Reflecting (OPEN)

Bri Jasper, the reluctant daughter of Aphrodite, stood and watched the water. She couldn't help thinking about her life at Camp so far. After searching forever, she didn't expect a lot of teens running around playing volleyball or singing around the campfire. Bri always thought they would be constantly under attack when she was trying to get to Camp Half-Blood. Then, being claimed by the goddess of love and having siblings with pretty, gossiping girls and boys did not really improve her mood. Now, new to Camp with no friends, Bri felt alone. Her father always ignored her and she never had friends at her prep school, so she thought things would change when she was around people like her, but she guess not.

Everyone she meet either looked at her like a posh Aphrodite kid or were too posh and thought she was beneath them. So she took to training. She happened to be really good with a sword, mostly due to large periods of intense practice. A part of her was training so hard as a jab at Aphrodite. A way of getting back at her for being her mother. Being everything a daughter of Aphrodite really wasn't: fighting, not caring about looks (which she didn't before), clothes, gossip, or falling in love. She even considered joining the Hunters of Artemis, but they were never around.

She let out a sigh and looked out to the water, praying for any god/goddess that would listen for something to finally go good in her life.

Bri looked over her shoulder to see David, one of the Athena kids that sometimes comes around to the Aphrodite Cabin. She talked to him a few times. She didn't talk to him often, but she had more conversations with the blond Athena boy than almost everyone else in camp.

Bri looked up at the look with a look of exasperation, not at him, just her situation in general. Bri felt shorter than usual standing next to the much bigger boy. He was spiffy, while she was dressed in some muddy skinny jeans and a purple and grey striped long sleeve.

Bri let out a sigh, running her hand through her messy hair.
She looked up at the Athena boy. Of course, a child of the wisdom goddess is bond to be pretty wise and he was older than her, so he probably knew what she was talking about. But in this instance, he had no idea what was going through her head.
Bri let out a deep breath and plopped her butt down in the sand, cradling her head in her hands as her thoughts ran wild through her head.

Bri looked back up at the blond boy and asked, honestly confused, "Why did you come talk to me, anyways? You one of the popular guy with a lot of friends and cool siblings. Why share your wisdom?"

Bri raised a slim brow at the boy's optimism. She wasn't use to such . . . happiness when everything seemed so crappy in her opinion. "Oh really?" Bri said mockingly. "And what might those be? And if you say beauty then I will punch you in the throat."

"Okay, so I'm supposed to trick them using clothes?" Bri asked sarcastically. "That sounds great. But the whole wardrobe thing won't really help me survive a typical demigod life, now will it?"

Bri looked down at the ground for a minute before looking back at the older boy with a form of pity in her blue eyes. "I appreciate you trying to make me feel better, but there isn't much to being a daughter of Aphrodite. Helping people pick out an outfit or putting on make-up won't make me feel like an oh-so-great hero."

"It's not just the people!" Bri said, frustrated with her own thoughts. "Some of my siblings are good people, but it's not . . . easy," Bri decided on. "If I was a daughter of Athena I could walk around without people thinking I was some airhead gossip. Being the daughter of love means everyone expects you to be held up to these stupid standards! Always looking nice and dating people and I don't like that! Even before Camp I was the outsider. I was never posh and fancy enough for the kids at my prep school and when I come here I'm suddenly too posh that everyone thinks I'm some blubbering idiot!"

Bri moved some sand around with her foot. "Yeah," She sighed. "No one expects a daughter of Aphrodite to be a good fighter, so I want to be a good fighter. Aphrodite is all about love, so I figured if I fought that it would be a jab against her. A way to push her away."

"No," Bri admitted. But she didn't need to meet her mother. She didn't want to. Bri wanted to distance herself from her mother as much as possible.

"I'm trying not to meet her and stay as far away from her as I can," Bri said. "I am trying my hardest never to meet her because I don't want too."

Bri's blue eyes lit of like stars. "Could you? I'm always training by myself, but I think it would be better with a partner."

David smiled warmly. "It'd be my pleasure. I can train you with sword, spear and dagger. What is your weapon of choice?"

"Sword," Bri nodded, a slight grin coming to her lips. "Thanks."