I'll leave the long explanations and apologies for after the chapter, if that's okay xP

As different as can be

"Oh, hey Chris." Piper smiled winningly, trying to cover up her dismay. (A/N: When I say Piper, I mean Piper in Clarisse's body, just so we're clear)

"So what were you talking about?" Chris asked, acknowledging Clarisse with a nod.

"Pip- Clarisse can't go with you to see the fireworks." Clarisse blurted out.

Chris looked at them strangely. "Why not?" He said, unsure of whom to ask.

"I... um..." Piper panicked internally. "Crap, crap, crap!"

Lou Ellen popped up again. "Oh, hey guys! Am I interrupting something?"

"No." Piper said, at the same time as Clarisse.

Chris was confused. "Um, Clarisse..."

"I've got to talk to Lou Ellen!" Piper suddenly said. "It's really important."

Chris was completely baffled. "Clarisse, can we talk in private?"

"Sorry, gotta dash!" She flashed a nervous smile at him, before dragging Lou Ellen away.

Chris stared after her and sighed. "What happened?" He asked Clarisse.

"It's a long story." She assured him.

Chris shrugged and walked away.

"Are we really going to have this discussion again?" Lou Ellen moaned as they tramped through the woods.

Piper was furious. "I did not save the world just to get stuck in the body of little-miss-anger-management here! Change me back right now, or so help me I'll... I'll..."

"Talk about anger management." Lou Ellen grinned. "Relax. You've been stressing out waaay too much lately. It'll do you good not to be the center of attention."

Suddenly Clarisse came stomping through.

"What's going on?" She demanded.

Lou Ellen sighed. "Look, I've got work to do, so if you'll excuse me." She walked away without waiting for an answer.

Piper and Clarisse glared after her, unable to think of a decent reply. Then Clarisse turned on Piper.

"If I see you with Chris even once..." She left the threat hanging in the air.

Piper snorted. "Please. I wouldn't steal your boyfriend."

"I wouldn't put it past you."

Piper's eyes flared. "That. Is. It. What is up with you anyway? Why do you hate me so much? Ever since you met me, you've done nothing but give me hell!"

Clarisse's face turned red. "You think you're just so perfect, and you act so stuck up and above everyone else. You could never be half the person Silena ever was so-"

"Oh, now we're getting somewhere! I've got news for you- I'm not Silena! I'm sorry if I won't betr-" Piper stopped.

Clarisse took on a dangerous expression. "Won't what?"

"Nothing." Piper said, suppressing her anger. There were some things that were best left unsaid.

"Won't what, Barbie?" Clarisse gritted her teeth.

The word "Barbie" was the last straw.

"Won't betray my own friends for Kronos!" Piper yelled, the woods echoing her frustration.

As soon as she said it, Piper knew that she had been wrong.

Clarisse flushed a brighter red than ever, and stalked away without a word.

Piper stood alone in the forest, her anger fading as quickly as it had come.

"I'm sorry." She called out a split second later.

But Clarisse was long gone, and if she had heard Piper she gave no sign of it.

"Did you see Cla- Piper?" Piper asked Mark at dinner.

Mark frowned. "I haven't seen her since she accidentally walked into our cabin." A grin spread across his face. "It was hilarious."

Piper ignored him. She was slightly worried.

Jason caught her eye and she shook her head slightly. His brow furrowed and he looked away.

Piper stood up abruptly. "I'm not feeling well." She announced.

Piper found her by the creek. Clarisse was sitting on a rock, staring into the water silently. Piper tentatively sat next to her, but Clarisse ignored her.

They sat there for a while in silence, gazing into the swirling waters. A feeling of calm settled down on them and Piper gathered the courage to speak.

"I'm sorry." She said.

Clarisse sighed. "After all this time, nobody sees past Silena the so-called traitor. Nobody knows what she was really like."

"What was she like?"

"She was one of the kindest, sweetest people I've ever known. I was so used to being hated, and mocked." She looked Piper in the eye. "I'm not stupid. I know what people say about me behind my back. But I'm the daughter of Ares. I'm supposed to be strong and brave, and sometimes thick-headed."

Faint laughter from the campfire carried over to them.

"I never really had friends." Clarisse said. "I never bothered being nice to people when I knew what they said about me. For some reason, Silena wasn't like them. She didn't care that I was a daughter of Ares, she saw past all of that. Nobody's ever... ever tried to make friends with me before Silena, or even after Silena."

"I didn't know." Piper said lamely, churning with emotions. She couldn't believe that this was the same Clarisse whom she had hated the very same morning. It was like seeing a new side of Clarisse.

"Nobody ever knows." Clarisse said bitterly. "And nobody will ever understand Silena."

Piper felt a sudden pang of jealousy. Not only Clarisse, but every single person in camp was comparing her to Silena. How Silena was pretty, Silena was smart, Silena wasn't a conventional daughter of Aphrodite. Some thought that she would follow in Silena's footsteps. Others felt that she was an improved version of Silena. And very few felt that she could never live up to Silena.

"I think I understand." Piper said slowly. "Silena was frightened and she had the best intentions..."

Clarisse shook her head. "No. You don't."

Clarisse suddenly stood up. "I don't even know why I'm wasting my time. None of you in cabin ten can ever compare to Silena, so don't even try McLean. What makes you so different from the rest of them?"

Piper watched Clarisse walk away from her for the second time that day, feeling unexpectedly dejected.

"What makes you so different from the rest of them?"

"I don't know." Piper thought desperately.

Piper buried her head in her hands and just sat there for another hour, grief and guilt eating away at her.

APOLOGY TIME!

WOW

WHAT DO I SAY. I'M TERRIBLY SORRY. JUST... JUST SO MUCH GOING ON OHGOD I HAVEN'T BEEN ABLE TO COPE

RANT AT ME ALL YOU WANT I'M SO SO SORRY I HONESTLY AM.

There's a full length apology on my profile, plus an update telling you which fanfictions I;m going to be updating and when.

Leave a review, be it hate or not. :3

(And yes updates will be more regular now)