The Curse of a Broken Heart

Chapter 2

Leo's POV

I couldn't find McKenzie anywhere. I was looking and looking, but she seemed to have left where she was just standing. How could she move so quickly down this horrible hill? I tripped on my way up here.

It doesn't matter, she probably doesn't want to talk to me anyway. I take a seat on the dirt. Its Capture The Flag tonight, and I'm having no fun. I mean, Piper pushed me down for no reason, I'm on her team! I tripped on my way up here and I grazed my knee, and gosh it hurts. And to top it all off, McKenzie isn't even here! I came all the way up from the flag area to talk with her, I could've won this thing!

I look down at the flag area. I shouldn't have even bothered coming up here, I think. McKenzie probably saw me and ran. Like I'd ever get to talk to a daughter of Aphrodite. All the people down there look they're having more fun than me, I think as I watch a girl with long, curly brown hair throw an arrow at a red-headed boy with freckles, who looks like he just saw a ghost. He runs, and I keep watching the girl, squinting to try and see better.

She makes a blonde boy run, then goes after a black haired girl. Even with the sword she took from another girl, she is no match for the black haired girl's sword. It is celestial bronze.

But sure enough, the girl with the curly hair knocks the other girl's sword away and runs for the flag. Before she grabs it, I get a glimpse of her face;

McKenzie just won Capture The Flag.

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After dinner (tacos, I love tacos, but I'm still hungry after the three I ate), the campers all sit around the bonfire singing campfire songs. We sound like bullfrogs, but I can pick out a couple voices that are pretty amazing. One is McKenzie, who is sitting right behind me. I even stopped singing to listen to her. Jason, who is sitting on my right, nudges me on my shoulder as if to say, what's wrong with you man?

I sing again, laughing at how ridiculous this song is. It is about a man who ate too much pasta on his twentieth birthday and became a bowl of pasta. That doesn't fix my hunger issue, and as the song ends, my stomach growls like a whale call.

The people around me erupt in laughter, and my cheeks go hot. Especially when I see that McKenzie is laughing too. I soon end up laughing too, its a little forced, but the best thing to do in the face of embarrassment is to laugh right along. After everybody is done laughing, I hear Chiron's voice ringing out,

"Glad you people are settled down," He begins and chuckles to himself. "Everybody back to their cabins." He orders, and we slowly file back to our cabins. I reach the Hephaestus cabin and push open the door. As I do, I am greeted with silence. Nobody is here.

"Hello?" I test, but no answer. As I look around my messy cabin, I find my magical tool belt. I put it on and pull out some screws and scraps of metal and start to mess with them, slowly pulling out the things I need. Eventually, I have a helicopter. It is small, but flies well, and it has a tiny motor that lets it fly for hours on end. At the bottom of it, I attach a small box that opens and closes so you can put little things in it.

I admire my work, nodding and smiling at the beautiful helicopter that I made. After a moment or two, my cabin mates enter the room, one by one. I nod at them and keep fiddling with the helicopter's wings. I think about a lot of things as I continue, such as my mother, Gaea, and especially McKenzie. I wonder what she is doing now.

When I gaze into her beautiful eyes (they are always changing color), I see stars and my palms get hot. I can only hope they don't burst into flames. She has a way of making my heart beat faster and faster...she makes me feel like a hero.

Is this a crush? I wonder as I pull out another screw and add it onto the helicopter, making it fly better. I start pulling out parts for the remote, not even thinking about what I'm doing. I'm a son of Hephaestus, I make great things without trying.

I continue thinking about McKenzie. I wonder if she ever thinks about me. Does she like me? During capture the flag, the reason I wanted to talk to her was that I should've stuck around. Another camper may have come to try to take her down, and I wanted to keep her safe.

Why am I thinking about her? Aphrodite kids like beautiful people. I look like a 'Latino Santa's elf' as I have been told. Its all because of these little pointy ears I have. These ears are not attractive at all!!! I'm not Aphrodite standard. Other boys have a better chance. Any other boy.

That blonde boy that tried to hurt her during Capture The Flag kept pestering me about her. I've never seen him before, but she kicked his butt. I hope he doesn't want to get back at her, I'd beat him into a pulp. I hope he doesn't like her either, I'd beat him into a pulp for that, too.

Maybe Percy can give me girl advice. I hope so, I mean, Percy landed Annabeth.

I fall asleep thinking about those things, and I dream that a giant taco is chasing me across the desert.