Chapter Title: The Benefits Of Having A Friend That Sticks By Your Side
Piper, if she had to be honest, was very grateful for Alyssa. Despite her shyness and also her now known amnesia due to Hera, the blonde had been a loyal friend to her in the time that she and Piper had known each other. For that, she was grateful for it.
On this morning, Piper woke up and immediately grabbed a mirror. There were plenty of those in the Aphrodite cabin. She sat on her bunk, looked at her reflection and groaned.
She was still gorgeous.
Last night after the campfire, she'd tried everything. She messed up her hair, washed the makeup off her face, cried to make her eyes red. Nothing worked. Her hair popped back to perfection. The magic makeup reapplied itself. Her eyes refused to get puffy or bloodshot.
She would've changed clothes, but she had nothing to change into. The other Aphrodite campers offered her some (laughing behind her back, she was sure), but each outfit was even more fashionable and ridiculous than what she had on.
Thank god Alyssa had been there to help her through all of this. The girl was shy sure, but she was a kind, sweet person too. For that, Piper was glad she was friends with her.
Now, after a horrible night's sleep, still no change. Piper normally looked like a zombie in the morning, but her hair was styled like a supermodel's and her skin was perfect. Even that horrible zit at the base of her nose, which she'd had for so many days she'd started to call it Bob, had disappeared.
She growled in frustration and raked her fingers through her hair. No use. The do just popped back into place. She looked like Cherokee Barbie.
Alyssa just hugged her from behind, having also got up and for a moment, Piper was about to hug her back, but that's when a familiar voice just had to ruin the moment.
From across the cabin, Drew called, "Oh, honey, it won't go away." Her voice dripped with false sympathy. "Mom's blessing will last at least another day. Maybe a week if you're lucky."
Piper gritted her teeth. "A week?"
The other Aphrodite kids—about dozen girls and five guys—smirked and snickered at her discomfort. Piper knew she should play cool, not let them get under her skin. She'd dealt with shallow, popular kids plenty of times. But this was different. These were her brothers and sisters, even if she had nothing in common with them, and how Aphrodite had managed to have so many kids so close in age ... Never mind. She didn't want to know.
Piper was pretty sure that Alyssa, who stood shyly next to her now — glaring at Drew, probably didn't to know either, if she had to be honest.
"Don't worry, hon." Drew blotted her fluorescent lipstick. "You're thinking you don't belong here? We couldn't agree more. Isn't that right, Mitchell?"
One of the guys flinched. "Um, yeah. Sure."
"Mmm-hmm." Drew took out her mascara and checked her lashes. Everyone else watched, not daring to speak. "So anyways, people, fifteen minutes until breakfast. The cabin's not going to clean itself! And Mitchell, I think you've learned your lesson. Right, sweetie? So you're on garbage patrol just for today, mm-kay? Show Piper how it's done, 'cause I have a feeling she'll have that job soon—if she survives her quest. Now, get to work, everybody! It's my bathroom time!"
Everybody started rushing around, making beds and folding clothes, while Drew scooped up her makeup kit, hair dryer, and brush and marched into the bathroom.
Alyssa just rolled her eyes. "Queen bitch.." she muttered, obviously very, very annoyed.
Someone inside yelped, and a girl about eleven was kicked out, hastily wrapped in towels with shampoo still in her hair.
The door slammed shut, and the girl started to cry. Alyssa ran up to her, followed by a couple of older campers, who all comforted her and wiped the bubbles out of her hair.
Piper had to admit, as selfish and cruel as the act was, it was also a reminder of who Alyssa truly was. A selfless and caring person who hates to see those younger than herself crying.
"Seriously?" Piper said to no one in particular. "You let Drew treat you like this?"
A few kids shot Piper nervous looks, like they might actually agree, but they said nothing. Alyssa frowned at that.
The campers kept working, though Piper couldn't see why the cabin needed much cleaning. It was a life-size dollhouse, with pink walls and white window trim. The lace curtains were pastel blue and green, which of course matched the sheets and feather comforters on all the beds.
