DON'T BLAME ME! (p. jackson) (#2) (ON HOLD)

- five

PIPER WOKE UP AND IMMEDIATELY GRABBED A MIRROR. there were plenty of those in the aphrodite cabin. she sat on her bunk, looked at her reflection and groaned.

she was still gorgeous.

last night after the campfire, she'd tried everything. she messed up her hair, washed the makeup off her face, cried to make her eyes red. nothing worked. her hair popped back to perfection. the magic makeup reapplied itself. her eyes refused to get puffy or bloodshot.

she growled in frustration and raked her fingers through her hair. no use. the do just popped back into place.

rose walked in as she scrubbed a cloth covered in micellar water across her face.

"good luck," rose said sympathetically. "mine lasted a week. sorry i was gone last night, i spent the night in annabeth's cabin."

piper gritted her teeth. "a week?"

"don't worry, hon." drew blotted her fluorescent lipstick. "you're thinking you don't belong here? we couldn't agree more. isn't that right, mitchell?"

one of the guys rolled his eyes. "um, yeah. sure."

"ignore her," rose said to piper as she applied mascara.

"honestly," drew said as she eyed piper. "i didn't think it was possible for aphrodite to have an ugly child, but... who was your father? was he some sort of mutant, or—"

"tristan mclean," piper snapped. rose was surprised. piper never ever played the famous dad card, but drew had driven her over the edge.

everybody turned and looked at the poster, piper's dad flexing his muscles for the whole world to see.

"sweet!" simon said. "the dude with the sword who killed that other dude in that movie?"

"he's lowkey a dilf," mitchell said, and his hand immediately flew to his mouth. "i'm so sorry, i didn't mean to say that out loud."

piper laughed. "it was funny, don't worry."

"i have two famous sisters?" valentina diaz exclaimed.

more kids surged forward, asking a dozen questions at once.

"have you ever been on the set?"

"do you live in a mansion?"

"do you have lunch with famous people?"

"have you had your rite of passage?" drew asked

"drew, go shower. i'm tired of hearing you talk," rose said. "everyone else, please leave piper alone. and if you're going to call her dad hot, or mine, don't do it while she's present."

drew rolled her eyes, but gathered her clothes and a towel and disappeared.

"how do you put up with her?" piper asked.

"she's new, been here since june. didn't fight in the war, then disappeared into the city for school. i think the bitchiness is a defense mechanism. she'll get over it, they always do. do you need clothes?"

"uh, yeah. mom robbed me of the ones i wore here."

"okay. follow me."

she lead piper down into the basement, where each of them had their own closets of clothes. the closets looked small, but it was a mary poppins' bag sort of thing.

"we all have one." rose pointed at a closet that said piper's name in greek lettering. "so do you, but it doesn't come pre-stocked. you have to put your own clothes in it."

"it looks pretty small."

"it's not, trust me." rose sized piper up for a second. "we're about the same size. if my stuff doesn't fit you, i'm sure lacy has something."