Drew actively avoided Reyna after that incident. She couldn't stand to be around her anymore. It hurt too much.
She ran a hand through her hair, checking her makeup in the mirror. Perfect. She looked exactly how an Aphrodite girl should.
She had dated half the people in this camp, why did this make her so uncomfortable?
Maybe because she had only actually loved one person before, and he was dead. Maybe because she could still see her father's face, telling her she didn't deserve love.
Don't think about that, She scolded herself. But what if he was right?
"Drew?" Piper was standing in the door of the cabin, looking confused.
Drew quickly rearranged her face to an spiteful frown. "What do you want?"
Piper didn't get angry, like she usually would. She just kept looking confused, "Reyna wants to talk to you?"
Oh no. Oh nononono this wasn't good.
Drew barely kept her face from crumpling in fear. "Why?" The word came out a little smaller than she'd intended.
Piper didn't seem to notice this either, though. She was just staring off into space. "That's what I'm wondering. She's practicing in the arena."
Drew reluctantly headed for the arena, unconsciously fixing her hair as she walked.
In the arena, Reyna was caught in an energetic duel with Percy.
She was wearing a purple Camp Jupiter t-shirt with the sleeves cut off.
The difference in the two's fighting styles was obvious at a glance.
Percy was mainly rolling, dodging, and stabbing with his smaller sword. Reyna, meanwhile, was moving her body much less, but her arms were a blur: blocking, slicing, deflecting, stabbing.
Both were impressive, but Drew was a bit less awed by Percy. She was used to his style.
A few moments later, Reyna had a sword against Percy's neck.
"Break?"
Percy laughed, "Sure."
Reyna glanced over at Drew, who was sitting on the top bench. They meet eyes for a moment, but Drew looked down.
Reyna collected her towel and bottle of water. Then she headed up to join her.
"Why are you avoiding me?" She asked, sitting down next to Drew.
The younger girl stared down at her diamond encrusted sandals. "I came, didn't I?"
"That doesn't answer my question."
Drew sighed, "What did you expect? That we would be friends? Surely you've been at this camp long enough to know that that's not how I work."
"I understand that, Drew. But you've been actively avoiding me. This is the first time I've even seen you since the forest."
"Hmm." Drew wasn't sure what she should say to that. Oh, yeah, Reyna, I admit it. I'm in love with you and I hate it. That's why I'm avoiding you.
It sounded ridiculous. There was no way she would say that.
"Okay," Reyna took a drink of water, "So you won't tell me. What about the forest? You're an excellent fighter, why would you hide that from everyone?"
"Fighting isn't an Aphrodite quality. I'm supposed to be a perfect,beautiful, heartbreaker. That's what being a daughter of Aphrodite means," Drew wasn't sure why she was telling Reyna this, but she couldn't help herself, "What else am I supposed to do? Be like Piper?"
"You could."
Drew snorted derisively. "She's too different. She has friends anyway, yes, but that's because she's kind. I'm not kind."
"But, I don't understand. Even with this act of yours, you don't have any friends. How would dropping the act change anything?"
"I don't have friends, but I have respect. I have fear. If I were to stop being the perfect girl, I would lose everything I've worked so hard to gain."
Reyna stared off into the distance for a moment, then she turned back to Drew.
"What is so horrible about being different? Why do you want fear and respect so badly?"
"I..." Drew twisted a strand of her hair around her finger, "Why did you want to talk to me?"
Reyna sighed, "I want to understand you, Drew. And I'd like to help, if I can."
Drew's chest ached. This was too familiar.
She stood up quickly. "You can't. No one can, so you may as well give up." She said roughly, "Now if you will excuse me." She walked away, barely keeping herself from breaking into a run.
Reyna didn't follow her, and Drew didn't look back to see how she was reacting.
