In the Beginning

Chapter Twenty

I had a dreamless sleep which only concerned me more. In the morning I wasn't given a second glance from the other Aphrodite campers, the fact relieved me, I wouldn't have to deal with the many questions that would've been asked. Children of Aphrodite didn't go on quests often. On the way to the dining pavilion for breakfast, Brittney talked animatedly about nothing in particular. I nodded enthusiastically and smiled in places I felt necessary to keep the story going, but I wasn't quite listening. When we were finally seated at our table, Britt had no choice but to be silent. Chiron then rambled on about what would take place in the day. He then congratulated Annabeth, Percy, and I on a successful quest, not that he expected anything else from Percy and Annabeth. Still, I found myself in a daze, unable to listen. I caught myself looking in the boy's direction. Lance. Of course I recognized the feeling in my gut but I was all to desperate to suppress it. The feeling was unfortunately undeniable. I forced myself look at anything but him. After the offering to the gods, it was all I could do to think about his easy smile. I commanded myself to stop immediately. You're being an idiot and I won't have it. When I glanced back in Lance's direction his eyes were already on me. I felt my cheeks flush and looked down at my untouched plate of food.

"Do you plan on eating?" Brittney's tone was full of anger. I looked at her. She gestured to my plate with her fork, the unmistakable look of extreme annoyance on her face. Without hesitating, I adapted the annoyed look and glared at her. I picked up my fork and animatedly shoveled food into my mouth. I swallowed and looked back at her.

"Happy?" It came out harsher then I had originally intended.

"Yes." It was the only reply I received. I didn't pick up my fork again.

During training, I was unable to focus. My mind was occupied, thinking about previous events, struggling to remember things from the past. My despair over Piper's death returned, but I pushed it aside. Instead, I tried to break the barrier between me and my past, but I couldn't. The road to those memories were blocked, permanently. I wanted to know what had happened to me after I encountered Nico and his sister, why I have fragmented memories of seeing the man that was claimed to be my father, being slaughtered in front of my eyes. I couldn't break the barrier which felt more like a ten ton boulder then a barrier. Finally, Brittney had had enough.

"Okay, what's bothering you?"

"Nothing, I'm fine."

"You don't seem fine. In fact, you seem the opposite of 'fine'."

"Britt, I'm sorry. I'm just out of it today." Her response to that was slashing the head off a practice dummy. I sighed and went on with the miserably long day.

It was a relief when the lights went out. After what felt like an hour, I slid out from under the heavy sheets and quilt and snuck out of the cabin. I walked as quietly as possible to the lake. The smooth rippling of the water was somehow comforting. I felt at peace with my mind until a hand touched my shoulder. I whirled around, whipping out my knife. It was Lance. His hands were in the air, a grin planted on his face. I frowned and dropped the hand that held my knife to my side. Lance lowered his arms.

"So, I'm curious, what's the story behind you?" He sat down on the grass, patting the space next to him. I deliberately sat beside him.

"Not much." I recounted waking up in the infirmary in the Big House, explaining my short life of a few weeks.

"Nothing before that?"

"Bits and pieces, other than that, no." I shrugged. "How about you?"

"Me? I'm too boring." I smiled.

"I'm not much more exciting." I listened intently as he spoke, turns out Lance wasn't that boring. For an hour or so, we talked about nothing of importance. Somehow our conversation had developed into children of Aphrodite. It was a truly stupid topic and I had no idea how our conversation had evolved into it, but I went along.

"Are all children of Aphrodite as pretty as you or are there a handful that are super harsh on the eyes?" I laughed.

"I'm not pretty, so I'm a bit worried on what other children of Aphrodite look like in your perspective if you're comparing me to them." Lance raised his eyebrows.

"Actually, you're quite beautiful." With that, he leaned in and kissed me.