Leo's POV

I got nothing but weird looks all morning, which really brightens up your day. Maybe it was that stupid grease smudge, which I still had, or maybe it was that I couldn't walk ten feet without stumbling over something that didn't exist. Believe me, that takes skill.

I wanted to talk to Anne again, but not until after I'd gotten some proper sleep. She probably wouldn't be too impressed if I passed out in the middle of our conversation. I trudged sleepily off to the cabin, where I washed the grease off my face in the bathroom and practically fell into my bed.

"You feelin' okay, man?" Jake asked, hobbling to my bedside on his crutches.

"I'm fine, just tired," I answered. "I really need some sleep."

Jake nodded, like he understood. "I'll take the rest of us to the bunker; see what we can get done on the ship," he replied. "You can just crash here for however long. You've been working hard lately."

I gave him a grateful smile. "Thanks, man," I said. "I appreciate it."

Jake gave me a salute and returned the smile before ushering the rest of our cabin out the door.

Ahhh, peace and quiet at last. The lights in the cabin were dim, and my bed was warm and nice. But after twenty minutes of tossing and turning, I realized I couldn't sleep. I sighed in frustration. I had been about to pass out during breakfast. Why couldn't I fall asleep?

I sat up and scratched my jaw. Maybe I needed to work. Maybe I needed to do something to make me more tired. But I didn't feel like working on the ship, and there weren't any activities that I really enjoyed. There was no way in Hades that I was doing the climbing wall today. Even if I didn't fall into lava (which wouldn't hurt me anyway), I would probably fall asleep and tumble down to the bottom in a very undignified manner. Imagine if Anne saw that!

Wait…Anne. All my memories from last night came flooding back to me. Her blue eyes. Her blond hair. Her sympathy. Her comforting understanding. The look in her gorgeous eyes when she kissed me. She kissed me.

Now that was one awesome girl.

What's she doing now? I had to find out. Now, there's something for me to do!

I went to the door of Cabin Nine, opened it, and peered out. Let's see, what have we got? The Iris cabin was flying overhead on pegasi. I couldn't help grinning when I saw Butch in the lead, stroking his pegasus' mane with an undisguised fondness.

Okay. What else was there? The Demeter cabin was walking through the strawberry fields checking on the plants, the Ares cabin was in the swordfighting arena, and aha! I caught sight of the Apollo cabin at archery class. I could see Anne from here, her ponytailed hair glinting in the sun as she drew back her bow. I combed back my hair so it didn't look like a rat had been using it as a nest, and jogged in her direction.

Twang! She released the arrow and it sailed straight into the target's bull's eye. "Nice shot!" I yelled as I got closer.

She turned, surprised, as I walked up to her only slightly out of breath. Hey, give me a break. True, I had to run like ten miles a day at the Wilderness School, but I'm overworked and tired now. What do you expect?

I could see the shock and confusion in her eyes as she saw me. What was there to be shocked about? Did she not recognize me without the grease on my face or something?

"Hey, Anne," I said, reaching her side and grinning at her in a way I hoped was attractive. "That was a great shot."

"Thanks," she said, brushing her ponytail off her shoulder and running her fingers along the string of her bow almost nervously. What was there to be nervous about? I wasn't going to bite.

"So, you…remember last night?" she asked quietly, like I was an amnesiac or something. Not that I have anything against that, after the whole thing with Jason.

"How could I forget?" I asked, spreading out my arms disbelievingly. "That had to be the best night of my life!"

She looked at me like, Shut up! as some of her cabinmates began to turn around. Oh, right. We're not alone now.

"Hi, Leo," Will Solace said, coming over with his bow in his hand. "What brings you down here?"

Anne's eyes warned me not to tell the truth. "Um, Nyssa asked me to bring Anne to Bunker 9 for her," I improvised.

"Why?" Will sounded confused.

"I don't know. She didn't say," I said, shrugging.

Will shrugged. "Well, don't let me stop you." He walked away to pull the many arrows out of the nearest target's bull's eye.

"We'd better head in that direction in case they wonder," Anne said quietly, hefting her quiver over her shoulder and falling in step alongside me.

"Sure thing. Hey, what did you mean, 'do you remember last night?'" I asked, grinning. "Jason's the one who had amnesia, not me!"

Without warning, she flung her arms around me. "I thought it was Aphrodite!" she said, sounding distressed. "I thought Aphrodite was messing with me, and that you'd been under a spell or something. I didn't know if you'd remember, or if you'd care."

My smile fell off my face. "I have to admit, I wondered the same thing. Well, not the under-a-spell thing, but I wondered if Aphrodite had something to do with us meeting. But it was real, or else we wouldn't remember."

