Dpov

If you gave me a million guess as to the consequences of skipping breakfast for the third day in a row of my camp visit over spring break, 'girl sitting on my bed' would never have been one of them.

I stepped out of the shop door to see her there, dark hair tossed over her shoulders and familiar glamor model looks, appearing for all the world like she thought she belonged between the wrenches and power tools.

"I thought girls like you were the one that had stalkers." I said frowning, stopping in my tracks as I spotted her. "Not became them.

"Girl's like me?" Lorelei asked sounding amused as she glanced back at me.

"Yeah, you know," I said suddenly feeling a bit awkward as she raised an eyebrow and I gestured to hear appearance in general. "The whole Aphrodite aura attractive thing."

This seemed to catch her off guard because she laughed, and it sounded surprisingly genuine.

"The what?"

"You know what I'm talking about." I said gruffly, feeling a little idiotic until I noticed that once again, she'd been looking at my PC set up.

"Get away from that." I said annoyed. "It's expensive."

"What? Afraid I'm going to get too much aura on your fancy machine?" she asked and while her tone was teasing, it was also a little cool.

"I don't like people touching my stuff." I said a little annoyed, she still hadn't moved. "People break things."

"Ah yes, Gods forbid someone breathes in the wrong direction of your electronics." She said rolling her eyes. "I'm sure it would be difficult for you to find anyone around here that could help you fix it."

She gestured around at the multitude of workbenches and tools that were scattered around the cabin.

"Is there a reason you're here?" I asked trying to keep my tone level, but crossing my arms over my chest all the same.

Campers that weren't siblings technically weren't supposed to be alone together in the cabins, also, I couldn't imagine what she could possibly want with me if it wasn't to pitch her insane relationship idea again. And that was something in which I had no interest in reliving.

"This actually." She said gesturing towards the computer and getting to her feet. She reached into the pocket of her skirt and pulled out a small box, and catching a glance of the logo had me doing a double take. "I saw what you were working with the last time I was here," she continued handing it to me. "I figured you could use an upgrade."

"How did you get this?" I asked, surprised into taking the graphics card, and feeling my eyes go slightly wider. "I thought they were all sold out."

"They are." She said with a shrug, as if she'd done nothing more than hand me a pack of gum. "But my friend had a hook up, and after seeing your computer, I figured if anyone could make the most out of it, it was you."

Some of the shock had worn off now, and it had me suspicious. What was a girl like Lorelei doing with such a powerful graphics card? And why, out of anyone, did she want to give it to me? Seemingly for free.

"This isn't going to change my mind you know." I said holding up the box and attempting to hand it back to her. "You can't bribe me in to pretending to go out with you."

Something flashed behind her eyes, but it was so quick, I wasn't quite sure what it was. Was she upset?

"I didn't mean for it to." She said with another shrug and I felt myself frown when she clearly refused to take it.

"Then why are you giving it to me?" I asked if anything, more suspicious.

This didn't make any sense, and from what little I knew of her, I wouldn't have put it past Lorelei to be up to something.

"Think of it as an apology." She said with a sigh and to my surprise, she looked away from me and seemed a little uncomfortable as she crossed her arms over her chest and said. "I'm not used to guys telling me no. I thought you would want to help me get back to Heather and Caleb, so I didn't really think about what bringing it all up again might do for you." she hesitated again, before seemingly forcing herself to continue. "Looking back, I can see how it might have been pretty painful."

She'd gone back to sitting on my bed and I watched at her for a moment, in which I was sure I was visibly surprised. Back when we'd been talking about our exes, and she'd shown me what Heather had said, it hadn't seemed like Lorelei had really given much of a damn about my feelings. But her expression was anxious, even a little guilty, which made me think that she was being sincere. Or at least part of her was.

If I was being completely honest, I didn't think that level of self-reflection was possible from a child of Aphrodite, but I thought it suited her. It made her look a little more human, less super model.

Almost as soon as the vulnerability had started however, it was gone. She blinked and her gaze rested on me once again, intelligent, impassive, and completely unreadable. It took away any sympathy I might have had for her along with it.

"Well," I said shrugging and pocketing the box. "I'll take your stuff if you're determined to give it to me. But this doesn't change anything."

