A/N: Thanks for all the love, guys! But, really? Only one review? BTW, thanks for all your alerts and favorites, and my one review. =) Though, if I got a review from every person who read this, then guess how many I would have? ;) Whoever puts their guess and is the closest gets to be in a future chapter, as a remotely important person. This is set after BotO, but the war never happened. Say, um, Luke-as-Kronos got hit by a bus. Before the war could start. Everything was back to normal. And TLH never happened. Kay? ;) Read, Review, and Enjoy!

Own PJO, I do not.

Chapter One: Silena, Meet Charlie

"Silena! Catch!" Lori yelled. She tossed her cabin leader a plain, blue baseball cap.

Silena laughed and caught it. Ethan zigzagged across the cabin towards his sister. "Gimme! Give it back! Silena" He pleaded, lunging towards the cap in Silena's hand.

She raised it above her head. "What? This old thing?" She chuckled. You see, The Aphrodite cabin was playing keep-away with Ethan, a new kid, his baseball cap, his reminder of his dad. Of course, the Aphrodite cabin wasn't heartless, and soon Silena would command them to give her little half-brother his hat back. It was just a joke, a ritual for all the newbies. "Drew!"

She over-hand tossed the cap at Drew. Drew smiled really wide and caught it. Drew was Silena's second-in-command. Drew was a tad pudgy, short, and a bit out-of-fashion. She really wasn't a bitch yet, and always tried to impress her leader. She stood up straighter and sniffed haughtily when Ethan begged for it back.

"Ha! As if!" She sneered. "Plain and baseball caps are, like, so last year." She held the cap by the back by one finger, above her head. Below her, Ethan was on his knees, eyes wide, silently begging for his hat back, and wondering how his half-siblings could be so cruel. The entire cabin was silent, as if waiting for her next move.

All eyes were on her. It was the attention she craved for. The spotlight was hers, the next move would be hers. But...if she passed it off, somebody else would have the spotlight. And she couldn't have that, could she?

The only noise was the small whimpers coming from Ethan, her breathing, and the burbling of the fish tank in the corner. It was an old gift from Percy to one of his old Aphrodite-camper girlfriends.

Drew's eyes flicked to the tank and back to the boy in front of her.

Silena realized what was about to happen too late. "Drew-!"

Drew flung the hat across the room, over to the corner, and into the fish tank.

"No!" Ethan charged to the fish tank and watched the hat sink to the very bottom f the dark, murky water. He attempted to reach in and grab it, but Silena caught his hand. "Don't. These fish are dangerous. Biters." She warned. "I'm sure someone will be able to fix it. I'll get on it."

She turned to Drew. "And you. Last in the bathroom in the morning, last in line to meals, and your bedtime is 7:30. No questions." She ordered.

Drew looked down at the floor, crestfallen. She though Silena would be impressed with her cunning ways. Apparently not.

"Lunch time, people!" Silena clapped her hands and made her way to the door. The Aphrodite cabin lined themselves up behind her, eager for meal. "Remember to watch your carb and calorie intake, guys!" She called, flouncing out the door and to the dining pavilion.

Free time was directly after lunch for the Aphrodite cabin. Most campers went to the camp store, to design clothes, shoes, and accessories for their clothing line, "Star-Collision." But not Silena. She had to find a way to fix Ethan's hat. All lunch, he sat at the end of the table, away from everyone, picking at his mac n' cheese. He seemed to resent the campers.

She wondered over to the big water fountain in the middle of the U of cabins. She sat on the ledge and thought. Buy him a new one. No, it wouldn't be the same. Buy him a new, exact copy and tell him it's his old one. He would be able to tell the difference. Distract him with a pretty, interested girl. She sat up a little straighter. That could work. It wasn't like she hadn't done something similar before. She kept thinking, regardless. Hmm…. She scanned to cabins, trying to think of something else. Then something caught her eye. The Hephaestus cabin! They fix stuff, right? Eagerly, she stood up. If the Hephaestus cabin couldn't fix it, she would find Ethan a pretty girl.

She made her way to the big cabin and poked her head inside the propped-open door. "Hello?" She called.

The sound of tools and metal clattering to the ground, then footsteps. She couldn't see anything in the dimly-lit cabin. A boy about her age appeared directly in front of her. She straightened up and backed away a tad so her wouldn't be so up in her face. "Um, hi." She acknowledged to boy.

"Hey." He said gruffly. He was tall and built, with dark hair, eyes, and skin. She could see his muscles and he looked like he could give the Ares cabin a run for their money on an all-out fight.

"I'm Silena. Cabin leader of the Aphrodite cabin." She gave him her signature, dazzling smile. She held out her hand.

He took it. "Beckendorf. Leader of the Hephaestus cabin." He said, shaking her hand. A warm, tingling feeling swept up the arm who's hand he was shaking. She felt her insides turn to goo.

She looked into his dark brown eyes. He was staring back at her. He smiled and (unfortunately) let go of her hand. She wished she could grab it again. Which was unusual, considering that was how she usually left people.

"Can I help you?" He asked, bringing her attention back.

"Oh, um, yes. You fix things right? You see, my brothers favorite, sentimental hat is at the bottom of the fish tank, ruined. And we have know way to get it out. Two problems that need fixed." She smiled. "So could you or one of your siblings help me? Like, today?"

