Sasha changed into a simple fuchsia, ruffle, one shoulder bikini. She slid her feet into her flip flops and made her way down to the camp's beach. Apparently more people than Sasha had assumed were invited, since basically the whole camp was there. Someone had set up tiki torches around to give off light, and there was a buffet off by where the grass turned to sand. Unfamiliar with most of the campers, she spent her time making small talk to the few people she did know, but what she secretly wanted was to escape back to her own cabin and pass out in her bed. At one point someone brought out a cake and everyone started singing Happy Birthday and Sasha, exhausted with putting up the happy front, shrugged and made her way along the ocean until she was at the furthest point possible from the rest of the campers. Over here at this end, it seemed much less inhabited than the other side. The light from the party was barely visible from here, and she could barely see the outline of the water on the sand. The noise was mostly gone, too; her ears were more acute to the calming sounds of crickets, seagulls, and the lapping of saltwater against the sand. She sank down to her knees, the sand cool and squishy under her. The water hit against her thighs lightly, and with a relieved sigh, she let herself fall backwards until she was lying down, the feeling of her back pressed up against the sand relaxing. Staring straight ahead, she could make out the constellations Ryan had taught her—Orion, Sagittarius, Pegasi. She knew there were more, but she couldn't locate the others. These three had always been her favorite. She closed her eyes, letting her senses numb so she could hear nothing but her own steady heartbeat and the waves. With her eyes closed, all she could see was darkness. She imagined what it would be like if that was how it was always—a world engulfed in the shadows. She shivered, the cool sand against her back suddenly uncomfortable, like shards of ice slicing her back open. Throwing her eyes open, a familiar face came into view. Shaggy black hair, pale skin, black eyes. She sat up, the pressure from the sand on her back dissolving. He gestured to the spot next to her, asking if she wanted him to sit with him, and she shrugged, pulling her eyes away from him to gaze out to the ocean.
"Whatever" She said, her tone clipped. She kept her eyes fixed on the ocean as he took his seat. At night, it looked as black as ink—and just as thick and uninviting.
"What're you doing over here?" He asked.
"I was looking to have some time to myself" She said, being as obvious as she could and hoping he would understand and leave. Out of the corner of her eye she saw him nod and turn his gaze to look out over the sea too. She mentally cursed in frustration; either he didn't get the hint or he did and just stayed to annoy her. She assumed the latter.
"So…..I hear my girlfriend isn't the best of your friends?" He asked, and Sasha laughed bitterly.
"Hardly" She spat. Nico chuckled beside her and she turned to give him a dirty look.
"I fail to see the humor in the fact that she shoved me into a fruit bowl." She said, and Nico went into full out laughter. She rolled her eyes and stood up.
"Gods, you're totally worthless." She murmured. She began to walk off, back to her own cabin, when she felt his hand grip around her, gently pulling her back. The heat from his hand sent shivers up her skin, leaving goosebumps in its wake. She turned to face him, gently pulling her hand away. He was so close to her she could see the small rising and falling of his chest. He was wearing a black shirt, which seemed odd for someone to wear at a beach party, although she'd never seen him wear anything else other than black. He looked her in the eyes and Sasha averted her gaze quickly. Suddenly, out of nowhere, he had a bucket in his hand and had dumped the content over Sasha's head. Sasha watched, in shock, as the water flowed around and away from her skin like an invisible force had pushed it away. It splashed down at her feet, and she stared incredulously at the smirking son of Hades.
"That's funny, is it?" She asked. He nodded, laughing.
"y-your…face…." He said through peals of laughter. Sasha nodded. She averted her gaze to the ocean and smiled evilly. Nico was only a moment too late in realizing what Sasha was planning. Just as his eyes widened, a wave of water came crashing down around him. There was a tugging sensation in her gut, as if she'd eaten a powerful magnet and now her innards were being pulled towards an anonymous source. After both the feeling in her gut and the wave was gone, Nico was left sputtering and gasping on the ground, but he seemed overall okay. She burst into laughter and he raised an eyebrow at her.
"Oh really?" He asked, Sasha didn't know what he was thinking, but that bizarre, evil genius look in his eyes made her nervous. Suddenly he had his arms wrapped around her and even the dim light from the party off on the other side of the beach and the light from the moon and stars disappeared. She was in total darkness, just as she had been in before when she'd been lying down. She felt as if broken remnants of glass were piercing her skin. She could feel her body burning up to a point where she felt as if her body was aflame, while at the same time she was so cold she felt frozen to death. She screamed. Just as quickly as it had appeared, the illusion was gone and she was back on the beach, the moon and the distant lights and the stars comforting.
"Shh." A voice breathed into her ear, and she realized he still had his arms around her and had put his hand up to cover her mouth when she'd screamed. He chuckled, and she bit his finger. He jumped away from her, cursing, and she turned to glare at him. She was just about to call him some very unethical names when a voice from a mere few yards away beat her to responding.
"Well, wasn't that adorable."
Sasha recognized that bitter, sadistic tone even before she saw the horrific being. Drew had done her straight jet black hair up into a high ponytail and was wearing a strapless bikini, although Sasha couldn't tell what color it was because of the light. Unfortunately, the light didn't seem to spare Sasha the view of the girl's face, and Sasha could see in the other girl's eyes that she'd been watching them for a while. Sasha turned to look at Nico, who had his hands clenched into fists at his sides, and he turned to leer at Sasha for a moment before walking over to Drew and wrapping his arm around her. She smiled at Sasha triumphantly and the couple made their way back to the party, without one backwards glance back at Sasha.

Sasha had no memory of falling asleep on the beach, but the next morning she woke up wrapped in a warm blanket on the sand, and although water was lapping peacefully around her, she was dry, as was the blanket. She stood up groggily and made her way to her cabin. When she arrived, she noticed a note taped to the door, addressed to her.
Sasha,
You fell asleep on the beach last night and when I tried to bring you back to the cabin you started yelling at me, though I'm pretty sure you were also half-asleep, so I just brought you a blanket and let you sleep there.
-Percy

At first, Sasha read it normally. It was easy for Sasha to read English, considering the fact that she wasn't dyslexic, but it took her a moment to realize that this was a whole other language entirely. She stared at the paper incredulously studying the Greek letters and words. She'd subconsciously read the Greek words, understood what they'd said, and then translated them into English mentally so it came to her naturally. The whole fact that she had just been able to do that was beyond her, and she smiled, slightly proud, as she entered the cabin.
She changed out of the swimsuit from the previous night and showered quickly, drying her hair and changing into a regular camp tee and high-waisted jean shorts with a thick light brown belt. She did her hair up in a ponytail, but decided against it when she looked in the mirror and was reminded of Drew the night before. She pulled it out of the ponytail and did it in two simple braids on each side of her head before making her way to breakfast.