If she wanted to give me hundreds of dollars' worth of technology at no cost, I wasn't going to argue with her, that was her choice. It wasn't going to get her anything, but that wasn't my problem.

"I know." She said lightly getting to her feet once again and starting to walk towards the cabin door. "See ya, Dex."

She waved with her goodbye, not bothering to turn around and I was a little confused. Was that all she'd come here to do?

'Surely not.' I thought a little indignantly. 'There was no way that was the real reason she was here.'

Where was the next pitch for her crazy idea? The crazy over the top flirting the Aphrodite campers always did when they wanted something out of you, because clearly she must have wanted something from me. Why else would she be here?

"That's it?" I asked, stopping short when I realized I'd started to follow her.

"Yup." She said shrugging, but again, she didn't turn around.

"Don't you want to talk?" I asked her incredulously, and at this she did stop.

She looked over her shoulder, grinning a little before she said.

"Do you want to talk to me?"

But her smile didn't exactly look happy. It was the sort of smile that told me that she knew the answer to that question was no, even if I didn't want to say it.

I didn't answer for a moment, not really sure what there was really to talk with her about.

She laughed a little, as if she knew what I was thinking and continued walking towards the cabin door.

"Well, thanks I guess." I said still slightly confused, scratching the back of my head a little awkwardly and pulling the graphics card out my pocket to look at it again.

"Uh huh."

"You really didn't have to." I said, uncomfortably aware that I was drawing out the conversation, but a little unable to help myself at the same time. I didn't understand. If she really did feel guilty, this was one hell of an apology.

She'd reached the door now, but looked back as she'd opened it, light filtering through the space between us and gleaming off the metal in the cabin.

"I know." She said easily, and the silence that filled the air between us made me uneasy.

"Feel free to pass on any more parts you happen to stumble into." I said, attempting to lighten the mood, but she didn't laugh and I was suddenly remembered why I didn't talk to people I didn't know that well very often. I wasn't good at it.

"And, you know, if you need anything fixed, I guess I can take a look at it."

"Thanks." She said, but it was obvious she was only being polite, and this was an offer she never intended to take me up on.

She stepped outside and I watched her go, realizing I hadn't felt this unsettled since the first-time Heather had been really upset with me and I hadn't known why. She'd expected me to get her a gift for our one month anniversary, and the last ten minutes of confusion had me reliving the stomach knots and uncertainty.

I glanced back at the box, then, without really knowing as to why, walking after her and watching as she made her way back to the Aphrodite cabin.

She passed a few last minute stragglers heading towards the Dining Pavillion trying to get a quick breakfast in before it closed, and I couldn't tell if she hadn't noticed at the campers staring at her as she passed, or was simply ignoring them.

I found myself grinning a little as I thought, neither of those possibilities would have surprised me. Lorelei was a little bizarre for a child of Aphrodite, that was sure. The fact that she was beautiful, was only slightly more obvious than the fact that she was aware of it and was more than willing to use it to her advantage. But unlike her siblings, who seemed to all be naturals at this sort of influence, with Lorelei, it almost seemed to be an afterthought. Like there was a disconnect between herself and that aspect of her powers. It was almost as I could see her turning it off and on, which was something I'd never noticed with a camper from cabin 10 before.

I watched her, thinking, until she stepped into her cabin then glanced down at the graphics card.

There was no reason not to use it… right?

She'd seemed sincere when she'd said she was sorry. Maybe she really did just want to apologize.

'She said she didn't want anything in return.'

But that I wasn't so sure about. Feeling bad about bringing up Heather was one thing, but apologies were free. This…

I looked at the packaging. That it was legitimate I was certain, and it was new.

She hadn't had the same sort of sincerity when she'd said she'd wanted to give it to me, and I wouldn't be surprised if she really did want something from me. But apart from her insane relationship idea, which she must have known wasn't going to work by now, I couldn't think of what it might be.

"Screw it." I muttered.

If she wanted to waste her time trying to get something out of me, she could but I'd made my stance clear. This didn't change anything, and I didn't think even Lorelei was crazy enough to think it had.

I put the box on my desk and made my way out of the cabin, regretting the fact I wouldn't have enough time to test it before I had to be at my first activity.

