Quick A/N: I realized too late that Percy isn't supposed to be around, so I editted him out of the previous chapter. Sorry for any confusion!
And one more note, I'm aware that Jason kind of shut out Piper for a little bit, but for the sake of the story, we'll have them smitten, mkay? Okay, on with the story :D
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I watch Annabeth as I sit by the fireside. She's doing her best to be happy, but her smile always fades off of her face when she remembers. Percy's still missing after all. Many campers try to comfort her, but she buries her face in her hands and asks them as politely as she can for them to go away.
Piper slips into the spot next to me on the thick wooden log, eyeing the campfire set in front of her. "Too bad we lost," Piper says sarcastically.
I let out a loud snort, earning some attention from Ares campers. They give me their death glares, but I shake it off. They're nothing but a bunch of wannabee buff kids (well, some of them are). "Too bad," I echo, gazing into the flames. I've always liked fire, the way it dances freely. Fire requires control to be handled, and if there is no control, the fire can cause major damage.
"Where were you the entire time?" she asks me as an Athena camper hands her a bag of marshmallows.
"I was defending our flag," I lie easily, by now I'm definitely used to it.
"Lies," Piper slips a single marshmallow onto a thin branch and holds it over the fire.
I sigh. "Can you guess where I was?"
Piper laughs as easily as I lie. "With Leo," she nudges me with her elbow.
I shove her away. "I'm now officially boycotting the games," I tell her, making up my mind.
"I don't doubt that," she says, pulling her marshmallow out of the fire before it bursts into flames. "But what about Leo? He's obviously smitten."
As soon as she says it, I see Leo on the other end of the camp fire, laughing with Jason. "No..."
"Like I said, forget about the games. What would you do if the games never existed?" she asks.
I shrug. "I really don't know."
Through the flames, I can still see Leo's tanned face illuminated by the flickering fire. I wish I could be as easy going and friendly as he is. "You're still denying it," Piper tells me, shaking her head. "You should go talk to him."
"I think someone's already getting to that," I grit my teeth as I see Aubrey's orange hair swaying back and forth with each step, a smug smile on her face. I notice that she has cut a v-neck into her orange Camp Half Blood tee, it goes down far enough just to see her cleavage. Guys stare at her as she walks by, some even try to look down her shirt. She approaches Leo with a flirtatious smile.
From where I'm sitting, I can see them converse a little bit. "He's just being friendly," Piper assures me. "He doesn't want to upset her, I guess."
Something stirs in my stomach as I watch their every movement, as I analyze each action. It feels like I've been punched in the gut when I see Leo laughing again, probably at one of her jokes. As I stare, Leo takes a quick glance over at me, our eyes meet. I quickly look away and act like it was simply a coincidence. "Oh my goodness," I murmur, only loudly enough for Piper to hear.
"What?" She cranes her neck to see Leo and Aubrey. "He keeps on looking towards you..."
"He caught me staring!" I exclaim.
"So?" Piper promptly rises from the log and yanks on my arm as she does so, bringing me to a stand. From my stance, I can see Leo even more clearly, I can even see his dark curls being ruffled by the wind. "Looks like he needs saving from a whore." Piper shoves me forward, but from there, my feet refuse to move.
"I can't," I try telling her, but she only shoves me forward more. Who even knew she was this strong?
"You're like a stick figure," Piper laughs once again. "And yes you can," she encourages me.
"Uh... no, no thank you," I stammer as we get closer and closer. She shoves me forward one last time, throwing me onto Leo with an, "OOF!"
Leo catches me in his strong arms and gazes into my eyes once again. "Hey there, Faye," Leo does a half smirk, still holding me up.
I widen my eyes and prop myself up, nearly hitting Aubrey as I do so. "Leo," I say quietly. "Aubrey."
"Will you back off already?" Aubrey screeches, earning the attention of nearly all of the campers out.
"What.. what do you mean? I was-" I stutter, trying to retaliate.
Aubrey rolls her eyes. "Just f***king back off, you whore!" she yells.
Leo steps in front of me before I can say anything else. "Aubrey, how many times do I have to tell you I'm not interested? Please just leave me alone," he pleads. "And leave Faye alone, she didn't do anything."
Aubrey growls. "You can't tell me what to do!"
"Aubrey, please, you're a nice girl, I'm just not interested," Leo says again, gently.
She stomps one foot on the ground in her anger. "Fine," she snarks, "have fun with little virgin Faye."
Silence falls around us. Oh my goodness, Aubrey just told everyone that I'm a virgin. In the Aphrodite cabin, it's a sin to be a virgin once you hit sixteen. Drew keeps track of who's a virgin and who's not. She used her charm speak to get the truth out of me. She promised to just keep it in the Aphrodite cabin along with my other half brothers and sisters. I feel tears brimming in my eyes as everyone stares at me, speechless.
I take a glance at Piper who is giving me an apologetic look, but she doesn't come over to help me. Not being able to take it anymore, I cover my eyes and run as fast as I can to my tree. There, no one can see me cry. While I'm there, hopefully everyone will forget about me once again.
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A/N: Hola! :)
3+ votes on this chapter for the next one on an undecided date please!
I got accepted into a trial admin contest at a Harry Potter page, so I'm going to be on there for a little bit if I don't update before then.
Thanks for everything guys!
-Em