Kissing Boys (Solangelo high school AU)

Chapter 10

Hazel came home later that night, Frank and Leo both with her. We were all standing in the entryway because they had just come in.

"Woah dude, I've never seen you with your hair up, and you finally wore the shirt Percy got you!" Leo exclaimed.

I hid my face in embarrassment, I had forgotten all about that.

"Yeah man, you look really nice today, where's the jacket from?" Frank asked.

I gasped slightly when I realized I still had Will's jacket on "Uh, it, I guess, it's Will's."

Leo smirked but Hazel elbowed him in the ribs "Leo no."

I needed to give Will his jacket back.

"Well, these two are staying down here tonight, I cleared it with Dad so there's no need to worry."

I nodded and headed upstairs, opening my phone and looking at Will's message.

I accidentally stole your jacket, I typed, it took me a while to send it, but eventually I pressed the button lightly.

The message said it was read almost instantly, then he was typing. His response was Keep it, it looks good on you. I grew out of it anyways lol

I looked down at the coat, it did look a little small for Will.

Thanks then.

It was much easier to talk to Will over texts, there was less stuttering, awkward silences, eye contact. It was easier to breathe.

I was tired and felt odd but talking with him was nice.

After a while Hazel called my name "Come down here real quick!"

I rolled off of my bed and went down the stairs, there were three boxes of pizza, one pepperoni, one cheese, and one with a bunch of vegetables set on the counter.

"Take a piece, you'll waste away to nothing if you don't eat," she said.

I took a plate out and got a piece of pizza. Hazel was facing me again with a coke can. She handed it to me and smiled "You wanna watch a movie? We won't be able to this week because I'm going to Disneyland for band class."

My stomach fell, I had forgotten about that. Though I didn't really feel like eating in front of Frank and Leo, I also wanted to spend time with Hazel, so I nodded.

We usually watched a movie together on Wednesdays.

"Yay! Movie night!"

Frank and Leo poked their heads over the couch, Leo smirked "You got him to do it?"

Hazel nodded and he whooped. At least he was excited.

I took my pizza to the loveseat and Hazel picked up the remote, then snuggled into Frank. They were cute together, and he was a good guy so I didn't mind that they were together. All I really cared about was her well being.

I didn't pay attention to the movie we watched, I just thought about what I was going to do with myself when Hazel was gone. She was the one who reminded me to eat, sometimes even to drink water. I was pathetic by myself.

I drank my coke absentmindedly, only realizing it when the drink was empty.

The three of them had fallen asleep by the time the movie ended. I got some spare blankets out and draped them across them.

I threw away the food trash, put away the remaining pizza, and let Mrs. O'Leary out one more time before putting her away and going to my room.

I changed into pajamas and flopped back onto my bed after turning the lights off. The days events went through my head, I wondered about all of the things that Will had started to say but didn't. I wondered what my Dad was doing, what he was thinking about, how he felt about going back home. Then I thought about school, then Octavian.

I started to worry about him, he had hit me a few times, but at least he hadn't ever threatened my family or few friends. What if he did? What if he hurt Will like he did me. That thought was almost too much for me to bear.

I couldn't imagine Will as broken and bruised, I didn't want to.

Will seemed so strong, despite the fact that I really didn't know him well, I still knew that he was in a way, unbreakable. Anything that broke him didn't have the right to exist.

I drifted off as I thought about Will, though I had no dreams it was almost as if I thought about him for the entire night.

-

When I woke in the morning the sun was streaming into my room through the crack in my curtains. It was mid day, a clear day, which meant it would be cold.

I realized that I hadn't taken a shower the day before so I quickly hopped inside the shower and washed myself.

I was kind of sad to take my hair down, Will's tender hands had done it so expertly, it was like art.

Will was still in the back of my mind, I couldn't quite figure him out, though he seemed like an open book. He was somehow so loving, so kind, so close to everyone and everything that he could have been the whole world by himself. He confused me. I didn't want to be his friend, not really, but he had wriggled his way in and now he was my favorite constant.

Was he really my favorite?

Probably. Other than my sister.

I stepped out of the shower, dried my body, got halfway dressed, and used my hair dryer.

When I looked at myself in the mirror I looked different. Without my shirt on I could see the bruises from Octavian's fists, right by my stomach. They didn't make me look any weaker, that would have been pretty hard to do. The bruises didn't seem natural though, like I hadn't really gotten them from the angry fists of my bully, like they were somebody else's.

Sometimes I felt that way about my own body, like it wasn't really mine, because in my mind I was different, younger, shorter, I didn't have dark circles under my eyes, I didn't have bruises or incredibly pale skin. I was still a little kid, kind of. I was a kid with a lot of issues, a lot of troubles, a lot of problems that shouldn't have existed. The only semi old me thing about me was the fact that my face was flushed for no good reason. The current me was the me that shouldn't have existed.

None of my morning thoughts ever made sense to me, they were just there, as always.

My phone buzzed Will.

I opened the text, Hey Neeks, sleep well?

I smiled at the text, which made me frown, which made me mad. Why couldn't I smile at my friend's text? Was he really my friend?

Yeah, you?

I set down my phone and waited for a response as I put on a loose black shirt.

Kind of, I was up late reading.

So Will liked to read. I was feeling bold so I asked, What book?

His response was almost instant, Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe, it's pretty good.

I hadn't heard of that. I didn't read much though.

I didn't respond, I had started feeling feint.

I had a lazy Sunday, playing with Mrs. O'Leary and sleeping. My head was starting to hurt by dinner time.

"Ooh, Nico, you don't look so well," Hazel sighed as she toted one of her bags down in preparation for the morning.

I shrugged "I'm fine, just a headache."

Maybe it wasn't, but what did I care?