when everyone believes you (bad reputation)

by annabethfavfics

Summary:

Piper McLean doesn't think very highly of the Aphrodite Cabin or her siblings, but she doesn't have a choice when her mother claims her and she moves in. Except after a while, she starts to realize that maybe she's wrong in her ideas about who her siblings are and what they stand for. And maybe being girly isn't bad. And maybe Drew Tanaka actually had a couple points. And maybe...well, camp has more than a few cute girls around.

Notes:

I will never forgive Rick for the way he wrote Piper as a "not like other girls" character and then absolutely villainized Drew Tanaka so this is my fix-it fic

Chapter 1: The Claiming

The doors to the Aphrodite Cabin swung open: posters of singers and actors assaulted Piper’s eyes. There was a Taylor Swift playlist in the background; Drew had told her that it never stopped playing all day. There was a constant loop of her greatest music. Piper tried to be annoyed by it but it was hard not to hum along to “How To Get The Girl”, one of her favourites from her childhood. When her dad still used to have the time to go on drives with her, he’d turn it on and they’d sing it together.

Piper stumbled into the cabin and took a look around. Besides the posters, the walls were bare, revealing a rich brown wood that looked far more polished than what the Hermes cabin was made of. There was a chandelier hanging from the ceiling and the light from the skylights caught in all the diamonds and illuminated the whole space in flecks of rainbow-coloured lights.

It was empty at this hour; everyone but Piper and Drew were still at the campfire, finishing the night with a concert put on by the Apollo cabin. The two girls had left as soon as Piper was claimed, right when Austin was preparing to lead everyone in a rousing chorus of “Party in the USA.”

“I know you don’t like me,” Drew said from behind her. Piper spun around in surprise. The look on Drew’s face melted away any lies she was about to say, any little pieces of flattery to make her way out of being called out on her animosity towards her half-sister.

“I-” Piper said.

Drew tugged at the gold bracelet around her wrist. “It’s partly my fault. I was rather mean when I first met you. But you’ve also done nothing but criticize my cabin since you got here.”

“It’s just so-”

“There’s nothing wrong with being girly,” Drew said firmly. “You’re one of us, Piper, whether you like it or not. Demigods don’t tend to live long. You’ll be alive longer if you don’t make enemies out of all of your half-siblings. We’re each other’s first line of defence.”

Piper thought of Jason and Leo. If she wanted anyone in a fight, it was them and not Aphrodite’s children. Drew stared at her, like she was reading her thoughts.

“How much do you know about Mom?” She asked, gesturing towards the bed. They both sat down. “Or about our cabin history?”

“I know Aphrodite’s the goddess of beauty.”

“That’s part of it,” Drew nodded. “She’s also the goddess of love and of war.”

“War?” Piper furrowed her eyebrows. She remembered Ares being a god of war and she was certain that Annabeth Chase had mentioned Athena was one, too, but she’d never heard of Aphrodite being called a goddess of war.

“Aphrodite Areia. She’s the oldest of all of the Olympians, Piper. The goddess of war long before Athena and Ares entered the picture. You know what they say,” Drew shrugged. “Love and war are just flip sides of the same coin.”

“I’ve never heard that said before in my life,” Piper frowned.

“You just have,” Drew said. “I’m not going to give you a whole lecture about what our cabin stands for and what it’s been through. I don’t want you to feel bad for how you treated us- most new campers make the same mistake.” She stood up, stretching her arms in front of her. The gold bracelet on her wrist caught Piper’s eye: there was a single silver charm hanging on it. That it was silver was strange enough; gold and silver clashed horrendously when mixed together, everyone knew that. But it was the shape of the charm, it looked like a sickle or a scythe, that interested her more.

Drew didn’t seem to notice her fascination with the bracelet as she tucked her hands into her pockets. “They learn soon enough and you’ll figure it out, too. I do want to warn you about your powers, though. You’re one of the more powerful charm-speakers I’ve ever seen and there aren’t many of us. I’m one and so was our old head counselor-” she paused, as if the name hurt to say. “Silena. You can control someone with it, as long as they’re attracted to you. It’s one of the more dangerous powers at camp. Be careful with it, Piper. Stay in control of your words. Of your emotions.”

“I can mind control?”

“I prefer the term manipulate,” Drew grinned. “But yes. Aphrodite isn’t all rose petals and doves.”

Piper wasn’t sure what to say to that. She hated the way the Aphrodite cabin acted, so far as she’d interacted with it, even though that had been very little. They seemed vapid and empty-headed and like all they cared about was their looks- and there was Drew, with that look like she was reading her mind again.

“Appearances are deceiving,” Drew warned. Her tone changed and she suddenly sounded much more like the head counselor Piper had dealt with before the campfire. “Aphrodite’s blessing will last for a week or so. The makeup won’t smudge when you go to sleep. And don’t bother trying to change, it won’t work. Your bunk’ll be that one,” she pointed to an empty one. “Feel free to decorate as you wish. Are you coming back to the campfire with me?”

Piper shook her head. She didn’t want to face Jason right now and have him look at her while she was dressed like this. She’d tried so hard to prove to him that she wasn’t like other girls, she wasn’t the spoiled brat of a big-time movie star, who only cared about what she looked like and what the press was covering in Hollywood. It would take her some time to wrap around her absolutely horrible luck.

“Alright,” Drew said and her tone was soft again. “Getting claimed is a lot to take in. Don’t worry- it doesn’t get easier from here. The world is out to kill us all.”

Chapter 2: the end

Summary:

hi everyone,

this isn't actually an update- this is me officially closing the story! I'm now busy with publishing deadlines for my own series :) and can't balance fanfiction on the side.
if you want to keep reading my work, though, my debut just released: Olympia by Eva Grace.

hi everyone,

this isn't actually an update- this is me officially closing the story! I'm now busy with publishing deadlines for my own series :) and can't balance fanfiction on the side.
if you want to keep reading my work, though, my debut just released: Olympia by Eva Grace.