Okay sorry about my limited knowledge of makeup, I leaned everything I know from my friend at about two in the morning…she was sleeping over and she wouldn't let me go to sleep unless I let her put makeup on me and yeah…long story…and also sorry about if ur a guy and u wanna throw up while reading this! Diamondsgirl is not responsible for if you fail to heed this warning haha plz enjoy the chapter!

Anne's POV

I didn't know whether I should laugh, keep sitting there like a deer in the headlights, or follow Leo's example and make a very quick exit. From the way the other campers were still laughing, I was leaning toward getting the heck out of there.

I got to my feet, but Ashley caught my arm. All the girls of the Aphrodite cabin swarmed around me. A few of them lifted locks of my hair and examined the strands critically. One girl lifted my hand and inspected my nails. Ashley carefully scrutinized my face.

"What are you guys doing?" I asked, taking back my hand and gently removing my hair from the others' grasp.

"I'm thinking layers for her hair…" one girl mused thoughtfully.

"Definitely nail polish," another chipped in.

"Make it blue or green!" a third girl chirped. "They go with her skin tone."

"Good, good," Ashley said, her coffee-colored eyes sweeping over my face. "She doesn't need foundation, but some eyeliner, sure, and definitely mascara…"

I opened my mouth to protest, but was interrupted by a voice coming from behind the crowd of girls surrounding me. "It doesn't matter what she does to herself," the voice snarled. "She's dating a loser anyway. Who says yes to a Hephaestus guy?"

I was about to direct a volley of not-so-polite words at the owner of the voice, when Ashley spoke. "Leave her alone, Drew. She's going to look great. We'll make sure of that, won't we, girls?"

The Aphrodite girls surrounding me smiled and cheered. That probably would not have been a good time to tell them that I was more than a bit scared of what exactly they were planning for me, but I was glad for their support.

"C'mon," Ashley said, linking her arm through mine. Her posse swirled around me and began to walk in the direction of the cabins. "The bonfire'll end in a few minutes anyway. Let's go to your cabin. Do you have any date clothes? Any dresses or skirts?"

I shook my head no. The last time I'd worn a dress was for my junior high graduation. And I hadn't been too thrilled about it, either.

Ashley pursed her lips thoughtfully. "Okay, what dress size are you? You can borrow something of ours."

"I have no idea!" I said. "I haven't worn a dress in years."

Ashley grinned at me. "Then we have a lot of work to do."

My heart started to go a little faster. I wasn't sure I liked the sound of that.

Another girl prodded my shoulder. "Our cabin. Now."

Too afraid to argue, I obeyed and walked through the doorway of the Aphrodite cabin. I was immediately hit by the scent of many perfumes. I fought the urge to start coughing.

"Okay. All of you that are about Anne's size, find some dresses if you don't mind her borrowing something," Ashley directed. "Everyone else, break out your makeup and hair stuff ASAP."

She eyed my hair. "Layers, maybe?" she asked a girl standing next to her.

"Def," the other girl replied, nodding.

"Layers?" I asked skeptically. "You mean…cut my hair?"

"Not much," the other girl said.

"Um, if it's okay I'd rather not," I said. "I'm sorry, I really appreciate all your help, but I don't want to look too different. My usual look is a bun or ponytail, and that's what Leo's used to seeing me like. I don't want to freak him out."

"What about your usual makeup?"

"Don't wear it."

There was a collective gasp. "Sorry!" I apologized. "I don't like wearing it every day." Truth be told, I didn't like wearing it at all, but I didn't want to hurt the girls' feelings, since they were all wearing more makeup on one side of their face than I had ever worn in my whole life.

"Usual clothes?"

"Jeans, a T-shirt, and Vans."

Another gasp. "But Vans are…guy shoes," a girl said. "And don't you like skirts?"

"Um, no."

A third gasp.

"I'm sorry!"

"Don't apologize," Ashley smiled. "That's what we're here for." She gestured and six girls approached, each holding a dress. Each girl held their dress up to me and Ashley examined them. "Good…good…no…good…what is this?" The dress she was pointing to was blacker than the pits of Tartarus and the girl holding it was wearing heavy eye makeup the same color. "Malory, is this her color?"

The girl sighed. "No."

Ashley eyed me. "What colors do you like?"

"Um, I like light blue and green."

"What about this?" a girl about my height asked, holding a dress up to me and gently spinning me around to face the huge mirror on one wall.

In the glass I took in the dress, a knee-length stream of soft cloth. The color rested on the line between a blue the color of the summer sky and the color of ice. It was really pretty. But I had doubts. "Does it make me look too…cold?" I asked. "The color, I mean."

Ashley laughed and took the dress from her sister. "Sweetie, it's perfect. You just have to make sure it fits."

