Reyna-Wednesday:

"Damn it," I sighed as I looked back down at the forest we had to walk back down to get to our bus so that we could finally get back to the hotel. My feet hurt like the devil, and I could have drunk a gallon of water at that moment. The banging in my head had lessened after I took the Advil, but it was still there as if it were scars of being bullied as a child.

"Eh," Jordon shrugged as he looked in the same direction I was. My eyes widened as I looked at him, ignoring how he seemed completely perfect. To make it worse, Jordon looked at me as well, which made me weak in the knees.

"No, that is not 'Eh'. That is 'Damn it, more walking'. 'Eh' is when you are thinking about walking across a mall," I complained, and he held in a snicker as he just looked out once more.

"You gotta admit that 'Damn it, more walking' is beautiful," Jordon smirked, and, instead of looking out at it like I was supposed to, I looked at him.

He really was… perfect. My stomach flipped, and I could have passed out right there on the green grass. I became a little lightheaded and could have seriously used a drink. I didn't know how he saw me. When I was younger, I used to think he saw me like a little sister, not someone he could ever fall for. When I got here, I thought he could like me, but, every time he's about to make a move, something stops him. So, I'm stuck standing here.

Most of the girls were taking advantage of extremely hot day by tanning in barely-there bikinis, hiding up in their air-conditioned cabins with something ice-cold, sporting booty-shorts without a second look, or holding fans up to their face until the batteries would die. I wanted to be one of them, but I was not.

No, Jordon, who had been suffering from a cold for the last week, wanted me to help him to get him back on track with his lessons and sorts.

It had been two months since I last talked to Jason, and the reason we talked then was because it was the beginning of summer. Our chat didn't last as long as it usually did as we only talked for an hour before he rushed off, leaving me alone in the summer night on a mountain. We hadn't talked much recently, I'm afraid. I don't know what it is. We both hold the same position basically in the First Legion.

But we both took it differently. He let it get to his head, and I let it do the opposite. Before we had been appointed, he was everything to me, and likewise to him. Now? He's a jackass in the skin that used to hold my best friend.

I shoved my hands into my capris pockets. When I was in the safety of my cabin, with kids lounging around in linen pajamas and playing some board game on the floor, I hadn't been self-conscious about what I was wearing, but the moment I walked out here, it was like, BOOM! The girls my age were all wearing loose tee-shirts, or tank tops, with a pair of short shorts, and the older ones were wearing bikinis under a tank top and jean shorts. I was wearing 'Screw Being a Princess. I Want To Be a Vampire' tee-shirt, courtesy of Jordon as an old personal joke, kaki capris, black converse, and a Nike 'Do It' backpack. I had hoped to be the needle in the haystack, different but hard to notice, but I was like a girl from NYC walking into the middle of some colt's compound. Everyone noticed me and for all the wrong reasons. People respected me, as I was in the First Legion. So, they'd never say anything, but it was what they were thinking that made me wonder.

As I watched when my converse crunched on the dying grass with each step I took, I spotted someone out of the corner of my eye.

A blonde someone.

A blue-eyed someone.

A tan someone.

My breathing stopped like I had just slammed on breaks. Jason. It was Jason. I didn't know what to do. I wanted to talk to him so badly, but I wouldn't know what to say. I forced my legs to walk in the direction of where Jordon wanted me to meet him, even if it was the same direction as Jason Grace.

I prepared myself for him to say something when I reached him. He noticed me all right. I knew that, but I didn't know what he was going to say. I was picturing it when I realized he had walked passed me and towards the lake, with a girl on one side of him and a boy, Bobby, on the other. My body involuntarily turned around to watch him. While I was managing a gasp of 'Oh No He Didn't' from what little breath I had, I felt a tap on my right shoulder.

"And he's finally out of the infirmary!" I smiled, pretending I wasn't insulted by Jason, and hugged Jordon. He was smiling as I did so, and I let that erase Jason ignoring me from my heart. Who cares if he ignored me? It's his loss anyway.

"It's nice to see you, too, Rey-Bay," he smirked, making me smile. He was the only one who could blot out Jason. A lot of people had tried, especially Nyssa, but he really did it. Fine, the cookies and cream ice cream from Nyssa help a little bit, but still.

"Okay, so, we have sword training, history of the gods, 'Monsters and Their Weaknesses', and Archery to catch up on," I was about to name off the lessons that he missed as well within those courses, but he cut in before I could.

