Chapter 2: Dinner

It took them a few hours to unpack everything, and even then it took another 2 hours for Hera and Zeus to make their minds up on where everything was gonna go exactly. Artemis mainly stayed in her room and set it up. Right now she didn't have much, just a dresser, bed, nightstand, mirror, desk and her closet.

They didn't have the wifi installed yet, so she had to use mobile data to Skype call Zoe. Zeus assured her that it would be installed the following day, which was a Sunday, so she had to make do for now. Right now she was on a call with Zoe, who was questioning her friend about her new home.

"What's the weather like?" She asked, chin on her palm. Artemis leaned back in her chair, looking out the window. "It's nice. Lots of sky. It's not hot, but not freezing like New York was. It is Fall, right?" Artemis asked, and Zoe nodded. "Yep, Halloween next week. What are you doing?" She asked, and Artemis shrugged.

"I don't know. I guess when I actually get friends I'll make plans. For now I have no idea." She said, and Zoe suddenly leaned in. "What are the locals like? Are they all rednecks?" She asked, eagerly awaiting my answer. She opened my mouth to answer, but stopped. The girl didn't know what to say.

"I don't really know, to be honest. We haven't met many people yet, we just drove through the town on our way here. It's pretty small. The only people we've talked to are our neighbors." She told her, and Zoe raised an eyebrow. "Well, what are they like?"

Artemis swallowed. "Well, there's the father, Poseidon. He's got a black beard like dad, and they got along pretty well. He seems nice, but I haven't really talked to him. I haven't met the mother yet, but we're supposed to be going over to theirs for dinner, so I guess she'll be there. Uh, they have three kids my age." She said, and that got Zoe excited. "What are they like? Are they nice, or are they the type that'll throw molotovs at your house?" She asked.

Artemis raised an eyebrow, wondering where the hell she got that stereotype from.

"Uh, they're nice, I guess. It's two girls and a boy. The boy and one of the girls are twins, and the other... actually, I think they said she wasn't their sister, she just lived with them or something." She rambled, trying to figure it out myself. She'd been thinking a lot about those three that afternoon.

Zoe smirked and raised an eyebrow. "A boy, huh? He hot?" She asked, already knowing the answer as her best friend blushed. "Shut up."

Artems cleared her throat, continuing. "Well anyways, they came over when we were unpacking, and they were riding horses. Hell, the guy was shirtless, for Christ's sake!" She said, trying to convey how wack this was. Zoe looked at her fingernails absentmindedly. "Hm, sexy." She joked, making her blush furiously again.

"The first girl was very pretty, and she wasn't even wearing any makeup! I wish I was like that." She complained, and Zoe laughed. "Oh please, you rejected or assaulted any guy that hit on you. Plus, you're stunning, Artemis. Don't doubt yourself." She complimented, making Artemis smile.

"Uh, where was I? Oh yeah. The second girl was... strange. She looked like a drug baby, not deformed or anything but like really skinny and uh... gaunt, I guess." She said, trying to find the best way to describe it. Zoe nodded. "Was she on meth or something? I heard that a lot of meth gets made by rednecks." She said, and Artemis shook her head. "No, she acted fine. She was just shy, is all. Besides, the other two don't look like they'd let her do that kind of stuff."

Zoe leaned back. "And what about the boy?" She asked, and Artemis felt her face heat up. "He's... nice. His name's Percy, and he has black hair like the girls and bright sea-green eyes. His horse's name is Blackjack. He and his father look really similar, minus the beard and 30 something years of age. He's quite fit, and he helped us unpack the furniture, though he almost got crushed by my idiot brother moving a bed up the stairs." She stopped herself, realising she'd talked about him way more than she had the girls.

Zoe sat with her arms crossed, smirking like she'd caught the teen in the act. Artemis continued to blush silently, until her mother saved her by calling her downstairs. "I gotta go. I'll call you tomorrow after we get wifi." Artemis said, bidding her goodbye and exiting the call. She shut her laptop and went downstairs, trying to make herself look presentable so as to not arouse suspicion.

Her mom was in the kitchen, making herself some coffee. "We're gonna head over in an hour, so make yourself look decent." She said shortly. Artemis' mother was an exacting woman. If you weren't perfect, she was disappointed, so of course, it was rare to see her truly proud of any of them.

She nodded and left the kitchen, but paused in the doorway. "What should I wear?" She asked, feeling embarrassed. Her mom raised an eyebrow, knowing she never cared about how she looked. Usually when they were going out she just dressed as she normally would and then let her mom critique her when they left. She pursed her lips, and she couldn't tell if she was worried for her daughter's sanity or something. "Just make yourself decent. Wear something clean and tidy. Nothing too... revealing." She said.

Artemis rolled her eyes. She knew her daughter wasn't a thot. Neither was Athena, but she had the internet. She was worried that they'd succumb to the same fate a lot of other girl's their age end up with. Screw that. I don't want some pigs jerking off to pictures of me on Instagram.

