Hi! Sorry for dissapearing, blame my life!

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15: I Don't Believe in Marriage: "i'm a wedding planner and you don't believe in marriage"

Silena sighed and closed the magazine shut.

"Charlie, help," she said. "I've looked at so many different shades of red today, I can't pick a bridesmaid dress. What would I look good in?"

"Anything," he said cautiously. One of his eyebrows was arched and his eyes were all squinty, like every time he knew there was a social rule to obey, but wasn't too sure of his footing.

"That is the right answer," Silena smiled. "But I was kind of looking for actual guidance."

She'd been sifting through catalogues and brochures and pin boards for ages. Through some kind of child psychology handbook, her dad had decided that including Silena in the wedding planning process would make his upcoming nuptials easier for her to handle even though Angelina had been living with them since Silena was twelve and Silena absolutely loved her. Anyways, somehow, along the way, she'd been given every single job ever. She wouldn't mind if wifi and service was so scarce at camp. Silena had always loved weddings, her entire cabin had turned into an assembly line for center pieces yesterday, and talking about cute first dance songs was the first time she'd managed to get the new girl, Drew, out of her shell.

"I'm… I'm not too great to talk about weddings with," Charlie said clumsily.

"How come babe?" Silena frowned.

Charlie's weight shifted and he rubbed the back of his neck.

"Charlie," Silena said a bit more strictly.

"I never said anything because you're an Aphrodite kid so as a rule of thumb you guys love gushy romantic stuff and I've seen how excited you are about your dad, but…" Charlie shrugged. "I got picked on and my mom got called a whore because my parents weren't married. When my mom did get married she totally lost interest in me. I think about Percy's mom who got stuck in a bad place because of a little piece of paper, or how when someone dies the first suspect is the spouse… I don't know, I just don't get the point of marriage."

Silena's jaw dropped, but she closed her mouth.

"That's okay," Silena said. She had to force the words out of her mouth and it felt unnatural and wrong in every way. "I mean, everyone's allowed to have their own opinion."

"Seriously?" Charlie asked. "I'm getting away with that?"

"That just took all my self-control for the day," Silena said. "Don't push it; pick a dress in here for me to order for myself."