Not looking forward to being around people, I made my way out of the cabin only to see that most of the campers had left breakfast and were making their way to different parts of the camp.

I had already started walking towards the arena when, after a few steps, I realized something felt off.

I halted, looking automatically over my shoulder, only to once again see Heather staring at me.

At first, I couldn't figure out why she looked so irritated, but when her eyes darted past me, I saw them lock on to, what I was surprised to realize was, a figure that was rapidly becoming familiar to me.

Lorelei was walking, arm in arm with a truly massive Ares brother, who, even in her heels, made her look as if she was about four feet tall.

For a second, I couldn't figure out why Heather was looking at her with such blatant dislike, then I remember what had happened the last time Heather had seen us together. Lorelei had dangled a possibility of a rebound relationship right in front of her, and though I hadn't thought for a second Heather would have believed it or it would even bother her if she did, it was clear she had and that it did.

And she's just seen me walk out of my cabin right after Lorelei, while all of my siblings had been at breakfast…

A surge of shock went through me as I realized this, and what it might look like, especially to Heather.

'But it had to be a coincidence,' I thought shaking my head, ignoring Heather and continuing towards the Arena.

I knew Lorelei had every reason not to like Heather right now, but I had a hard time believing she'd gone this far out of her way to mess with her head.

'Except,' said a small voice from the back of my mind. 'That was exactly what she'd said she'd wanted. That had her talking to you in the first place.'

'If she hadn't wanted to make Heather and her ex pay,' it continued. 'She wouldn't have talked to you at all.'

And suddenly, I found I was glad I hadn't opened the graphics card.

Lorelei had said she hadn't expected anything in return and while I'd believed her at the time…

I pictured Heather's expression as she saw me walking out of the cabin not thirty seconds after an insanely pretty girl.

Maybe Lorelei had gotten exactly what she'd wanted.

'It's not my problem.' I thought annoyed.

If Lorelei and Heather wanted to make each other miserable they were welcome to. It wasn't any of my business, and I didn't really care what things looked or didn't look like to Heather. That wasn't her business, she'd made sure of that.

So why did I feel like I was playing with fire?

'Well,' I thought, unable to help but grin at this. 'That doesn't matter to me much, does it?'

Without really meaning to, I glanced at my palm only to see flames spark into life between my fingertips.

Playing with fire didn't matter much when you couldn't be burned.

In less than a week I'd be home again, and I, hopefully, wouldn't have to deal with either one of them.

Lpov

"I don't know what you did to Hammerhead over there." Jake said raising an eyebrow at me, and glancing over to a table across the room where I knew Dex was sitting with a couple of his siblings during letter writing. "But he will not stop looking over here."

We were sitting at a table together with our friend Liv, a daughter of Hecate, as we always did at this activity, and I had to admit, I was a little relieved that we'd continued the tradition of staying a little apart from the rest of the campers as was our custom. I was sort of tired of being around people at the moment.

"Who?" Liv asked, clearly confused as she looked over her shoulder.

"It's a sort of a long story." I explained mainly to get her to stop looking, but regretting it instantly when it opened a flood gate of conversation from Jake.

"I still cannot believe you gave him that graphics card." he said shaking his head, looking at me as if I were insane.

"Your nail polish is cracked." I said in response.

"What's up with that anyways?" Liv asked raising an eyebrow at Jake, who was inspecting his index finger.

Her dark hair was longer than when I'd seen it last over winter break, tied into box braids that fell past her waist, and her light brown eyes looked at him curiously behind the lenses of her glasses.

"Must have happened when I hit that Hermes kid with my shield in the Arena earlier." He said dismissively, the paper in front of him.

It was clear she meant to ask why his nails were painted, but Jake hadn't realized. I grinned a little, but Liv clearly decided to let ago because she looked at me.

"What was he talking about?" She said turning away from Jake to look at me. "You gave what to a hammerhead?"

"He's talking about Dex." I said rolling my eyes, but a little glad I had something to distract me from the half paragraph I'd been struggling to write. How short was too short to be socially acceptable for a letter?

"That huge guy from cabin 9?" she asked, her eyes going a little wider with surprise for a moment before quickly looking over her shoulder at him. "Isn't he kind of like…"

"An ass?" Jake suggested and while she grinned, she continued with.

"I was gonna say unfriendly."

