“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. ”
“Mmm-hmm,” Drew said. “Another day on garbage patrol, Mitchell. But anyways, Silena lost track of what this cabin is about. We match up cute couples at camp! Then we break them apart and start over! It’s the best fun ever. We don’t have any business getting involved in other stuff like wars and quests. I certainly haven’t been on any quests. They’re a waste of time!”
Lacy raised her hand nervously. “But last night you said you wanted to go on a—”
Drew glared at her, and Lacy’s voice died.
“Most of all,” Drew continued, “we certainly don’t need our image tarnished by spies, do we, Piper?”
Piper tried to answer, but she couldn’t. There was no way Drew could know about her dreams or her dad’s kidnapping, was there?
“It’s too bad you won’t be around,” Drew sighed. “But if you survive your little quest, don’t worry, I’ll find somebodyto match up with you. Maybe one of those gross Hephaestus guys. Or Clovis? He’s pretty repulsive. ” Drew looked her over with a mix of pity a
nd disgust. “Honestly, 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.
As soon as she said it, she hated herself. She never, ever played the “famous dad” card. But Drew had driven her over the edge. “My dad’s Tristan McLean. ”
The stunned silence was gratifying for a few seconds, but Piper felt ashamed of herself. Everybody turned and looked at The Poster, her dad flexing his muscles for the whole world to see.
“Oh my god!” half the girls screamed at once.
“Sweet!” a guy said. “The dude with the sword who killed that other dude in that movie?”
“He is so hot for an old guy,” a girl said, and then she blushed. “I mean I’m sorry. I know he’s your dad. That’s so weird!”
“It’s weird, all right,” Piper agreed.
“Do you think you could get me his autograph?” another girl asked.
Piper forced a smile. She couldn’t say, If my dad survives. . . .
“Yeah, no problem,” she managed.
The girl squealed in excitement, and 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 movie stars?”
“Have you had your rite of passage?”
That one caught Piper off guard. “Rite of what?” she asked.
The girls and guys giggled and shoved each other around like this was an embarrassing topic.
“The rite of passage for an Aphrodite child,” one explained. “You get someone to fall in love with you. Then you break their heart. Dump them. Once you do that, you’ve proven yourself worthy of Aphrodite. ”
Piper stared at the crowd to see if they were joking. “Break someone’s heart on purpose? That’s terrible!”
The others looked confused.
“Why?” a guy asked.
“Oh my god!” a girl said. “I bet Aphrodite broke your dad’s heart! I bet he never loved anyone again, did he? That’s so romantic! When you have your rite of passage, you can be just like Mom!”
“Forget it!” Piper yelled, a little louder than she’d intended. The other kids backed away. “I’m not breaking somebody’s heart just for a stupid rite of passage!”
Which of course gave Drew a chance to take back control. “Well, there you go!” she cut in. “Silena said the same thing. She broke the tradition, fell in love with that Beckendorf boy, and stayed in love. If you ask me, that’s why things ended tragically for her. ”
“That’s not true!” Lacy squeaked, but Drew glared at her, and she immediately melted back into the crowd.
“Hardly matters,” Drew continued, “because, Piper, hon, you couldn’t break anyone’s heart anyway. And this nonsense about your dad being Tristan McLean—that’s so begging for attention. ”