~(Y/n)'s POV~

"Please, (Y/n)?" Hazel begged.

You, Hazel, Frank, and Piper were hanging out in the Aphrodite cabin. Apparently, there was a dance going on this Friday, and Cabin 10 was organizing it. You being you, did not want any part of it.

"You might actually have fun, (Y/n). It's Camp Half Blood's first ever dance," Frank added.

You looked at him. "Is that supposed to change my mind?"

Piper groaned. "(Y/n)," she whined, "why must you be so difficult? You don't even need a date. You can go with a friend."

"No thanks, I'm planning on committing seppuku that night," you replied, not even looking up at your friends.

"Huh?" Piper questioned.

"It's Japanese ritual disembowelment with a sword. It's how I'd rather spend that evening."

Honestly, you would go to the dance if a certain demigod who's name rhymes with 'Chico' asked you. But obviously, that would never happen. My good looks would blind him so much that he wouldn't even be able to see me when we're dancing, your inner monologue voiced.

"If you don't go then we'll tell the whole camp about the time a bird randomly pooped on your face last month. Good luck with everyone calling you Bird-Turd the rest of the summer," Piper warned.

"Cheap shot," you mumbled, "Okay, okay. Fine I'll go, but what am I gonna wear?" You queried.

"Yay! And don't worry, Piper and I have the dress picked already," Hazel confirmed. The two of them raced into the huge closet, leaving you and Frank in the empty pink bunks of the Aphrodite cabin.

You lifted up a bottle of perfume from one of the many dressers and held it up like a wine glass. "Hey Frank," he looked up at you, "do you think if I drink enough of this perfume, it will poison me to death?"

"Of course. Why do you ask?"

The past couple days have been frantic. Hardly anyone was training, having been focused on getting dates for the dance or what they were going to wear.

You decided to take advantage of that, and had the entire arena to yourself.

After training, you were told to go over to Piper's cabin, to see what dress that she and Hazel picked out. (Which was a mistake, because cabin 10 was pretty much the headquarters of the whole planning and freaking out about the dance.)

"Hey, Piper!" You called out, trying to be heard from all the anxiety-driven activity in the cabin.

She turned towards you. "Oh, hey (Y/n)! What brings you here?"

"You. You told me to come here."

"Oh yeah. I'll be right back with your dress," she said and then manuevered around all the busy campers, towards the back of the cabin. She came back after a minute, in her hand was a strikingly beautiful red and black dress that would come to your knees. The corset top was a red, sweetheart neckline and the skirt part was black and covered with black lace. Obviously, since it was a sweetheart neckline it had no sleeves, but you were willing to look past that, since it was so beautiful.

"Wow," you breathed. It actually made you excited for the dance. Piper grinned, "I know right! Now go try it on."

~~~~~

As you were making your way to the ampitheater, you spotted Annabeth, Percy, Nico, and Leo walking towards it too. Deciding to greet them, you hopped over and smiled. "Hey guys! You look amazing," you observed, taking in their appearances.

"Thanks, (Y/n)," They said in unison, except for Leo, who batted his eyelashes and said, "Go on..."

Annabeth smiled, "That dress is beautiful. I see Piper did your makeup."

"Yup, did you know that mascara is actually a real thing?" You awed. You five decided to walk to the dance together. You talked a bit to Leo, because 1) trying not to third-wheel Percabeth is futile and 2) you were too nervous to speak actual words to Nico.

"Hey, (Y/n), don't you have a date for tonight?" Percy asked. You shook your head, "Nope. Single Pringle." Leo whooped and high-fived you for that.

Nico frowned, and you noticed, but didn't say anything.

You walked into the ampitheater. Everyone in camp actually looked nice. It was a good contrast from the usual orange camp t-shirt. You had to admit, Cabin 10 actually did a really good job. You wore the dress Piper showed you, and your hair was down in waves. A few Apollo and Hermes guys asked you to dance, and well, you said no. You stayed a while and made sure that Hazel, Piper, and Frank saw that you actually showed up.

After you got bored and ate all the chips and dip you wanted, you snuck out.

~Nico's POV~

The dance turned out to be boring. I wanted to ask (Y/n) to dance, but she seemed perfectly content eating the food at the tables.

I just sat at one of the tables while almost everyone danced. Some talkative guy from the Hermes cabin randomly decided to have a conversation with me about...actually I don't know what he was talking about. I wasn't listening at this point.

After a while, I saw (Y/n) sneak out. Why didn't I think of that earlier? I thought. I got up, the guy from the Hermes cabin kept talking, not even noticing me leaving.

Without hesitation, I followed her.