Hi! I'm back! So this is chapter 4, and hopefully it's long enough for you. I've been working on making my chapters longer, 'cause usually they're kinda short. So yeah.
On a different note, SUMMER BREAK IS ALMOST OVER! D: I have to go back to school in a week, and it sucks... But I really like my school so far so maybe it won't be too bad. I managed to make a friend in the eight and a half days I was actually enrolled, so I'll actually know someone! Yay for me!
Okay, no more of that. If you guys are on this site, you're trying to read fan-made stories, not listen to the fan-authors rambling on about stuff nobody really cares about. Here's the chapter; enjoy!
Nico POV
Paul pulled up to Goode High and said, "Here we are!" I groaned silently. We got out of the car and Paul led me to the front entrance. A few administrators saw us and waved, calling out greetings. One woman came over, smiling.
"Good morning, Paul," she said in a bright, cheery voice. I disliked her instantly. She just seemed so... so false.
Paul greeted her with a smile and a handshake. They started blathering on about first lesson plans and the like. Paul suddenly seemed to remember I was standing right next to him, and he exclaimed, "Oh! I'm being rude. Nico, this is your math teacher, Mrs. Donally. Jennifer, this is Nico di Angelo. He's living with Sally, Percy, and I. Mrs. Donally smiled at me.
"Hello, Nico!" she said brightly. "It's a pleasure to meet you!" I forced a small smile.
"Same," I muttered. She extended her hand, and I shook it briefly. Her hand was warm and powdery. She exchanged a few more words with Paul, waved at me, and walked away. As soon as she turned her back, I wiped my hands on my jeans, trying to dispel the powdery feeling.
"Okay, Nico," Paul said. "Let's continue the tour. Over on the left is the front office. That's where you'll pick up your schedule on the first day. Don't worry; I made sure most of your classes are with one of Percy's friends. Leo will be able to help you out if you get lost, and is pretty easy to get along with. Most of Percy's classes are in the same general are as yours." I nodded, but on the inside I was grimacing. Apparently Paul thought I needed a couple of babysitters to get me through the tenth grade. I had a pretty good memory. I most certainly did not need anyone to show me around the place after I'd already seen it.
Paul continued the tour, showing me around campus. I saw the maths building, the music and arts building, the science building, and the library. Finally, Paul stopped at one last building, saying, "This is the library. It has classrooms around it, which is where your English and foreign language classes are held." He pointed across the campus over at a large green area. "That's the gymnasium, football fields, and track. We're not going over there today, but you'll see it soon enough." We started walking back to the parking lot, and another group of teachers and administrators came over to talk to Paul. I shook hands with a few more people, faked a few more smiles, and finally escaped.
I sighed as I got back in the car. Paul got in and asked, "What do you think? Do you like Goode so far?" I nodded mutely. This school was definitely nicer than a few I'd been sent to.
We pulled out of Goode's parking lot, and I remembered that Percy had sad Paul teaches at Goode. I had a mini-battle with myself before finally deciding to phrase the question. "Paul," I said, keeping my voice low, "what subject do you teach?"
He looked surprised that I cared. I didn't really, but I felt that I owed him this much. I hadn't shown much interest during the tour. "English," he said, perking up a little. "And sometimes, I do a little bit of Greek mythology." I sat up a bit more at that. I loved Greek mythology. Mama used to tell Bianca and me stories of heroes and monsters and gods—I blinked hard. That made me remember my nightmare too.
Paul noticed my interest, and apparently decided it was a great conversation starter. "Do you know a bit about Greek mythology?" he asked. I nodded, not wanting to speak any more than I had to. "Who's your favorite god?" he persisted.
I answered reluctantly, "Hades." Paul looked so pleased at this one word, I had to bite my tongue to keep myself from snorting.
"Why?" he asked, clearly desperate to keep me talking, now that he'd gotten me started. It was rather pathetic.
I debated on answering this question too. "He's misunderstood," I said slowly. "It's not his fault that he got to represent the dead."
Paul agreed and said, "I like Athena. But that just might be my teacher side showing through." I snorted softly. Right then I decided living with the Jacksons might not be all that bad.
For the rest of the car ride, I stared out the window with a hand in my jacket pocket, rubbing my finger across the flat of my blade. I knew Percy had seen it yesterday. I made sure of that. I wasn't entirely sure why I had done it. Whatever the reason, it still had intimidated him. I was almost surprised Sally hadn't given me a run-over with a metal detector as soon as she saw me in the adoption home. I smiled as I remembered one family that had tried to take me in. The father had brought me home to the rest of his family. His wife had taken one look at me and said, "Check him over. I don't like the looks of him." Of course, the man had given me a pat-down, had found my blade, and taken me right back to Denise and the rest of the system.