"He can be kind of a grouch sometimes," Jake agreed with a shrug, "But I think that's mostly because everyone wants him to fix their stuff."

"I did hear he was a good mechanic." She said thoughtfully, glancing back over to the table where Dex was sitting with one of his sisters.

She seemed to be teasing him about something and while he looked a little annoyed, he did smile occasionally, and I had a feeling that she might be one of the only people he put up with that sort of thing for.

"He's a good everything." Jake said dismissively. "That guy can fix anything. But he's better with tools than he is with people. Probably why he gets so annoyed if they don't leave him alone."

"He must be annoyed all the time then." Liv said looking back at us, "Because every time I look at him lately, he seems to be scowling. He is cute though." She added as an after thought. "Or, at least he would be if he didn't look so grouchy."

Jake looked at him, as if considering what she'd said, then shrugged.

"He's not my type."

"You don't have a type." I said rolling my eyes and he smirked a little.

Jake had dated pretty much any 'type' imaginable. From the head cheerleader at our school, to a punk drummer he met while he was on tour. In fact, I was pretty sure the only person he wasn't willing to date was me. Not that either of us had a problem with that.

"Why did you give him a graphics card?" Liv asked bringing us back to her original question.

"Because she's a sucker for a guy with broad shoulders." Jake said his smirk growing and I rolled my eyes.

"Because I want something from him." I said taping my eraser of my pencil against the table, resisting the urge to look over at Dex and his sister again. "And this was the fastest way to get it."

"You're still trying to get him to go out with you?" Jake asked, clearly surprised by this, his expression mirroring the one Liv was wearing.

"I didn't know you liked him." She said excitedly, looking over her shoulder again at Dex with new interest, but I shook my head.

"I don't, well, not particularly." I said with a shrug.

"Then why-" she started, a little confused, but Jake cut her off.

"I don't see how giving some grumpy dude who doesn't even talk to you a graphics card is going to help you with that." He said a little stubbornly. "From everything I heard he's a tech geek. Just get a tank top with a game logo on it, buy it a size too small, and go over to talk to him."

This got a laugh out of me, but Liv looked appalled.

"That is awful." She said throwing him a reproachful look but he shrugged.

"Maybe," he agreed. "But I guarantee you it will work."

Liv still looked annoyed however and he continued.

"What do you want Liv? Men are simple. And don't look at me like that," he said defensively. "It's not like I'm any better than Lore over here with her whole wide eyed Barbie routine. She gets how it works."

"Just because that's what you're into, doesn't mean that would work on him." Liv said stubbornly.

"It doesn't," I added mildly. "If anyone was wondering."

Hence the graphics card.

"And guilting him into talking to her, with expensive equipment is so much better?" he asked sarcastically, gesturing towards me while looking at Liv who frowned, but didn't seem to have a response.

"Either way it worked." I said as I looked up and saw Dex had been looking over at our table.

"How can you tell?" they asked in unison.

"Dex might be a grouch, but he's principled." I said with a sigh, hating myself slightly as I said it, but looking at my nails to disguise the feeling. "He won't want to be indebted to anyone, least of all me. That and he's a problem solver," I said shrugging and looking up to see both Jake and Liv were giving me skeptical looks. "He likes to fix things." I explained. "He won't be able to leave it alone."

"Maybe." Liv agreed but she sounded unconvinced.

"Yeah, or maybe he'll think. 'Cool, free graphics card with no strings attached.'" Jake said a little indignantly. "And then you'll be out a graphics card, and out a boyfriend."

"Isn't she technically already out a boyfriend?" Liv asked thoughtfully, then when she caught Jake's expression, said. "What? Who cares if she's not dating anyone. Caleb is a creep, and neither of us ever liked him." She gestured between Jake and herself. "Now none of us have to be around him, and Lore gets to drop a cheating boyfriend. I don't see the downside."

I knew Jake wanted to argue, but held his tongue for my sake. While I'd told Jake everything about the situation, Liv had no idea why being single, or at least not dating anybody, was an issue for my current circumstances. And I thought it was probably better that she didn't.

Jake was my best friend, and no matter what sort of trouble I was in, he would always back me. But Liv was a different story. No matter how much I liked her personally, her moral compass pointed directly north. She wouldn't want to know about the problem I was facing, and she'd want to know even less about I planned to get out of it.