"Or, we could go get some ice cream from the cafeteria. Then, do all that," Jordon smiled that mischievous smile that had gotten me into trouble more than I'd care to admit. Usually, I would have pushed on with doing our work, but, at that precise moment, I felt like I was going to collapse from too much sun exposure as if I was a vampire.

"Fine," I met Jordon's expectant gaze. He smiled, and I have no idea if it was for the ice cream or the fact that I was looking straight into his eyes. All I knew was that I was smiling for the second reason.

I snapped myself out of the memory. That had been forever ago back when Jordon's kinky curls looked more like a hat than the extremely cute mess they were now. It has also been forever ago when Jason used to go out of his way to ignore me as, now, that's my job.

"Do you think that 'Damn it, more walking' will survive the war?" I looked back down at the forest, suddenly feeling sick at the thought of all this beauty being destroyed by us.

Jordon took a while before he answered, which made me nervous for some weird reason. I knew there was a war coming, and I knew that wars don't look pretty. So, why did I care about this one spot the most? Shouldn't I be worried for things like the Parthenon or a town where people actually live?

"I don't know, Reyna," Jordon didn't smile or shrug like he usually did when he said that line. I simply tucked my red hair behind my ear. As I thought about the tattoo imprinted on my back, right below my neck and right shoulder, I tried to push away the pain I remembered about it. Getting to the First Legion was the hardest thing I've ever done, and it still hurt like hell to think about. Lupa has the guys get the tattoos on their arms and the girls get on their backs. I don't know why she does that. Jason and I used to talk about it, but we soon forgot the conversation for something else.

"Come on, Nyssa's probably about to have her 'Octavian' break down. We should probably go check on her," Jordon told me in a fake chipper voice. I didn't ask anything about it though. If he wanted me to know what was wrong, he would have told me, and, if I was going to pester him into telling me, here wasn't the place.

Leo-Wednesday Morning:

"Okay, truth or dare?" Jason asked me as he took a bite of his Captain Crunch cereal.

Usually, I was the one to eat cereal, Piper would have eggs and whole wheat toast, and Jason would have something with protein. But everything seemed different about today. Piper was munching on French Toast that were drowning in Maple Syrup, Jason was eating cereal and had a shot of tequila when he got up, and I was stuck eating bacon and scrambled eggs because Jason took the last of the Captain Crunch. Other than our odd eating habits for the day we looked different, too. Piper was wearing dark wash jeans even though it was July and a Camp Half-Blood tee shirt that seemed to belong to someone like Percy because it was way too big for her. Her hair was in a frizzy ponytail, and she looked like she hadn't slept in days. Jason, on the other hand, looked too rested. His hair was in such a mess that you'd think he just stood on top of a windy mountain and put some gel in his hair to make it stay that way. His outfit looked like it had just escaped Percy's closet by being a purple camp tee shirt and board shorts. Jason's eyes weren't blood shot like they usually got after he drinks Tequila, and he had been in a talkative mood all morning. Piper, who was usually the one to do all the talking was taking a sip of her orange juice, which I have a feeling wasn't just orange juice, every twenty seconds as if she were nervous.

"Truth."

What? I'm not chicken, but everything has been off all day. I'm not going to risk doing a dare when he's like this.

"Is it true that you and Drew hooked up?" Jason asked, but it sounded more like it had come from Piper, not him.

I thought about what to say for a moment or two. Piper would get extremely jealous if I said that we had, but Jason might take that as a sign to make a move on Piper. And, Drew and I weren't really a… thing yet. I mean, we could be. She's really great to talk to and all, but I don't know. I mean, wouldn't that make me just as low as Piper if I only started dating Drew to make Piper jealous? Or, was I even still trying to make her jealous?

Ugh, I don't like this.

"I don't know," I finally shrugged, and Piper shot a quick glance at me before taking a long gulp of whatever was in that glass. Jason took another bite of his cereal when he thought of this.

"Okay, do you want to hook-up with Drew?" Jason shrugged at me, and that made me go even worse. My brain could barely process anything that was going on around me, and I felt my cheeks get really hot.

And I really hoped it was because of the bacon I was eating.

"I…uh, well, I..." I stuttered, and Piper, who I thought wanted to hear this more than Jason, took that as her cue.

