I'm Up For Making Friends.... Wait, Friends?! <open>

I laugh as I get up swiftly and put my feet in the water. I take a deep breath as I jump back into the water. I open my eyes underwater to see strange-looking fish floating around. I put my head out of the water and I laugh. I'm a pretty spontaneous person, just to warn you.

I laugh and put my hair in a messy ponytail, not having the patience to actually make it look nice. That's cool. So... what else should I know about you, Rita?

I smile and think of Rita as a cheerleader. The uniform, the flips, the perfect form. Yup, I can see that I think to myself. Awesome! Who did you cheer for? A sports team or just more of a pep rally kind of thing?

I nod and look out at the glistening lake. Awesome. You're lucky that you got to do that. I'm not flexible enough to do any of that stuff, so you must be amazing to go to Nationals.

I swim up to shore and use the sun power to dry me again. I shuffle through my iPod again and turn on "Russian Roulette" by Rihanna. I put in one ear again and begin making my summer playlist. I awkwardly smile over at Rita and slip on some black Sofees. So how long have you been at Camp? Any story about how you got here? You don't have to tell me if you don't want to, though. I'd understand. I take my hair, also completely dry and styled from this morning, out of its ponytail and let it flow down my hair in neat ringlets.

I look down and nod. I completely understand. Sorry for asking. I drag the song "Dynamite" by Tiao Cruz into my playlist. So what else should I know 'bout you, Rita? Anything interesting or weird or anything? I don't know any other Aphrodite girls, so I'd have nobody to tell any secrets about you to, if you want to. I smirk and drag "OMG" by Usher into the On-the-Go playlist.

I shrug my shoulders and look up from my iPod. I hold down the "play" button, and it shuts off. I don't know. Any siblings or pets of anything like that you have? Do Aphrodite girls have any powers beside beauty? Favorite foods? I don't care. I just want to understand you a little better. My eyes wander deeper into hers, and I see that she is hiding something. I shouldn't ask. It's personal, Alex I think to myself. I would be creeped out if some random stranger kept interrogating me after knowing her for two seconds. I look away and straighten out my towel. I smile slightly as I wait for her response.

I quickly lean back, not wanting to get hit. Impressive! I bet you could take out an Ares kid in a surprise attack if you wanted to. He wouldn't expect you- no offense- to be good at fighting. I smile as I admire her amazingly-crafted sword. That's pretty cool, your sword. It looks like it's pretty convenient, too. You'll always have it with you. I smirk a little bit, not wanting to offend her at all. She was pretty cool. Not at all what I expected an Aphrodite girl to be like. Did a Hephaestus kid make it?

(Gotta go. Sorry!)

~No worries;]

I sigh, "Actually, it's a gift from Mommy Dearest." I say snapping my fingers once more letting the sword shrink back to it's regular formation. I toss it back into my bag, "I can glow too. But not on demand."

I let out a short-lived laugh. I must admit, that's pretty darn awesome. Any Ares kid would be jealous. And celestial bronze is a great metal, too. Same as mine, but mine isn't a brush, unfortunately. I smirk as I turn on "Club Can't Handle Me" by Flo-Rida. I turn up the volume and think for a moment. So that takes out Aphrodite powers. I make an imaginary check mark in midair and laugh. Any siblings? Same mom and dad?

I laugh and close my eyes for a quick second. They slowly open back up, and a ball of fire appears in my hand. I wave my other hand through it, and it disappears. I'm figuring out some other ones, but most just involve fire, mad instrument skills, and archery and running. Pretty basic stuff. I throw on my five-dollar purple and plaid sunglasses and look over at her. I have- sorry, had- a sister named Emily. My twin. I look sown, pushing away the one painful memory of her.

I could hear the heartache in her voice. One that I use alot, "I'm sorry, had?" I say nosily asking.

~Sorry it's short. I didn't know what to write;/

(It's all good! But are you in the mood for a long sob story? :-o)

I sit up as I take off my sunglasses. Yeah. It's... complicated. You probably won't want to hear it. I turn away from Rita, now facing the forest. I don't let myself get upset, but my voice cracks at 'hear' to my displeasure.

~Yeah, I need to get rid of my RP block XP

I look at her, "You can talk about it if you want to." I say touching her hand, "I'm all ears." I say giving a small smile.

I let our another weak smile and begin. Emily and I did everything together. We were never apart. We lived together with my mother until we were seven. I remember her completely, even today. We always thought that our dad was my mom's new husband. We never doubted it for a moment. I take a deep breath and exhale, knowing that it's not going to get any easier telling the story. Everything was fine until... I clear my throat and look into her eyes solemnly. Until it happened.

(I completely understand. I mostly do too, but this story has been posted already, so I'm just kinda perfecting it...)

I cough and clear my throat. One day, Emily and I were hanging out in our front yard, playing football with the neighborhood kids, like we did almost every day, and my mom and 'dad,' I put air quotes around the word, "dad," were sitting on the porch, watching us. All of a sudden, Michael, a friend, threw the ball at Emily, and she got nailed in the stomach. It really wasn't that bad, but she just got really mad, like seven year-olds do. I had never seen her like that before. I shudder at the memory of that fateful day. She took the football, and it began glowing. It didn't stop there. the thing kept getting brighter and brighter until it was on fire. She chucked it at Mike, who ducked, thank the gods, and it landed on the roof next door. The whole place caught fire and burned down in seconds. I just watched, frozen in amazement and horror. I take another breath and try not to let my voice crack. They called it vandalism for the press- my parents. My mom's face was just indescribable, like she knew something like this would happen, but she wished it wouldn't. I look down quickly and wipe my eye as I hold back more tears. She was sent away that day. I was told never to speak or our friendship, memories, or even her name again, ever. I was told to forget her and that day. It was like trying to forget part of myself. Emily was adopted by some other family three thousand miles away, somewhere in Washington. I haven't seen her since that day. I look up at her, holding everything back for the sake of Rita. She didn't need to feel sorry for me. She has her own life to worry about I remind myself.