4th chapter- enjoy!

And yes... I am alive! Ahem. Sorry for the long wait! Just three more days and school starts again. :( Really loud in the background, I swear. HAPPY NEW YEAR! :D

I'd like to thank Kheilynn, socrgrl14, Don-Jam, Gypsy1213, Erin Hunters 4 Ever, CharkO, Goddess of Revenge, Otakugirl 13, UltimateLoveStorys, and magicdemi-god223 for reviewing. Stay loving and keep on reading!

Tnx for the Favorites and Alerts! :3

Sadly, I do not own PJO. But I do own my OCs. :):

Confessions of a Non-Shopaholic

THRID PERSON'S POV

Loud, impatient knocking and doorbell ringing woke up Apollo.

Apollo hesitantly opened his right eye, then his left. He slowly sat up, and to his surprise, realized he had been sleeping on the couch and the TV was still blaring.

Huh. How'd I get here? He thought curiously, eyeing the snacks that were left unopened on the coffee table. Oh yeah... I must've slept while watching.

KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK! DING-DONG! DING-DONG! DING-DONG!

Groaning, Apollo rolled to the side and stood up, walking to the direct of his sister's room. "Arty's—I mean Alodia's coming!" He said groggily. He jiggled the doorknob, but it was lock. "Allie!" Apollo called out, using his new nickname for his sister's temporary name. "Wake up! Can you check who's knocking?" He paused and checked for a response. He waited for a few minutes, and then...

"Oh, so now you're calling me Allie? And why can't you do it Apollo? You're already up...!" was Artemis's irritated response.

"I'm still sleeping!" Apollo whined, weakly banging on the door. He stopped when he heard Artemis muttering in Greek and finally, she unlocked the doorknob and opened the door.

"Still sleeping?" Artemis repeated, glaring at Apollo. "Aren't you usually a morning person?"

Apollo shrugged. "Hey, you can't blame me. I slept late last night."

"So did I," replied Artemis. "You kept disturbing me."

Ignoring Artemis, the sun god asked, "And did you know I slept on the couch last night with the TV still on?"

"Whatever, Apollo," Artemis said and walked to the main door, muttering, "Who would bother seventh graders at nine in the morning?"

Artemis stood on her toes and looked through the peephole. There, she saw an unfamiliar teen-aged girl knocking on the door impatiently and mumbling some unclear words.

"Do you know who is it?" Apollo called from the couch.

Artemis shook her head no, and was about to unlock the door when the teenager spoke. "M'gods! I am tired acting polite—"

Polite?

"—to those deaf gods! I've been knocking for, like, forever! Since when did they even care about their beauty sleep? Especially that Artemis… Good thing we're going to the mall today. She's so going to need beauty advice…"

Wait. Gods? Beauty Sleep? Mall? Artemis looked through the peephole again, staring hard at the ranting girl. This time, she noticed her features kept on changing, like they were trying to match Artemis's taste of beauty.

"Aphrodite?" she gasped, unlocking the door.

Aphrodite ceased ranting and smirked, placing her hands on her cocked hips. "Finally! One of you bothered to answer the doo-oo-oor…!" She pushed the shocked Artemis aside and walked in the suite.

"H-Hey!" Artemis blurted as she closed the door as gently as she could. "Who told you—"

"Just look at you, Allie," the love goddess snorted, ignoring the glares Artemis was shooting her. "Did you escape from the mental hospital last night and accidentally got hit by this garbage truck, and then got caught in some tornado?"

"I just woke up!" Artemis hissed. "And don't call me—"

"Please! I don't look like some distressed prisoner when I wake up. When I wake up, I look like… like a beauty goddess who's posing as Kate Middleton!"

"Prince William will be very upset when he finds out a love and self-obsessed goddess is posing as his wife. And what will the people of England think?" Artemis shot back, rolling her eyes. Is she this vain early in the morning?

Aphrodite was about to say something back, when Apollo butted in. "Aphrodite? What're you doing here?"

"To take you to the mall, of course!" Aphrodite said brightly, her mood changing quickly.

"Huh?" The twins asked in unison, looking at her with blank faces.

"Zeus told me I should accompany you to the mall today! He said I had the best shopping taste, and although I do agree, I think he just wants to get rid of me because I kept nagging that he should clean the public toilets back In Olympus." Aphrodite rolled her eyes at the thought. "And if I remember correctly, you two don't have any available clothes, correct?"