Artemis decided not to wear a dress or anything. She was overthinking it. This was just dinner with the neighbors, not one of her father's business dinners. They'll probably be wearing normal clothes, so she would as well. That meant normal for her. A silver hoodie, plain green t-shirt, black skinny jeans, white socks and a pair of sneakers.

It was her hair that was the problem. She brushed it obsessively for over 20 minutes for some reason. Then there was the problem in how she had it. Did she tie it up in a bun? A ponytail? Braid it? Or maybe she should just leave it down. Yeah, I'll go with that. Let wind and gravity style it for me.

Artemis lay on her bed listening to her Spotify playlist for the last 10 minutes until her dad called her downstairs. She made her way downstairs, where the family were all waiting for her. It turned out she was right in not dressing too. They were all wearing casual clothes, even her mother.

They didn't drive there. Instead, their dad decided it would be better if they walked, that way they could also see roughly how long it took to walk to the main road. It was relatively short, only taking 2 minutes to reach the sign and another 2 minutes to walk up their driveway.

Their house was nice, and Artemis was right in saying earlier that it looked quite like theirs. It had the same sort of ski lodge feel to it. Actually, no, theirs felt more like a lodge you'd camp at, one in the middle of the woods. Zeus knocked on the door, and a woman quickly came and opened it.

She was pretty, with soft-looking brown hair and a kind glint in her eyes. She smiled brightly and opened the door completely. "You must be the Olympias, come in!" She said, stepping aside and letting them enter. They thanked her and walked inside.

The woman sped ahead of them all. "I'm just finishing up. Please, have a seat! The others will be out soon." She said, walking off into a different room which Artemis assumed to be the kitchen. They continued straight ahead, coming into a room with a large table, with 10 empty seats waiting for them.

"NAKED BABY! NAKED BABY!" They heard shouts from down the hallway, before a rampaging toddler, bare as the day she came out, came crashing through followed in hot pursuit by Percy. They ran around the couch twice before Percy managed to grab a hold of her and drag her away to hopefully clothe her.

A man walked past and clapped Zeus on the shoulder, and she realised it was Poseidon. "Ah, you made it! Please sit, dinner should be ready soon." He offered, sitting down at the head of the table. They all moved to find seats, and the kids came out and took their own. They greeted the Olympias cheerfully, Percy shaking her dad's hand and kissing her mom's, which she thought was either really polite or weird. Probably a bit of both.

They ended up sitting so that Poseidon and Zeus sat on either end, with Artemis sitting next to Zeus and opposite Percy. Down from there was Apollo and Hela, Hera and the empty seat for the woman, and Athena and Aphrodite finishing it off by sitting next to Poseidon, who was next to the high chair containing the now-clothed baby.

The woman called for the kids, and they got up and hurried towards the kitchen. The four of them all came out holding two plates each, handing it to one of them and putting one on their side. The woman had to go back in and grab two more to get 10. She sat down opposite Artemis' mom, smiling at them all. "Hi, I'm Sally. Forgot to introduce myself at the door." She apologized, and Poseidon cleared his throat.

"Are you a family of god, Zeus?" He asked, and Zeus seemed quite taken aback by the question. He obviously forgot that many people in rural America were religious. "I, uh, no, but we're fine if you'd like to say grace." He said, and Poseidon shook his head. "Nah, we're not either. Just thought I'd ask instead of assuming and offending." He said. "Dig in, then."

They all ate the food, which was some steak cooked medium well done with some mashed potato and peas on the side. Artemis felt it was actually really good taste-wise. That Sally lady really knew how to cook.

Chatter started up along the table, mainly the two families getting to know each other better. Zeus turned to Percy and struck up a conversation. "So, Percy, was it? How do you like it out here in Montana?" He asked. Percy smiled and nodded. "Yep, Percy. It's great. I've never lived anywhere else, but I've visited some other states, and I don't think I could live anywhere without that big blue sky." He said, and her father nodded in agreement.

"I agree. I'm from Kansas, myself, and one thing I never liked about New York was the lack of natural scenery. You play any sports?" He asked, trying to discern what type of person Percy was. The teen nodded, swallowing a bite of steak.

"Yeah, though I only do two for school. I practice swimming and shooting in my own time, and then every few months I'll enter a tournament. I've won some, lost other's." He said, and dad chuckled. "You shoot?" He asked, and Percy nodded. "Yep, dad has a few rifles, and I'll take one out when I don't have any work to do and practice on some cans. I hunt sometimes, mainly deer and pronghorns." He explained.

Artemis silently prayed that she wouldn't be woken up every morning by gunshots.

Zeus chose that time to include her in the conversation. "My daughter Artemis does archery. She's won a few gold medals, herself." He slightly bragged, and Percy smiled over at her. "That's cool. I always sucked at archery. Shot my dad in the leg the first time I tried. Second time I got him in the head, but luckily we changed to suction cup tips. Both times he was standing behind me." Zeus laughed at his story, and she couldn't help but chuckle herself.