"It'll work." I said to break up the awkward silence that followed her statement. "Just wait. I'll bet you ten drachmas the box won't even be opened."

"Taking that bet." Jake said immediately and I grinned as Liv very obviously tried not to roll her eyes.

Not five minutes later, as people were packing up and I was signing my pathetically short letter, I saw a tall figure approach out of the corner of my eye.

"Well Hades be damned." Jake muttered and I tried not to smile.

I brushed my hair behind my ear allowing myself a better look at Dex while pretending not to notice him at the same time I was pretending I didn't notice Jake's incredulous expression.

"Lorelei?"

I closed my letter, taking the time to make sure my expression was blank before looking up at him.

"Yeah?"

He didn't answer for a moment, looking at me in a way that was starting to be familiar. Like I was a piece of hardware he'd never seen before, but knew he could figure out if he spent enough time examining it.

"Did you want something?" I asked getting to my feet as if starting to follow the crowd of campers that were heading back to their cabins for free time.

"It's about the graphics card." He said producing the box from his back pocket.

"You haven't opened it." I said my eyes darting momentarily to Jake who scowled at me, before glancing back to Dex.

"That's because I can't take it." he said holding it out for me to take but I ignored this and continued walking back towards the Aphrodite cabin.

"Why not?"

"Do you know how expensive this is?" he asked indignantly, following after me which was exactly what I'd been hoping for. I hardly heard what he was saying as I scanned the crowd for the person I was looking for.

"Yes."

"We hardly even know each other." He said. "I can't take something like this from you."

I smiled, almost enjoying how uncomfortable it seemed to make him.

"It's a gift Dex." I said with some exasperation. "You didn't take it from me. I chose to give it to you."

"I thought you said it was an apology."

"It's an apology in the form of a gift." I said rolling my eyes in exasperation. "Besides, I can't use it and you can. And I'm not taking it back." I continued. "So either use it or sell it, because it's yours now."

He looked as if he wanted to argue, but couldn't think of the best way to go about it.

"But." I said taking advantage of his discomposure. "If you're really determined to return the favor, there is something you can do for me."

"What is it?" he asked suspiciously, and I knew he expected me to bring up our exes again, but I didn't. There was no point, he clearly wasn't going for it.

"I got a charm bracelet when I was little from my parents, I've had it for years but it got sort of roughed up since the last time we were at camp." I said trying not to think of the incident. "I thought it was beyond saving, but if word around camp is true, you can fix pretty much anything."

I smiled with the compliment, but he seemed unaffected by both.

He frowned, crossing his arms over his chest but I was pleased to see that when confronted with a task, he seemed to have momentarily forgotten his ex girlfriend.

"I don't usually do jewelry." He said uncertainly. "But sure, I can take a look at it. If I can't fix it Pri might be able to. She does more of that sort of thing. When do you go home?"

"Jake and I fly back home Sunday." And he seemed to think for a moment, clearly doing some mental calculations.

"Alright, I could probably get it back to you by then, if I move some stuff around."

"Great." I said and this time, the smile was genuine. "I'll drop it off to you at dinner."

"Sounds good." He said with a nod, and I was surprised when he gave me half a smile before he started to walk away. And it almost looked as if he'd meant it.

Stunned by this, and how much it caught me off guard, I watched him walk away.

"I swear Lore, sometimes I wonder if I should be afraid of you." said a familiar voice and I glanced towards it, to see Jake next to me, giving me a shrewd expression.

"What?" I asked raising an eyebrow, but only half paying attention to the statement.

"I don't think I've ever seen that guy smile." Jake said and he looked as thrown by the situation as I felt. "And I've been getting repairs from him for years. He's the only one allowed to touch 'Skull Splitter' apart from me." He continued, naming his favorite weapon, a battle axe his father had given him after leading his first mission.

"Well, he should do it more." Liv said, shrugging as she caught up with us. "He's got a nice smile."

"Yeah I guess." Jake said, still sounding a little surprised.

He looked at me, clearly expecting some sort of comment from me about the situation, but I decided to keep my thoughts to myself.

Instead, I met his gaze with my own and said.

"You owe me ten drachmas."