Disclaimer: Not my characters
"This is a bad idea," Percy said. Everyone glanced sharply at him.
"Oh gods, if Percy thinks it's a bad idea, then maybe we should reconsider," Jason said.
Percy scowled, "What do you mean?"
His golden-haired girlfriend, Annabeth, rolled her eyes. "It means that you didn't think stealing dolphins from Seaworld was a bad idea…"
"They were being mistreated! I couldn't wait for some petition to take effect!" snapped Percy, green eyes blazing.
"Shut up!" Nico growled. "I'm doing this, okay!" Everyone turned back to the dark-haired Italian. Thalia sighed and pressed "Print".
"Then, let's begin," she said solemnly.
Flashback
Everyone stood around the school parking lot, clutching each other as they watched the firefighters hurriedly put out the blazing fire.
Annabeth shook her head in distress. "How are we going to go to school now?"
Thalia grinned, "I hope we don't have to go!" She and Percy high-fived each other, thinking of what they could do with the free time. Two days later, however, they had received an email that they would be attending the high school across town for the rest of the year as the school was repaired.
"Ugh! I can't believe they're doing this to us!" Thalia moaned. Annabeth fretted about the lack of studying time she would get, having to be shuttled nearly an hour each way. Most of the crew was apathetic about it, although Nico still felt a stab of uncertainty as he stood in front of the massive oak doors leading to Goode High.
Jason led the way, holding tightly onto Piper's hand, but walking in with all his friends made it more bearable as Nico glanced away from the inquisitive gazes of the other students.
At lunch time, Nico gathered with Annabeth, Percy, Jason, Piper, Hazel, Thalia and Leo. They sat in the corner of the cafeteria and chatted about their day.
"Everyone here is pretty nice," Hazel said, "I met a girl named Katie Gardner and a sweet boy named Frank Zhang in biology."
Leo nodded, "And there's a hottie in my class named Calypso, who I'm pretty sure is in love with me." Everyone groaned in amusement at this.
"I already have the inside scoop on all the gossip at Goode." Piper admitted, stealing fries from her boyfriend.
Thalia waggled her eyebrows, "Ohh from Drew and Silena?" But before Piper could reply, the doors of the cafeteria banged open. A group of teens walked in, and Nico swore everyone's eyes were drawn towards the leader of the pack, or maybe it was because his attention was immediately pulled to the blonde haired boy.
He wore a brown leather jacket, jeans and tight white T-shirt showing off the planes of his chest. His eyes were a sparking blue, and his teeth were a pearly white as he flashed a smile at the newcomers. The handsome boy's gaze lazily drifted towards Nico's table and his eyebrows pulled together for a moment before he turned to sit with his own friends.
"Oh dear, that must be Will," Piper whispered. Nico pulled his eyes reluctantly from Will's unnaturally broad back.
"What's up with him?" Jason asked, everyone leaned in closer.
"He's the number one player at the school," Thalia interjected, "Almost every girl who doesn't have a boyfriend has had her heart broken by him."
Nico could see why any girl would fall in love with Will if looks alone were anything to go by.
Suddenly there was a musical "Hey!" Nico jerked backwards and saw that Will had come over to their table, flanked by another girl and boy.
"I'm Will, and this is Cecil and Lou Ellen," Will said, his voice slightly higher and more lyrical than Nico had imagined. Piper glowered at him, but Jason cordially introduced everyone at the table to Will.
"Hazel, was it?" Will turned to address Nico's half sister, and Nico realized that she had been staring at Will. He told himself that the unease that rustled through him was only a result of the bad rep Will had, not because he was jealous.
Hazel nodded, blushing under Will's gaze. He smiled and took her hand, bringing it to his lips. "A pleasure to meet you," he whispered, blowing gently across her knuckles. Nico saw Piper gag at this, while everyone else was staring incredulously at Will, despite Cecil and Lou Ellen's attempt to engage them in conversation. Will straightened up and grinned that stupidly perfect smile at them. "Welcome to Goode," he announced, as if he hadn't just created a scene with his little display of affection.
When Will left, Piper pounced on Hazel. "He's bad news! Don't fall for him, Hazel."
Hazel nodded absently, "I won't," she promised. But Nico didn't like the way her gaze drifted towards Will as she clenched the hand he had taken.
Will, a player? Out of character...but you'll see why in the next chapter.