Scars - A PJO/HOO Soulmates AU

25.

PLEASE READ THIS!!: Hello, my good readers!! I just want to tell you that not a lot of you read my last author's note :(. It was an important one, so go back and READ IT! 

I'm not "updating early", I'm updating irregularly now. Thank you for listening to my TED Talk.

Warning: mentions of mild racism (not by me!! By someone in the book.)

Chapter 24 - Thanksgiving Break is Fun, period.

Three months later: Thanksgiving break.

You know how Piper said that her crush on Jason would go away soon?

Well she was wrong. If anything, it just got worse.

Piper couldn't even stay in the same room as Jason without blushing and finding an excuse to leave. Piper sometimes noticed Jason staring at her but she passed it off as something weird on her face.

Which of course made her more self-conscious.

This was exactly what she was thinking as she weaved through the kids at the bus stop, trying to get to her house. Finally, she got out of the mob of students and started sprinting down the sidewalk to the front door of her house.

By the time she made it there, Piper was already sweating. Even though it was already late November and the weather had dropped almost 20 degrees in the last couple months. This year was definitely different, with all the rain and heavy winds, and Piper had made more friends and acquaintances this term than any before.

There was some rust on the front gate, because it hadn't been opened for a while. Piper always uses the back door and Aphrodite barely ever leaves the house.

Piper got to the back door and stopped to check her reflection in a glass statue nearby. She composed herself, trying not to evoke another lecture from her mother. The last one that morning almost made her late for class.

Piper brushed away the hair that had fallen back into her eyes and opened the door. She walked into an unsurprisingly quiet hallway, and walked into the family room. Well, one of the family rooms.

What was surprising though, was her mother sitting at the table, checking her makeup in a compact mirror. When Piper came in, Aphrodite acknowledged her without looking away from her reflection.

"Hello dear," she said, pulling an eyelash up and applying eyeliner under one eye, "Did you have a good day at school today?"

Piper froze while taking off her shoe's at the front door, and looked at her mother in confusion. Aphrodite never asked her how she was or what she was doing. All she cared about was herself and her image. Oh, not to mention making Piper's life a disaster.

"It was fine, mother," Piper said, flinching as her voice cracked, but Aphrodite didn't seem to notice.

Aphrodite finished applying her makeup, got up and walked to stop right in front of Piper.

Piper's first thought was: I've done something wrong.

But then, her mother smiled and laid a hand on Piper's shoulder, "Have a good break Piper. I will be out on a modeling week this week, so I expect you to behave yourself."

With that, Aphrodite walked to the front door and grabbed a bright pink suitcase, and started walking out the door.

Piper gaped, watching her go. And when she thought it couldn't get weirder, Aphrodite turned around.

"You can invite your friends, as long as they don't break anything. And..." her mother hesitated, wondering if she should continue, "And stay safe honey."