After the first two days or so, most new campers get settled in and are comfortable with the routine and practices. Not Rose. Defiantly, not Rose.

She stood out like a sore thumb because she refused to wear modern clothes. And for some unproclaimed reason I was in charge of keeping her from slicing people's heads off. I was so desperate to get her to dress normally I did something that I really didn't want to do.

I went to the Aphrodite cabin.

"Oh, Nico, Nico, Nico," Alicia, the new head of Aphrodite, said when I asked her for help, "Poor naïve Nico."

But she pronounced 'naïve' like 'navy'. I hated Alicia with a passion because she thought she new everything because she was sixteen. I was thirteen and I was smarter than she was!

"Of course I'll help you with your girl problem." She said with a sly smile that practically screamed I'm a snob! Throw something gooey and suspiciously green at my face!

"All I need you to do is get her to dress like a normal person, but be careful; she's a pirate and won't let anyone forget it."

"Right, right," She waved me off like an insignificant fly, "You just walk her in front of our cabin and she'll be looking like one of us in no time." That was exactly what I was afraid of.

So I did as planned it all out and lured Rose in front of the Aphrodite cabin.

"Are you absolutely positive that my boat has sprung a leak that I have to fix?" She said with her eyes narrowed.

"Absolutely," I said hoping in sounded more convincing that it felt.

We were right in front of that Aphrodite cabin now.

"I wonder if we'll get there in time?" I said a little louder then necessary. It was the signal to alert the Aphrodite cabin. Nothing happened so I yelled it a little louder.

"I said, I wonder if we'll get there in time!?" I yelled.

"Nico!" Rose said, covering her ears. "Why are you yelling? I'm right- HOLY POSIDEN!" The entire Aphrodite cabin rushed out and Rose was swept away in a sea of Juicy Couture and Jimmy Choo. It's a sad thing, really.

I could hear her screaming bloody murder, but that died out after a few minutes. Then, out of nowhere, a high-pitched screech that was so loud only a dog should be able to hear it came from the Aphrodite cabin.

"What's going on?" Percy asked as he walked up with Grover and Annabeth.

"Rose is getting a makeover." I answered. Another dog-frequency scream echoed from the cabin.

"Oh… Eyebrow wax." Annabeth said, flinching.

Grover, Percy and I stood there like idiots. Annabeth just rolled her eyes, "Boys are so clueless." She laughed lightly.

Percy proudly thumped his chest and said, "And we're proud of it!" This was followed up by a bunch of guy high five's.

After a few minutes we heard Alicia, "Presenting the new, and improved, Rose vie Dansante!" Alicia bellowed from the cabin porch.

We all turned to see the finished product. By now, there was a huge crowd; even Chiron and Mr. D were here. The Aphrodite cabin did these huge makeovers every once and a while, and everyone knew that the results were always stunning.

I don't really know what I expected, but what I saw was far beyond my imagination. She was wearing blue jeans that were pre-ripped and had on black converse with neon green laces. She was also wearing a black t-shirt that looked like it had neon colors of paint splashed on it, and her hair was in a long black braid so she looked a lot like that girl from Tomb Raider.

Everyone was silent. She just walked casually as if no one was starring at and walked up to me and said, "Hi, Nico." I'm not sure what I said, but I'm pretty sure it came out something like, "Uh, duh…?"

This only made her raise her eye brow at me. Then she walked over to the beach. Why was she going there? Right, she loves water… Wait, what's my name? Nico… Nico something… Nico di Antelope? No, that's not it… Nico di Angelo! Yes, I got it!

Then I kind of came back to earth and realized she was going to check on her boat that didn't really have a leek.

"Rose!" I yelled, running to catch up with her. I was panting when I finally met her at the dock. I just hit me that I had no idea what I was going to say after that lovely performance. "I, uh… Sorry for, ya' know… Er…" I trailed off.

Lucky for me, Rose was the kind of person who rescued people from embarrassment. "Its okay, the dolphin gets everyone's tongue once and a while." She said as if she left people speechless all the time.

"Wait," I said, realizing that there was yet again another instance when Rose uttered a phrase that I had never heard nor could I comprehend. "Did you say the dolphin got my tongue?" I asked.

"Oh, oops. There I go again, talking about another pirate tale. It's a long story, and I don't think someone like you would want to hear about it." She turned to go check on her boat, but I stopped her.

"Actually," I said, "I really do." It was true. I did want to hear her story. Heck, I wanted to hear every story. It's like I've found myself dumb struck by the overwhelming desire to understand this pirate girl who has lived countless lives.

She looked genuinely surprised by the fact that I wanted to hear her story, but then her expression changed into pure joy, as if she's been waiting her whole life to tell someone her exciting tale.

The story started with her and her mom, cruising along the Caribbean as usual, when her mom jumped up from her seat and proclaimed, "Rose, I'm getting bored with this drifting, and I believe it's time I showed you dolphins."

Rose, being an ignorant age of ten, asked, "What's a dolphin?" Her mother just smiled and said, "They are a surprise." And she winked.

So they sailed around to what would now be called Destin, Florida. Rose was now eleven and had been waiting almost a year full of plundering and piratetry to see the dolphins.

When she dad finally see the dolphins, she was speechless, just as I had been when I saw the modernized her. "They were beautiful." Rose said with a dreamy eyed look. Snapping out of her state of reminiscing, she said, "And that is where I get the phrase 'the dolphin got your tongue.'"

Just then, the conch horn blew, signaling dinner. "Aw, man! I really needed to fix my boat. By the time dinner is finished, it will be capsized!"

"Ah, yeah… Rose, about the boat…"

Rose was totally PO-ed at me to say the least for lying to her about the boat. Tonight was capture the flag and we were on opposite teams. How many ways can you spell Nico is dead meat? (No pun intended.)

The teams were Poseidon, Athena, Hermes, Hephaestus, and Apollo with a dozen minor god lings. We had Ares, Aphrodite, Dionysus, Zeus, and me along with another dozen minor demigods.

I prayed and made sacrifices to every god and goddess, especially Athena. Hopefully, Annabeth wouldn't be in a planning mood.

Too bad she was.