"Jason, you already asked a question for truth. It's my turn," Piper told him, and Jason just shrugged once more as if to say 'it's all yours.'

Piper looked between Jason and me to decide who she was going to ask. I would have said something like 'Einee meanie miney mo' or 'My mother told me to pick the very best one and it is you' to decide just to get a laugh out of them, but Piper wouldn't do that. She picks her favorite, which is why I've only been asked by her about four times.

"Jason, truth or dare?"

See.

"Dare," Jason smirked.

What the hell is up with him?

Piper pursed her raspberry pink lips in thought as she always did. I started to remember how she also does that when she's jealous, and I began to wonder if she was going to throw something at me again. But, as she looked at Drew, she smiled with a plan, which made my stomach churn.

"Okay, in the Venus cabin, there are a bunch of these," Piper shook a little fan, water-squirting thing for a good measure, "Put a little of this in each one," Piper handed him a water bottle, and we both looked at Piper questioningly. With his eyes still narrowed at her, Jason uncapped the bottle and took a small sip.

"What the hell is it with you both keeping alcohol in your bags?" Jason looked between us.

"I live with the Aphrodite cabin in the middle of 'frizz' season. You seriously think I don't need vodka every now and then?" Piper rolled her eyes, and Jason looked back down to the bottle like it was evil in its purest form. Then he looked back at what breakfast he had left longingly.

"I'll be back in a few minutes," Jason got up and left the cafeteria, leaving just me and Piper.

I didn't know if she made him leave on purpose or what, but it was definitely just us. Piper opened her mouth to say something, but nothing came out. She scooted into Jason's old seat to where she was looking directly at me instead. I waited for a few moments, unable to say anything. Her blue eyes fluttered down to the steel table like she couldn't think of anything.

"So…" I puffed up my cheeks like I do when I'm nervous even though I knew Piper always said I looked insane when I did that. She placed her elbows on the table and leaned over to talk to me.

"So..." Piper smiled like it was a personal joke, not just one word. Before, I would have smiled, too, but a lot had changed since then. I loved her, but I don't know if I trust her anymore. And what's love without trust?

"So, why'd you ask Jason to put vodka in that spraying thingy?" I asked, knitting my eyebrows at the end. What the hell was the name of that damn thing? I didn't mean to be distant, but it was all I could manage.

"Because I knew some of the fourteen year olds are going to be in the bathroom all morning because they told me that they were skipping lunch when we left," Piper smiled mischievously.

"So, how long will he really be?" I smiled the exact smile.

"If he's lucky, four minutes," she didn't tear her eyes away from me which felt nice for some odd reason. So, I did the same, even if I could see Annabeth glaring at Piper out of the corner of my eye. They hadn't talked in weeks, and it felt weird. Of course, I know exactly why Annabeth is avoiding Piper. I mean, with how much Percy and Jason are alike, it was almost like Piper was trying to take Percy, and it's like the trust just evaporated.

"That's my girl," I didn't mean for it come out, but it did. I was about to retract it, but I noticed how Piper's smile grew.

Before anything more could be said, I heard something behind me. The fresh rubber from sneakers was squeaking against the white linoleum floor. Heavy panting accompanied it, and I could hear people turning down to look towards it. I didn't even need to look behind me to know exactly who it was.

As if on cue, Piper removed her elbows and slid back into her old seat, taking a sip of her orange juice once more as if nothing had happened at all. A few moments later Jason plopped down in his seat, panting like a maniac.

"When I walked through the…" deep breath "front door, I could hear them talking…" deep breath "in the bathroom."

Jason took another deep breath as he thrust the bottle of vodka to Piper. She stifled a smile and slid back into her bag.

Piper-Wednesday:

Everything was different in the Roman camp.

Back home, the girls were the pretty and girly side of Aphrodite, but the Venus are different.

They're like little harpies. They're beauty is an advantage. They'll make you think they're delicate and fragile, but they'll kick your ass without another thought about it. The guys are also different. True, they are a little more normal, but they act like Apollo more than anything. Actually, that is the perfect way to describe them. Perfect-looking, Casanova, kick your ass with a bow and arrow.

Either way, even the Venus kids don't really like the Aphrodite cabin, but they stick up for us because we're together even if we don't want to be. We're one, no matter how we act inside the cabin.

