"It was practically suicide!" I yelled, punching my cabin's wall with my fist.

"Sorry," I said in a calmer tone to Piper, who was sitting delicately on my bed. Her eyes were open wide, but I guess she sort of predicted my outburst.

"It's fine," Piper replied, folding her hands together in her lap. "But the thing is, why do you hate Y/N so much?"

I shook my head. "I don't know," I lied. "She just seems like someone I'm not supposed to like."

Piper narrowed her eyes, clearing seeing through me. "That's not the reason you're so cold," she said. Then, softening, "You can tell me anything. So tell me the truth, Percy."

I backed away slowly, unblinking, from the small dent in the wall I caused. I took a deep breath.

"Because she's too much like Annabeth," I admitted with a voice crack. "I feel so alone when I see her. I feel so hollow inside, like Y/N's taunting me with her simple presence."

"That's not it, either," Piper added. "You're lying, but to yourself."

I shook my head. "That's not possible," I said. "That's the only reason I would never like a girl."

Piper stood up, smoothing the wrinkles on her camp shirt, and took a deep breath.

"What if," she said slowly, "you hate her because you're in love with her?"

"That's ridiculous," I immediately denied. "No way."

Piper headed towards the door, pausing only before her hand had touched the knob.

"Tough love," she whispered. "Every kid knows about that."

Then she left, leaving me with those two words I've been oblivious to since I met Y/N. Leaving me the precious memory of her lips on mine, those soft full lips....

What if I do love her?

What then?