The twins embarrassingly looked down at their clothes, tugging the hems.

"So you've been wearing the same clothes since yesterday? Oh, I think I'm going to faint! Or vomit! Or both!" Aphrodite exclaimed dramatically. After composing herself, she glared at the twins. "How come you didn't IM us for a change of clothes? Or maybe enough money so you two can go shopping?"

"We did!"

"And no one responded!"

"Oops, sorry. We must've been arguing about the toilets at that time. Then what about dinner?"

"We got a take-out,"

"Food before fashion to have energy to shop, I guess," Aphrodite mumbled, looking for a change of topic. "I must say I just love, love your suite! So sophisticated and expensive-looking! "But I think it looks better with purple? Or pink? What do you think?"

"This place looks better without you here," Artemis muttered under her breath.

"What was that, honey?" Aphrodite's voice was sugary-sweet, but her eyes told a different story.

"No. It doesn't look better in pink."

Aphrodite squinted. "Why don't you two freshen up so we can leave for the mall now?"

"We don't have any fresh clothes to wear right now!" Apollo complained, tugging the sleeves of his shirt.

Aphrodite sighed and snapped her fingers. A new set of clothes for Apollo landed on the couch. Artemis's clothes landed on her head.

"Great, thanks!" Apollo said gratefully, and left for the bathroom.

"If we have a new pile of clothes right now," Artemis said, angrily taking off the pants that was covering half her face, "why do we still need to go shopping? Can't you just make clothes appear with a snap of your fingers?"

"Zeus said you two need to get used to buying things for yourselves. And shopping can be fun, you know!"

oo00oo

THIRD PERSON'S POV

"This is a waste of time and money," Artemis declared, eyeing the multiple shopping bags one woman was carrying. "Do we even have money?"

Aphrodite giggled and opened her Gucci handbag. She reached in and took out a wallet, handing it to Artemis.

"Seriously?" Apollo asked after seeing the wad of cash in the wallet. "Did you steal a bank?"

"Maybe…" Aphrodite said mysteriously, grabbing back her wallet. "Or maybe not…"

"You've got to be kidding me..."

"By the way, call me Olivia, okay? And if anyone asks, I'm your cousin!" Aphrodite whispered to the twins, smiling at two boys who were checking her out.

"And why is that?"

"Allie, Allie, Allie," Aphrodite sighed, "it's kind of—"

"How come Olivia gets to call you Allie?" Apollo demanded, looking hurt.

"I—"

"See? Andrew's already calling me Olivia,"

Artemis sighed in defeat. "Let's just go,"

"There's the shopping spirit!" Aphrodite cheered. "Just be a little more lively, 'kay, hon?"

"I just want to get out of here quick."

"How come? Shopping is really enjoyable!" Aphrodite exclaimed childishly.

"For you, maybe. Just make those 'things' appear with a snap of your fingers and bring us back home, then return here to resume shopping. This is such a big waste of our time!"

"Uhh... We're already here, Allie. If we go back to your hotel without buying anything or at least window shopping... won't that be a waste of time?"

"She's got a point, sis,"

"I always do! Now come on, let's go shopping!"

oo00oo

ARTEMIS'S POV

I stared at the boy and Aphro—I mean Olivia, in horror and disgust.

Why shouldn't I? They were complete strangers to each other and they were already flirting! Teenagers these days...

"Olivia," I said quietly, tapping her shoulder, "aren't we supposed to be... shopping?" And not watching you flirt with a random guy? I mentally seethed.

"Ignore my cousin," Aphrodite instructed the brunet, "she's just really confusing sometimes. At first, she wasn't into the idea of shopping. And now..." She made a crude hand gesture and rolled her eyes.

The boy pouted in a way that was cute... to other girls, maybe. "Gonna leave?"

"Soon," Aphrodite sighed. "I guess we're just waiting for her brother."

Was she actually sad that she'll be leaving this boy?

The stranger turned to me, smiling as he eyed the few bags in my arms. "I'll bring those if you want,"

"No thanks."

The boy raised an eyebrow, as if he couldn't believe I turned his offer down. Finally, he turned to leave and waved good bye without looking back at us.

"Hey, sis, Olivia!" Apollo said, suddenly appearing beside us, three smoothies in his hands. "Who was that guy?"

The two of us turned to Aphrodite and waited for her to say his name. After seconds of silence, she replied, "No idea,"

"You two were flirting and you didn't bother to ask his name?" I snorted. "By the way, when will you carry your own bags?" I asked, hitting a C&C shopping bag with my knee.