Her eyes looked so sad, but a bit ashamed as well. "I'm sorry if I made a horse out of a hamster, but—"

I couldn't help it. I started laughing so hard I had to gasp for air. "You're sorry if you made what?"

She laughed too, the sadness suddenly gone from her eyes. "I'm sorry if I made a horse out of a hamster." She cracked up again with me, wiping a laughter tear from her eye. "That was something my mom used to say."

I made an effort to control myself. "Sorry, you were saying?" I said, still trying to stop laughing.

She grinned. "I was just saying sorry for making a big deal out of a little thought. I'm not usually this illogical."

"It's cool," I said, offering my hand to her.

Smiling, she took it, and we strolled together down toward the lake.

"So, you don't have to work on the ship?" she asked.

"Um, I've got an off day," I replied. "You interested?"

She smiled. "Totally."

If I thought she looked cute in pajamas last night, she was at least twice as cute in regular clothes. Instead of a Camp Half-Blood T-shirt, which most campers wore day after day, she wore a dark blue tank top and cutoff shorts. On her feet were some chewed-up tennis shoes that were a brand I'd never heard of. She wasn't wearing makeup, which I was glad for. Some of Piper's sisters wore so much eye makeup they looked like raccoons. How did they think it looked good?

With a smile, I noticed how different her hand looked against mine. Her fingers were long like mine but slimmer and a little more elegant. My hands were tough and strong from working on machinery all the time. Her hands were on the delicate side, but her arms were strong-looking, probably from hauling back bowstrings a lot, but they weren't really ripped, which I was grateful for. That would just be embarrassing if my girl was buffer than I was.

"Hey, Leo!" a voice called. My gaze shifted from Anne's hand in mine to the owner of the voice. It was Jason, heading in our direction with Piper at his side.

As they got within fifteen feet, Anne gently slipped her hand out of mine, but Piper noticed and smirked at me knowingly. I ignored her and addressed Jason. "What's up, man?"

"We're collecting cabins for Capture the Flag tonight," he said. "Does the Hephaestus cabin want to ally with Hecate?"

"Our cabins are already allied with them," Piper explained, flicking a strand of her hair out of her face. "But we need you on our side."

"Yeah, sure," I said. "Sounds great."

"So," Piper said teasingly. "Who's this?"

"Anne Soleil," Anne said, extending her hand with a friendly smile. "A new friend of Leo's."

"Piper McLean," Piper said, shaking her hand. I noticed that the two of them were a lot alike. They were about the same height and had the same expression, like they were sharing a secret between them.

"Jason Grace," Jason smiled, shaking Anne's hand as well. "Nice to meet you."

"The famous threesome," Anne grinned, shaking Jason's hand and stepping back a pace like she wanted to look at all three of us at once.

Jason shrugged modestly. Piper shot me another teasing look. I glared at her.

"So you two know each other how?" Jason asked me.

"Chance meeting," I said. "Kind of random."

"Is your cabin allied with anyone?" Piper asked Anne. "You want to join the winning side?" She grinned.

Anne shook her head. "Sorry, but my cabin has a score to settle with Hecate."

I almost broke off the alliance right then and there, but I stopped myself. To Jason and Piper Anne and I were just friends. I didn't really want to be responsible for revealing our secret relationship.

"So, are you—" Piper began.

"No, she's not," I blurted out. I really didn't need her asking if Anne was my girlfriend.

Both Piper and Jason gave me a look. "I was just going to ask if she's an Apollo camper. She's got a bow and quiver," Piper said.

"Oh!" I said, blushing and feeling like an idiot. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Anne giving me a look like, Smooth, Leo. "Yeah. Yeah, she is."

Piper smirked evilly. "What did you think I was going to say, Leo?"

Jason seemed to be just catching on. He grinned at me.

"Get lost, guys," I muttered, trying to hide the blush that was spreading across my face like wildfire.

"Touchy!" Piper sang out, nudging Jason in another direction. "Come on, Jason. I can tell we're not wanted here."

They walked away, leaving us alone at last. But as if to torture me one last time, Piper and Jason turned and grinned at us. "Good luck with him, Anne," Piper called. "You'll have your hands full."

Anne laughed. "Thanks," she called back.

"Ooh," I grumbled, annoyed and embarrassed. "I'm going to kill them."

"Come on," Anne said, taking my hand again. "Ignore them. They're just teasing you. You know they love you."

Somehow her words had a calming affect on me almost as powerful as Piper's charmspeak. Shaking my head, I allowed myself to be led after Anne, sighing as we walked hand in hand down toward the lake.