Nico

After the bell rang to free us from our classes, I went to the gym with Thalia. Hanging out with Thalia was awesome! I'm usually pretty anti-social around most people, but with Thalia I was completely different. Thalia brought out another side of me. Usually it takes me months, even years, to open up to someone, but Thalia cracked my shell in the matter of a few days. The thing is, I didn't mind opening up to her; I was actually quite ecstatic about it. I just hope that we would be able to become closer and closer.

We spotted Luke and his friends as soon as we strode through the gym doors; I immediately knew that it was not going to end well. I noticed Thalia tense, so I held her by the arm and dragged her to the bleachers, but Luke had already noticed us. "Well, well, well. If it isn't the whore and the faggot," Luke said maliciously. His friends laughed, and students started to gather.

"Don't you ever talk about Thalia like that again or I will beat the shit out of you, just like I did yesterday," I growled.

"Oh please, we all know you aren't about that life. On the other hand, we do know that Thalia is about the slut life. If she wasn't I wouldn't have had to dump her!" Luke announced. The crowd looked at Thalia and she immediately began to cry. When I saw the tears streaming down her beautiful face, my blood began to boil.

"Come on, I dare you to stand up to me with all of your mighty strength," Luke mocked. I smiled and walked towards Luke, who was now shocked and lost for words.

"Well, what you going to do punk?" I asked. His friends began to cheer him on while the crowd watched closely. Luke seemed to be remembering yesterday's scene, because he hesitated with a slight shiver.

"You see, punk, you're all talk and no actions! The only person who you could hit was your ex-girlfriend. You're a stupid, arrogant ass nigga who didn't deserve such a beautiful and intelligent girl in the first place!" I shouted. When I was finished talking, I turned around and walked away. That was when Luke decided to attack, pushing me to the ground with clenched fists.

I caught both his hands and kicked his ankle, causing him to fall on the ground. I then got on top of him and start delivering some heavy flows with my fists. His friends took this as their invitation to the fight. Unfortunately, I was hopelessly outnumbered.

I tried to fight them off, but my attempts were fruitless. My fighting was powered by pure hate, so I wasn't as steady as I would usually be.

"Nico I'm coming!" I heard someone familiar yell. Before I knew it, Percy was knocking out some boys. Together we went Hades on Luke's gang.

When we knocked the rest of the gang out, Percy stopped, but I made my way back to Luke to finish him off.

"Mr. Di Angelo and Mr. Castellan, to the principal's office now!" Coach shouted as he pulled me off the worthless piece of shit. When I looked at Luke, I felt utterly pleased . He had a bleeding nose, two black eyes, and was choking up blood. I smiled and walked to the principal's office. A clearly disappointed principal waited for me at a mahogany desk.

"Nico Di Angelo, this is your third day at this school, and you are already fighting!" He stated sternly.

"With all due respect Sir, Luke started the fight. You could even watch the video from the school's camera and see that he attacked me when I was walking away," I said. He nodded and focused on his computer. This gave me enough time to look at his office. It was decorated with plenty of trophies from the 90's, but none of them dated to this century. I looked at his desk and read that his name was Mr. Roper.

"I see that you are indeed telling the truth, Mr. di Angelo, but I also saw that you fought back. Even though you did not start the fight, I am still required to suspend you for at least five days" Mr. Roper said.

"Very well, sir. I accept the fact that I must be suspended, but I was just thinking that we could, let's just say, make a deal so that this incident doesn't appear on my file?" I asked.

"Well, you aren't in any position to make deals, with the principal no less, but let's hear it," Mr. Roper said.

"Well, sir, I couldn't help but notice that your displayed trophies date back to no later than 1997," I stated. I saw his face slightly drop, so I knew I had this one in the bag.

"And how does that concern you?" He asked coldly.

"Well, if you didn't know already, I am the new captain of the soccer team, and I am very skilled. If you don't believe me, you ask the coach," I said calmly. His face was emotionless when he picked up the phone to call someone, who I assume must have been the coach.

He smiled when he ended the call. "Very well, it seems you are telling the truth. Please continue."

I grinned and said, "My pleasure, sir. I am asking you to remove the account of my suspension from the school records if I lead this year's soccer team to first place in every tournament we are enter."

