begin again

They are dining in Camp Jupiter. Leo Valdez shoves as much food as possible into his mouth. He notices the praetor girl, whatever her name was – Rya or whatever, roll her eyes at his behavior. He thinks to himself that she is his kind of girl ifyougetwhatheissaying. She is beautiful and an Ice Queen in her own right, obviously believing she is far too good for someone like Leo.

Well, she kind of is.

Rya catches himself looking. To clear away the inevitable awkwardness that would ensue, Leo grins at her crookedly, "Hey, Rya."

Rya is not impressed. She presses her lips in a tight line and nods at him. "My name's Reyna," she answers. Leo feels embarrassed. Of course, it would be him to mess up a hot girl's name. What a way to impress, Valdez.

To cover up, Leo responds. "Of course it is... Who wouldn't get tongue-tied -?" He is about to finish his pick-up line when Reyna interrupts him.

"- Don't use any pick-up lines on me, Valdez. Now finish that meal of yours and go to bed." She speaks with such authority that Leo instantly flinches. She notices. "I'm not mad, just not having the best day." That surprises him that she opened up like that. It supposedly shocks her as well because the intensity in her eyes almost fades to vulnerability before she recollects herself again. What a woman.

Leo shrugs. "Want to talk about it?" He gestures to the seat next to him. Already expecting a 'no', he looks down at his feet, ashamed of his actions. But, for the second time that night, Reyna surprises him. Without a word, she is next to him. She smells of a flowery perfume that Leo already figured out he likes and barely whispers.

"It's Jason and Piper."

Eyes narrowing in confusion, he asks, "What?" Reyna licks her lips and glances behind her nervously. Jason and Piper are absent from dinner, probably making out somewhere. Leo has caught them enough to know that's what they enjoy doing in their spare time. Whatever.

"Well, before the switch between him and Percy, Jason was kind of my boyfriend. And, I really liked him, but he has obviously found someone else."

Leo feels bad for her. He knows what it is like to be left in the sidelines. But, he can't help but feel a small bit of animosity towards Jason. For leaving Reyna without giving her another chance and now parading Piper around. On the other hand, Leo knows that Jason didn't expect to fall in love with Piper. He shakes the thought aside – love can be hard to figure out.

He honestly doesn't know what to say. Reyna goes on, "I know I don't have a claim on him. We weren't even dating; we only kissed a few times and never did anything about it. I wish I could hate Piper, but I can't. She's too sweet."

That was true. No one could find it in their hearts to hate a sweetheart like Piper. "Look, I know I am not Doctor Phil or anything," that brings a small laugh out of Reyna, "and I can't give you life-changing advice, but all I can say is that Jason is being an idiot for not wanting a girl like you. You are awesome, Reyna, and I hope I can get to know you better."

Leo doesn't know it. But, those few words did change Reyna's life. For the better. She felt a boost of confidence that she didn't have before at those words. She looked at herself in the mirror in her room that night and saw someone else. Not the old girlfriend left behind anymore. But a better and new girl whose eyes have been opened to a realm full of new possibilities.