The Lost Hero

pressed it to her face. It smelled of wood smoke, but unfortunately not of Jason. He was the only person who‘d
been genuinely nice to her after the claiming, like he cared about how she felt, not just about her stupid new
clothes. God, she‘d wanted to kiss him, but he‘d seemed so uncomfortable, almost scared of her. She couldn‘t
really blame him. She‘d been glowing pink.
―‘Scuse me,‖ said a voice by her feet. The garbage patrol guy, Mitchell, was crawling around on all fours,
picking up chocolate wrappers and crumpled notes from under the bunk beds. Apparently the Aphrodite kids
weren‘t one hundred percent neat freaks after all.
She moved out of his way. ―What‘d you do to make Drew mad?‖
He glanced over at the bathroom door to make sure it was still closed. ―Last night, after you were claimed,
I said you might not be so bad.‖
It wasn‘t much of a compliment, but Piper was stunned. An Aphrodite kid had actually stood up for her?
―Thanks,‖ she said.
Mitchell shrugged. ―Yeah, well. See where it got me. But for what it‘s worth, welcome to Cabin Ten.‖
A girl with blond pigtails and braces raced up with a pile of clothes in her arms. She looked around
furtively like she was delivering nuclear materials.
―I brought you these,‖ she whispered.
―Piper, meet Lacy,‖ Mitchell said, still crawling around on the floor.
―Hi,‖ Lacy said breathlessly. ―You can change clothes. The blessing won‘t stop you. This is just, you know,
a backpack, some rations, ambrosia and nectar for emergencies, some jeans, a few extra shirts, and a warm
jacket. The boots might be a little snug. But—well—we took up a collection. Good luck on your quest!‖
Lacy dumped the things on the bed and started to hurry away, but Piper caught her arm. ―Hold on. At least
let me thank you! Why are you rushing off?‖
Lacy looked like she might shake apart from nervousness. ―Oh, well—‖
―Drew might find out,‖ Mitchell explained.
―I might have to wear the shoes of shame!‖ Lacy gulped.
―The what?‖ Piper asked.
Lacy and Mitchell both pointed to a black shelf mounted in the corner of the room, like an altar. Displayed
on it were a hideous pair of orthopedic nurse‘s shoes, bright white with thick soles.
―I had to wear them for a week once,‖ Lacy whimpered. ―They don‘t go with anything!‖
―And there‘re worse punishments,‖ Mitchell warned. ―Drew can charmspeak, see? Not many Aphrodite
kids have that power; but if she tries hard enough, she can get you to do some pretty embarrassing things.
Piper, you‘re the first person I‘ve seen in a long time who is able to resist her.‖
―Charmspeak …‖ Piper remembered last night, the way the crowd at the campfire had swayed back and
forth between Drew‘s opinion and hers. ―You mean, like, you could talk someone into doing things. Or … giving
you things. Like a car?‖
―Oh, don‘t give Drew any ideas!‖ Lacy gasped.
―But yeah,‖ Mitchell said. ―She could do that.‖
―So that‘s why she‘s head counselor,‖ Piper said. ―She convinced you all?‖
Mitchell picked a nasty wad of gum from under Piper‘s bed. ―Nah, she inherited the post when Silena
Beauregard died in the war. Drew was second oldest. Oldest camper automatically gets the post, unless
somebody with more years or more completed quests wants to challenge, in which case there‘s a duel, but that
hardly ever happens. Anyway, we‘ve been stuck with Drew in charge since August. She decided to make some,
ah, changes in the way the cabin is run.‖
―Yes, I did!‖ Suddenly Drew was there, leaning against the bunk. Lacy squeaked like a guinea pig and
tried to run, but Drew put an arm out to stop her. She looked down at Mitchell. ―I think you missed some trash,
sweetie. You‘d better make another pass.‖
Piper glanced toward the bathroom and saw that Drew had dumped everything from the bathroom waste
bin—some pretty nasty things—all over the floor.
Mitchell sat up on his haunches. He glared at Drew like he was about to attack (which Piper would‘ve paid
money to see), but finally he snapped, ―Fine.‖
Drew smiled. ―See, Piper, hon, we‘re a good cabin here. A good family! Silena Beauregard, though … you
could take a warning from her. She was secretly passing information to Kronos in the Titan War, helping
the enemy.‖
Drew smiled all sweet and innocent, with her glittery pink makeup and her blow-dried hair lush and
smelling like nutmeg. She looked like any popular teenage girl from any high school. But her eyes were as cold
as steel. Piper got the feeling Drew was looking straight into her soul, pulling out her secrets.
Helping the enemy.
―Oh, none of the other cabins talk about it,‖ Drew confided. ―They act like Silena Beauregard was a hero.‖
―She sacrificed her life to make things right,‖ Mitchell grumbled. ―She was a hero.‖