Where You Go ― Jason Grace

xxii. piper's mom gives everyone a makeover

OPHELIA WOKE UP at a patio table surrounded by her friends, startled awake by someone's knee banging against the underside of the table.

"What?" Hedge demanded. "Fight who? Where?"

"Falling!" Leo grabbed the table. "No—not falling. Where are we?"

"Does anyone else smell coffee or am I having a stroke?" Ophelia asked, going to run a hand through her hair only to realize it had somehow been braided to the side. She frowned. "Who did my hair?"

Piper groaned, clearly displeased. She was in a completely new outfit—a turquoise dress, black leggings, and black leather boots, with a silver charm bracelet on her wrist, an old snowboarding jacket that looked a little big on her, and her hair done in two French braids. "Sorry," she muttered. She looked like she was about to say something else, but she must have thought better of it.

Leo grinned. "Aphrodite strikes again, huh? You're gonna be the best-dressed warrior in town, beauty queen."

"Hey, Leo." Jason nudged his arm. "You look at yourself recently?"

"What... oh."

It seemed all of them had been given makeovers. Leo was wearing pinstriped pants, black leather shoes, a white collarless shirt with suspenders, and his tool belt, Ray-Ban sunglasses, and a porkpie hat.

"God, Leo." Piper suppressed a laugh. "I think my dad wore that to his last premiere, minus the tool belt."

"Hey, shut up!"

"I think he looks good," Coach Hedge interjected. "'Course, I look better."

The satyr was a pastel nightmare. He had on a baggy canary-yellow zoot suit with two-tone shoes that fit over his hooves. He had a matching yellow broad-brimmed hat, a rose-colored shirt, a baby blue tie, and a blue carnation on his lapel, which Hedge sniffed and then ate.

Ophelia was almost afraid to look down at herself, but to her relief, Piper's mom hadn't gone overboard. She was in a pair of light-wash mom jeans, cuffed at the ankle, along with the black boots she'd woken up on the Wilderness School bus with—though now they were clean and scuff-free, which was nice. Aphrodite had let her keep Jason's stolen sweatshirt, though it was now half tucked into her jeans and the sleeves had been rolled up to her elbows. She could feel a pair of sunglasses perched on her head, and her lips felt sticky, which made her wonder if she had on lipstick or lip gloss. A pat on her pockets confirmed her compass and switchblade were still there, safely tucked away but right within reach.

She felt something cold across the back of her neck, and she realized she'd woken up with the locket from her dream. She clicked the locket open, just to make sure, and swallowed hard at the memory of her dream.

"Wow," she muttered, looking under the table at her newly-cleaned boots. "Piper's mom gives us makeovers and my grandmother just tells me I need to work on my stamina."

Piper frowned. "Huh?"

Ophelia remembered Trivia's warning not to tell anyone about their meeting until the quest was over. She shook her head. "Later," she mumbled, hoping her friends would take mercy and drop the subject.

Luckily, Jason seemed to pick up on her desire not to be interrogated, and cleared his throat. "Well, at least Aphrodite overlooked me."

Ophelia knew that wasn't true. Aphrodite had put him in a simple pair of jeans and a clean purple t-shirt, just like he'd woken up in at the Grand Canyon. He had on new tennis shoes and his hair looked newly trimmed, and the only accessory he had was a black hair-tie around her wrist. Why he would need a hair tie, Ophelia couldn't say, but Aphrodite's overall message was clear: This one needs no improvement.