The Jacksons weren't anything like that. They'd smiled at me and welcomed me into their home, like they didn't care that I was a difficult teen. They were just happy I was there.
I was still lost in thought when Paul pulled up to the apartment building, and when I came back to myself, I realized my finger was bleeding. I swore softly. I must've pressed on the edge of my blade accidentally. When Paul turned to look at me, I jammed my hand back into my pocket. He frowned slightly, but it disappeared as quickly as it came.
We walked into the apartment, and Mrs. O'Leary attacked us with sloppy dog kisses. Paul laughed a little and said, "Down, dog. Yes, we missed you to. Calm down." She woofed and trotted into the living room.
We followed her in. Percy looked up from a book with a picture of a horse on the cover and grinned. "How did you like Goode?" he asked. I shrugged. He looked back down at his book and wrinkled his nose. "I don't want to read," he grumbled. "It's too hard. The words are all messed up."
"Are you dyslexic?" I asked before I could stop myself. Percy looked up, startled.
"Yeah," he answered. "Mom says if I keep reading, it won't act up quite as much, but it's not really working." He looked over at me. "How about you?" I nodded slightly. I moved a little closer to where he was and tried to read the title on the cover of the book he was holding, but the words blurred and twisted. Percy noticed and said, "This one's King of the Wind by Marguerite Henry. My dad sent it for my last birthday. I think he meant it as a joke, but Mom still wants me to read it." I nodded. I vaguely remembered Hazel telling me a little bit about it. She loves horses, so, naturally, she ignored her dyslexia and struggled through it best she could. I didn't really pay too much attention when she was explaining it. Like I said before, I'm not really an animal person.
Sally looked up. "Percy, it's good for you to read. Besides, you haven't been reading most of the summer. I don't want to to be overwhelmed in the first week of school." Percy sighed and opened up his book again, muttering under his breath. Sally cut him a look and he quieted.
I sat down on the floor in front of the couch, tapped my fingers against my thigh, and hummed softly under my breath. I sat there for a few minutes until I got bored, then stood back up and walked back to the bedroom. I grabbed my iPod, flopped on my bed, and selected a random song. "Don't Stay" by Linkin Park started playing, and I turned up the volume to block out any other sounds. I sighed and let myself drift off into a light sleep.
Sally POV
About a half hour after Nico walked to his and Percy's bedroom, I let Percy put down the book. "We need to get your school supplies," I told him. "Go get your shoes on while I get Nico."
He sighed and said, "I hate shopping for school stuff." My son rubbed a hand across his eyes and corrected himself, "I just hate shopping, period." I laughed and walked down the hallway.
I walked to Nico and Percy's bedroom and knocked softly on the door. I didn't get a response, so I cracked the door open a little and peeked in. Nico was sprawled across his bed, sound asleep. His earbuds were in, and as I moved closer to wake him up, I heard his music blasting loudly. I winced a little. He was going to hurt his ears like that. I gently pulled the earbuds out and held them a little ways away from my head. The volume was enough to make my ears ring, and the tiny speakers were four inches away from my face. Some type of punk rock was playing, and I winced again. It was definitely not my favorite type of music.
I found Nico's iPod and stopped his music. I set it aside and started to wake him up, but his eyes were already open. I guess he woke up when I paused whatever song he had been listening to. He blinked up at me and sat up. "What?"
I responded, "I think it's time we do our school shopping. I want you to come along so we can also get you some more clothing." I looked at his current attire and added, "School-appropriate clothing." Nico lifted an eyebrow. I gestured to his black torn jeans and worn-out black T-shirt. "Those are in pretty rough shape, and I can't imagine that you want to wear the same thing the entire school year." I started to walk out of the room, then turned around and asked, "Well? Come on." Nico closed his eyes for a second, then pursed his lips and followed me out.
We walked to the front door, where Percy was waiting. He smiled at Nico. Nico set his jaw. I felt the same confusion I'd been feeling for a while now rise again. I couldn't understand why he pushed everyone away. Percy was making an effort to be his friend, but Nico just wouldn't lower his barriers at all.
