Decimate

Chapter Twenty Two--Mark--Pink Hair

I was in the Aphrodite cabin's bathroom, drying my hair after a shower. I was standing in the corner, since I wanted to avoid the mirror. There was an alarming amount of mirrors in the Aphrodite cabin, so I tried to avoid them as much as possible.

I slipped on fresh clothes, set the hair dryer on the counter, and exited the room.

Everyone stared at me and giggled.

I looked down. I had put on clothes right? Yup.

I suddenly realized they were looking at my head, or my hair or something.

I leaned to one side slightly to stare into a mirror, and my mouth fell open as I realized my hair was a bright pink.

I glanced over at Drew to see that she wasn't laughing. Just smirking in my direction.

Deciding not to give in and get upset, I walked over to my bunk, ignoring the giggles, and sat down with a book.

I was pretty upset though.

I mean, you would be too right? If you came out of the shower to find that someone had put your least favorite color hair dye in your shampoo? Not to mention my hands were pink too.

Before long, the giggles died down, and I reached into my bag and slipped a gray beanie onto my head. Only a bit of my newly pink hair peeked out, which I suppose wasn't too bad.

I cursed myself for caring. I had been doing that a lot lately, ever since I discovered I was a son of Aphrodite. Oh, I suppose not all of my siblings were bad, in fact, some of them were quite nice. But there were also some that were not. Like Drew. That's life I suppose. There are always gonna be some assholes.

Someone sat on the bed next to me. I looked up to see Phil.

"Hey Mark," he said, in a voice much more lackluster than I usually heard from Phil. I sat up.

"Hey Phil," I started. "What's wrong?"

He shrugged. "Nothing. Just... you know."

I did know. Phil had been getting bullied a lot lately. About his powers and how weak they are. We all kept telling him how they would get stronger, but I think some of us secretly thought they wouldn't.

I put a hand on his shoulder in what I hoped was a reassuring fashion. "Are you okay?"

He shrugged again. I could almost feel my heart cracking. He was the sunshine of the group. Sean was the energy, Dan was the sarcasm, and I was... I don't know really. The pink hair?

"You want to talk about it?"

He shook his head. "I just want to forget it really."

I stood up. "Come on, let's walk."

He followed me eagerly out of the cabin. I could see some of his happiness returning. He liked being with his friends, I knew. Although why he enjoyed my company, I don't know.

As we walked, he glanced at the tuft of pink hair coming out from under my beanie. "So. Pink hair huh?"

I laughed a bit. "Drew's idea of a funny prank."

"I like it. It's very bright."

"Thanks."

We walked in silence for a moment.

"So how's Dan?" I asked.

"He's good. All healed up."

"Good."

There was an awkward silence.

"Hey cactus boy," A kid yelled from the volleyball pit. "How's your emo boyfriend?"

Phil turned his eyes to the ground, and I shot a death glare at the boy.

"It's okay," I told Phil. "Just ignore that asshole."

He didn't scold me for my language. He always scolded me for my language.

"Hey Phil," I started. I knew something that always cheered him up. "Make a noise like a pregnant deer."

Phil shrugged. "I don't really feel like it right now."

I deflated. Now I knew something was really wrong.

"Phil, are you okay? Really?"

He hesitated a moment before shaking his head.

I made to say something, but he interrupted me. "Listen," he started. "Is it okay if I go be alone for a while? I really appreciate your company, and this is fun, but I really just kind of need to be alone."

I nodded. "That's okay. But remember, you can come to me whenever you need to..."

He nodded. "Bye Mark."

"Bye."

I hope he's okay.

|A/N: sorry about the last chapter running together a lot. I used my laptop and it's slow and glitchy. I hope this one's better. Also! Actual plot starts the next chapter ^-^|