Fanfics: Love? Hate? Or Is It Just Me?

She was never the one to fight, so when Piper challenged Drew for the position of Head counselor she immediately stepped down. Children of Aphrodite, especially someone of Drew's status, were supposed to have someone fight for them. Beauty and the battlefield do not go together. The goddess of love was never into wars and neither were her children.

Unsure of what to do while everyone cheered the Cherokee daughter of Aphrodite (she refused to call that her sister), the young girl stormed away from the cabins and to the only place that seemed to calm her down at the camp: the lake. Now, Drew knew that she was no child of the sea god but the water calmly riding the wind relaxed her. Sometimes she secretly wishes that cabin 3 was her real home and that the Olympians made a mistake. She hope that her true godly parent was Poseidon, but then it was impossible since her mortal parent was a man. She almost joined the Hunters, truly disappointed with her parent, but that would've made her look weak in front of everyone. Drew, as intimidating as she is, was just as confused as the rest of the Camp Half-Blood population.

She sat down at the dock, taking her designer camp shoes off and tossing them aside, letting her feet dangle right above the water. Even just the smell of fresh water blowing past her comforted her. Drew's lips curled into a smile, not a fake petty grin but a genuine smile of happiness. Near the lake was the only place she could ever do that. She let herself fall, hearing a soft thud before feeling the wood press against her back. To Drew, this was the closest to pure happiness she can get. Her eyes closed and the sun's rays pierced through her thin eyelids. She took a deep breath. A few seconds later, something stepped over her, blocking the sun.

She opened her eyes and the silhouette of a young lady appeared before her and said, "You shouldn't simply throw shoes like these just anywhere, Drew." The voice was familiar but Drew didn't know who it belonged to. She stood up. The woman was only a few inches taller than her. She had fairly tanned skin and mousy black hair that dropped down her right shoulder. The woman's eyes had an Asian feel to them pointing slightly upward just like Drew's, which seemed to be their only resemblance. Her pupils, however, caught the young camper's attention. They kept changing from blue to green to yellow to orange to red. Every color of the spectrum alternated in her eyes. It was like looking into two small kaleidoscopes. The woman's outfit was simple: a yellow flower-print maxi dress that fit the woman perfectly, showing her delicate figure.

"Dear child, will you not greet your own mother?" The woman says. Drew realized who this woman was in front of her and bowed. "Enough with the formality, child. I was expecting more of a hug." Aphrodite sighed, "Oh well, I guess that will do." Drew re-positioned herself to stand straight, but still looked at her feet. She had a feeling that her mother was disappointed of how she was acting. "Let's take a walk." Aphrodite says.

They start walking.

After a few moments of awkward silence, Drew spoke up. "Mom, why are you here?" Those are the only words that came out of her mouth. She wanted to slap herself. Aphrodite smiled, and Drew instantly knew why her mother came. She was worried about her daughter, not disappointed. A rush of guilt and pride ran through Drew's veins. Guilt because she made her mother worry about her. Pride because she was important enough that a goddess would worry about her. The guilt was stronger.

"I came for you, dear." Her mother replies calmly.

"Did I do something wrong?"

"You tell me."

Drew stepped back. Of course she did something wrong. She must have. Charm speaking everyone into doing everything she wanted. What if her mother takes away that gift? She'll have to work for herself. No one will dare help her after what she's done to the campers. Not even Lacy, the girl she goes to school with in the mortal world, will be there for her. Drew sighed, hoping that her mother would decide to go against punishing her. Looking up at Aphrodite, Drew could see a resemblance with her mother and various siblings. "You look like Piper." she blurts out.

Her mother seemed surprise, "Do I?"

Drew nods, taking in carefully her mother's features, "Your eyes stand out though. They look like mine."

"Well, my child," Aphrodite says, "I only ever look like what you perceive as true beauty." Drew frowns, obviously taken by surprise with her mother's statement. Aphrodite laughs, "Is something wrong, my dear?"

"True beauty... and you look like Piper..."

"Is there something wrong with that?" The young girl stands still. Completely awestruck that the person she was supposed to hate the most was her perception of true beauty. "My child, sometimes hate isn't exactly what you're feeling." Her mother continues, "Sometimes, it is simply pity. Not that you pity Piper of course." They stop walking.

Drew looks at her mother, "Then who do I pity?"

"Probably yourself, dear."

"That doesn't make sense."

"Oh," her mother counters, "but it doesn't have to. All it has to be is its own. That's what everything has to be." Drew doesn't talk. She realizes what her mother was trying to say. She has been hiding her real self behind a mask and has always been someone else's. Sure she's never had a serious relationship at all, but she was a slave. A slave to ego. "You shouldn't be hiding behind that mask anymore, Drew. No child of mine should be a slave to oneself, either." Her mother says, as if reading her mind. "Pride, in all honesty, is most of my children's fatal flaw --- as I've been told. Be careful with that, dear." Aphrodite sighs, but smiles, "You had better return to your camp. People are probably looking for you. Especially Piper." Drew turns around, looking at the cabins. Everybody was gone except for Piper, who was sitting on Cabin 10's front porch.

Aphrodite placed her hand on Drew's shoulder and smiles. Drew looks back at her mother, "Thank you."

"You better close your eyes." Aphrodite releases her grip on Drew's shoulder as she turns away, not daring to look at an immortal goddess showing her true form. She'd die if she did. After a bright flash and a few moments to make sure, Drew opens her eyes, silently praying to the gods as she approaches her soon-to-be friend.