"Hey, I'm carrying these too, so don't complain," Aphrodite kicked two plastic bags from the bookstore using her high heeled foot.

"Well, the things in those bags are ours. The stuff in these shopping bags I'm holding are yours." I pointed out. I turned to my brother and opened my mouth to speak, but he interrupted me.

"I'm not holding those bags for you," he said, pausing to slurp his smoothie, and then continued. "Olivia, I thought we were here to buy our clothes and stuff for school. Not yours."

"Yeah, yeah. I'm done buying my clothes anyways. I think... I don't know. We'll see what I find in the other stores when we're checking clothes for you two." Aphrodite finished her strawberry-banana smoothie and threw the cup in the bin next to the bench she was sitting on, standing up. "Let's go."

Sighing, Apollo and I followed her into DKNY.

"Hey, welcome to DKNY!" A perky, dark-skinned salesgirl greeted. "Love your top, by the way. We have that here! I think the medium or smallest size can fit your friend." The salesgirl complemented Aphrodite as she pointed to me.

I side-glanced Aphrodite's top. It was pale yellow with a group of bronze sequins near the collar bone. It was nice and simple. If I can't convince Aphrodite to just make some clothes appear using her godly powers, might as well buy a few.

"Nice skinny jeans too. From Sevens?"

Aphrodite nodded her head.

"Cool. How much?"

"I don't know. After I found out it fit me, I just bought it without checking the price,"

The two laughed as if they were sharing some hilarious joke. After the laughing died down, Aphrodite shooed the salesgirl away.

"As if she can afford it," Aphrodite said, rolling her eyes. "Anyway, meet me here in twenty, yeah? " She turned to leave, but Apollo stopped her.

"Don't leave me here! I don't want to buy some clothes from... from this place!" He protested, eyes scanning the racks of fashionable clothes.

"I'm also checking out some clothes from 'this place,'" Aphrodite informed him. "I'm not leaving you alone either. You might get lost... again. This mall is a very big place, you know."

Apollo's cheeks turned into a shade of light pink that matched Aphrodite's blush. "Hopefully, I'll get lost in a place fit for my gender."

"Just help Allie look for clothes," Aphrodite instructed my twin, leaving us.

"Fine," Apollo huffed and grabbed a random shirt. "How 'bout this?"

I shook my head and continued my search.

"Why not? I think it'll look good on you, sis," Apollo said, putting back the tube top on the shelf. "If you don't wanna show skin, just use a jacket or something."

Ignoring him, I searched a rack that was holding the same shirt as Aphrodite's. A glint to me left went unnoticed by me. It was a bluish-white shirt that had the same design as Aphrodite's, but the sequins were silver. I grabbed that one triumphantly.

I headed for the dressing room and found Aphrodite leaving a stall with an armload of clothes.

"Aphrodite, I'm not carrying those,"

"Who says I'll be buying all of these? Oh, and here." She dropped the clothes on a white couch and picked up a few and handed them to me.

I sighed as I got them and entered a vacant stall. At least she knew I didn't like showing that much skin.

After what seemed like forever, we left the store. Honestly? It was better than expected, minus Apollo's obnoxious complaining and Aphrodite almost causing World War 3 with another shopper.

"Oooh!" Aphrodite suddenly squealed. "Hey, Bath & Body Works or Victoria's Secret?"

My eyebrows drew close as I followed her arms to the stores she was pointing at. "Oh. Perfume stores?" Aphrodite nodded expectantly. "Um, I don't know... Sorry?"

Aphrodite rolled her eyes. "Right. I forgot who I was asking." She muttered as she signaled us two follow her to Victoria's Secret. Apollo went in the huge shop, but I stayed just in front of the entrance.

"I'll wait here,"

I waited and waited, and started to wonder what took them so long. I know Aphrodite, so I guess I'm supposed to be wondering what was Apollo doing. I peeked in the store's sultry exterior, my eyes widening. I should've expected this.

That pervert!

I angrily stomped to where Apollo was and grabbed him by the collar.

"Oof! Hey, what the heck?"

"One of the reasons I hate males," I angrily declared, "is because most of them are perverts!"

Apollo gulped nervously and gave me a weak smile. "I was just—"

"Having fun looking at girls like her?" I asked, poking the poster that showed a raven haired girl sporting nothing but a red silk bra with matching underwear.

