Piper woke to the sound of her alarm clock beeping. Damn, she thought to herself. She must have missed dinner last night. Again. She dressed and slid lightly down the stair towards the smell of bacon frying. She sighed. Every time. They had a new cook and she always forgot about Piper being a vegetarian. She grabbed an apple from the bowl on the table, called out a good bye to her Dad and left for school, ready for another day of being invisible. At least, she reasoned with herself, She would see Jason again.

I wonder if Mum would have walked to school with me. The very idea of that situation made Piper laugh. She told herself to stop thinking, and to concentrate more on putting one foot in front of another. She had been thinking about her Mum way too much recently. It needed to stop. She knew that it only made her Dad worse, seeing Piper upset. Piper was so wrapped up in thoughts that she didn't see the figure in front of her until she had already run into it.

'Oh my gods, I'm so sorry!'

'No problem, no harm done'

It was only after he pulled himself off the footpath that Piper saw who it was. He smiled. 'Hey, I'm Jason Grace.'

Piper wished she could make some witty comment, like anybody else would have done. But she was pretty sure that what came out was something like ' Uhhhh ummmm sosorry'

He frowned 'What?'

Piper just stood in shock staring at him. He was talking to her. Yeah so she had probably just injured the most popular boy in the entire school, but still. Jason Grace was talking to her.

He shook his head. 'Yeah well, got to go. Nice meeting you, Miss. No name'

Piper could only watch as he turned his back on her and stalked away, the sunlight catching on his broad shoulders.

The rest of the walk to school, Piper could only think about Jason. It also dawned on her that he most likely hated her now, which was worse than him just not knowing who she was. It didn't exactly improve her mood.

Piper spent the day spying on Jason Grace, as he laughed with his friends, always appearing to have one arm around Reyna's shoulders. The others, Piper was pretty sure their names were Frank, Hazel, Percy and Annabeth, were crowded around him, joking and messing about. Piper was pretty sure she saw each of them kiss someone else at least once. She went to her classes, looked at the ground and stayed under the radar. At one point Jason glanced in her direction, and she quickly ducked her head down, hoping he hadn't caught her staring.

She went through her familiar routine after school. Walking back the direction she came, creeping discreetly through the back door and telling her father she wasn't hungry.

'But you said you would be today! I'll get Sarah to fix something up for you, if you like' he offered.

Piper hurriedly shook her head. 'No thanks. I'm really fine. I'll have some dinner tonight though.'

'Ok then, if you say so.'

She trudged up the stairs and went to get changed. She glimpsed herself in the mirror her Dad had insisted on putting there.

'One of these days you'll thank me for it' He had said to her.

'But Dad, I don't care what I look like.'

'It was your Mothers though'

The memory made Pipers eyes well up with tears. Why did she have to be the only person without a Mother? Why her? She stared at her reflection. She wasn't exactly ugly, but she certainly wouldn't say she was pretty either. Her choppy brown hair was tied in braids, and decorated with the colourful feathers she found in the garden. Her skin wasn't too bad. Not pretty, she though, definitely not beautiful. She frowned, and turned quickly away from the mirror. Since when had she cared anyway?

Piper read for a bit, enjoying the solitude, before heading downstairs. Her Father would be happy with that. 'Hey Dad'

'Hey Pipes'

Piper sat and waited while Sarah served up beef for dinner. After she had left, and Piper had filled her plate with bread and butter and salad, she decided to ask him.

'Dad?'

'Yes, Pipes'

'What exactly happened to Mum?' Piper got the exact reaction she had been expected. It was the same reaction he always gave when she asked about Mum. 'Dad, please. I'm old enough to know. I have a right to know'

He managed a smile, but Piper could tell it was forced.

'Like I've always said, Pipes. She died just after you were born. Not sure how, or why. You were one at the time.'

Piper could tell he was hiding something, but she didn't say anything. 'Tell me more about her.'

He exhaled. 'She was beautiful. You look similar. Her name was Aphrodite. I love her more than anything. Except for you, of course. You're my number one girl, Pipes. Always will be.'

Piper nodded slowly. She took note of the fact that he said love instead of loved. Aphrodite. Her Dad had never given her a name before. 'Thanks Dad, I appreciate it. I think I'll go to bed now though.'

'Right. Night Pipes'

'Night Dad'

With that, Piper left her Father sitting alone at the huge table, his eyes glimmering with tears he thought she couldn't see.