bit more.
"Arabella!" A voice said and she looked up at the stairs quickly. A young boy, about 15, came running down the stairs with a grin on his face. He ran down and hugged Arabella tightly.
"Oh, gods...I've missed you, Tyler" Arabella said softly, hugging her brother. She let go of him and looked at him with wide eyes, trying hard not to get emotional. "Where's Dad?"
"He had to go to work. Some kind of emergency" Tyler muttered, rolling his eyes. Arabella let out a small sigh. "He said that he would try to get home as soon as possible, though"
"I'll believe it when I see it" Arabella huffed and she picked up her bag. "Come on..you can help me unpack" She said and together, they started to walk up the stairs. The house had three floors. Her father's bedroom and Tyler's bedroom were on the second floor. They had rather large bedrooms and they both had an ensuite. Arabella's bedroom was on the third floor and that was pretty well all that was up there. It was a smaller bedroom but it had an ensuite and access to the roof. Arabella loved it.
They walked into her bedroom and she placed her bag on the bed, looking around with a little smile on her face. She missed camp, but it was good to be back. "Did you have a good summer?" Tyler asked her and Arabella shrugged as she opened her bag, taking out piles of clothes and hanging them up in the closet.
"It was fine. A little long, but it wasn't horrible. What about you? How was your summer?" She asked him, glancing up at him as she placed a pair of shoes on her shoe rack.
"Boring. I spent a lot of time at The Met" Tyler shrugged and Arabella grinned.
"Of course you did. That doesn't surprise me one bit" She said with a little giggle.
"Well...I don't really know anyone in New York anymore. My friends are the people I go to school with and they're mostly from California" Tyler said with a little sigh and Arabella looked over at him with slightly sad eyes. She hated that he had spent a whole summer alone.
"When are you going back to school, anyway?"
"I go back in a couple of days" Tyler told her and Arabella sighed. It would have been nice to have more than two days with her little brother. "What school are you going to? I forgot to ask Dad."
"He managed to get me back into Dalton" Arabella said, raising an eyebrow at Tyler before turning back to her bag. He let out a laugh, picking at a loose string on his shorts.
"How much did he have to pay them to let you back in?"
"Oh...tens of thousands, I'm sure" Arabella sighed. When she was younger, Arabella had attented an incredibly prestigious private school that teaches students from kindergarten to grade 12. It was a really expensive school already but Arabella's father probably shelled out close to 100,000$ for this school so that they would take her back.
"Maybe you'll see some of your old friends" Tyler said and Arabella laughed a little.
"Oh...that would be fun" Arabella muttered and she tugged on the hem of her skirt. "I uh, I think I' going to go for a shower, Tyler. Then we can go out and get ice cream or something, okay?"
"You're paying!" Tyler jumped up from his spot on her bed and walked down the stairs, his hands in his pockets. Smiling to herself a little bit, Arabella grabbed a couple towels and stepped into the bathroom.
As she got the water ready and made sure that she had everything she needed, Arabella let her mind wander. She wondered what her friends at camp were doing and she wondered if they were thinking about it. This move was for the best. She knew that. But it was really going to be a change for her. Arabella slipped out of her clothes, folding them neatly and placing them on the counter before jumping into the shower. She would make the best of this. She had too.