Chapter One - World Gone Mad
A pale young male, who seemed around sixteen, pressed himself close against the wall, avoiding the mass of students warily. They were in a disorganized horde, and the male wanted no part of it, choosing to stay separated with the rest of the students. His outfit, consisting of black, was being brandished almost like a warning sign, conveying that he didn't want to be talked to. He moved hesitantly toward the line of students waiting for their dorm keys, looking around like a frightened deer so he didn't get tackled by a student. His body was folded in on himself so that he was less likely to brush against someone.
Despite his precautions, the young male was almost knocked to the ground when another student, just a little older than him, ran into him head-on. The dark-haired male stumbled to catch himself, his thin build not able to absorb much force. "Watch where you're going," He hissed angrily, steadying himself and regaining his already lost dignity. He did everything he could to stand pridefully and hide the slight blush formed by abashment that tinted his cheeks.
The student that had run into him looked around seventeen. Skin tanned to the perfect color and blonde hair helped his brilliant blue eyes stand out. Had the paler male not have been upset, he may have considered the blonde hot, but right now, he only saw him as a jerk, nothing more. "S-Sorry," the blonde apologized, rubbing the back of his neck. He was clearly embarrassed as well, but the dark-haired male didn't feel any pity for him. Instead, the teen actually felt a twinge of satisfaction. Now the blonde knew how he had felt at least when he almost fell to the ground.
He ignored the apology and headed for the line without saying another word, getting there as quickly as possible to prevent running into anyone else. He waited anxiously, wanting to get out of the chaotic environment as soon as possible. He had never been one for crowds, especially crowds of people acting in the most immature ways. The dark-eyed boy did his best to stay away from anyone else in the line, but that didn't stop one of them from bumping into him occasionally. Why couldn't people calm themselves down and be mature for once? The male shook his head but did his best to tolerate the chaos.
When the line reached him, he eagerly went up to the desk, wanting to get the interaction over with as soon as possible. "Di Angelo, Nico." He stated his name how he had heard others done before him. Unlike many of the students before him though, he had walked up to the desk alone, not in a group of followers. Despite how revealing and bare being alone was, Nico didn't mind it. In fact, he rather enjoyed the feeling of weakness, as odd as it may sound.
The person on the other side of the desk repeated his name in a whisper to herself as she looked over a list on her computer. "Nico Di Angelo," She repeated, slightly louder. "You are located in dorm 089." Nico nodded as she kindly gave him a grin, though it was obvious she hated the noise and ruckus from the students as well and handed him his dorm key. "Keep this with you at all times. If you lose it, make sure to report it to the office, so we can get you another one."
"Thank you, ma'am. Have a nice day." Nico nodded again and left hastily, eager to get to his dorm and the calm solace it would provide to him. He inwardly prayed to an unknown god to put him with another person who was generally quiet. Nico couldn't stand loud noises. They interrupted his thoughts and invaded his normally calm mindset. He didn't think he would be able to get anything done if he was put with a loud roommate, and that concerned him immensely. He was someone who took his studies and schoolwork seriously. He hadn't come here to mess around.
Nico quickly found his dorm and unlocked the door. It opened easily and he entered, making sure to lock it behind him in case a student from a different dorm mistook dorm 089 for their own. It had happened many times before, and Nico wasn't really in the mood to explain to another student that they had opened the wrong door. Especially when most of the students tried defending themselves, claiming that they were the ones who were in the right dorm. Sometimes Nico wished people would just abandon their pride and listen for once. How hypocritical of him.
Nico picked a side randomly and sat down on the bed in the corner, opening his bag gently. All he wanted to do was read at the moment to lower his stress levels. The loud groups of students had done the pale teen no favors. He grabbed one of his books, eyes scanning over the cover. The book, like many of his others, was about necromancy. While Nico didn't believe in it, necromancy was an interesting topic to read about, and it was a bit more entertaining the regular books he often read about preserving bodies and different types of burial. He knew reading books centered around death was often considered weird, or eccentric, but he didn't care.
Nico began reading, already relaxing and becoming absorbed into the book. Just the presence of it had calmed him. To him, books were like lavender to an insomniac. He laid back, forgetting that another student could possibly be entering the room any moment. He forgot everything except the information presented to him, and for a while, found himself in a sense of peace.
The door opened and Nico looked up, turning his head slightly to glance at the intruder who had broken the placid, lovely silence. The teen's barrier of tranquility had crumbled to the ground the second the door had opened, and his soul sank in disappointment. Nico studied the student that he would be practically living with for most of the school year. As his eyes traversed the figure, the feeling of disappointment grew even more intense. Instantly he knew that this year would be one of the worst he'd have.