Relived for an excuse to escape the crowd for a minute, I ducked into their bathroom to change. If you don't like it, and they don't have anything else, just change into something else. Leo won't care what you wear; he's seen you in pajamas! But when I straightened up and saw my reflection in the wall mirror on the back of the door, I was impressed. I actually looked pretty good. The dress hung from my shoulders by two thin straps and skimmed to just above my knees. I sent a silent thanks to the gods that I'd remembered to shave my legs the other day. Laughing to myself, I looked back at my reflection, admiring the way the cloth hugged my slender frame.

I did look good. But it wasn't me. My old friends from California wouldn't recognize me now. I wasn't sure if Leo would either.

I opened the door and was greeted by a chorus of gasps.

"That bad?" I asked.

"No way! That looks great!" Ashley exclaimed, coming to my side. "Okay girls, makeup and hair!"

In two seconds flat, I was sitting on someone's bed while two girls brushed my hair and the rest of them chose makeup.

"Please, not too much make- ow!" I yelped as one girl yanked the brush through a knot in my hair.

"Sorry!" she said. "But you can't have knots in your hair when you go on a date!"

"You can't have knots in your hair any time!" the other girl giggled.

I rolled my eyes and addressed the girls who were descending on me with various makeup things in their hands. "Not too much makeup, if that's cool," I said, trying to keep my eyes on all of them at once to avoid a sudden sneak attack. "Again, Leo's not used to seeing me in any."

The girl Ashley had called Malory rolled her eyes. "Honey, please. You're going to thank us!"

Well, okay, I thought as they went to work. If I didn't like it, I could just wash it off.

"Close your eyes," Ashley instructed as she brushed something onto my eyelids. "Now open." I obeyed.

"Close again," she said.

"No, open," another girl said.

"Make up your mind," I said, only half annoyed.

Ashley swatted at the other girl teasingly. "Sorry. Now you can open."

I obeyed and Ashley came at me with what I assumed was a mascara applier-thing. "Open really wide and don't close them."

I did and tried my best not to blink as Ashley brushed mascara onto my eyelashes. My eyes watered.

"Tissue!" Ashley commanded, and in three seconds one was in her hand. She handed it to me. "Wipe your eyes very carefully. We can't let that makeup run."

"Sorry," I said as I obeyed.

"It's okay," she said, smiling and brushing her pretty side bangs out of her eyes.

"Now, eyeliner," another girl said, holding some out to Ashley.

"Won't that be too much?" I asked, tilting my head back.

"Hold still!" one of the girls brushing my hair complained.

"Hmm, maybe…" Ashley mused. "Actually, I think you're right. This much is enough."

I fought the urge to sigh with relief.

"What about lip gloss?" another voice piped up.

"Totally. Nothing with too much shine though," Ashley said as the girl ran off. She smiled and touched up my mascara a little. "You've got such pretty eyes. We want the focus to be on them, not your lips."

"Really?" I said, touched. "Thank you. I really appreciate all the effort you all are putting int- ow!" I exclaimed as the brush was once again jerked through a tangle in my hair. There goes my touching thank-you.

"We want her hair to be knot-free, not torn up!" Ashley reprimanded the girls who were working on my hair. "And thank you." She leaned over to hug me. "This is what we do best," she grinned, indicating the other girls around her.

A petite girl with dark hair appeared at her side. "Is this good?" she asked, offering a lip gloss to Ashley, who examined the label.

"Yeah, it's good," she said. "Thanks, Lauren." She reached over and brushed a light coat onto my lips. "Perfect. Now sit still and don't smudge anything while I do your hair."

"Can I look first?" I asked, looking around for a mirror.

"No way! Don't you want a surprise?"

No! I wanted to protest. But I would just have to trust her to give me a date-worthy look, since I admit I have absolutely no knowledge on the subject. I kept my mouth shut and sat still as Ashley went to work on my hair.

Omg mauled by the Aphrodite crew! Will Anne survive? *horror-movie-worthy panic in eyes*

Anne: *screams from Aphrodite cabin* GET ME OUT OF HEREEEEE!

Diamondsgirl: *bites fingernails* should I be nice or just let her suffer? decisions…decisions…

Leo: I'LL SAVE YOUUUU! *takes off*

Diamondsgirl: Nah. I'll just let her suffer. *tackles Leo before he gets ten feet*

Leo: AAAGH IM BEING ATTACKED!

Diamondsgirl: Suck it up I have evil shin splints from track and you don't see me whining! *beams innocently* Please review! I love all the people who take the time and effort to send me a message or submit a review! I even love the people who don't review! I love everybody in this beautiful world!

Leo: DON'T FALL FOR IT! SHE'S EVIL! EVIL I TELL YOU!

Diamondsgirl: *shocks him with pocket size taser* feel lucky! I could've used the mega taser! You're just lucky I like you so much!

Leo: I don't feel lucky! *passes out*

Diamondsgirl: Well you are! PLEASE REVIEW PEOPLE! IT IS MUCH APPRECIATED!