Percy:

It was about a week before the dance, and I was in full blown panic mode. I had known for weeks about the whole thing, I mean Selena even announced it at dinner! But, I had forgotten, until that morning. It had dawned on me that I would need a suit, or at least a formal shirt, as apparently it was a 'Black Tie Occasion', or so Grover had said. I probably wouldn't have been so worried about it, if Annabeth was going to sort me out. In fact, I probably wouldn't have to plan anything, and I would just turn up. But, unfortunately we weren't talking.

It had started a few days before, when we had been talking. I was back in the Poseidon cabin, alone like before. Tyson was down in the forges, and no new half sibling of mine had arrived. But, Annabeth was back in the Athena cabin with her siblings.

One afternoon, whilst we were down on the beach, Annabeth was complaining about her siblings. I think she said they were too noisy and messy and nosey. She kept saying that Chiron should relax the rules and let her stay in my cabin. She also kept hinting that if we were in my cabin, we would be alone.

Of course, being the Seaweed brain I am, I didn't realise she was giving me hints. I insisted that when we went back to college we would have separate dorm rooms again. It wasn't until she had stormed off that I realised she wanted us to move in together! I mentally kicked myself for being so oblivious. Then, I was lost all week because we weren't speaking. So, I decided I needed to make things up to her...

Nico

I was feeling angry. It was exactly a week until the stupid dance. I couldn't believe Chiron had agreed, and that all the boys were just going along with it! I couldn't think of anything worse, than having to take a personal test, being matched up with someone you have no interest in, and then have to dance with them all night!

I had tried everything to get out of going. I had tried begging Chiron, I'd tried begging Selena, I even tried begging Beckendorf to sort out the mess. But, no-one seemed to want to grant me any happiness.

So, rather than protest anymore, and end up looking like a fool on the night, I decided to sort myself out. This basically meant that I had to buy new black shoes, but no big deal.

Then, I set about sorting out my 'date'.

The only girl I wanted to go with was Thalia. It took me a while to admit it to myself, but I finally realised that I liked her, a lot. And, I realised I had liked her for a very long time. But, that kind of put a damper on things. As she would not be at the dance. Plus, she had sworn an oath not to fall in love. So, it was not going to work out.

This meant I had to think of another plan.

So, I spoke to Rachel. Who agreed that if we both don't like our dates, we will pair them together, and go to the dance as friends.

Leo:

It was a week before the dance, and I had made absolutely no effort to make any plans. I hadn't got a suit, or a shirt, or shoes. I hadn't gotten a haircut, or made any attempt to find out who was going to be my date. Normally, I would have snuck in with the Stoll brothers, but I just couldn't care less about the dance.

I refused to go. There was no point in me going. I would just bum out everyone else. My date would probably leave, and I would be miserable all night anyway. I didn't want to go, if I couldn't go with Reyna. There was no way she could find the camp, and there was no way I could get to her, without using the Argo II.

Of course, we spoke a lot. We'd IM each other a few times a week. I had told Reyna about the dance. I had told her that I didn't want to go. But, i didn't tell her why. She quickly told me that I had to go, and then changed the subject. I wondered if she had thought it was awkward, any wanted to avoid the topic. Maybe she thought I was asking her to go with me, and didn't want to seem rude.

I told Jason, and he said that she was probably upset that she couldn't go to the dance with me. I had scoffed at this, but silently hoped it was true.

Beckendorf:

I sighed as I made my way back to the forges. It had been a long morning. My siblings and I had been in the forges all morning, making decorations, speakers, and repairing neon lights for the dance. It was only a week away, and Selena was running us ragged with demands. My brothers and sisters were fed up of making ornate spiral table centre pieces, but I had to keep them on the job, or I would lose my girlfriend.

My girlfriend that I hadn't properly seen in weeks. We were supposed to meet up after lunch, for an hour before I got back to work. But, she had cancelled, claiming that some of the matches were wrong and she was the only one who could fix it.

I understood, and let her go deal with it. But I was crushed on the inside. It seemed like the hundredth date we'd been forced to cancel. Obviously, she was in charge of the whole dance. She had to make sure everything ran smoothly. But, considering the whole point of the dance was to set up couples, it was kind of damaging our relationship. I didn't want to feel annoyed, but I kind of did. I felt like she was putting other people's relationships before our own. I mean, for Hades sake, we were together in Eyslym, until the break in the gates of hell allowed us to return to the real world. If that didn't prove we were soul mates I wasn't sure what did. But, I couldn't force her to stop the planning. I prayed that we would have time together at the dance, and then stopped thinking about it because I sounded like a lovesick teenage girl.