Nico Needs More Love

Nico Enjoys Halloween

I hate Halloween.
Ok, that was absolutely a lie, but it's not like I can tell people that. Oh, look, the son of Death loves Death Day! I'm not even the son of Death, and Halloween is NOT Death Day. This isn't some Dia de Muertos shit. Halloween is just candy and costumes and scary shit. I love candy and costumes and scary shit, but I play my part and don't let it on.
•••
"But Niiiiiicoooooooooo!" Jason whines, hanging on my door frame. It's October 30th, and I have absolutely no plans for the next night. Jason gives me a sad look, obviously trying to guilt me into going to the Stoll Brothers' Halloween Bash, but it won't work.
"Hey, I'm fine here. You know me-hater of crowds, destroyer of fun times," I reply, thumbing through an issue of Rolling Stones, which features my least-favorite favorite band, Green Day. "Besides, you're going with Piper, and unlike Leo, I'm not apart of that third wheel life."
Jason whined, then casually shrugged it off and straightened up. He jumped on my bed and grabbed half of the magazine out of my hands, so that we were both holding it. As he read through the article, I thought about what I was REALLY doing tomorrow night. Sorry, Jason, but guess who has two thumbs, manic depression, and secret plans for the best night of the year? This guy!
•••
"How do I look?" Percy asked, standing in the bathroom.
It was 2 hours until the party, but I guess everybody was getting together for dinner before, costumes included (Someone decided that giving away free food if you wear a costume to the restaurant was a good idea, but after Percy shows up with no shame and the appetite of the entire Twelfth Legion, they might change that yearly tradition.)
Percy turned around, waddling slightly.
"Are you sure? It doesn't make my butt too big?"
I smirk. Percy somehow got ahold of a full-body Hammer-Head shark costume, and was flapping his fins around like tiny T-Rex arms. He looked really fucking stupid, but I didn't want to hurt his feelings, because then he might take it off, and my Snapchat story would be ruined.
"You look fine-" I start to say, before the doorbell rings. Percy perks up, probably because that's Annabeth, and quickly shuffles out of the room to the door. I follow, recording in case something even funnier happens, and sure enough, doorknobs are the greatest enemy of tiny felt fins on a shark suit. He struggled for a bit, then groans in frustration and turns the lock with his nose.
"It's open!" He yells, hopping over to the nearest arm chair and collapsing into it. Opening doors is hard work for a shark.
Annabeth comes in, dressed like a pirate, and I blush, not because it's Annabeth, but I have my own memories with pirate costumes.
"Percy! Get up! We're going to be late, I told Piper we'd meet them there in 20 minutes, and the restaurant is across town!"
Percy wiggles his fins pathetically.
"Percy! There's going to be free food, and wouldn't it suck if it ran out?"
Percy shoots up and hobbles out of the door before Annabeth can even smile. She asks me if I want to go, and I kindly reject her. Then she leaves, and I wait for it.
*Scratch, Scratch, click! Thump, thump, thump...*
As soon as she's gone, I run to my room to prepare for my biggest night of the year.
•••
I stood in line at the movies anxiously.
Horror movies are a Halloween essential, and wearing a costume was extra fun. I was wrapped head to toe in toilet paper, a costume Hazel would scold me for later. I was the perfect image of a mummy, and I was about to see the movie of the year, R.L. Stein's Goosebumps (starring Jack Black of course).
I bounced in line nervously. My face was all wrapped up so that nobody could recognize me, and for once, being skinny and pale actually worked out for me, since I really did look dead. I bought my ticket and went inside, ordering a large drink and popcorn (the cost of a small kingdom, but nothing my father couldn't pay off). I then headed excitedly over to the theater.
When I got inside, I made it to the very top, prime seating location, but when I got to the middle, some asshole who was ALSO dressed as a mummy was sitting in one of the middle seats. It was too late for me to turn around, though, so just to be stubborn, I sat right next to the guy.
While being a mummy looked good on me, it looked plain stupid on this guy. He was tan and tall, and tufts of blond hair stuck out between the gauze he'd used to cover his body. His whole face was covered except for one blue eye, which was filled for excitement for the cinematic masterpiece we had both paid to see. He turned to me, turned back to the screen, then did a double take. He casually turned back to the screen, but his body shifted uncomfortably.
Shit, do I know him? Or, more importantly, does he know ME? I thought, but I kept my cool and watched the previews. Nothing was getting in the way of me and the art that is Jack Black dressed in an old suite, tiny round glasses, and slicked back hair.
The movie played, and it was fucking fantastic. I laughed. I cried. Truly a theatric experience. By the end of it all, I had expressed more emotions than I generally do during the entire months of June, July, and August combined. The guy next to me, however, had been totally still the whole movie. I looked over to him during the end credits, and a single tear shone from his single blue visible eye.
This guy gets it.
We exited the theater, but before I left all the way, a hand went on my shoulder. I turned around, and it was Mr. Mummy #2.
We stared at each other for a moment, then he began unraveling his head gauze.
Slowly, the shining, calm face of Will Solace appeared.
My stomach dropped.
"....Nico?"
My life flashed before my eyes.
We stood there for a second before I forced a laugh.
"Ni-co..? No, I am King Tut, ruler of the Nile!" I proclaimed, then ran the fuck out of the theater.
•••
"Nico, you should've been there, it was a blast!" Jason told me, after he got home from the party. Everyone decided to go hang out at mine and Hazel's place after the bash. Sitting in our living room was Frank, the horse, with his knight, Hazel, along with Leo the Charmander, Piper the Zombie, Jason the Vampire, and Percy and Annabeth. I had luckily torn off all the TP and hid it under the bathroom sink barely seconds before everyone got home. As they explained the party, I thought about how my secret was perfectly safe.
Almost.
I couldn't get Will out of my head. Of COURSE I had to go to the ONE SHOWING where someone I knew would be there, and out of all the people I knew (and trust me, I make it a point to make that number pretty small), it had to be WILL SOLACE. I can't believe he'd recognized me! This was karma for those Snapchats of Percy "I'm a shaaaaaaaark" Jackson for sure. I felt humiliated.
The doorbell rang.
Damn trick or treaters.
I go to answer the door, since I'm the closest and it's my house.
"Don't you kids know that when the porch light is off-"
I was cut short by the mummy at my door.
"Trick or treat." Will Solace said, smiling.