Hey, guys! This is the story of Aphrodite's troubles as the goddess of Love and Beauty. She's not shallow, in fact, she goes deeper than you could imagine.

I might not update very often, since I am also writing two other fanfictions, "But What About Annabeth?" and "The Tardis Effect."

Thank you so much to my beta, riptidedauntlessgryffindor, who got me introduced to fanfiction, and is an amazing friend. I seriously recommend checking her out.

Without further ado, Beauty Hurts!

Aphrodite's Pov:

I squinted at the magazine article. Athena always made fun of me for not trying enough in education. Little did she know, I spent many of my days trying to get a good education. I was fine at reading, though I was very slow. I read two articles from the magazine before stumbling. But I was getting better. I decided to read out loud to myself, as that is what helped me the most.

"One day Kiera Inway decided she wanted to do something with her life. She began her add- apd-"

I couldn't do it! The goddess of love and beauty couldn't read a magazine because she had the same weakness as the demigods. Yeah. I had dyslexia. I looked around my room, searching

Most people, if asked what they thought my room looked like, would say something like this: "Aphrodite? The goddess of love and beauty? I bet her room is pink. Sparkles, glitter, and ruffles everywhere."

Well, that isn't me. My room is a dark purple. My walls are covered with posters for movies and TV shows I like, and my bed is a purple princess bed with a canopy. There are white dressers, and a white flat-screen TV. It connects off to a giant, modern black bathroom.

I decided to give my children a visit. I hoped it would lift my spirits, although I knew they could be self-centered and mean. Beauty comes with a price. I apparated to the door of my cabin. I knocked, and my daughter, Drew, answered.

"Mother," she said in a high pitched voice. I flinched. "It's great to see you. You know, I've broken three boys' hearts this week!"

"Great, sweetie," I said, faking a smile. People judge me ALL the time. Since I'm the goddess of love and beauty, people expect that those are the only things I care about, and they think I'm shallow! So sometimes I give them what they want.

"What else did you do today?" I asked.

"I walked through the garden, and used my charmspeak on a bee. It stung a Hephaestus kid. Oops!" She grinned. I kept myself from sighing and forced a laugh, although it sickened me.

"Mother, I made my first boy fall in love with me! I think I like him, too," another one of the girls said.

"Well, what I did today was funner!" Drew remarked. "Now, leave us be," she said, using her charmspeak. Then she remembered I was here and put on her best behavior. "I mean, if you want."

"It's more fun," I corrected.

"What?" Drew asked.

"You said funner."

"Oh. Sorry, Mom," she said, but gave me a funny look.

"So, Drew, sweetie, anything interesting happen?"

"Well, mom, is there anything you could do to make Annabeth ugly? She won prettiest in the last three surveys given out! Her! Not me!" Drew said, like it was the most terrible thing in the world.

"Sorry, honey. I'm the goddess of beauty, not the goddess of removing beauty. I'm not going to take hers away." She huffed. I sighed.

When I got back to Mount Olympus later that day, Ares was waiting outside my mansion.

"Hey, sweetie," Ares said.

"Hello, Ares. What are you doing here?" I asked.

"Came to see my favorite girlfriend." I raised an eyebrow. It wasn't like I cared that much, but it was stupid of him to say that. "I mean, only girlfriend. At this moment. So…" he said pulling out a basket. "Picnic?"

The next chapter will be up soon! Please review! I can't promise that I will update often since I am also writing two other stories. Also, I made the poem below. Please do not steal it.

Roses are red

Violets are blue

I'd be ever so happy

If you'd review

It's not that hard

So don't just follow

Review what you think

And don't leave me in sorrow

~giraffesplaycello