The guys had one row of bunks separated by a curtain, but their section of the cabin was just as neat and orderly as the girls'. Something was definitely unnatural about that. Every camper had a wooden camp chest at the foot of their bunk with their name painted on it, and Piper guessed that the clothes in each chest were neatly folded and color coordinated. The only bit of individualism was how the campers decorated their private bunk spaces. Each had slightly different pictures tacked up of whatever celebrities they thought were hot. A few had personal photos, too, but most were actors or singers or whatever.
Piper hoped she might not see The Poster. It had been almost a year since the movie, and she thought by now surely everyone had torn down those old tattered advertisements and tacked up something newer. But no such luck. She spotted one on the wall by the storage closet, in the middle of a collage of famous heartthrobs.
The title was lurid red: King Of Sparta. Under that, the poster showed the leading man—a three-quarters shot of bare-chested bronze flesh, with ripped pectorals and six-pack abs. He was clad in only a Greek war kilt and a purple cape, sword in hand. He looked like he'd just been rubbed in oil, his short black hair gleaming and rivulets of sweat pouring off his rugged face, those dark sad eyes facing the camera as if to say, I will kill your men and steal your women! Ha-ha!
It was the most ridiculous poster of all time. Piper and her dad had had a good laugh over it the first time they saw it. Then the movie made a bajillion dollars. The poster graphic popped up everywhere. Piper couldn't get away from it at school, walking down the street, even online. It became The Poster, the most embarrassing thing in her life. And yeah, it was a picture of her dad.
Alyssa simply looked at it and frowned even more.
She turned away so no one would think she was staring at it. Maybe when everyone went to breakfast she could tear it down and they wouldn't notice.
She tried to look busy, but she didn't have any extra clothes to fold. She straightened her bed, then realized the top blanket was the one Jason had wrapped around her shoulders last night. She picked it up and pressed it to her face. It smelled of wood smoke, but unfortunately not of Jason. He was the only person who'd been genuinely nice to her after the claiming, like he cared about how she felt, not just about her stupid new clothes. God, she'd wanted to kiss him, but he'd seemed so uncomfortable, almost scared of her. She couldn't really blame him. She'd been glowing pink.
"'Scuse me," said a voice by her feet. The garbage patrol guy, Mitchell, was crawling around on all fours, picking up chocolate wrappers and crumpled notes from under the bunk beds. Apparently the Aphrodite kids weren't one hundred percent neat freaks after all.
She moved out of his way. "What'd you do to make Drew mad?"
He glanced over at the bathroom door to make sure it was still closed. "Last night, after you were claimed, I said you might not be so bad."
It wasn't much of a compliment, but Piper was stunned. An Aphrodite kid had actually stood up for her?
"Thanks," she said.
"That's because she isn't a bad person.." Alyssa spoke up, walking over to the two of them. "Piper is one of the kindest people I have ever had the honor to be friends with in my life."
There was a glint in Alyssa's eye that made Mitchell sweat inside, because it suspiciously looked like tranquil fury, as if while Alyssa may be shy, she was definitely not the kind of person you wanted to mess with.
The boy simply shrugged. "Yeah, well. See where it got me. But for what it's worth, welcome to Cabin Ten."
A girl with blond pigtails and braces raced up with a pile of clothes in her arms. She looked around furtively like she was delivering nuclear materials. Alyssa simply looked at Piper, and then back to the young girl.
"I brought you these," she whispered.
"Piper, Alyssa, meet Lacy," Mitchell said, still crawling around on the floor.
"Hi," Lacy said breathlessly. "You can change clothes. The blessing won't stop you. This is just, you know, a backpack, some rations, ambrosia and nectar for emergencies, some jeans, a few extra shirts, and a warm jacket. The boots might be a little snug. But—well—we took up a collection. Good luck on your quest!"
Lacy dumped the things on the bed and started to hurry away, but Piper caught her arm. "Hold on. At least let me thank you! Why are you rushing off?"
Lacy looked like she might shake apart from nervousness. "Oh, well—"
"Drew might find out," Mitchell explained.
"I might have to wear the shoes of shame!" Lacy gulped.
"The what?" Piper asked. Alyssa's eyes widened, she didn't like the sound of it at all.
