bomber waves and hella days

The beach was one of Mia's favorite places to go. From swimming in the cool waters of the ocean to talking and relaxing with others in the sun, she could do all she wanted. The best part was the abundance of interesting people she could meet on the beach. It was where she found fifty percent of her conversations. Today, she was just there for the chance of conversation. Still, she was dressed ready for swimming, just in case she changed her mind. Talking always had priority. It was the reason she was rarely stressed.

Looking around, all she could see was sand, with a few people here and there who looked as if they wanted to isolate themselves from the world. Mia didn't talk to those people. She learned that lesson a long time ago. It would only end with her feelings getting hurt, her in tears and them leaving out of annoyance.

When she felt that there was no one that she could potentially strike up a conversation with, she tried her alternative method; she sat by the edge of the shore and leaned back with her arms against the already warm sand. The daughter of Circe would wait for people to approach her. It rarely worked, but she could be wrong about not being able to start a conversation with anyone. First impressions weren't right all the time.

So she watched the waves crash onto sand. The water rose a bit higher than it did during the day. After all, it was only seven-thirty in the morning. The shining sun was still rising, the birds were still chirping, and people were still waking up.

Mia began looking around for any other sign of human life she could interact with. Eventually, she gave up and stared back out into the ocean. Minutes later, out of the corner of her eye, she spotted a boy swimming out into the waters on a board. Soon, he was a good distance away from her, but she saw him wave in her direction. Mia turned around to see who the boy was waving to, but there was no one. Huh. Could he have been waving at her, then? That seemed like something Mia would do. So she waved back at the surfer, her smile still on her face as always. Greeting unknowns was what she did. Her goal was to meet as many people and make as many friends as possible at camp, even if they weren't "lifetime" friends or whatever. The more the merrier! And she loved being merry. On average, she made one a day. On good days, she could meet up to three people. Today was a good day! At least, she thought so. Today was the day she had gone two weeks straight without bursting into tears at something rude someone said to her. The last few days had been quite pleasant to her, and she hoped it would stay that way.

The daughter of Circe changed her sitting position to sitting on both knees as she watched the male surf across some average-sized waves. He then proceeded to dancing on his surfboard, making Mia giggle non-stop. Until a wave knocked him into the water, of course. She let out a small gasp before she glimpsed his head poke above the surface. The boy hopped back on the board quickly and headed closer to her. Yay! Conversation. If the surfer was as outgoing and hilarious as he was in the water, it could make for an extremely interesting exchange. Once he reached shore, he plopped his surfboard down on the sand and laid on it, facing her. "Well, I tried, but disco dancing surfing isn't successful yet," he said nonchalantly.

Mia laughed, turning herself to face the boy. "I'm sure you'll perfect it someday," she replied, a wide smile plastered on her face. "I'm Mia! What's your name?" she asked enthusiastically. The distance between them was a bit awkward for a conversation, but Mia really didn't mind at the moment. She was talking to someone, and that was all she cared about. Her full attention was given to every conversation she had. This was no different.

Mia beamed as the boy moved the conversation along. At this rate, she could be talking for hours! This thought made her extremely happy. It didn't hurt that her conversation partner was interesting as well. His tone made him sound so into their conversation. "Aw, come on. Nothing's impossible! Not for a demigod, at least. You just need to keep trying again and again!" Mia stated, laughing along with him. "Also, if you ever try disco anything again, please invite me," she requested. "I'd love to see the attempt where you succeed. I wouldn't miss it for anything!" the daughter of Circe told him, her wide grin still present.

"It's really nice to meet you, Joel! I've never met a child of Bia before, but I've heard of her," Mia began, trying to remember what else he said. Her forgetfulness didn't help with conversations sometimes, which bothered her to no end. When she forgot what the other person said, it pushed away other topics the conversation might lead to. She thought deeply for a few seconds, and she finally remembered that he said something about powers. "Oh! Sorry, I just had to think for a bit. It happens a lot. Well, I do have powers, but I don't usually use them. My mom is Circe, and her powers all deal with weird witchcraft and necromancy and magic and stuff. Making fire and creating fake animals to scare people. It's not really my thing, but it's fun to practice! I like creating small, cute animals and watch what they do. There's also this one power that I've never used on purpose before. I dunno when would be the right time to use it, but it'd be lots of fun!" she raved, trying to explain everything in detail, because detail made everything much more interesting. Her train of thought left her through her mouth as rapidly as it popped into her brain.

Mia's smile grew larger and larger as she listened to him talk on and on about what he would do if he had her powers. "Thanks a lot! I enjoy having them, even though I don't use them much. It's so great how you love making people happy. Everyone should be happy!" Mia agreed. She had a blank on what he was talking about when he mentioned her "last power", but she managed to grab the memory. Conversing with him kept her thinking. That was good for her. Maybe it could improve her short-term memory. "Oh! Right. My last power is that I can shape-shift into a hamster. I know it's not that impressive but I think it's pretty cool to be able to shape-shift in the first place!" she chattered cheerfully. Joel was an interesting person, and she felt like she could spend hours talking to him and never get bored. During her time at camp, she had never met someone as boisterous and happy as him, and he made her happier than she already was. In a friendly way! Romance wasn't her thing. Friends were her thing. Lots and lots of them. It wasn't that she couldn't find anyone that she really liked -- she had tons of people she really liked! She just didn't want to accidentally hurt someone else's feelings. She knew how it felt to have her feelings hurt. One person's feelings hurt led to more people's feelings hurt. That didn't make anyone happy. Mia wanted everyone to be happy.

Mia followed his gaze to the glowing sun, now high up in the sky. It was marvelous. Mia would sometimes go to the beach just to see the sunrise. It was a nice way to start the day. The rays of the sun symbolized happiness for her. Her first emotion of the day was almost always her only emotion of the day. Sadness resulted in her wallowing in tears in her cabin. Happiness equaled conversation and friends. If you couldn't tell, happiness was the better option. There was also anger, but she had never been so angry before. Mia didn't want to know what she was like when she was angry. The daughter of Circe thought that anger would make her feel worse about herself than she did when she was sad. "It's pretty, isn't it? The sun, I mean," Mia marveled, her thoughts floating out of her brain every second.

Huh. The sun. What did she tell herself before she woke up? Oh, right. That when the sun rose all the way she had to get ready for an outing. "I know, right! Though, there are still some pretty bad things that could happen to a hamster at this camp. I would gladly list them for you, but I really have to get going. I'm going to the movies with a group of friends soon, and I need to get ready. It was really, really nice talking to you, Joel!" Mia told him. And she did. He'd been the most engaging conversation partner she could remember during her time at camp. She would happily talk to him again any time. But camp was so large, and there were so many people to talk to. Plus, it was unlikely that she'd run into him again. Well, maybe not that unlikely, but she barely saw anyone that she managed to strike up a conversation with again. But she really did want to talk to him again. She couldn't just pass up someone this great and fascinating.

"But...if you're ever thinking of going disco-anything again, my bunk is the third bottom one on the left side of Cabin 25," the daughter of Circe informed. "And if you ever get a chance to ride the Apollo Express, please take me with you." With that, she left the beach with a wide, satisfied smile on her face.