Piper's POV

I thought she liked Jason, but I never expected that she liked Leo! This was great. I started explaining how to get Leo's attention,"I've heard you've got mad tinkering skills. Annabeth even accidentally told me about your genius adjustments to the ship!" Lauren blushed tomato red.

"Look, Piper, just to make it short, I have the blood of 5 Greek gods. Since I have so many powers, I have a very brittle weakness. Well, more like a curse. Since I am so powerful, the gods gave me a curse that is the most easily triggered. Your mother, Aphrodite, placed a curse on me. She said that if fall in love, that person must show his love back or I die. The power of 5 gods made me immune to everything, except love! Nothing can hurt me, nothing can affect me as long as I don't love. And anyway, how will my skills help?" Lauren asked. It was my turn to go red. My mother was stupid enough, but did she have to curse my friends? I quickly got over it and answered Lauren's question.

"Well, Leo once told me that no matter much he flirted with girls, he never liked them. He like the type of girl that is pretty but doesn't mind to get her hands dirty. Especially if that meant tinkering," I explained. I watched Lauren's face lighten up as she understood what I suggested. Then, her face fell again.

"What?" I asked. She frowned and shook her head.

"I'm supposed to be at Camp Half-Blood, remember? Annie is going to kill me!" I said.

"You're going to die if you don't try." Lauren took a huge breath in, gave me a huge, nervous smile and muttered lunch. She put on her cap and disappeared.

Lauren's POV

I waited in the stables until lunch. Luckily, the stables were free off Leo. If he were here, I would not be able to concentrate at all. I thought of all the ways I could make my grand introduction. Finally, I made a decent plan and just in time, the crew was assembling for lunch. I tiptoed to the mess hall. I watched as Annabeth was heading to her chair. I counted, 1, 2, 3…

I ran straight to Annabeth and was about to turn her towards the wall so I could slam her in but she was a quick thinker. She took my hand and tried to judo flip me (even though I was still invisible) but I countered by turning my hand to an angle where Annabeth would lose her grip. I then secured by arms tightly around her neck, just enough to let her breathe. Annie reached for her knife and was about to stab me when I took the cap off and said,"It's me, Annie." I let go of her neck. Annie faltered momentarily she then burst into a fit of rage.

"Why are you here?! You should be safe at Camp Half-Blood! You! How in the world did you use my cap?! You could die on the quest!" she burst out. I frowned. Frankly, I expected something much more impressed and welcoming.

"If I stay at camp, I will die!"I exclaimed. It had finally come out. I gestured for Annabeth's knife. She gave it to me reluctantly. I made a cutting motion on my hand and showed Annabeth. Annie stared at it with a scowl on her face. She and Percy gasped when she saw it had made a cut but it healed up almost immediately. I nodded. Luckily, we were in the corner so no one else saw. I balled my hands into fists and turned around. For some reason, everyone's mouths were hanging open. Oh right, I just appeared out of thin air.

"Um… Hi! I'm Lauren, Percy's sister." I laughed nervously, "So… guess I'm with you guys now. Uhhh… So how was your day?" No one answered so I said, "Umm… I should be going." I raced to the engine room. I needed some serious tinkering time.

Leo's POV

I was dumbfounded. Lauren just appeared out of nowhere! She even tricked Annabeth. I stammered something unintelligent before muttering,"I'll be in the engine room if you need me." I stumbled to the engine room.

As soon as I came near the engine room, I heard someone in there. I peered through the door. Lauren was working furiously at something, her hands flying and her face covered with grease marks. Although she looked so dirty, she was really happy. I realised this wasn't work for her, it was a hobby. I smiled and walked over to her. She was so diligent in her work, she didn't notice me until I whispered,"What have you got working there?" Lauren was so stunned that she almost hit her head against the wall. Her face went tomato red and she whispered sorry to me. I shook my head and laughed.

"What are you sorry for?" I asked.

"Because I'm meddling with the engine room. Surely, you must be thinking about me messing up the system," Lauren replied. I sat down next to her and asked what she was doing.

"Well, I'm installing a protective shield on the ship's sides if a strong gale comes through. I used the hydraulic cylinders and connected this way. The inside of the cylinder work like a bike's. When the winds come, the vents at the bottom are pushed into circling. Once it is in motion, a strong wind will be directed upwards so that the other winds are drowned, OK maybe not drowned but the opposite direction!" explained Lauren. She beamed. She was so quiet but when she started talking, she was in the zone. I finally understood Annabeth when she said that Lauren was very easy to talk to. I think my heart understood too because I was utterly and irrevocably in love! I was so surprised that my mouth hung open. When Lauren looked at me, she frowned.

"Unless you think my idea is stupid, which it probably is," she said, dejectedly.

"No, no, it was that was UTTERLY AMAZING!" I exclaimed. Lauren laughed lightly, she was so good at laughing…

Anyways, we talked for a long time, until we started yawning. She bid her farewells for the night and left. I could definitely sense a friendship coming along!

Lauren's POV

I actually talked to Leo without fainting or running away! We were bonding over machines! When I reached the stables, I realized Blackjack was there. It had been eternity since I had seen him. I stroked his neck and was about to go bed when I realized 3 things:

Blackjack was in my bed

Percy was already asleep (as were the others)

That only left me with Leo awake

I freaked out at first. But then I collected all my thoughts and put them all into one. I needed to ask Leo if I could sleep with him tonight.