Lacy and Mitchell both pointed to a black shelf mounted in the corner of the room, like an altar. Displayed on it were a hideous pair of orthopedic nurse's shoes, bright white with thick soles.
"I had to wear them for a week once," Lacy whimpered. "They don't go with anything!" Alyssa simply hugged Lacy, the younger girl accepting the hug, but now Alyssa had flames of hell dancing in her eyes as her shyness seemingly slipped off of her like a mask.
"And there're worse punishments," Mitchell warned. "Drew can charmspeak, see? Not many Aphrodite kids have that power; but if she tries hard enough, she can get you to do some pretty embarrassing things. Piper, you're the first person I've seen in a long time who is able to resist her."
"Charmspeak ..." Piper remembered last night, the way the crowd at the campfire had swayed back and forth between Drew's opinion and hers. "You mean, like, you could talk someone into doing things. Or ... giving you things. Like a car?"
"Oh, don't give Drew any ideas!" Lacy gasped.
"But yeah," Mitchell said. "She could do that."
"What a horrid kind of person.." Alyssa said at that moment, as all eyes drifted towards her for a moment.
"So that's why she's head counselor," Piper said. "She convinced you all?"
Mitchell picked a nasty wad of gum from under Piper's bed. "Nah, she inherited the post when Silena Beauregard stepped down from the post. Drew was second oldest. Oldest camper automatically gets the post, unless somebody with more years or more completed quests wants to challenge, in which case there's a duel, but that hardly ever happens. Anyway, we've been stuck with Drew in charge since August. She decided to make some, ah, changes in the way the cabin is run."
"Define.. changes.." Alyssa muttered.
"Yes, I did!" Suddenly Drew was there, leaning against the bunk. Lacy squeaked like a guinea pig and tried to run, but Drew put an arm out to stop her. Alyssa started glaring holes in Drew's forehead now. Drew looked down at Mitchell. "I think you missed some trash, sweetie. You'd better make another pass."
Piper glanced toward the bathroom and saw that Drew had dumped everything from the bathroom waste bin—some pretty nasty things—all over the floor.
Alyssa glared at Drew even harder now. She looked so full of tranquil fury, Piper couldn't help but be a bit fearful of when exactly the normally shy blonde was going to let it rip.
Mitchell sat up on his haunches. He glared at Drew like he was about to attack (which Piper would've paid money to see), but finally he snapped, "Fine."
Drew smiled. "See, Piper, hon, we're a good cabin here. A good family! Silena Beauregard, though ... you could take a warning from her. She was secretly passing information to Kronos in the Titan War, helping the enemy."
That didn't stop Alyssa from continuing to glare holes into Drew's forehead. Alyssa also wanted to smack Silena in the face — for she hadn't seen the woman at all in this cabin. Most likely, she was probably with Beckendorf. If she had even stopped by her cabin once to see what Drew had done with it.. Alyssa pushed that thought from her mind. She knew she would deal with Silena when the time came.
Drew smiled all sweet and innocent, with her glittery pink makeup and her blow-dried hair lush and smelling like nutmeg. She looked like any popular teenage girl from any high school. But her eyes were as cold as steel. Piper got the feeling Drew was looking straight into her soul, pulling out her secrets. Drew seemed to be staring more at Piper than Alyssa though.
Still, those three words continued to permeate the air around them all.
Helping the enemy.
"Oh, none of the other cabins talk about it," Drew confided. "They act like Silena Beauregard was a hero."
"She tried to sacrifice her own life to make things right," Mitchell grumbled. "She was a hero."
"Mmm-hmm," Drew said. "Another day on garbage patrol, Mitchell. But anyways, Silena lost track of what this cabin is about. We match up cute couples at camp! Then we break them apart and start over! It's the best fun ever. We don't have any business getting involved in other stuff like wars and quests. I certainly haven't been on any quests. They're a waste of time!"
Lacy raised her hand nervously. "But last night you said you wanted to go on a—"
Drew glared at her, and Lacy's voice died.
"Most of all," Drew continued, "we certainly don't need our image tarnished by spies, do we, Piper?"
Piper tried to answer, but she couldn't. There was no way Drew could know about her dreams or her dad's kidnapping, was there?
Then, out of nowhere, Alyssa decided to stand up for her friend and snapped.