Mr. Roper smiled and replied, "Excellent! Now, this will not be an easy task. I will be entering the team into every tournament it qualifies for, including the state championships. If you can deliver, you have gotten yourself a deal," Mr. Roper said as he held out his hand.

"I promise to deliver, sir!" I said as I shake his hand.

He smiled," Very well, but there is one more condition I have to lace before you leave: This must stay between us alone, Mr. Di Angelo."

I returned the smile and said, "Of course, sir".

I grabbed my suspension letter and left. When I walked out of the principal's office, I was greeted by a huge bear hug from Thalia. I returned the hug, but as soon as we broke apart, she started to fist me

"Are you crazy? You could have gotten seriously injured! Don't dare to ever do that again!" While she was scolding me she began to cry. I pulled her into my embrace.

"Thalia, you are worth much more than what I just went through, and I will gladly protect you, no matter what the cause." I wiped her eyes.

She lifted her head up and looked directly into my eyes; it was if she was reading me like I am a book. Slowly I felt her lean closer to me until something shocking happened,WE first I was taken back but I soon found back my courage and deepened the kiss. It felt as if my whole body was electrified as her soft, tender lips move against mine.

I wrapped my arms around her waist and pulled her closer to me. When we broke apart, I felt completely content, but she was glaring daggers at me. Then she and ran way. I stood confused in the abandoned hallway with a heart that was equally as empty.

Piper

When Jason and I arrived at the gym for his match, we were informed that there was a huge fight between two boys over a girl. It may just be because I am a child of Aphrodite, but I think that those kinds of fights were the best. We continued walking until we found Percy sitting down with an extremely worried expression on his face.

"What's wrong, Perce?" Jason asked.

"You heard about the fight, right?" Percy asked. We nodded and he continued, "Well, Nico was fighting with Luke over something that sleaze ball had said to Thalia."

"Where are they now?" I asked worriedly.

"Nico is at the principal's office, but I honestly don't have a clue of where Thalia is," Percy replied.

I turned to Jason and said, "I don't think I will be able to see your match, I have to find my Thals."

"Don't worry Pipes, I would do the same if it was Nico or Percy. Here take my keys just in case there is the need to go anywhere," Jason said as he threw me his car keys. I pecked his lips and began my search for Thalia.

I searched the whole school for about forty five minute until I found Thalia in the janitor's closet. She was a complete mess; she must have been crying a lot to make her makeup run like that.

I decided that it would be in her best interest to bring her home right away. "Come on, Thalia; let's get you home," I whispered. I quickly wiped her face off with a sheet of toilet paper I had pulled off of a roll that was sitting on one the shelves. I pulled her to Jason's car in silence. When I got inside, I asked her for details and she obliged.

"Me and Nico kind of, well, made out," she said calmly.

"So why were you hiding and crying? What did he say?" I asked slightly confused.

"He didn't do or say anything. After we kissed I just glared at him, and then I ran away," she replied unfazed.

"Why did you glare at him and run away though? I thought you liked him," I said.

"Well, I do but when I kissed him, it was the best kiss I have ever had, no doubt about that, but it also brought back memories of the person I had my first kiss with. I guess I just took out all my anger and pain on Nico," she replied. When she was finished talking, I felt bad for her, but the person I felt sorry for the most was Nico.

"Thalia I understand that Luke hurt you, but if you haven't noticed, Nico protected you and all you did was hurt him. Right now the poor boy must either be thinking you're playing with his emotions or that he took advantage of you," I said hotly.

Her face saddened even more. "I know, but I'm just not ready to move on yet. Luke and I just broke up yesterday and I made out with another boy today," she said.

"I get that, Thalia, but you need to understand that this is the second time you have hurt Nico," I said. I noticed that she tensed, but didn't even make an attempt to reply, so I just started the car and drove home in silence.

Nico

'Why do I always get played with?' I asked myself. Thalia really hurt me this time. I forgave her the first time, which is very hard for me since my fatal flaw was keeping grudges. This time I was on the verge of crying, something I haven't done since I was a child, but I hid my emotions and made my way to the gym to watch Jason become the captain of the basketball team.

They were in the middle of a basketball match when I entered the gym. "Nico, over here!" I heard a voice call. I walked over to Percy and sat into the empty seat beside him.