But there is definitely one thing that is the same:

They hate 'Man-Stealers', which they think I am.

I keep worrying that Drew, who has severely changed her act since I booted her ass down, is going to try to take my counselor spot. It's the only constant thing in my life, and I need it. I didn't mean to be a 'man-stealer'. I just wanted Jason really badly, and, damn, I'm not the only one who went crazy for a guy. Leslie even slept with a guy when she knew he was dating one of her good friends. I mean, isn't that way worse? We're the kids of freakin' Aphrodite? It's a damn given that we're going to be hopeless romantics.

I've redeemed myself mostly, but there is still something there as if I'm continuously under observation to make sure I do everything correctly. So, I had to be better than I usually should be, meaning I was stuck in my bedroom when everyone else was at a party.

I put a lime green highlighter against the paper that went over the last counselor meeting we had. It gave me instructions for running things, but we were having another tomorrow because we were leaving this Friday morning.

My eyes strained, and I took a sip of my coke. It didn't help though. Instead, it just gave me a sick headache and made me want to take a long nap. I looked at the clock in the corner as it ticked closer and closer to midnight. I knew Drew was out at the party with Leo, which made me want to growl. Jason was on a night hike with the other First Legion kids.

So, I had every damn right to act so much like a bitch that you thought I was PMSing.

I tried to force my eyes back to the report I was supposed to be reading, but I finally gave up. Okay, I'll just take a little nap, not go to sleep. It's only midnight. Who the hell goes to sleep right now? I slid the papers to the foot of my bed and rested my head on my pillow

XXXXXXX

I tried to force my eyes open, but I couldn't do it.

Oh damn it! I fell asleep!

I sat up immediately and looked over at the clock.

2:01 am

I looked around me, expecting to see them all back, but only three of them were. Those three were asleep, but I was missing two of the girls who went to the party. They were still there?

"I knew I was missing a good party," I mumbled, and I was about to lie back down on the bed when I heard some talking in the hall. Without even so much as another thought, I got out of my bed, trying my damn hardest not to make a noise as I did so. I found myself almost holding my breath, but I didn't stop myself. I cringed as my left foot made a squeak in the floor boards as I reached the door. Slowly, I placed my ear to where it was basically on the wooden door.

"Drew, how much did you drink?" one girl giggled drunkenly, but I had no idea who the hell she was. Drew did the same drunk giggle, and I heard the sound of stilettos in random places as if the girls were stumbling.

"Not nearly as much as you did," Drew slurred with a somewhat perky manner.

"Why aren't you with Leo? The whole camp knows you're trying to land him," the other one smirked, and I heard her slide off her heels.

"I'm taking it slow. I kinda like this guy," I could picture Drew's ruby red lips formed in a smile that was covered in enough lip gloss to look just like her glossy eyes.

"Sweetie, it's been a week, and you haven't even kissed the damn guy. You're one more 'Leaving a party without each other' until you both are stuck in the friend zone."

I could hear the other girl pad her way into the room first by the door, but I didn't hear Drew move an inch. I perked my head up a little bit to the window installed in this door. It's only for the more powerful kids. So, the window is only in this room, and you can't see in it. Everyone thinks it's just a dry erase thing because we like to write on it with erasable markers. I don't know if someone in here said that or if someone out there just said it.

Drew was standing in the middle of the hallway, looking at herself in the mirror. She looked pretty great to tell you the truth. A shiny, red mini dress was either showing off her curves or making them. She toyed with the ruby necklace her mother gave her as a thirteenth birthday present. Sure, it also

unctions to make iris messages, but that isn't why she's wearing it. The three-inch high red, Prada heels made Drew look a whole lot taller, and her red lipstick pulled everything off. But I knew she definitely didn't feel pretty at that moment.

She typed something into her iphone. I have no idea what the hell it was, but it made her face lose any invulnerability to where she looked like a heartless bitch. Her eyes were hard with a plan, but I could still see the pain in the back.

"I can do this," her voice was small but powerful, and, though I didn't know what the hell 'this' was, I knew I wasn't going to like it.

Okay, I've been through a family thing, and now, it may get even worse. So, this story won't end for a while. I only have two or so chapters left, and maybe one day I'll go back and rewrite the beginning of this story because it's honestly two different stories. So, wish me luck. Right now I have to go watch some videos on K-12 or my mom will kill me.