Thunder & Bones

quattuor

After the incident with Jason in the empty classroom, Nico couldn't stay focused. 

In his third period drawing class, he continued to space out, and just be drawing random squiggles. "Oh, Mr. di Angelo!" Mrs. Maryam said questionably, "What is this?" Nico grimaced, and tried to empty his mind of the incident and focus on Mrs. Maryam.

In truth, she had to be the most beautiful woman in the school, passing both students and teachers. Her hair was short, and stuck out on both sides, her bangs ending in a curl. She was pale, and had dark jade eyes. She was the most fashionable teacher they had. She was from England, and there was also a rumor that she was married to Mrs. Lalonde.

Nico didn't reply, he just stared at his ruined drawing before he quickly erased.

A kid leaned over and examined his drawing from the desk beside him curiously, in which he recoiled from the stranger. 

Nico did a double take when he saw him. He was almost... elf-ish. He had wild curly hair that was about the length of Nico's hair, with slightly pointy ears, and wide brown eyes. 

His face was dirty with soot or whatever the hell was on it. His face was freckled, but he also had a slight case of acne. "Dude, that looks nothing like a vase of flowers." 

His voice had obviously not broken yet, and cracked slightly when he glanced down. Was this guy wearing... suspenders?

"Do I know you?" Nico said in a quiet, dangerous tone.

His brows furrowed. "Actually, no you don't."

He shifted and stuck out his right hand, which was covered in pencil marks. Nico didn't shake it.

"I'm Leo. Leo Valdez, the man who gets ALL the ladies." he stuck his thumb at himself and grinned. Nico remembered Hazel mentioning him, now that he thought about it. Nico turned to the side and continued erasing his page. 

In the corner of his eye Leo looked like a deflated balloon.

"And you're talking to me why...?" Nico uttered, loud enough for his pointy ears to hear. 

"Hey, who spat in your coffee?" Leo stuck out his lip. "From Jason and Hazel, duh! Don't be so mean!" Nico's heart skipped a little and his hand froze.

...What the hell?

"Jason's... really popular." Leo said. "In his own group, that is. He's not so stuck up as he looks."

Nico stopped erasing and looked at him. "And why should I know?" Leo frowned. In Nico's opinion, the guy looked totally different when not smiling. 

It looked... wrong even.

"You attracted Jason like a magnet, man. He's the kind of guy that inevitably discovers everything about you, strips you bare and discovers your nature. Sounds scary, but it isn't, really. Just, here's a piece of advice." He smirked. "Quit fighting it. Be nice, alright? I bet that bruise on your face is killing him, because he can't understand you. So don't be an ass to him, alright?" 

He turned back to his paper, as the bell rang.

"Seriously," Leo said as he began to grab his bag. "Just be nice to him today." Nico stared as Mrs. Maryam began to collect the papers. He took his bag and threw it over his shoulder, and left.

Jason was already sitting down when Nico entered the classroom, his expression faltered when his eyes fell on Nico.

Be nice to him today.

Sighing, he didn't do his usual glare as he headed to his seat, but he didn't smile or show any emotion. 

"So I heard you have Italian with Hazel. I took that course too, you should help me with the homework." He half-smiled.