Thalia Grace stands fifty meters from her target. She's concentrating so hard that it's a wonder she hasn't moved because of her ADHD.

She loaded an arrow in her bow. The other day she had yelled at the Stoll brothers for breaking her bow trying to pull a prank on her. She decided not to ask them for a bow because they would probably steal one from the Apollo cabin and try to give it to her.

When she had gone back to her cabin, there had been a brand new bow and a set of fresh arrows from Artemis. She had silently thanked Artemis, she was a great sister and would probably keep an eye on her until she started dating.

She concentrated a little longer and then let the arrow fly. Even without Artemis's blessing her arrow hit it's target. She smiled satisfactorily while some of the new kids marveled at her skill in archery. She didn't care if they looked. She didn't try to brag about her skill. That would be stupid, especially if someone bested her.

Like right now. Two of the new kids, one of them was a girl and the other was a boy-she didn't really catch their names- were much better at archery than she was. Though if you really looked at how they were shooting she was almost slightly better than the boy.

She loaded arrow after arrow and each hit the bull's eye. If she was lucky, the arrow she shot would split the previous arrow. That only happened a couple times. The two new kids could split their arrows ten times more than she could.

Across the archery field, she noticed Leo yelling at some Hermes guy. Something about bubble gum and the climbing wall. She didn't pay attention to him.

She prayed to the gods- but especially to Aphrodite-that he wouldn't notice her. She had enough going on in her life and didn't need a personal stalker. Next to her a kid who would've fit right with the Aphrodite kids giggled and smiled, probably at a joke that the guy next to her had told her.

She looked at the place that Leo had been before but didn't see him. Her face flooded with relief when she didn't see him. Instead Nico walked across the archery field and talked to Will Solace about something, then he walked off.

She loaded another arrow and was about to fire when she heard someone scream five feet away from her, "Hey Thalia!"

The arrow left the bow but it didn't hit the target. It hit the ground next to Will Solace-who was fifty meters to Thalia's right- who looked up at Thalia and frowned. Thalia yelped and jumped more than ten feet in the air. The only thing that kept her from falling was the fact that the air was supporting her.

She was fifteen feet in the air and she was sure that her face was completely white but since the other kids were watching she didn't complain about the height she was at.

"Whoa." Said a familiar voice. Thalia winced at the voice. She looked at the ground to the right of her and glared at the person there.

Her jaw was set and with her leather jacket, her black death to barbie shirt, her skull earings, and the black eyeliner around her eyes she could've scared ten hell hounds back to Hades. Add the fact that blue sparks were flickering all over her body and you've got one angry daughter of Zeus and a menacing look.

Some of the kids stiffled their laughter because a kid with blue eyes and black hair and the girl that was really good at archery were glaring at them.

However, the person who had said hey, looked at Thalia and said, "I thought you couldn't fly." Then he shrugged. "I guess there's a time for everything."

He was completely ignorant of the fact that Thalia was glaring at him. Probably because he received glares like that often.

"What do you want Leo?" Thalia said as she descended and grabbed her bow from where she dropped it on the ground. Her voice was filled with anger and it was very controlled like she was trying extremely hard to keep from cursing.

Leo smiled. In his life ignorance was bliss, so he ignored the way Thalia's voice sounded and replied with a bright smile, "I just wanted to say hi."

"Anything else?"

Leo shrugged. Thalia grabbed her arrows that had fallen out of her quiver when she jumped up and apoligized to Will. She started to walk away from the archery field when Leo started to follow her. When there was no one around them Leo started talking to her.

"So... How are you adjusting to camp life? Are you-?" She turned to him. Her jaw was still set but she had a soft look on her face that she had never used with him and his face was a little shocked at how sincere she looked.

"I need to go Leo." Then she walked away without looking back at him. Leo stared at her retreating form for a while and then broke out into a sad smile, Maybe she's warming up to me?

But then again, she didn't look back. He frowned again and was just about to go when he could've sworn she had looked at him momentarily. Leo wouldn't stop trying though. He knew that he could get through to Thalia. If she would just allow him, he would be the perfect boyfriend to her. Love her, adore her, comfort her, make her laugh with his corny jokes, give her his undivided attention, be faithful to her-

He stopped himself. If he kept on going he would just get sad because he couldn't do all of that to her right now. One day, he promised himself. One day I will get to do all of that.

Thalia turned back momentarily to see Leo with a frown on his face and her heart broke into a thousand pieces. She didn't want to leave him there. But... she didn't need her heart broken into a million pieces like when she loved Luke. That was why she had joined the hunt in the first place.

She wasn't sure she wanted to tear down that protective wall she had spent so many years building around her heart, but it seemed like every day, with his stupid comments or his stupid compliments, that Leo was attacking that wall little by little and slowly tearing it down.

She just didn't want to get hurt again like last time. She wasn't sure that Leo could tear down the wall to win her heart. Even if he did, would he build another wall to protect it? Or would he leave it vulnerable, without any protection, and break it?

Artemis sighed. There was something clearly going on with Thalia and Leo. She had never seen Thalia like that around any boy before.

Aphrodite sighed next to Artemis. "Ahh, young love." She turned to Zeus and said excitedly, "Aren't you happy Zeus. Your daughter's in love and she barely knows it. I think that's the best part. When they're not sure how they really feel."

Zeus only half listened to what Aphrodite had said. In his mind, he was making a mental note to talk to Jason about this 'Leo' character.

Apollo smirked. This was something that he could use against Artemis. He wouldn't say anything now because his sister would have to think things through about what was happening with Thalia and Leo.

Artemis glanced at Zeus. She agreed with him. She would have to take a look at Leo also. Thalia was her half-sister but over the years, they had grown closer until they had been almost like real sisters. She would look out for Thalia and make sure that she didn't get hurt with Leo like she did with Luke.

Will Solace yelped from the other side of the field. Poseidon, who was extremely horrible at archery, had hit the exact place where Will had been standing. The bow should've been stuck to the ground but it kept on bouncing all over the place and Will had to keep avoiding it.


I might not be able to update until next weekend because I'm starting school next week and Fan-Fiction cannot come first. :(

I will try to write as much as I can every weekend so that I can post during the week but no promises. The most I'll be able to update is two chapters each week if I'm lucky.

This counts for all of my stories.

Please review. Suggestions to which couple I should do next are welcome. I'm thinking about doing Clarisse and Chris.

Erudite19