"Roses are red, violets are blue...Ugh, this'll never work!" Em cried, throwing her notebook into her lap. "Violets aren't even blue, they're purple..." she grumbled, pulling a golden curl behind her ear.
"What'cha doin', little sister?"
Em looked up at the voice and saw it was one of her older half-brothers from the Apollo cabin. She sighed, glaring at him with bright blue eyes.
"What does it look like?" I'm sitting in a tree."
"Someone doesn't sound happy." He chuckled. "Seriously, though, what's wrong? I know you only come up here with your notebook when you seek alone time. You know that, too, Em."
She looked down at her lap, obviously a bit embarrassed. Her cheeks were tinted with pink. "I'm trying to impress Nico..." she mumbled.
"Nico? Nico di Angelo, son of Hades? You can do better than him. I hear that kid's no good," he scoffed. Even as her half-brother, he was still a bit overprotective.
"Look. I'm fifteen. I'd like to have a boyfriend."
He sighed, rolling his eyes. "Fine, Em. But, if you want to impress a boy, you'll have better luck without a love poem. Try cooking him something. The best way to a man's heart is through his stomach, yeah?"
She nodded. Her half-brother was obviously a boy, after all...He would know...
"Alright, I'll make...uh...What do I make?"
He shrugged. "Whatever you'd like." He hopped down from the tree, meeting up with his brothers.
She smiled slightly. Impressing Nico would be a bit of a challenge, but she could pull it off.
Probably.
*~*
Em cautiously jumped down from the tree, shoving her notebook back in her signature crimson drawstring bag.
"Hey! Miranda!" she called to the Demeter cabin's counselor.
"Em? What's up?" she asked, putting down her shovel, taking off her gardening gloves, and standing up.
"I need a good recipe. I figured that since your cabin is the cabin of the garden, you'd help me."
She chuckled softly. "Em, is this for a boy?"
"Yeah..." she muttered. Miranda grinned.
"Well, you're not going to win him over with a salad. You should try the Aphrodite cabin. They can give you roses and maybe even a makeover." Em almost shuddered at the thought of Miranda's comment.
"Fine. I'll try that," she grumbled, trudging over to Aphrodite's cabin.
*~*
She sighed, looking at the gorgeous cabin. She knocked on the door and opened it, looking at a group of girls on the floor, doing makeovers. They grinned up at Em.
"Em! You're as adorable as ever!"
"You're still so cute. What do you need?" one girl giggled.
Em sighed. "I need you to do my makeup..." she grumbled. All the girls broke into beautiful grins.
"We'd love to." They sat her down and she closed her eyes. By the time she opened them again, they were finished. They handed her a mirror and she groaned.
"I look like a Barbie doll..." she muttered to herself. The girls didn't notice.
"KK, see you later, Em!"
Em stepped outside, sighing and jumping out of the way as Clarisse ran past her. Maybe Nico would rather have a tough girl...
"Clarisse!" she shouted to the daughter of Ares. She turned around.
"Harkness? What do you want?" she yelled back.
"I need your opinion on something..." she mumbled, causing Clarisse to run over to her.
"What?"
"Well...uh...if you were a boy...would you want me to be tough?"
She snickered. "You? Tough? Yeah, right. Go talk to the hunters of Artemis. Maybe they'll help you out."
"Fine," she grumbled, "I'll go." And with that, she continued to Artemis' cabin.
*~*
Em knocked on the door of the cabin of the hunters of Artemis. Thank the gods that they were around right now. One opened the door and furrowed her brow. "Harkness? What do you need?"
Em shoved her hands in her pockets. "I need help..."
"With what?" She motioned for her to come inside.
"Impressing a boy..."
The girl shrugged. "We hunters are sworn off men. You should try the Aphrodite cabin if you want hel-"
"Already tried them," Em interrupted. The huntress sighed.
"Well, just go back to your cabin. I'm afraid I cannot help any further."
Em sighed. So she was never going to impress Nico...
"Fine." She stepped outside and walked back to the Apollo cabin. It was crowded, as usual. She flopped down on the bottom bunk of the bed she shared with Will.
"Em? Are you still mad?" Will asked her as he kneeled down beside her bed, having heard about her outburst toward her other older brother. Em sighed.
"Yes, Will, I'm still mad. What am I going to do about Nico? I obviously need to impress him..." She sat up, looking at her brother. "I don't know what to do..."
Will sighed. "I think you should just go talk to him. He's bound to understand, and what's not to like about you?" He grinned at her. His little sister. The little nine-year-old had grown into a beautiful teenager. "You're amazing, Em. Of course he's going to like you back."
Em smiled. "You really think so?"
"I know so."
She pulled him into a tight hug. "Thanks, Will. I'm gonna go find him!" She ran out, him grinning after her.
*~*
"Nico!" Em called after the son of Hades, nearly colliding with him.
"Em!" He almost jumped. "I've been looking everywhere for you!"
"Aha, sorry about that. Busy day. I...uh...need to ask you something..."
"Go ahead," he replied calmly, holding her arms to help her regain her balance, then dropping his hands to hold hers.
His hands felt so cold against hers. It really just made her more nervous. "I...uh...What do you think of me?" she blurted.
He sighed. "Em...you're amazing. Everyone thinks that. Why do you care what I think? Wait, are you wearing makeup?" She realized she had forgotten to take it off.
"B-Because, Nico, I...I..."
"Em, do you know why I was looking everywhere for you?"
"Wh-Why...?"
"I wanted to tell you..." he paused, changing to a whisper, "that I like you. And that Will told me that you feel the same way. And, that you spent the whole day trying to impress me. I like you the way you are!"
Her eyes widened. You never really can trust your older brothers...
Wait, more important matters. Nico liked her back!
"O-Oh! That's wonderful!"
He grinned. "Do you want to do something sometime?"
"Go on a date?" she corrected. "I'd love to."
Even with those few words, Nico looked pretty content in himself.
And, of course, Em's older brothers were watching carefully from afar to make sure he didn't try anything on their little sister. But, did that really matter?
There are more important things to think about.