This Dark Night ― Percy Jackson & Annabeth Chase¹

―i. purple codes and silver linings

Miranda elbowed him in the ribs. "Not helping!" 

"I'm just telling the truth!" 

Miranda grumbled under her breath. "Go get Silena—tell her it's a code purple." 

Asher nodded, setting off to find the Aphrodite cabin counselor.

"Code purple?" Naomi asked nervously. 

"She'll know what it means," Miranda promised. "So... wanna tell me what this is about?" 

"I'm mad at my mom," Naomi said. 

"Uh-huh," Miranda said, nodding. "So... the bangs are supposed to... get back at her?"

"I don't know!" Naomi exclaimed, plopping helplessly down on the stool she'd brought into the bathroom—this was premeditated, after all. "I just wanted to do something!"

"That's understandable," Miranda said kindly. "But, um... next time, why don't we do something a little... less permanent, hmm? I'm sure there's some temporary hair dye around here somewhere." 

Naomi perked up. "Hair dye?" 

Miranda closed her eyes, like she regretted bringing it up. "Forget I mentioned it," she sighed. "Please." 

A moment later, there was a knock on the half-open bathroom door. "Hello? Asher said there was a code purple?"

Miranda sighed with relief. "Come in, Silena!" 

The girl in question walked in. Silena Beauregard was easily the prettiest girl at Camp Half-Blood, not just on the outside, but the inside, too. Naomi had never seen her be anything but almost annoyingly kind to anyone. The Aphrodite cabin and the Demeter cabin tended to do a lot of their activities together during the school year, since there were only two Aphrodite year-rounders and three Demeter year-rounders, so she'd had plenty of opportunity to learn that it wasn't a façade or a mask—Silena was just sweet. 

Silena looked at Naomi, offering her a gentle smile. "Hey, Naomi."

"Hi," Naomi said lamely. 

"Can you salvage it?" Miranda asked, gesturing at Naomi's hair. 

"Is it really that bad?" Naomi asked. 

Stepping into the bathroom behind her sister, Drew Tanaka burst out laughing. "Oh my gods, what did you do?" 

Silena shushed her. "Don't act like you didn't give yourself that gods-awful lob last summer," she chided, which made Drew scowl and shut up immediately. "And of course I can salvage it," she told Miranda. 

"Well, then, you three have fun," Miranda said, standing up and patting Naomi on the shoulder. "You're in good hands, Nay, don't worry. Meet me in the strawberry fields when you're done."

She slipped out of the bathroom, leaving Naomi in the more-than-capable hands of Silena. 

"Don't worry," Silena told Naomi. "You'll look like a movie star when I'm done with you." 

"I'd settle for a decent-looking teenager," Naomi said.

Silena laughed. "Oh, no, I don't do minimal effort." 

Drew hopped onto the counter, holding a basket of what must have been haircutting supplies on her lap. "Did you have, like, a horrible break-up or something? Did you and Jackson try long-distance and you found out he's cheating?" 

Naomi frowned. "Percy and I are just friends," she said, willing her cheeks not to get red. 

"Ethan, then?" Drew asked.