Standing in the doorway was the same kid that had run into him when Nico had first arrived. It was quite obvious to tell a few things from just looking at him. He was an optimist, that was absolutely certain, seeing as not an inch of him was covered with a dark color. He also had a wide grin that screamed optimistic and naive. The next thing that was pretty easy to tell was that he was a social person. Nico had heard him talking loudly to a group of guys outside the dorm door and had seen him in line chatting with people. Most of them had looked uncomfortable like they didn't really know the guy or why he was talking to them. Outgoing, optimistic, and naive were the words that came to mind when Nico set his eyes upon him.
The blonde closed the door behind him, not bothering at all to lock it. Nico felt the urge to stand up and do it himself, but he willed himself to stay put. Maybe if he stayed silent and kept reading, the blonde would ignore him and go about his day. "Hey," The blonde flashed his blinding smile at Nico. "You're the guy from earlier, right? Sorry about that. I was a little distracted by all the excitement."
Nico ignored the apology, not wanting to fully forgive the blonde yet. He didn't know why he felt this anger towards him, and he knew it wasn't right to hold a pointless grudge. Still, Nico felt this unadulterated loathing for the blonde. Maybe it was just because the blonde seemed like the complete opposite of him. That could've been it, but Nico had been told that opposites attract. Now, he wasn't so sure that was the case.
The blonde seemed to take Nico's silence as an apology, though it definitely was not, and sat down on the other bed. "My name is Will, what's yours?" The blonde interrupted the quiet again, shifting restlessly.
Nico looked up from his book again, unable to filter the expression of annoyance on his face. He sighed softly, though it was still able to be heard by Will. "Nico," He replied. "Nico di Angelo."
"Are you Bianca di Angelo's brother?" Will asked almost immediately after Nico's answer. Ignoring Nico's wince, the blonde continued with an excited tone to his voice. "What she did was really honorable. It was a shame that she had to sacrifice her life for it all, though."
Of course, he would mention Bianca first thing. Nico regretted revealing his last name immediately. After her death, he was never known as Nico di Angelo, he was known as Nico, the child prodigy that sacrificed her life's little brother. He wouldn't mind that if the pain of her death wasn't fresh. The pale teen was still grieving his sister's passing on, and it was hard to find closure when everyone would mention her the second they saw him or heard his last name.
Bianca was seen as an idol to the city, and all across the world for studying one of the terrible diseases that were taking so many lives throughout their state and country. She managed to discover the research that led to the vaccination for this disease but not before dying from it herself. Bianca had exposed herself so much to the disease whilst researching it, that it infected her not long after she had finished her research. Nico had remembered her telling him that the death was worth it and that she knew she was going to get the disease. It was inevitable, she had said, but at least I will be one of the last victims.
It was Bianca's passing on that led to Nico taking studies on death. Something about her leaving him had triggered his passion for studying to become a mortician. In a way, he was grateful that Bianca was able to give him such a strong passion as a parting gift, but at the same time, he wished that it wasn't as challenging as it was to find classes and books for it. Not to mention the degradation he received for choosing that path.
Bianca always took the challenging route, and now she had led Nico on one.
Nico suddenly became painfully aware that he had been asked a question as he was ripped from his thoughts. He looked back at Will. "Yeah, I am." He nodded, shifting on the bed awkwardly.
"That's cool," Will grinned and Nico was relieved that the topic wasn't pressed any further. He didn't think he could handle having a whole conversation on Bianca at the moment. Socializing was enough stress and emotions for now.
"I guess." Nico shrugged, setting his book down gently. "What are you studying?" Nico couldn't quite believe he was trying to keep a conversation alive, but somehow he seemed to be.
"I come from a line of doctors. I hope to keep the family tradition alive." Will replied, never once letting that blinding smile leave his face.
Doctor. How predictable. How normal. Such a common position. Nico didn't comment on his opinion. He just nodded.
"And you?" Will asked, sitting back against the bare wall.
"Mortician," Nico said, practically shuddering at the sound of it. He had gotten a few nicknames from revealing this information, and he had learned just to keep his mouth shut. People didn't want anything with you if you didn't give them any ammunition to fire at you. The teen noticed the confusion on Will's face and blushed slightly, rushing to explain. "Someone who studies corpses, often to find the cause of death."
"Oh, that means we'll have a lot of the same classes." Will seemed unfazed, though Nico noticed a slight blush of embarrassment on his face.
Nico nodded in agreement, leaning back against the wall. He wouldn't say it out loud, but he was exhausted. Will also looked tired, but he covered it up with his facial expression. Nico let out a stray yawn.
"Tired?" Will chuckled, and Nico nodded with a blush. "I am too. We should probably get as much rest as possible. The next days are going to be chaotic." He gave Nico a smile and fell back onto his bed.
Nico hesitantly laid down as well and pulled out his book while his roommate slept.