Beckendorf smiled at her. "Um, yeah, but I'm not quite sure we can do much about fixing it up. But we can get it out. It's my cabin's free hour, and almost all of them are at the forges. I was on my way over, but I can help." He smiled and turned around. "Come on in. But warning: It is messy."

Silena entered the cabin. She'd been in there before, for cabin inspection, but it felt like a totally different atmosphere now. She followed him over to a workbench in the back and watch him grab different pieces of metal.

She cautiously sat down on one of the beds protruding from the wall. She looked at the metal plate above it. CHARLES BECKENDORF, the plate said. She smiled and looked at the boy working in front of her.

"Do you need any help, Charlie?" She asked sweetly. He glanced at her and smiled. He went back to working. In truth, he hated when his cabin mates, or anybody, called him that, but he really didn't mind when she did.

"Nah, I got it covered." He worked for a few more minuets, then held up a gray steel pole with a little claw on the end. "Here ya go, this should do the trick." He held it out to her proudly.

"Um…right. The thing is, I don't know what it is, what it does, or how to work it. So maybe you should do it for me." She smiled her signature smile and twirled a piece of hair around her finger. "Please?" She asked.

Charlie stared at her. Then, he smiled. "Okay, then." A conch horn sounded, signaling the end of free period. "Well, I have to get to Pegasus Riding, so I gotta go." Charlie said hurriedly.

"I have to get to Archery, so I guess I have to go too." Silena stood up. "Thanks for your help." She smiled. She stood on her tippy-toes and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. "Bye." She turned around and sashayed out the door, leaving a very flustered Charles Beckendorf behind her.

Silena walked to Archery class, a little disappointed that Ethan's hat wouldn't be able to get fixed. But at least it would get out of the fish tanks.

She was also a little disappointed that Charlie didn't do much when she kissed him on the cheek. But, of course, the best things take time.

So she would drag this out as long as humanly possible. Which, judging on her inexistent patience, wouldn't be too long at all.

Archery class was so boring, and it took all her willpower not to look up in the sky to look for Charlie among the many kids riding Pegasi above the archery range. Sculpting class was even worse, because she hated getting clay and powder all over her well-manicured hands. But some of these things just can't be avoided, and she managed to get a halfway-decent sculpture of Aphrodite looking into a mirror done. It had taken her quite a while to finish that sculpture, so she was glad when it was deemed fit to send to the gods for them to put somewhere on Olympus.

She was glad when she finally got to sit down in her cabin and write a letter to her dad, which was the very last activity to the day. She decided to tell him about Ethan's hat, Charlie, and her sculpture. She told him all about how Charlie was going to help her out to get Ethan's hat back, and how she couldn't wait to see what Aphrodite would say when she saw her sculpture.

She ended her letter with an: XO, Silena and folded it into threes. She took her letter to the camp store, where she put it in an envelope, sealed it, and put in in the Hermes Special Delivery basket, along with her other siblings' letters.

She had already changed into an orange tank top with the camp logo and a denim mini-skirt before she left her cabin, so she made her way to dinner. She had already told the cabin to go, and that Lori was in charge until she got back from dropping off the letters, so she didn't have to worry about them. She loaded her plate with a small steak, yogurt, and some snap peas, burnt some food for her mom, then went to sit with her table.

Drew was looking sullen, picking at her food on one end of the table, and Lori was chattering about the new clothes line with Jamie and Brock, two other siblings. Silena picked a spot in between Lori and Ethan.

After supper, she led the cabin to the Amphitheater for the sing-along. She munched on some graham crackers and looked for Charlie. She saw Nyssa, and the rest of the Hephaestus cabin, but not Charlie. A wave of relief crashed over her as she caught sight of him making his way over. He sat down next to Nyssa and looked at Silena.

She looked away quickly, feigning interest in the graham cracker she was eating.

"Thank you thank you thank you!" Ethan tackled Silena in a giant hug. "You fixed my hat, Silena! You're the best big sister ever!" He shouted. He was so short, his head only barley reached her stomach.

"Huh?" She asked, confused.

"When do I get it? Can I have it now? I would have grabbed it, but I wanted to make sure it was okay." He said excitedly, his eyes shining.

"What?" Silena asked, growing even more confused.

"My hat! I saw it when I got on my bed." Ethan exclaimed, pointing to Silena's bunk. She was on the top of a set, in the corner.

"Oh." Stil confused, but pretending not to be, she climbed up to her bunk to see a blue, plain hat sitting on her pillow. It was good as new, looking just like it had when Ethan had first arrived with it perched on his head. She lifted it up, and a small piece of paper fell out of it and landed on a small, little golden hairclip with a heart on it. It read:

C.B.

A/N: Meh, that wasn't too great. Anyway, this was just how they met, that's all. My excuse for it going so fast is that she's a daughter of Aphrodite, so love comes naturally to her, so she doesn't have to figure everything out like everyone else does. (Also, it was because my artistic abilities were noe present when I wrote this.) I'm sorry. Anyway, please review, tell me what you think, and the next chapter: Chris and Clarisse meet!

Love you guys! =)

Read on and Rock out,

NinjaNakkiOfCabin11