"Are you sure it's okay if I wear this?" I asked Nico through the phone, tugging at the end of my dress and looking in the mirror, "It might not be good enough…"
"Told you it's ok, " Nico assured me, "It's MY party after all, no one's gonna kick you out."
"That's not what I mean!" I protested, and blushed a little as the image of a boy with black hair and green eyes popped up in my brain – Percy. I shook my head and got the image away. Thank gods Nico wasn't here to see me like this.
"Then what DO you mean?"
"I mean.. um… forget it." I changed the topic, "So, when does it end? I need to tell my mom so she can pick me up."
"Oh for Zeus's sake, how old are you?"
"Um… sixteen?"
"Exactly. You don't NEED an adult to pick you up."
"But I don't know how to drive!"
"You don't, but I do. And since you're sixteen you are officially a grownup therefore you are not restricted to when you have to go home. And plus, you could always just stay at my place if it gets too late."
Stay at his place. I blushed at that thought. They were teenagers now! And plus… there's only one bed, if she remembered correctly.
"I'll sleep on the floor if you stay," he said, like he was sensing my thoughts.
"Oh… um… let's just see how this goes and decided later."
"Sure." Someone was yelling in the back ground, I heard Nico mumbled something like "damn it", "Sorry, I got to go. See you later?"
"Yeah, bye." I said, tried to sound as enthusiastic as I could, and hung up the phone.
Ok, before this gets all complicated, maybe I should just stop here for a moment and do some explanation. I'm Angeline Hunter, daughter of Nyx, the night goddess. So far, I'm the only demi god children of her, so Camp Half Blood didn't really bothered to build another Cabin – Nyx didn't really like going around having children with mortals – so I live with the Hades kids most of the time. Oops, I mean, kid. Nico was the only son of Hades around, his sister Bianca died, and his other half-sister went with Jason and a bunch of other campers to the Roman Camp, so we were normally the only ones in the Hades Cabin.
That was at Camp though. Right now, I'm living in the doors of my school – Goode High School. Percy used to go to this school too, until he got expelled by fighting blowing up stuff and battling evil cheer leaders… I sighed. And then I felt like slapping myself for sighing. Angeline Hunter, Percy Jackson already has Annabeth Chase and he saved you only because you we're going to die and he would have done that to anyone. Get him out of your head and – I stopped. And what? It's not like I can just forget my two year crush on him. I banged my head on the mirror and tried to focus back to the issue right now.
The midnight blue sleeveless strapless dress on me was a little big. Rachel and Annabeth (Which by the way are my roommates. Although Annabeth left to prepare for the party elsewhere and Rachel went out for some "secret activities" so I'm currently the only one left) had told me that I was just a "late developer" and I would soon be grownup like the two of them. But it didn't help. Whenever I see them – especially Annabeth – I envied their perfect body shape. And I hated it when people always mistake me for their little baby sister. Even though I really AM younger, two years shouldn't make that much difference, should it? I sighed, and looked in the mirror again. I looked like a little kid trying to be an adult, but was totally failing.
Just when I was about to give up and find another dress, the sound of keys came from the other side of the room and Rachel popped out from the door.
"Hey Angeline! I'm back and, whoa, what the hell are you wearing?"
"Hi Rachel," I sighed, "I know it looks ridiculous, but that stupid son of Hades insisted me to go to his party. I had to find something suitable to wear, which was extremely difficult because, well, you know how I hate parties."
"It doesn't suck… that bad." She said, trying to sound polite.
"It's okay Rachel, just say it. I look terrible."
"Actually… maybe I could do some fixing for you."
"You can?" my eyes widened – and I hate to admit – with excitement.
"Yeah of course, " she said, smiling, "I'm not an artist for nothing!"
Thirty minutes later I was gawking at myself in the mirror. The loose long dress had turned into a short, cute little dress, with a huge bow in the center covering my chest that actually made me look like I have some curves. A ribbon embodied with crystals was sewed on to the edge of the dress and made it look like real stars glittering. My dark black hair was tied on to an elegant loose bun with a few curls hanging on the sides.
"Sorry, I could have made it a lot better, but since there was a time limit-"
"Are you kidding me Rachel? This look… fabulous!" I almost wanted to hit myself for saying such a girly word, but when I saw the happy look on Rachel's face, I decided not to.
"Thanks for the compliment. By the way, you can borrow these, " she held up a pair of black high heels.
I looked at them in horror. It was like what, 12 centimeters? "Um… thanks but…"
"Try them on before you make your judgments!" Rachel shoved them closer to me.
I hesitantly took them from her and put them on. They did look pretty. And then I looked in the mirror again. I gasped. I looked like a real adult, not just some little kid playing dress up. They went perfectly with the dress, and somehow making me look a lot more confident. Who knew what magical powers does high heels have?
"Told ya." Rachel smirked.
"Fine… you win. But how do I walk with these-"
The ringing of my cell phone alarm interrupted my words. Damn it. It was 6:30. Party starts at 7:00. If I don't go now I'll most certainly be late.
"Sorry, Princess, but you'll have to figure that out on your own if you want to wear these." Rachel said playfully.
I glanced at the mirror again, was this worth a night full of painful walking? Certainly not. But… if Percy sees this… I blushed at that thought. He might actually think I'm pretty, and, and-
"I'll return them you do tomorrow?" I looked up at Rachel and asked.
"Sure thing, Princess. Now hurry up and go hit the party!"
"Thanks Rachel, you're the best." I smiled and hurried out the door.
