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Drew wrung out her fingers, staring at the dozen or so pairs of eyes that peered up at her from their spots on a couple of bean bags in the center of the Aphrodite Cabin. She had been so sure that she could do this a minute ago, but now, under the watchful eyes of her siblings, she was beginning to crumble. She wasn’t used to this. She’d put on her bad girl act for so long that she thought herself immune to other’s thoughts and feelings, and now that she recognized the fauxness in her act, it seems that scrutiny hit her by the tenfold.
Lacy’s eyes, blue as a baby bell, were wide and unassuming, but Drew had known her for long enough to see that slight glitter of hatred in her eyes. Gods, Drew really fucked up if her little sister looked at her that way. Beside her, Mitchell, his eyes brown as tree-bark, didn’t hide his discontent for her underneath child-like wideness, but rather narrowed scrutiny. Valentina, who hadn’t been at camp long enough to experience the wrath that had been a grieving and thought-to-be broken Drew, stared with what Drew had come to associate as her blank stare—unable to fully comprehend the magnitude of what was happening. The rest of her siblings, ranging from little Rosita with her blush-pink eyes magnified by her cork-bottle glasses to Dalton’s piercing green stare, had looks ranging from ambivalent to down-right hatred. Not one was filled solely with love.
When trying to reject romantic love, Drew managed to push away all familial love too. Now, she was trying to mend that.
Piper, her expression monotone, gave her a small nod of encouragement. Piper was the only of her siblings to know what Drew was going to say, and had even assured Drew that she didn’t have to say everything she planned to say, only to apologize. That Drew didn’t owe anyone what she meant to spill. Drew wasn’t sure why Piper was willing to help her, with Drew having made her life a living nightmare for a while, but Drew wasn’t going to look a gift horse in the mouth.
“Um, hi, everyone,” Drew began.
No one answered.
“I have something I’d like to say to you all.”
A few siblings leaned forward in anticipation, though some, namely the smaller ones, wilted back.
“First, I’d like to say, I’m sorry.”
“You’re—” Lacy’s eyes narrowed as her nose scrunched. “Apologizing?”
“For being shitty,” Drew elaborated.
Piper coughed into her fist. “As much as I don’t want to take this moment away from you, there are young children here.”
“Shitty’s a naughty word,” Rosita said, her stark white hair into her face as she turned to glance at Piper from her spot in Mitchell’s lap. “Right, Pipes?”
“No cursing, little girl,” Piper scolded. “Not even repeating.”
Rosita shrugged, settling back against Mitchell, who carefully untangled her hair from her glasses.
“Right,” Drew mumbled. “Sorry.” She took a deep breath. “I haven’t been the nicest person ever; making you all clean my messes.”
“Do your kapers,” Mitchell said.
“Wear the shoes of shame,” Lacy added, which caused a shiver throughout the cabin.
“Yeah,” Drew ran her fingers through her hair, the acrylics scratching against her scalp. “All those things. I was angry about everything and pushed that on you guys, and that’s not alright.”
“It’s not,” Frida agreed, her arms crossed.
“And I’m not asking for forgiveness fully,” Drew said. “Because I know I broke all your trust by being such a bad sister and a bad person, but I’d like to try.”
“You’ll be nice?” Rosita asked.
“I’ll be nice,” Drew echoed. “And I’ll try and be the best sister I can be, can you let me do that?”
Rosita tapped her chin, her dark blue nail polish stark against her pale as snow skin. “I can try.”
“Thank you,” Drew breathed out.
Mitchell seemed to tug Rosita a bit tighter. “You’re not just pretending, right?”
Drew’s heart shattered into a billion pieces. “I swear on the styx.”
A thunderclap synchronized with gasps of shock.
“Drew,” Piper breathed out.
“I’m going to try my best,” Drew reiterated. “And I have one more thing I want to share with you guys—since being a good sibling is built on trust, I want to tell you guys something I’ve never told anyone.”
The room was as still as water.
“I’m aromantic.”
A few siblings glanced at each other in shock, no one bothering to break the silence.
“What’s that?” Rosita asked.
Drew racked her brain for an age-appropriate way to explain her feelings. “I don’t look at people and think, wow I want to date them. When I dated people in the past, I knew deep down I didn’t really want to. I know it’s odd for a daughter of a love goddess, but it’s true.”
Rosita nodded, and Drew could almost see the definition seep into her mind as her glasses bobbled on her little nose.
“It’s not odd,” Lacy said suddenly, standing up with such force that her bean bag slid. “Love comes in all shapes and sizes. Just because you don’t experience one type of love doesn’t make you odd for a child of Aphrodite.”
“Lacy,” Drew said softly.
“It’s true,” Lacy said, crossing her arms.
“Yeah,” Dalton added, “We support you.”
“No matter what.” Frida added.
Mitchell loosened his grip on Rosita. “I do have a question though; why did you bring back the right of passage if you’re aro? Did you know you were aro?”
Drew frowned. “It’s complicated. I’m not justifying what I did, because I knew I didn’t like Anthony and still dated him, but a small part of me thought at the beginning if I dated then maybe I could experience interaction. And to be honest.” She gestured for Mitchell to cover Rosita’s ears. “He was a good bang,” she whispered.
“You’re not asexual?” Melina asked.
Drew shook her head, “Nope, but I’m not sure I want to put a label on that just yet.”
“That’s okay too!” Lacy added.
Drew sighed deeply. “You are all the best. I can’t thank you enough.”
Rosita, who Mitchell had let go off, walked forward and put her hands in Drew’s. “Being nice is easy. I can show you how.”
Drew smiled, “I’d like that.”