Leo's POV

I was trying to concentrate on the piece of the mast for the Argo II, but Jake wouldn't stop talking about this girl he heard singing down at the amphitheatre earlier, and it was sort of starting to annoy me. Sure, he was only older then me by what, a month or two? Whatever. He just kept droning on and on and on …

"… And she is so gorgeous too, long blonde hair, grey blue eyes, tall, but not too tall, funny, smart …" this all rang a bell in my head.

"Isn't that Ashton?" I asked, keeping my head down as to look like I was still concentrating on my work, but my heart was waiting for the answer.

"Yeah, Ashton. Gorgeous isn't she?" I let down the hammer on the shield I was making so hard it made a dent that spread so thin there was only about a quarter of an inch between it and the cement block that was underneath.

"Whoa, you ok dude?" he asked so innocently.

"Yeah. Fine." I replied curtly. I threw the shield back in the melting pot and walked out the door of the forge.

I walked down a random path that I had seen a few times before, but never really considered going down. Almost immediately Percy caught up with me.

"Hey Percy." I said staring straight ahead.

"Hey Leo!" he said way too cheerily.

"Why are you so cheery?"

"Cause I know something you don't!" he said in a sing song voice.

"Ugh. About me?" I said looking at him. He was grinning like a toddler who had gotten away with something very evil.

"Yup!"

"Well, go on then, tell me." I sighed and rolled my eyes.

"Well, a little birdie told me, that the new girl Ashton has a thing for you. Same birdie also told me that you are her favourite character!"

"Uhhh …." Brain fart. A girl like Ashton, and me? She really likes me? Im her favourite character? But I barely had a part in that quest!

"Big shocker hey?" he said before running off in the other direction, leaving me standing there with a dumbfounded look on my face. I turned around and started walking the other way towards the cabins. I needed some thinking time, and I also needed some advice. I was almost at my cabin when Lacy walked out of cabin 5. The Aphrodite cabin.

"HEY! LACY!" I yelled, a few heads turned, but the most important was hers. She smiled when she saw me. she walked towards me and stopped just in front of me.

"Hey Leo!"

"I need some help." I confessed.

"With?" she asked raising an eyebrow.

"Well … a girl." I said sighing and relaxing my shoulders.

"!" was her response. It was a high pitch squeal. I knew this was going to happen, so why didn't I prepare myself? Stupid Leo.

"Whoa, calm down." I said putting my hands on her shoulders; she was bouncing up and down.

"Who is it? Who is it? Common tell me!"

"Ok. Its umm … have you met the knew girl Ashton?" she thought for a moment,

"Long wavy blonde hair, blue grey eyes, tall, athletic?" she asked.

"Yeah, that's her."

"Omigods you two would look so amazing together!" she cried. Now everybody was interested in our buisness.

"Hush it señora." I whispered. She calmed down immediately.

"So what do you need help with?"

"I need to know … if she would ever consider … yenno … going out with a guy like me." I finally admitted.

"Well, the first thing you do, get to know her more, but don't become her best friend."

"Why not?" I thought that's how you got girls …

"Because then you'll never get past that stage. Ive had that happen with my friends way to many times to see you suffer the same pain."

"Ok …."

"Then, let the girls of Aphrodite work their magic and voila! Instant girlfriend. That is what you want right?"

"Yeah, long term relationship would be nice right now …" I said, zoning out a bit.

"And im pretty sure that its all that she'll want, I guarantee it." she said confidently.

"Ok, so how long will this take?" I asked impatiently.

"Why so impatient? Oh, wait … is there another guy in the picture?" she said, finding my eyes and looking directly in them. Jeez, these Aphrodite girls take love so seriously.

"Yeah, maybe more, it seems like she woes every guy she meets unless they already have a girl."

"A girl of Aphrodite's dream …" she said sighing happily, and looking off into the distance.

"Lacy!" I said to get her attention back.

"Hmm? Oh yes. This other guy. Well, get to know her better then he, and we will work on this as fast as we can. Ill make it the top project of our cabin for this week, after that, well, we have a lot of couples to get together, so we are on a tight schedule. After this week, you'll have to make do yourself."

"Other couples?" I asked confused. Sure I know that the Aphrodite kids hook people up, but are they the reason for most of the relationships at camp? I didn't know they had that kind of power over love … hmm.

"Duh, Travis and Katie? Who do you think tricked Katie into saying yes? And now look how happy they are. Percy and Annabeth? Well, that was mum.

"Oh … well ... id really appreciate it if you help me." I said shyly.

"No problem! Ill gets my best girls on it right away!"

"Thanks Lacy, I really appreciate it." I said giving her a small smile.

"No prob Leo, just keep working on those muscles and you'll have girls in no time!"

"What?" I said looking at my arms.

"Im just joking Leo, you are perfectly hot the way you are!" she said before giving me aquick kiss on the cheek then running back into her cabin.