Chapter 3
Will's POV
Nico. I was going to kill him. Most of the camp knew he was gay, but no one knew about me. Well, apparently they did after the night I told Nico that I liked guys. I guess I pissed him off, I don't know. But it was cruel of him to tell everyone. I mean, it had to be him. He had motive; he had a reason to tell all of Camp Half-Blood. And since the Romans decided on staying for awhile, both groups knew. Fantastic. On my way to breakfast, I tried to steer clear of anyone with bad intentions. A couple snide remarks of "gay!" were thrown around. For the second time in 24 hours, I felt like I was smaller than everyone around me. The first time was when I came out to Nico.
At breakfast, I grabbed my usual Sunny D with an egg sausage sandwich. I looked for Nico, but he wasn't anywhere to be seen. Typical. He probably just grabbed his food as fast as he could and ran to his cabin. Or he didn't get any food at all. Anyway, I headed to the fire first to pay respects to my father.
"Hey...Dad..." It was awkward talking to the flames, but I pressed on. "So, apparently half the camp hates me, and the other half pities me because I like guys or something..." After the battle of Gaea, I didn't even know if Apollo was okay. Still, I kept confessing. "Dad...I don't know what to do. I feel...broken, Dad. And I'm supposed to be a healer. But I can't fix this. And now I can't see the future. But it looks pretty shitty right now. Help me see what's going to happen. Or at least help me figure out who I am." I was about to throw a piece of bacon but decided that I had to give more to attract his attention. Feeling helpless, I threw in my precious Sunny D. I looked at the various picnic benches filled with the crowd. Inhaling deeply, I spotted Annabeth. Hopefully she supported me. As I took the plate over to her table, I felt various sets of eyes looking at me. Some taunting and sharp, the rest soft and kind.
"Annabeth?" She turned around as I called her name. I felt my cheeks flush red. "Can I...sit here?" Her piercing grey eyes suddenly became dull and full of sorrow.
"Of course, Will." Awkwardly, I hopped next to her. Nico's sister Hazel was across from Annabeth and Piper was to the left of her. Jason, Leo, Frank and Percy were probably training.
"So, Will! How's it...going?" Hazel's terrible attempt to lighten the mood almost made me burst into laughter.
"Not the best, as you can tell. But...yeah. I'm trying." Piper took a sip of her berry smoothie and looked me in the eye.
"Know we all support you. The guys do too. Nothing is wrong with who you are." Her radiant smile made me instantly calm. Or it could've been her charmspeak. Maybe it was a combination of both. A swift movement in the corner of my eye caught my attention. I looked to the right of me and saw the person that I wanted to knock the lights out of. Nico.
The past feeling of calm was instantly destroyed when I saw him. He ruined everything by telling everyone. He had to pay. The girls could sense the stress and realized that I spotted Nico. Annabeth grabbed my shoulder as I shot up and began to plan my method to confront him. However, Annabeth wanted me to do the exact opposite.
"Don't, Will. Don't. He's not worth it." I was practically shaking in anger. I looked down at Annabeth who was staring at me, concerned. Nico looked over at me and looked like a deer in front of headlights. Slowly, I sat down as Annabeth instructed. We all ate lunch, and for a minute, I forgot the travesty my life was in. That was, until, Drew Tanaka walked up to our table.
"Piper, what are you doing?" she snapped. It was true that the sisters did not get along. Piper looked up at her sibling, clearly annoyed by her presence.
"What do you mean?" Piper queried, wondering what was irking Drew this time. Drew's eyes narrowed and she stared me down, placing her hand on her hip and shifted her weight to one side.
"You're sitting with the gay boy." All talking stopped and literally everyone was looking to see what was happening. Piper stood up, gasping with anger and surprise; she seemed as though she wanted to kill Drew. Piper's rainbow eyes danced with uncertainty.
"I can't even believe you, Drew." She rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. Piper was absolutely fuming, ready to fight her sister and defend me. However, Drew directed her attention towards me. Of course.
"My mother created love between a man and a woman. Not man and man or woman and woman. It's just not right. It's forbidden." This time, both Hazel and Annabeth stood up. Even though back in Hazel's day it was forbidden, she adjusted quickly and accepted Nico as who he was. All of the seven accepted Nico as gay. Luckily, they did the same to me.
"She's my mother too. I'm sure Aphrodite is fine with being gay or bisexual. Drew, just leave." I stared at my table, outright embarrassed. The sudden thumping of hooves deepened these feelings even further. It was Chiron. The positive part of his arrival was that the attention was directed towards him.
"What's going on here?" His raspy, deep voice echoed throughout the breakfast campsite. If possible, it got even quieter than before. Piper and Drew were practically snarling at each other like dogs while Hazel and Annabeth observed Chiron warily. Chiron noticed me sitting down and his expression changed. Obviously, word of me coming out got to him as well. So I guess he pitied me as well.
"Drew. Piper. Follow me. You will tell me what is going on." The furious pair glanced at each other and went after him as instructed. I breathed a sigh of relief and the campers went back to discussing matters. They were probably talking about me. But it didn't matter. I didn't talk much to Annabeth and Hazel after Drew and Piper left. Carelessly, I threw the rest of my food in the fire for my father, but I had a feeling he would never come to my aid and answer.
I walked to my cabin glumly. Surprisingly, there was only one person there. And of course, it was the one person I was most pissed at.
Nico.
"Will, I-"
I charged up to him and slammed my arm in front of his neck. He was shocked as I smacked his body against the wall, pinning him up against it. My sad feeling was quickly replaced with aggravation.
"You little bitch," I whispered harshly. Nico squinted his eyes and he snapped his finger and I heard something rise out of the ground. A single skeleton popped out of the ground. I turned around, grabbing the dagger tucked in my belt. Just a single swipe ended it, which I was surprised about since daggers weren't my usual weapon. Unfortunately, my small triumph ended when I realized the skeleton caused a distraction and Nico was out of my grip. I whipped around, ready to face him and battle. I gripped the dagger, ready for the worst possible situation. I was prepared to fight.
"What is up with you, Will? What the hell do you think I did?" I charged up to h im, trying to look as frightful as possible. Nico stood his ground, and we came face to face. More like chest to face, as I was a foot taller than him.
"You! You...you..." I couldn't even finish my sentence I was so disgusted by him acting so innocent.
"WHAT?" Nico's eyes were almost the same color as his pupil was. Did that happen when he was angry? They seemed to be storming.
"You.. OUTED ME TO THE ENTIRE CAMP! I TRUSTED YOU NICO! AND YOU STOLE THAT ALL AWAY FROM ME!"
His eyes showed pain as he took a step forward. "Why would you think I had anything to do with this? I was forced by Cupid to come out. I wasn't ready. Why would I let my best friend suffer? Why would I force you to come out?" Nico had a point. He wouldn't do that to me. But it didn't make any sense.
"Well who else could've told?"
Then he and I both looked at each other and thought the same thing.
That bastard.
