I waved slightly, stunned by the fact that he was there. His deep sea green eyes sparkled in the light of the hall, and his black hair was as always, a disheveled mess.
"Um, hey Percy," I muttered.
He smirked, I used to love that smirk, now it just seemed normal, average. Average, not a word I would have usually used for Percy Jackson.
"Percy!" Will's excited voice cheered behind me.
They hugged and stuff, I just stood there awkwardly. They seemed like pretty good friends.
"So you finally met Nico," Percy laughed.
Will's face flushed "Yeah," then he whispered something to Percy, which surprised him.
"Really?"
Will nodded.
"What are you guys even talking about?" I asked.
Percy laughed "Nothing, nothing. Anyways, I came here to cheer you guys on."
That wasn't going to help me, I was destined to lose.
"Thanks," I said.
The three of us split up and I went to my dad. He helped me warm up, then after two people had done their routines I got into my uniform. It was black pants and then a blouse like top, which started black and gradually had white and grey splotches as it got to my shoulders. My gloves were two different colors, well shades, black and white. I put mascara on and some soft pink lipstick, then started on my hair. There was a knock at the door, I opened it with my foot because my hands were busy.
Will. He smiled at me when he saw the bobby pins in my mouth "Need help?"
I shrugged but he started helping anyways, I handed him my hair and took the pins from my mouth "Thanks."
He sighed "No problem. You have the softest hair, what do you do to it?"
I shrugged "I wash it."
That made him laugh "Really? Nothing other than that?"
"I brush it too," I said, wanting to hear his angelic laugh once more.
I was rewarded with exactly what I wanted "You're a dork Nico."
Normally a comment like that would makes pissed, but Will said it lovingly.
"I can accept that," I sighed.
He finished my hair and slowly hugged me from behind "You're gonna do so well."
His whisper made my spine tingle, in a good way, at least I thought it was.
"You think so?"
"I know so."
If he thought I could do well, maybe I could. Will was so comforting. Usually as I got dressed I was nauseous, but I felt completely fine. It reminded me of when I was little, I never got nervous back then, I just enjoyed the sport.
I wanted to enjoy it again. I wanted to feel like Will. He looked so calm when we were skating together.
Will sighed and turned me around in the spinning chair, closing the door with his foot "You are amazing Nico."
He was inches away from my face, I felt like I was going to have a heart attack "Thank you. You're amazing too."
He closed his eyes and took another breath "You're cute, Neeks."
He kissed my forehead and left the room in a hurry. I was frozen. What had just happened? How? Why?
The only thing that snapped me out of my shock was my father from the other side of the door "Frank is skating, you're up next."
I got up and got out of the room. I had to focus. I could talk with Will later, I just had to skate.
I stretched in the hallway, then got out of the hall to watch the end of Frank's performance.
I saw Hazel waiting in he kiss and cry area, I was kind of jealous of my younger sister's relationship.
Frank finished off with a single spin and a bow. I waited anxiously for his final score, I wanted him to do well.
"99.76! A new personal best for Frank Zhang!"
Hazel and him squealed and hugged tightly, then posed for pictures.
"Next we have Nico di Angelo, in one minute."
"Nico!" Someone called from behind.
I turned, it was Percy, with Will and Leo.
I waved at them.
"Good luck!" Will cheered.
"Don't mess up!" Leo laughed.
Percy just gave me a thumbs up. I was ready, or as ready as I could be.
When I got onto the ice they announced some stuff, I didn't listen. I thought of the way Will and I had skated together and got into position. I wanted this performance to be different.
The music started and I fell into my own thoughts, I thought about my fight with Percy, how Bianca had died in that plane crash, then how I got over it. That was kind of my theme for my programs. My thoughts eventually drifted to Will, his hands on mine, on my back when he held me as we skated.
That felt like so long ago.
Then I thought about how he had kissed me on the forehead, and called me cute. I hadn't been called cute by someone like Will before, it was always old women, or family members. Will was special to me. Maybe that was part of my moving on from being angry. Maybe Will was part of my solution.
I accidentally added an extra jump, it just felt right, but the crowd cheered and cheered. I heard Will out of all of them, somehow.
I almost slipped, but corrected myself. Messing up wasn't an option anymore.
I continued, this time felt way different, I wasn't as nervous, I didn't feel like I didn't belong. That ice was mine for those short minutes, I wouldn't let anyone take it away. I had to make a mark.
I started the step sequence and the crowd got louder. I hadn't slipped, I hadn't done any over-rotations. It was perfect.
By the end I was crying, they were happy tears.
People were standing up in the crowds. I hadn't performed perfectly since I was eleven. It felt amazing.
I bowed and skated off, grabbing some of the flowers and heading to the kiss and cry.
My father and Hazel were there, my dad actually looked proud, he had tears in his eyes.
"With a score of 104.7 Nico di Angelo beat his personal best as well! He is now in first place!"