Zeus ate some more of his steak. "Anyway, what sports do you do for school?" He asked. "Track and football. I go for a run around the farm every morning with the dog, helps me keep in shape. I also play for the high school football team. Started last year." He said, surprising both me and my dad. "You play football? What position?" She asked, making it the first time she'd spoken during the conversation. Artemis loved football.

"I'm a halfback. That's the position I'm best at. Just catch the ball and run to the other end while trying not to get destroyed by the other team. We have a good fullback though, so I never have to worry about that." Dad hummed in respect. "I used to play football myself. I was a quarterback in high school. Best years of my life were playing for that team. Aside from when my family came along, of course." He said, noticing Hera's raised eyebrow and Artemis and Apollo's slightly offended looks.

They continued to talk about football while she turned to the other side of herself. Apollo was chatting with Sally while Hera joined in on the conversation at the end of the table. The only ones who weren't speaking were her and Hela. She decided that she'd be social and talk with her. Plus, there were some things she wanted to know. "So what's your story?" Artemis asked like this was a prison.

She looked at her slightly surprised. "Huh?" She asked confusedly. "Percy said earlier that you're not their sister. Are you adopted or something?" Artemis asked, trying my best not to sound rude or snobby. She blushed, and nodded slowly. "Poseidon and Sally took me in last year. I was homeless before then." She admitted, shocking the teen. "What? How?"

Great question, Artemis. How were you homeless? Just get money.

She looked down and started picking at her food. "I... was in a bad place. Bad friends, bad relationship, bad home. My parents died when I was little, and I was raised by my cousin. I'd been friends with Percy and Aphrodite since kindergarten, and when they noticed my life was going downhill, they told their parents, who offered to register me as their foster child." She nodded. There were plenty of cases like that where Artemis was from. Only in the poorer parts, though.

"Yep, she's our little angel." Sally said, putting an arm around Hela and pulling her in for a side hug. Hela smiled, leaning into it. "Thank you." She whispered, separating from the hug and going back to picking at her food.

"Why do you not eat? Aren't you hungry?" Artemis asked, worried. She'd barely touched her food, and she was skinny enough as it was. Maybe she really was anorexic.

"It's all thanks to before. I.... I used to take drugs heavily... it really messed me up physically. Now I can hardly eat anything before feeling full. Eating all this would probably make me puke. Poseidon and Sally ask me to eat more though, so I try." She said sadly, and Arty nodded. Perhaps it was time to move away from this aspect of conversation.

"So what do you guys do out here for fun?" She asked. She did need to know what was the norm out here so she didn't look like a loner for watching tv all day. Hela brightened up and shrugged. "We really only have the weekends to do outside stuff, since we have work to do around the house and farm. After dark if we're not already out we just sit around and play on our phones, sometimes we'll go play hide and seek in the dark or something stupid like that. Those are fun."

Artemis smiled. "Sounds fun. Do you get a flashlight?" She asked, and Hela nodded. "Yeah. I don't know which is more scary though, hiding in the dark in total silence, or walking around a deserted farm at night with only a flashlight." The girl joked, then brightened up as she looked at her again. "You should play with us sometime. It gets really spooky around fall, especially with Halloween coming up." She offered.

"Sounds good. I'll come over and play with you guys sometime. What are you all doing for Halloween?" Artemis asked, hoping that out of this she'd get some actual plans for the holiday. Hela shrugged. "Probably trick or treating, our baby sis is finally old enough to go with us, but only from 5 till 7. Wanna tag along? It gets more exciting after dark." She once again offered, making her smile. "I'll think about it. Sounds pretty scary." Artemis admitted.

She felt a strange feeling on her thigh and looked down, almost jumping when she saw a dog's head resting on my lab. It was a black and white Heading dog, with tan parts on its face and legs. The dog licked its nose and looked up at Artemis pleadingly, and she pet it lightly, assuming she wasn't allowed to feed it.

"Down boy, you have your own food. Stop annoying her." Percy said, whistling at the dog. It whined and got off of her, sitting beside her chair. Artemis smiled. "It's okay, I don't mind. Can I give him some steak?" She asked, gesturing to a small piece she'd cut and was about to eat. Percy nodded, and she threw the meat into the dog's mouth, who happily ate it up.

"What's his name?" Artemis asked as she pet the dog. "Russ. Short for Orthrus. He's 3, and a good farmdog." He introduced, and she continued to pet the dog with her right hand as she ate.

Eventually, they finished up, and Zeus decided it was time for them to leave. "We've had a long day. A long week, and we haven't slept in our own beds for a few nights now, so we'd best be heading off." He said, standing up. Poseidon nodded, and stood up too. He walked over and held out his hand, which her dad shook. "Welcome to the neighborhood."

The Olympias thanked them for the dinner and left, but not before Artemis made plans to hang out with those kids the next day.

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