"You're one to talk, bitch.." she said, causing everyone in the cabin to stop what they were doing and turn to look at Alyssa. She had an insanely fierce glint in her eyes, the likes of which even made Drew have to look away from her from time to time, unable to continue looking into Alyssa's eyes for long.
"You're a disgrace to our mother.. like seriously. Breaking couples up? What the hell even is wrong with you? No wonder Colton had been trying to find a way to get rid of you as being head counselor — since you kept trying to break him and Kayla up so you could take him for yourself!" Alyssa continued, causing gasps to come out of Piper's and Drew's mouths for different reasons.
"Don't act so shocked, Mitchell told me everything last night.. you are an absolute disgrace to our mother.. shame on you.." Alyssa continued, and if Piper had to be honest, she had never been more proud on how much of a true friend Alyssa was to her than right now.
Drew regained her composure after a while though. She smirked, and it only made Alyssa even more angry.
"It's too bad you two won't be around for long," Drew sighed. "But if you two survive your little quest, don't worry, I'll find somebody to match up you two with. Maybe one of those gross Hephaestus guys. Or Clovis? He's pretty repulsive." Drew looked Piper over with a mix of pity and disgust, even as Alyssa clenched her fists, a sign that the shy beauty might be close to letting her dark side rip. "Honestly, I didn't think it was possible for Aphrodite to have an ugly child, but ... who was your father? Was he some sort of mutant, or—"
"Tristan McLean," Piper snapped.
As soon as she said it, she hated herself. She never, ever played the "famous dad" card. But Drew had driven her over the edge. "My dad's Tristan McLean." Alyssa just took Piper's hand in hers, showing her support.
The stunned silence was gratifying for a few seconds, but Piper felt ashamed of herself. Everybody turned and looked at The Poster, her dad flexing his muscles for the whole world to see.
"Oh my god!" half the girls screamed at once.
"Sweet!" a guy said. "The dude with the sword who killed that other dude in that movie?"
"He is so hot for an old guy," a girl said, and then she blushed. "I mean I'm sorry. I know he's your dad. That's so weird!"
"It's weird, all right," Piper agreed.
"Do you think you could get me his autograph?" another girl asked.
Piper forced a smile. She couldn't say, If my dad survives...
"Yeah, no problem," she managed.
The girl squealed in excitement, and more kids surged forward, asking a dozen questions at once.
"Have you ever been on the set?"
"Do you live in a mansion?"
"Do you have lunch with movie stars?"
"Have you had your rite of passage?"
That one caught Piper off guard. "Rite of what?" she asked.
The girls and guys giggled and shoved each other around like this was an embarrassing topic.
"The rite of passage for an Aphrodite child," one explained. "You get someone to fall in love with you. Then you break their heart. Dump them. Once you do that, you've proven yourself worthy of Aphrodite."
Alyssa looked like she wanted to puke. She felt as if that was the most disgusting thing on the planet.
Piper stared at the crowd to see if they were joking. "Break someone's heart on purpose? That's terrible!"
The others looked confused.
"Why?" a guy asked.
"Oh my god!" a girl said. "I bet Aphrodite broke your dad's heart! I bet he never loved anyone again, did he? That's so romantic! When you have your rite of passage, you can be just like Mom!"
Alyssa just facepalmed, frustration evident on her face. "You're not all that bright of a bunch, are you?" she said.
"Forget it!" Piper yelled, a little louder than she'd intended. The other kids backed away. "I'm not breaking somebody's heart just for a stupid rite of passage!"
Which of course gave Drew a chance to take back control. "Well, there you go!" she cut in. "Silena said the same thing. She broke the tradition, fell in love with that Beckendorf boy, and stayed in love. If you ask me, that's why things almost ended tragically for her, if Colton hadn't come along."
"That's not true!" Lacy squeaked, but Drew glared at her, and she immediately melted back into the crowd. Alyssa started to growl now, causing even Piper to be very concerned about her now. She had never seen Alyssa act like this before.
"Hardly matters," Drew continued, "because, Piper, hon, you couldn't break anyone's heart anyway. And this nonsense about your dad being Tristan McLean—that's so begging for attention."
