Shattered

Piper

Piper couldn't decide if she was furious, worried, or somewhere in between.

"Ms. Mclean!" called out a short balding man with a camera. "Would you mind posing for a picture?"

Piper suppressed a sigh, placed her hands on her hips, and gave the man a huge fake smile. An instant later and she was nearly blinded by the flash of over ten cameras.

"Thanks sweetie!" said the man, giving her a thumbs up.

She absolutely hated going to premiers with her dad. She hated the loud noise and the flashing lights of the camera, she hated the fake attention seeking people that clung to her dad, and above all else she hated the constant harassment of the paparazzi. The only reason she had agreed to come to this one was the fact that Jason had wanted to see the movie and had said he would go with her.

Which brought her back to her conflicting emotions. It had been a little over a month since she had last received any form of contact from her boyfriend. The last she had heard from him directly was in the form of a letter. He wrote that he was on his way to meet with the goddess Disciplina, that he wasn't sure how long it would take, and of course that he missed her every waking moment.

Sparky was cheesy like that.

After two weeks and no response from anyone: Jason, Nico, Annabeth, even Reyna, she was beginning to worry. She had gone as far to get a ride to Camp Jupiter, but was turned away by the guards on duty, saying something about war games. And then Olympus appeared above New York for all the world to see. She wanted to fly to New York, but Coach Hedge and Mellie had stopped her.

Coach had reminded her that she had told her father she was going to the premiere with him and he would be so disappointed if she were to not only bail, but to leave the state.

Leave it to coach to take her on a guilt trip.

Mellie then explained that they were flying back to New York tonight to bring Chuck back with them, and that they would be more than happy to check on Jason's status.

"Ms. Mclean! Ms. Mclean! Would you mind answering a few questions?" cried a short blonde woman, jumping up and down with a microphone in hand. She had way too much makeup on, enough that even Drew would tell her to take it down a notch, but she looked nice enough.

"Uh, sure?" she answered. She stepped off the red carpet to allow the people behind to go around and also get closer to the reporter.

"Oh thank you so Ms. Mclean!" she gushed. "I promise to keep this short. After all, I wouldn't want you to miss a second of your father's newest movie!"

"Thanks?"

The woman smiled and waved for a man with a camera to come over. "Alright let's start simple: who are you wearing?"

Piper looked at herself, she was wearing a new pair of loose fitting jeans, a pair of tan Carhartt boots, and an olive-green T-shirt. Just because she was attending this thing didn't mean she was going to step out of her comfort zone. "Uh, my closet, I guess?" she said into the microphone in the woman's outstretched hand.

The woman smiled. "Well you look wonderful! Not many people can pull off "Goodwill chic.""

"Thanks?" It sounded like a backhanded compliment, and it probably was, but she decided to play it off for her dad's sake. He didn't need any negative press because of her. She had caused enough of that before going to Camp Half-Blood.

"Next question. People out there are dying to know if you are seeing anyone. Surely the only daughter of Tristan Mclean has a special someone?"

Piper frowned. "I don't want to answer that," she blurted out. It wasn't that she was embarrassed about Jason or anything like that. If she told people she was seeing someone, then reporters would be actively looking for her and someone, potentially ruining any chance of her and Jason going out alone.