Author's note (AN): I'm not familiar with the American school system. I figure that people attend a college after primary- and high school.
I will continue to update Skeletal Butterflies, I did not quit Skeletal Butterflies in favour of It's never too late for an apology.
Enjoy reading, and of course review :)
Disclaimer: Percy Jackson, Heroes of Olympus, and all characters and quotes from it are the property of Rick Riordan, the Cliffhanger King.
Will
I lay on my bed and thought about Nico di Angelo. Again. A few weeks after the war we had become a couple. For one month, I had been the luckiest person on Earth, and so had Nico been. It didn't last long.
He wouldn't believe that he was accepted, that he had friends who cared about him. He had been stuck in his nobody-likes-me-son-of-Hades-thoughts. We had had a bad argument, and we had both said a lot of things we shouldn't have said. Eventually we had broken up.
That had been four years ago. Jason had beaten me up for hurting Nico before somebody could explain what had happened to him.
Nico had moved to Camp Jupiter for a few months, but Reyna and Hazel had convinced him to return to Camp Half-Blood. During the summer months we did our best to avoid each other, and during the winter none of us lived at the camp, but we both attended different schools.
I had had many boyfriends since that, but none of my relationships lasted longer than a few months. I could never forget what we had had together.
I tried to focus on something else. In a few weeks I would move to New Rome and visit the college, thousands of miles away from Nico. It was time to forget him.
Nico
I packed the last of my things into a moving carton. Today I would move to New Rome. I had successfully completed my senior year at high school, and from next week I would attend the college in New Rome.
Jason peeked into the room. He was my closest friend, or, as I sometimes thought, my only friend. I saw the rest of the Seven every now and then, when Jason dragged me to one of their monthly "Argo II reunion"-parties, but the friendship between me and the rest of them had cooled off. Or rather, I had pushed them away. As I did so many times. But Jason had been undeterred by me, and our friendship was as close as could be.
"How is it going, Neeks? We don't want to keep Jules-Albert waiting." I scowled at him. "Don't you have shrines to build, Grace? And you really need to shave, you resemble a yeti. I wonder why Piper doesn't refuse to kiss you." I could afford to tease him, he knew I wasn't serious. "Besides, Jules-Albert is a zombie. He's got all time in the underworld."
Jason shrugged. "Oh, before I forget it: There's been a change of plans. I'll accompany you to New Rome. Apparently, there's a problem with the Kymopoleia action figures." I knew that that was no problem he couldn't solve via Iris message, but he wanted to lift my spirits and I had learned to appreciate that.
I closed the cardboard box. "Alright then. Let's not keep Jules-Albert waiting."
Will
"Will, you must hurry! Argus has already asked what takes you so long!" Kayla's voice roused me from my thoughts. She poked her head into the room. "Have you said goodbye to Cecil and Lou Ellen? Have you had breakfast properly? Have you made sure that you forgot nothing?" I snorted. "Kayla, you'll be a wonderful head counsellor. You sound like you're my mother. The cabin will love that."
Argus would drive me and a dozen other campers to New Rome. I sighed and stood up. Kayla was right. Last year a fistful of campers had tried Argus' patience too much to find that he had no problem to leave them behind and drive on schedule. It would be very embarrassing to ask my dad for a ride, to confess that I had missed the bus because I had thought of a former love interest. Former? Strike that. Because I had thought of a missed chance.