Nico
I walked slowly toward the table of skaters in the open air restaurant, they were all chattering loudly, my friend Leo Valdez was probably the loudest.
I sat down across from America's new male skater, who had taken Percy's place. Will Solace. He lived up to his reputation of being the most radiant person in every room. His hair was practically glowing in the low light of the cold night. He had eyes as blue as the oceans at home and his skin was like the warm sand, with little shells of freckles dashed into it. His smile was the sun of his landscape of a body, as bright and warm as the big ball of gas that kept the earth alive.
His voice sang through the air like the sound of music on a summer day, his laugh was the melody.
He wore a blue lace shirt with a collar clip that had roses on it.
"Nico, my man, you made it!" Leo cheered, giving me an uncomfortably large hug.
"You woke me up with your texts, so I thought I might as well come eat," I sighed, pushing him away.
Will laughed a little "Jet lagged?"
I made eye contact with him "A bit, though it's probably just being awake for all of my flights that is the problem."
Will nodded in understanding.
"Sure hope that doesn't do anything to your performance tomorrow, it would suck for you to flop at the Grand Prix Finals," Frank, Canada's skater, said, elbowing me slightly.
"It won't, I'll be fine. I just don't like flying."
"Aiming for gold like you did four years ago in juniors?" Someone else asked.
The table went silent, I could almost hear every breath everyone took.
"I'm aiming to do my best. This being my senior debut and my first competition in years, I'm lucky to have made it this far," I muttered.
Will seemed disappointed by my answer, staring down at me as if I were a child who had broken something.
Everyone began chattering again, then Leo asked Will "What was your inspiration to start skating?"
Will hid his face a bit with his hand "Well, it's kind of embarrassing, but it was actually Nico. I saw him in TV when I was little, then I watched every single routine he did live. I even imitated his skating for years."
I felt my face heat up, how could I inspire someone like him to skate? I was nobody in the skating world after I yelled at Percy for letting my older sister Bianca, fly alone when they were supposed to fly together. The plane crashed and killed Bi. I screamed at Percy on live TV, blaming him for her death, he was supposed to watch over her.
"Were you angry when I quit?"
The group quieted again. I wasn't one to ask about myself, but I had to know how he felt.
"You had your reasons, I understood. Though I'm glad you're back now," Will sighed.
I nodded a little. I didn't talk much after that, just ate some of the soup in front of me, paid, and went back to my hotel.
