Finding Hope (Book 1)

Chapter 26

After everyone left I ran down to my room and grabbed all my dance shoes. I danced with my point shoes for an hour, then I put on my ballet flats and danced for two hours. It felt so good to dance and be free. I realized that I didn't stretch. I started to stretch and then did my over splits against the railing of the Argo. I put my forehead to the back of my leg, when Piper came up. I didn't notice her at first and kept moving my head back in tell my forehead hit the the railing.

"Hope?! That is disgusting." Piper screeched. "Its looks really painful also."

"It isn't painful to me." I said getting out of my splits. "I'm sorry that you saw that."

"It's fine. Are you a dancer?"

"I was."

"Why was?"

"I don't have the time anymore. I'm at Hogwarts 24/7 during the school year, now I'm a demigod. I have had to give up everything."

"I'm sorry."

"Its not your fault. I wasn't that good anyway. I wouldn't have landed a job in the big leagues; Like New York City Ballet, Ballet West, or the Royal Ballet. I was to skinny, and didn't have enough muscle."

"Can you do a dance for me?"

"Maybe later."

"No show me."

"Okay, but I apologize right now. I haven't danced in front of people for a long time." I quickly put on my point shoes again. "My ballet school group went to a competition last winter. I competed with this variation and got second place."

I did the variation with no music. (AN-- The video is up above.) Piper just dropped her jaw. "Hope your amazing!"

"Thank you! That means a lot. I actually messed up on my first leap. I didn't get my full split and my torsutay wasn't' as high as it could've been and-"

"Hope it was good. I should probably get back to Jason now. Do you want to come with me?"

"Sure I'll be down there in a minute. I'll just take off my shoes and get out of my sweaty clothing." Piper nodded and left to go to Jason. I took off my shoes and went into my room. I got changed into jeans and a grey t-shirt that had a moon on it. I then went into Jason's cabin.

Piper was sitting next to his bed and holding his hand holding something that looked like a knife in the other hand.

Jason's face was so pale, he mightn't been dead. Piper hid the knife when I walked in.

"How's he looking, Piper?" Piper looked up at her.

"He's looking okay. Ya know, I'd been prepared to hate Reyna, but I couldn't. Reyna had sized up me and Jason's relationship right away. As a daughter of Aphrodite, I can tell stuff like that. Yet Reyna had stayed polite and in control. She'd put her camp's needs ahead of her emotions. She'd given us a fair chance...right up until the Argo II had started destroying the Romans. I'd almost felt guilty about being Jason's girlfriend, though that was silly. Jason hadn't ever been Reyna's boyfriend, not really.

"My power of persuasion had, for once, done absolutely no good. I don't think I tried hard enough. I had never really wanted to make friends with the Romans. I was too worried about losing Jason to his old life. Unconsciously I hadn't put my best effort into the charmspeak.

"Now Jason is hurt. The ship is almost destroyed. And according to my dagger, that crazy teddy-bear-strangling kid, Octavian, is whipping the Romans into a war frenzy." Piper said.

"Piper none of this is your fault. I think that this was supposed to happen. It may not seem like it now, but later something good will come out of this." I put my hand on Jason's forehead. "And if were talking about who is to blame. I think that part of it would be my fault. I felt the cold feeling the hole trip and didn't say anything. Please don't think that this is at all your fault, because even if unconsciously you didn't put effort into your charmspeak, we would still be in this situation because Leo still wouldv'e fired on the camp (even though it wasn't really him that fired on the camp.)"