"Jason is winning, right?" I asked, changing the topic.

"Yeah, he has won two out of the three tasks," he said.

"Great! I am so ready to see another one of those jerks fume!" I wheezed.

"Yeah, me too," Percy laughed. "Anyway, what happened with you, dude?" He asked me, changing the subject.

"I'll talk about that when Jason's done."

Narrator

Percy and Nico focused on the match until Jason was declared the new basketball team captain. After, the three of them walked to the parking lot together.

"So, Nico, Jason is here now, are you ready to tell your story?" Percy nudged.

"Sure…um…well, we kind of made out and then she," Nico started, but was interrupted by Jason.

"And then she became your girlfriend! Congrats man!" Jason exclaimed jokingly. Unfortunately, both Jason and Percy caught Nico in tears.

"Actually, she just glared at me and ran away," Nico said sadly.

Jason and Percy stood speechless, so Nico took this as his chance to escape. He hopped into his Bugatti and sped home.

"Jason, I think it's time we had a talk with Miss Grace," Percy said angrily.

"I think so too Percy. Let's go," Jason replied.

At the girls' condo later that night

"Thalia, I think you should hide," Piper said urgently.

"Why?" Thalia asked.

"Nico may not have the heart to curse you out but his cousins do and they are on their way here," Piper said.

Before Thalia could reply the doorbell rang. Thalia got up and went to answer the door.

"Ahh just the girl we wanted to see," Percy falsely smiled. "May we come in?" He asked.

"Sure," Thalia replied nervously. The boys walked in, and Jason went to sit beside Piper.

"What in the Hades is your problem Thalia? First, Nico beats up the guy who slapped you, and how did you repay him? Oh yeah, you freaking yelled at him!" Percy shouted.

Jason stood up and said, "And then you made out with him, glared at him and ran away! What the heck is your problem?"

"Look, I'm sorry, okay? I'll make it up to him tomorrow when I ask him to pick me up," Thalia said nervously.

"So that's all he is to you? A ride when you need it huh? That's just fantastic!" Jason shouted.

"Jason, please calm down, I'm sure she didn't mean to hurt Nico," Piper said desperately.

"Piper, I know this is rude, but please just stop. I listened to you the first time, and it only hurt my bro in the end," Jason said calmly. Piper knew Jason cared deeply about Nico, so she didn't get upset with him, especially since she knew he was telling the truth. It was basically her fault.

"Thalia, we never want to see you near Nico again, or I promise you will live to regret it," Percy said dangerously.

"You have no right to tell me what I can or cannot do!" Thalia shouted as her pride began to take control of her mouth. "And you should get out of my house right now," She added.

"We will leave but don't let us see you near Nico again unless he wants you there. You don't deserve him anyway," Percy said.

"You know what Percy I think what Luke said was true, she really is a slut," Jason said as he and Percy walked out of the room.

Piper followed them to give Jason back his keys. "Jason, you know that last comment wasn't needed," Piper whispered as she gave him back his keys.

"Yes it was; Nico may not be willing to say anything because he likes her, but I on the other hand will not sit by and watch my best friend get hurt over and over again," Jason replied.

"Let's just drop it," Piper sighed, and Jason nodded. "Talk to you later?" Piper asked.

"Of course," Jason said before he pecked Piper's lips and got into his car.

Annabeth

After the match, I remembered Piper's warning, and I became a bit shaky.

"What's wrong, babe?" Mark asked.

"Well Luke hit Thalia after he lost, so I'm just scared," I whispered.

"Babe look at me," Mark said. He held my face in his hands and stared into my eyes. "Annabeth, I love you. I would never do that to you," He said seriously, then kissed me.

When we broke apart I whispered, "Thank you. I love you too."

Two hours later...

I got home and saw Piper comforting Thalia, who looked like a mess.

"What happened?" I asked.

Piper began to tell me about today's events, and to say that I was shocked would be a huge understatement. I mean, it didn't take a daughter of Aphrodite to see that they were perfect for eachother. I don't know why, but I became angry with Thalia. I mean, how could she hurt a boy who protected her, even though he hardly knew her. It's not even like he was ugly or anything; he and his friends just came to the school and they already had all the girls worshiping them.

"Thalia, you really messed up this time," I shook my head.