"S-She was—"

I slapped him. Not too hard, of course—just enough to kill the invisible mosquito on his cheek. But the salesman (and Apollo) didn't know that.

"Ma'am, if you'd kindly—"

"This is a store that not just sells perfume but also undergarments for women..." I kept repeating as I pulled my sniffling brother to the counter where I spotted Aphrodite.

"Hey, I thought—Why's Andrew...?"

"It should be illegal for men to enter stores like this or even work here."

oo00oo

THIRD PERSON'S POV

Artemis tiredly sighed as she lay down on her comfy bed. She glanced at the phone Aphrodite gave her. ("It's the Age of Modern Technology, after all!") The screen glowed 3:41 P.M., but her internal clock said it was twelve midnight. Who knew shopping could be so tiring and stressful?

Someone knocked at her door softly. It was the love goddess. "Apollo told me to help you fix your stuff first. Let's do your clothes."

Artemis hesitantly got up and picked up one of the shopping bags that lay at the bed's foot. Slowly, she dumped the contents.

"Hey! You don't treat silk that way!"

Silk? Artemis looked down and saw a particular pink necktie top... which she knew she rejected.

"Aphrodite..."

"Sorry, but it was cute on you!"

"And this dress! I didn't want it either!" Artemis complained. "Wait... Don't tell me that the outfits I rejected... you still bought them?"

"Some," Aphrodite admitted.

Ugh...! Hopefully, my Hunters are having a better time,

oo00oo

THIRD PERSON'S POV

"Whoa," Nico said as he stepped out of the black portal he created. He stepped to his left, missing a silver arrow that whizzed by, but bumped into a tree instead.

"Nico!" Percy called out.

"Percy," Nico nodded at the older boy, surveying the scene in front of him. "Are the Hunters...?"

"Yeah, they're here. It seems that the twin gods got punished and were sent to this school in New York till summer, so Artemis sent her Hunters here. They didn't want to tell us the reason at first. But this girl, Joyce Andrews, spilled it out. Turns out, she has a big mouth."

Nico snickered. "Is that why the camp looks like it's been attacked by Titans?"

"No," Percy snorted, "just a while ago, this kid flirted with a Hunter."

"Like father, like son," a voice behind them chuckled. From the shadows, Thalia emerged. Percy noticed that her arm had a cut.

"Thalia! You okay?"

"Don't worry; just a small cut." She turned to Nico. "Glad you arrived. Even Chiron's having a hard time to calm down Beatrice."

"Beatrice?"

"The girl who started this mess. She absolutely can't stand boys. So when Mark, the son of Apollo, put a shoulder around her and started flirting with her..." Thalia spread her arms.

"She caused all of this?"

"Nah. Just started. The others tried to stop her from murdering Mark... though... it's like stopping a monster on the loose. But she's pretty over dramatic, if you ask me." Percy explained.

"Wow," was all Nico could say.

"BEAAA!" A voice screamed. "C'mon, stop! Take deep breaths and say the things I taught you before to Mark! Just say—OUUCCCH!"

"'Nother girl down," Percy sighed. "Gods, so annoying."

"Seaweed Brain, stop getting distracted! Get your butt wherever Mark is!" Annabeth growled.

"She's pretty stressed with the mess," Percy sighed as he ran towards the raging blonde.

"She sure is," Nico whistled. "So... Who was that girl—"

"Who? Joyce? She's Beatrice's best friend. Couldn't stop her own friend either."

"What was she talking about?"

"A few days before we went here Joyce taught us how to reject boys and say they're ugly at the same time."

"A perfect time to visit, then," Nico grumbled.

"Beatrice," Chiron shouted, "please stop overreacting. You are causing us to get worked up because of a petty reason."

"Ugh...! Hopefully, Lady Artemis is having a better time,"

Pls. review!

Hmmm... Not much Apollo here. I'll let him hog the spotlight in the next chapter!

Funny thing, the Victoria Secret scene was loosely based on an experience during a visit in the States. Minus the slapping and fighting, of course.

Some practices and details for the school in the next chapter will be different from the usual American school since I come from a different country. As much as possible, I'll try to make it similar.

Also, I'll be having a contest of sorts. I'm going to need a clique name and I just can't decide. So hopefully you guys can send in a group name. Once I get at least two clique names, we'll be able to vote through the poll I'll set up. You'll find out the winner in whatever chapter the clique will appear or through the poll.