Several of the kids blinked uncertainly.
"You mean he's not her dad?" one asked.
"Oh he is.." Alyssa remarked. "And you're a fool for thinking otherwise, Drew."
Drew rolled her eyes. "Please. Now, it's time for breakfast, people, and Piper here has to start that little quest. So let's get her packed and get her out of here!"
Drew broke up the crowd and got everyone moving. She called them "hon" and "dear," but her tone made it clear she expected to be obeyed. Mitchell and Lacy helped Piper and Alyssa pack. They even guarded the bathroom while Piper went in and changed into a better traveling outfit, and then Alyssa changed after her. The hand-me-downs weren't fancy—thank god—just well-worn jeans, a T-shirt, a comfortable winter coat, and hiking boots that fit perfectly. She strapped her dagger, Katoptris, to her belt. Even so, once again, she was happy that despite her relationship troubles with Jason, she would have Clara and more importantly Alyssa by her side on this quest.
When Piper came out, she felt almost normal again. The other campers were standing at their bunks while Drew came around and inspected. Piper turned to Mitchell and Lacy and mouthed, Thank you. Mitchell nodded grimly. Lacy flashed a full-braces smile. Alyssa couldn't stop glaring at Drew once more, while Piper doubted Drew had ever thanked them for anything. She also noticed that the King of Sparta poster had been wadded up and thrown in the trash. Drew's orders, no doubt. Even though Piper had wanted to take the poster down herself, now she was totally steamed.
Alyssa, on the other hand, was thinking thoughts of pure rage at this point. She hated Drew completely now.
When Drew spotted her, she clapped in mock applause. "Very nice! Our little quest girls all dressed in Dumpster clothes again. Now, off you go! No need to eat breakfast with us. Good luck with ... whatever. Bye!"
Piper shouldered her bag. She could feel everyone else's eyes on them as she walked to the door. She could just leave and forget about it. That would've been the easy thing. What did she care about this cabin, these shallow kids?
Except that some of them had tried to help her. Some of them had even stood up to Drew for her. Alyssa had stood up for them. Piper couldn't just turn her back on them, on Alyssa.
She turned at the door. "You know, you all don't have to follow Drew's orders." Alyssa simply nodded along with her.
The other kids shifted. Several glanced at Drew, but she looked too stunned to respond. She once more couldn't bear to look Alyssa in the eyes for very long.
"Umm," one managed, "she's our head counselor."
"She's a tyrant," Piper corrected. "You can think for yourselves. There's got to be more to Aphrodite than this."
"More than this," one kid echoed.
"Think for ourselves," a second muttered.
"People!" Drew screeched. "Don't be stupid! She's charm-speaking you."
"No," Piper said. "I'm just telling the truth." Alyssa once more nodded along.
At least, Piper thought that was the case. She didn't understand exactly how this charmspeaking business worked, but she didn't feel like she was putting any special power into her words. She didn't want to win an argument by tricking people. That would make her no better than Drew. Piper simply meant what she said. Besides, even if she tried charmspeaking, she had a feeling it wouldn't work very well on another charmspeaker like Drew.
Drew sneered at her. "You may have a little power, Miss Movie Star. But you don't know the first thing about Aphrodite. You have such great ideas? What do you think this cabin is about, then? Tell them. Then maybe I'll tell them a few things about you, huh?"
"You're still a disgrace to our mother no matter what, Drew!" Alyssa shot back.
Piper wanted to make a withering retort, but her anger turned to panic. She was a spy for the enemy, just like Silena Beauregard. An Aphrodite traitor. Did Drew know about that, or was she bluffing? Under Drew's glare, her confidence began to crumble. Alyssa held her hand to give her confidence and support, but it was no use.
"Not this," Piper managed. "Aphrodite is not about this."
Then she turned and stormed out before the others could see her blushing.
Behind her, Drew started laughing. "Not this? Hear that, people? She doesn't have a clue!" Alyssa simply glared at her for a while longer, and then turned to follow Piper.
Piper promised herself she would never ever go back to that cabin. She blinked away her tears and stormed across the green, not sure where she was going—until she saw the dragon swooping down from the sky.
She and Alyssa both screamed.