Aphrodite Comes to Camp Half-Blood

Hey. If you're reading this, it means you're a half-blood.

You know. Half-mortal, half-god, like in the ancient Greek myths.

Anyway, I'm a son of Hephaestus. Patrick Ryan. I'm also a fire user, which means things get pretty dangerous when I'm around. Basically, being a fire user means I can summon fire and control it, but sometimes I lose control. There was this one time when I got really mad and my eyes caught fire. I melted my glasses and had to make another pair.

The story I'm about to tell you involves Aphrodite, the goddess of love. Whenever she visits Camp Half-Blood, it's normally to talk to her kids in Cabin Ten or to make someone fall in love with someone else. It's normally not a good sign when she comes, in short, because then things really get complicated.

Take last Valentine's Day, for instance. In fact, that's the story I'm going to tell you.

It was a snowy day at camp. Or, it was snowy all around camp; Camp Half-Blood has weather-proof boundaries. The pines circling the camp were coated in fluffy white snow. I bet Boreas, the god of the North Wind and winter, was having a ball.

Every Valentine's Day, something happens that almost guarantees that Aphrodite had cast a spell on someone. But this year, she actually came.

It was during breakfast. I was sitting at the ninth table, chowing down on some eggs and bacon. As I inhaled my fourth strip, a blast of pink light erupted over the tenth table. And suddenly, a gorgeous woman was floating above it.

She had shoulder-length curly blonde hair--no, she had waist-long dark brown hair...or, she had...well, you get the point. Every one of her facial features changed so rapidly, it was like every time I thought one of her features could get more beautiful, it did. The woman wore a dazzling red dress and high heels like she was going to prom.

Every camper rose from their seats and bowed, even Chiron. The only person that didn't bow was our sarcastic camp director, Dionysus, the god of wine, who was eating peeled grapes as if nothing had happened.

"Aphrodite," Chiron said, half sighing. Fortunately, Aphrodite didn't seem to notice. "To what do we owe this pleasure?"

"Oh, nothing." Aphrodite waved the question away. "I just wanted to say how delighted I am. Today is my favorite day, you know. So many cute couples running around makes me feel all giddy inside!" She giggled. "Anyway, I just wanted to say that today will be a very interesting day for all you campers." The goddess paused, looking around at different campers and flashing smiles at them. When she met my eyes, I gave her the biggest smile I could. I was sure I looked stupid. I just wanted to impress her.

Aphrodite swept her arm over the campers and a pink mist blanketed the tables. Campers blinked, like they were coming out of a trance. I sneezed.

"Well, good luck," she said sweetly, and with that, she was gone, leaving a cloud of nice-smelling perfume hanging in the air.

Breakfast finished regularly. Then we broke up to do our after-lunch activities. I had to go to the peasi stables. As I made my way over to the stables with my buff friend Jack from the Hercules Cabin, I saw some of the other kids who had the pegasi next, too. I glanced at Butch from the Iris Cabin, Kayla from the Apollo Cabin, and Belle Amoure from the Aphrodite Cabin. I must have stared at Belle, because she looked over her shoulder at me and grinned winningly.

See, I have this crush on Belle. I had it ever since I came to Camp Half-Blood. She had long, dark brown hair with blue eyes and long legs and a fashionable outfit--denim shorts and a purple shirt that covered only one shoulder. She was fourteen, one year older than me, but hey, I still had a chance.

For some reason unknown to me, my crush on her had actually increased since I'd seen her last. I brushed the thought off.

"Okay, everyone, gather around," Butch ordered. Overall, there were maybe fifteen campers. "We're going to try pair pegasi riding. This is important because on some quests you need to do this. It's vital for a demigod to know how to travel, on pegasi, with groups of people on it at once. Today we're going to try only two at a time. I've made the pairs beforehand," he added, to groans from the other campers. He began to read the list off. My heart skipped a beat when I heard the person I was paired up with.

"...Patrick and Belle..." Butch listed. He went on and on, but I didn't pay any attention. The best girl at camp was paired with me! I marveled at my luck as other guys frowned at me with envy.

Once the pairs were all said and done, I met Belle at a pegasus. The winged horse was a nice pure white color with majestic wings that fluttered up and down.

"So, who's going to be in front?" I asked her.

"I think you should be," Belle replied. "Because you're the guy."

I blushed. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"I don't know," the daughter of Aphrodite said innocently. "It just seems like the proper thing to do."

"Fine," I grumbled. I got onto the pegasus with ease. Belle slipped behind me and put her arms around my waist, turning my face even redder. Then we soared into the sky.