I regretted as soon as I got off the taxi and started walking down the stairs of Nico's house. His house was huge, of course, being the son of the God of wealth. I nearly tripped three times from the first part, and I didn't want to face the next three waiting for me.
"Need help, Princess?" a dark, familiar voice appeared right next to me.
"Nico?" I was sure, but asked anyways.
He didn't reply as he swept me off my feet – literally – and started carrying me down the stairs.
"What are you doing?" I protested.
"I'm helping you down the stairs." He said calmly.
"That's not what I mean! I mean, someone might see us! He-" I shut my mouth as soon as that word escaped my lips.
"He?" He rose and eyebrow.
"Somebody!" I said in exasperation.
"So what? I don't care." But his tone has definitely changed. I could almost sense his mind lingering on the "he".
"I-"
"We're here anyways, " he said as he gently put me down on the floor. Oh shoot, did I just use the word gently? For the third time today, I felt like smacking myself in the face.
My thoughts immediately went blank as I saw the black haired guy with green eyes looked in my direction, "Hey Angeline! Didn't expect to see you here!"
I stuttered, "Hey-ey, Percy…"
The girl beside him turned and looked at me, "Angeline, your face is all red. Is everything alright?"
"Um…" my mind was still floating in the air, until I saw Percy has an arm around the girl's waist, which just yanked me right back to reality, "Yeah, I'm alright. Just drank too much."
Nico looked at me in disbelief, "But you just got-"
I elbowed him in the stomach to shut him up, and turned back to the girl, "Yeah, Annabeth, I'm alright."
"Ok," she replied slowly, "Just making sure." And she turned back to talk to Percy.
I grabbed Nico and pulled him to a dark corner. Then I stared at him.
"What was that for?" he asked, staring back.
"Do you really want Annabeth to know that I have a crush on her boyfriend?" I asked angrily.
Nico looked shocked. More than that. He looked… paralyzed. It took him a few seconds to regain consciousness. "Are...are you telling me that you have a crush on…P…Per-"
"Yes you fool! I thought you knew! I have a freaking crush on Percy Jackson!"
He stood shocked for another few seconds, then his expression turned dark. "What's so great about him?" His tone was flat, even a little scary.
I shivered, "Nico? Are you…?"
He stared at me and started pulling me down the hallway, his grip so tight on my arms that it almost hurts.
"Nico! What the hell?"
He didn't reply, and continued down the hall way until he reached the end of it with a black door – his room. Then he threw the door open (Literally – he dis-attached the door and threw it across the hallway.) and pulled me inside. He flung me heavily against the wall and pressed against me.
"What. Is. . About. Him." He said each word slowly, hard, into my ear.
"I-I-"
"Answer the question." He tighted his grip on my hands.
"I DON'T KNOW!" I yelled, a tear rolling down my face.
His black eyes widened, suddenly realized what he was doing, and slowly let go of my hands. "Sorry, I-I-" This time it was his turn to stutter.
"Do you think I want to be in love with a guy who has a girlfriend? Huh? I don't even know why I like him and it's so frustrating! Maybe it's cuz he saved my life but he does that to everybody anyways! And what I don't understand even more is that WHY THE HELL IS THIS YOUR BUSINESS?" I regretted as soon as the last sentence came out. Of course it was his business. He was my best friend after all. But after what he just did, I just couldn't control myself…
Nico didn't say anything for a short while. His eyes darkened. He opened his mouth a three or four times like he was trying to say something, but every time he did, he stopped himself and looked down at the ground again. At last he raised his head and looked me in my eyes. "You want to know why this is my business?" he said the words slowly, and so lightly that it almost felt like they were floating in air and can be so easily blown away
"I know… of course… You're my friend…I'm sorry… I didn't mean to-"
"No, you don't know," His dark eyes met the confusion in mine, and he slowly leaned closer to me.
I thought he was going to tell me something, but then he did the last thing I expected.
He kissed me.
The world seemed to stop, and the only thing left was me and him.
When he pulled away, I didn't know how to react.
"This, is why." He said.
I could feel myself blushing, and I had no idea what to do. I mean, gods, my best friend just kissed me. And oh damn, are my knees shaking? I thought that only happened in movies. I slumped down against the wall and stared at the floor.
"I'll give you some time to think, you could give me your answer later…" I heard Nico said, his tone was gentle – which was weird coming from the son of Hades—and then the last thing I heard was the sound of footsteps. No closing doors, thank gods, I was so afraid that I'd hear a great slam.
Oh gods, this is so messed up. I am in love with a guy who has a girlfriend with happens to be my good friend. And then my best friend just told me he loves me. What is so great about Percy? I thought about Nico's question. He's… loyal to friends, nice, funny, warm, and… That was when it hit me. These are traits of a good friend, not a lover. With a boyfriend… I'd like someone more… like me: romantic, dark. Someone like Nico di Angelo. Oh shoot.
I stood up so fast that I almost hit on of his shelves. And then I walked slowly out of the room, finding Nico standing right there.
"Nico…"
"Yeah?" He said, trying to sound casual, but even the son of Hades couldn't hide his emotions when he meets love.
"You wanted an answer from me?" I kept my tone neutral, just to keep him guessing.
"I…" he hesitated, "Maybe it's better if you just don't give it… We could stay friends…"
"But," I said, a smile crawling up the corner of my mouth, "I think you would rather like the answer."
"I would?" His nervous expression broke into a grin.
"I think so." And then I leaned over and did the very thing I have wanted to do since he kissed me.
I kissed him back.