iOMGods

Chapter X

|SAM'S P.O.V. |

I woke up to the sound of a little bell, like the ones that go off when you walk into a store. I rubbed my eyes, trying to figure out what had just happened. Then I remembered. Freddie had been claimed. I blacked out shortly after. Where am I?

I stood up and found myself surrounded by racks of clothes. A majority of them being pink. I frowned. There was a rack of skirts, a rack of frilly blouses, a rack of dresses… even a couple shelves of high heeled shoes. It looked like a store Carly would shop at. Speaking of Carly… I wondered what she was doing now. Sending out a police search for me and Freddie? Rocking back and forth on her couch, wondering where her two best friends were? Maybe she was –

"Holy crap." I did a double take as I walked by a full length body mirror. I gaped at my reflection. My face looked like it had been air brushed to perfection. My skin tone was perfectly even. The stubborn zit that had started to form on my forehead this morning was gone. It looked like my make-up had been done by a studio professional. Dark, smoky eye shadow with a hint of brown and gold along my brow bone really made my blue eyes pop. My eyelashes looked ridiculously long and my cheeks were brushed with a little bit of blush. I ripped my gaze away from my face and let out a yelp when I saw what I was wearing.

A white dress draped across my body. The neckline, yikes, plunged lower than I was used to and the hem barely grazed right above mid-thigh. Brown gladiator sandals laced up all the way up to my calves, right below the knee. There was a gold band encircled around both of my upper arms. My hair flowed all the way down to my waist and the tips fluttered around, even though there was absolutely no breeze inside the little store.

"What the he–"

"Language, my dear." I whipped around and found a woman browsing through one of the racks of clothing. She was beautiful – gorgeous eyes, high cheekbones, full lips, and strong jawline that followed through to a swan-like neck. I couldn't tell you what color her eyes were or what color her hair was, it was constantly shifting, each phase ever just as beautiful as the last. She turned towards me and held a long purple, red-carpet worthy dress up to her already stunning red dress that hugged her perfect figure.

"Cute, no?"

"Aphrodite." I raised my eyebrows. "Mom?" The lady smiled, revealing a row of pearly whites.

"Hello, Sam. It's been a long time." The stunned feeling wore off and I furrowed my eyebrows at Aphrodite, my mom. The word felt weird in my mouth.

"How could you be my mom? My mom's Pam Puckett and there is no way you could be her, unless you enjoy drinking beer excessively and inviting sleaze-balls over to your house." I crossed my arms, waiting for an explanation. Aphrodite sighed.

"Would you like the shot version or the long version," she asked.

"The long version. I want to know everything." The stunning woman snapped her fingers and suddenly I was sitting in a little café table that had materialized in the middle of the store. Warm coffee sat in the expensive-looking porcelain cup in front of me. A platter of little cookies and chocolates sat in between us. I immediately grabbed three of each and stuffed them into my mouth, ignoring Aphrodite's raised eyebrows.

"You might want to slow down a bit?" I swallowed the last piece of chocolate hard.

"Aphrodite –"

"Mom," she interrupted with a smile. I licked some melted chocolate off of my finger.

"Mom," I said forcefully, "telling me to slow down while eating is like telling a fish not to swim or a bird not to fly." To make a pointed I popped two more chocolates into my mouth. "Now, tell me how exactly you are my mother when I've been living with Pam Puckett as my mom for my whole life." Aphrodite cleared her throat and laced her fingers together, resting her chin on her intertwined fingers.

"Your father, Stan Puckett, was a clear-sighted mortal. He could see mythological things for what they truly were," she added, catching my questioning look. I nodded in understanding and she continued. "We met at a café in Seattle. He was my waiter," she smiled at the memory. "I'd visit that café every day just to pay him a visit. He was a very handsome man." She gave me a pointed look. "Now I know what you're thinking, 'Oh, she's Aphrodite. She thinks that about every man that catches her eye.'" I raised my eyebrows. That's exactly what I'd been thinking.

The love goddess waved a hand dismissively and continued with her story. "I remember one day I ordered strawberry shortcake with my coffee, and your father had arranged the strawberries in the shape of a heart and asked me on a date. I said yes, of course. He was so sweet." I felt like barfing. This woman was talking about the man who'd left my mother and me in the dust. "I'd like to say that we were very much in love while we dated." She sighed happily.

"Then I got pregnant with you, Sam." I shuddered at the thought of parent sex. "I knew, well before you were even born, that you were going to be a magnificent baby girl."

"Doesn't every mother-to-be think that?" I grumbled, feeling the cookies and chocolate I had rammed down my throat churning in my tummy. Aphrodite shook her head and smiled.

"It was more than that motherly feeling. I knew you were going to be a very powerful demigod. I knew you'd make me proud. I wasn't disappointed. When you were born, you were the most beautiful baby girl." I blinked; it was the first anyone expected something from me other than eating all their food or screaming at the elderly. She reached for my hand, which had been dropped to the table after I had eaten another cookie. I snatched it away quickly and she hid the awkward moment by leaning to reach for a small chocolate.

"I still don't see how this connects to my mo– Pam Puckett." She delicately nibbled on her chocolate.

"I started ignoring my godly duties. All I wanted to do was spend time with you and your father." She smiled, lost in memories. Suddenly, her eyes saddened. "Zeus wasn't too happy with me. He called me back to Olympus, told me to never see you again. But Sam, you were my favorite. Always so happy, always so energetic. You were lovely." It was weird, having someone describe me like that. Tears started clouding her eyes. I bit my lip, fighting the urge to grab her hand and tell her not to cry. Curse these new Aphrodite-feelings.

"I didn't want to leave you, baby. Trust me, I didn't. I knew that if I left you, it would hurt you and your father so much. So I did what I thought was right. I wiped all of your memories of me and replaced them with Pamela Mariner, a beautiful woman who I knew would take care of you and your father."

"You took my memories?" I balled my hands into fists. "You messed with my head?" I stood up, my hair flying behind me. "What kind of person messes with other people's heads?"

"Sam I –"

"I bet that my dad broke through whatever magical memory taking chiz you put on him. That's why he left me and my mom. He left us with nothing to go after you. His leaving broke my mother! It broke our family! Do you know how much it sucks for a seven year old kid to not have her dad? All I had was a drug addict, alcoholic woman who titled herself as 'Mom'." To my horror, there was a prickle of tears in the back of my eyes. Aphrodite stepped around the table and wrapped her arms around me. I struggled futilely for a couple seconds before relaxing onto her shoulder. She squeezed me closer. For a couple of seconds, I actually let myself sink into the comfort of being in a mother's arms before stepping out of her hold.

"I want to go back now." I didn't make eye contact with her. I wasn't exactly sure how I felt about her yet. It was an uncertain feeling. She nodded and gave me hand a little squeeze.

"Remember, I love you, my daughter. I hope you can forgive me for what I had to do," she whispered. She pressed her lips to my temple and with the vision of her beautiful smile, I blacked out once again.

The second chapter today!

Love,

DEETRIXJAAY :3