Book Cult (New and Improved)

Piper XXXIX

"Piper XXXIX," the goddess of wisdom read.

Piper dreamed she was on the Wilderness School dorm roof.

The desert night was cold, but she'd brought blankets, and with Jason next to her, she didn't need any more warmth.

Aphrodite giggled.

...The stars were so bright, Piper had been afraid they wouldn't be able to see the meteor shower. She didn't want Jason to think she'd dragged him up here on false pretenses. (Even though her pretenses had been totally false.) But the meteors did not disappoint. One streaked across the sky almost every minute—a line of white, yellow, or blue fire...

"Sounds romantic..." Lacy sighed happily.

Her siblings sighed along from agreement.

Jason took her hand—finally—and pointed as two meteors skipped across the atmosphere and formed a cross.

"Wow," he said. "I can't believe Leo didn't want to see this."

"Wait." Leo scratched his head. "I don't remember this. Was I even invited?" 

"Does it even matter? It's fake, remember?" Drew rolled her eyes. "You probably don't even have the same memories as her."

"That's true." he frowned.

"Actually, I didn't invite him," Piper said casually.

"Gee, thanks." Leo said, halfheartedly rolling his eyes. "It's not like I would've wanted to see the meteors anyway."

"It's not real." Drew reminded testily.

Jason smiled. "Oh, yeah?"

"Mm-hmm. You ever feel like three would be a crowd?"

"Believe me, I know." Leo admitted.

"Yeah," Jason admitted. "Like right now. You know how much trouble we'd get in if we got caught up here?"

"Oh, I'd make up something," Piper said. "I can be very persuasive. So you want to dance, or what?"

He laughed. His eyes were amazing, and his smile was even better in the starlight.

The children of Aphrodite sighed in unison.

"It's like something from a fairy-tale." Lacy smiled.

"That's cause it's not real." Drew repeated. When are they going to get it through their thick skulls!

"Can you just let them enjoy the moment." Mitchell said, rolling his eyes.

He stood and offered her his hand. They slow danced a few steps, but it quickly turned into a kiss. Piper almost couldn't kiss him again, because she was too busy smiling.

Aphrodite and Cabin Ten sighed again.

Drew snorted and just focused on repainting her nails.

Then her dream changed

Some of the Aphrodite children groaned in disappointment.

"Finally." Drew muttered.

Thinking similar thoughts, Artemis heaved a sigh of relief.

...she found herself back in Medea's department store.

"Please let this be a dream," she murmured, "and not my eternal punishment."