We all got into the car. As we started driving, I turned on the radio. A news station came on, and the reporter was saying, "—so keep your eyes open for this notorious teenage criminal. Again, a description: roughly five feet, eight inches; shaggy black hair a little above the shoulders; black clothes including a leather jacket, black Converse high-tops, and a black leather belt; dark brown eyes; and a silvery scar along the left side of his neck. The name is—"
Nico suddenly lunged forward and turned the radio to a different station. I jumped a little, startled by his sudden movement. Percy was looking confused too. "What was that about?" he asked Nico.
Nico shrugged. He muttered, "The news in never anything interesting."
"You didn't have a problem with it until the dude on there was going to give a name," Percy countered.
"I didn't hear it was on until then. I decided that it wasn't interesting, so I changed the station. Do you have a problem with that?" Nico returned sharply.
Percy sighed and said, "No. Sorry." He glanced out the window, then heard was was playing on the radio. He frowned at Nico. "What the heck is on?" I cocked my head to the music. A male voice was singing:
Do you have the time
To listen to me whine
About nothing and everything
All at once?
I am one of those
Melodramatic fools
Neurotic to the bone
No doubt about it!
Nico stared over at Percy with a look of incredulity. "It's Green Day," he said slowly, like he was talking to a kindergartener.
Percy wrinkled his forehead. "What kind of name is that?"
Nico looked astounded that he had to explain this to my son. "It's just their band name," he said slowly. "They're one of the most popular punk bands ever. There's no way you've never heard of them."
Percy shook his head. "Uh, no. Name doesn't ring a bell. Neither does—what is this song called?"
"Basket Case."
"Right. That doesn't ring a bell either."
Nico was absolutely stunned. He looked over at me and demanded in an accusing tone, "Why have you never introduced him to Green Day?"
I answered, "I've never heard of them until now. When did they start playing?'
Nico shook his head slowly. "You've never...?" He blinked and sighed. "They became a band in 1988. Well, Billie Joe Armstrong and Michael Pritchard formed a band with John Kiffmeyer and called it Sweet Children, but then they changed the name to Green Day. Then Kiffmeyer quit and was replaced by Frank Edwin Wright III, more widely known by his stage name, Tre Cool, given to him Larry Livermore, the lead singer of his old band, The Lookouts. Michael Pritchard also adopted a stage name: Mike Dirnt, because of the sound he'd make when pretending to play his bass. By the time they released their second album, Kerplunk, they were already pretty popular." He shook his head again. "How have you not heard of them?"
Percy shrugged. "They sound interesting."* Nico stared at Percy open-mouthed for another few seconds, then shook his head slightly and turned to look out the window. By now, the song had played itself out, and another person was speaking. They were saying something about a tribute to "one of the greatest punk bands out there" so I guess Nico was right. Green Day was pretty popular. Another song started playing, and the same singer started on about something—I couldn't make out the lyrics. I sighed and concentrated on driving.
About halfway to the store, the Green Day tribute was over, and Nico reached forward and changed the station again. He kept flipping through channels until he found on that he obviously recognized. I glanced back and was shocked to see him smiling. Nico sat back and tapped his hand along to the rhythm of the song. I smiled a little. It was good to know that this kid had another expression besides a grumpy scowl.
The chorus to the song came up, and I heard humming. I glanced back yet again—if I kept this up, I was going to get us killed—and was greeted by the sight of Nico singing along under his breath. This time I grinned. Now I had something to reach out to him with—music.
We pulled into Walmart, and I parked the car. Percy unfolded his school supply list and wrinkled his nose. "They always make the list so long...We never use half the stuff anyways."
We got out of the car and walked into the store. I turned to the boys and said, "Alright, you guys. I need to pick up a few other things, so I'm going to let you do your school shopping by yourselves. Pick out the essential supplies, then you can pick out something to personalize your binders or folders a little bit. After I finish my shopping, I'll come find you guys and then we'll get you some school clothes. Can you guys handle that without"—I shot a look at Percy—"terrorizing half of the store, or setting the produce section on fire?" Percy squirmed a little uncomfortably but nodded. I pulled a piece of paper out of my purse, handed it to Nico, and said, "That's your supply list. It's pretty much the same as Percy's, so most of it will in the same spot. Okay?" Nico nodded, and I said, "All right then. See you guys in a little bit." I started walking towards the cleaning aisle.
*BESTIE! I QUOTED YOU! (inside joke)
That's chapter four! I'm not going to have as much time to write, 'cause school is going to take up a lot of time, and I have cross-country practice to work into my schedule now. That means that my updates might take even longer (hehe...sorry...) and I'll have other things at the front of my mind. Sorry! But rest assured, I intend to keep this story going and alive. It just might take longer.
Reviews please! No flames!