Warning: s/xual themes mentioned casually
Part 1: Tiny Dancer

1.2: Dancing in the Sand

There's a quiet beauty, Nico thought, in dance. Some more quiet than others. Sometimes, you can just let the music lift you up off the floor and put you on a pedestal. And with tap dance, it's you that's making the music. If you were lucky, some days the music was inside you. You could feel it churning and all you want to do is jump and twirl or tap to the rhythm, the body's natural response. If you were especially lucky, that music inside of you cascaded out, and you could paint patterns of joy with the tip of your foot on the floor. That was when the magic truly started.

Sadly, today was not one of those days.

"Pick it up, di Angelo! You're falling behind. Watch Drew." Said Arianna, and she pointed to Drew Tanaka, a petite Japanese girl with a whole lot of talent, and even more attitude.

She smiled "sweetly" at him and executed a perfect ball change. She was born for this, and you could feel it, too. Nico wished for that kind of passion… some days less than others. "Thank you," Arianna said, exasperatedly. "I want everyone like that by the end of the month." She said, as if she was speaking to a lecture room. There were only five students, and all of them looked towards Nico. He stared angrily at them, and they looked away fearfully.

By the end of class, Arianna was becoming more and more frustrated with them, but this time it wasn't only Nico's fault. Lavinia Asimov, the assistant teacher, was close to tears by the end of it.

"That was terrible. We're trying again tomorrow, but before you leave, I have a few announcements. For starters, Mr. Cleve has pneumonia, so… we don't have someone to play the piano for the showcase. As of now. If anyone has any prodigious uncles, please refer them here. Also, class prices are going up, you can talk with Annabeth at the front desk. That's it, scram, kids."

- V –

[El – 6:23] Was I your gay awakening?

[El – 6:25] Was it Percy?

[El – 6:31] I bet it was. How long did it take you to realize that he wasn't gay?

- V -

Nico glared at his phone screen, then shoved it into his pocket. Truth be told, he had other things to worry about. Adrianna had mentioned prices changes, as if things weren't tight enough already. Bianca was going to college next year, and she was working her butt off teaching little kids' archery on the weekends and flipping burgers on school nights.

Dad wasn't helping either, he was squandering the di Angelo fortune on his liquor, and whenever he did come out, it was to gamble a bit.

In other words, it was an understatement to say that he had enough on his mind, and that was without even talking to Daniel. Nico just couldn't look into his eyes, not after Elgin Copperfield found them in the janitor's closet. It wasn't like he and Daniel were a couple, just casual fuckbuddies who met up sometimes. The janitor's closet had been one of their more… innocent meet-ups, and Nico couldn't even imagine what would've happened if Elgin saw them in a compromising position.

"Hey! Nico! Wait up."

Nico turned around suddenly, confused. He was intent on not missing the school bus home, he wanted to see if he could catch Bianca before she left for her shift. He wanted to apologize, but he couldn't really do that if Daniel pestered him. Nico spotted him running out of the high school, towards him, and he took in his "beauty." Daniel had nice enough eyes, and a fairly admirable jawline. Daniel stopped running, and started panting from exhaustion when he reached Nico.

"I… Have you been ignoring me?" He asked, looking into Nico's eyes for the first time in a week.

"So what if I have?"

"You're not answering the question."

"Aw shucks, we can't have that, now can we?"

"You can divert the subject all you want, but just tell me why," Daniel paused, "please."

Nico looked guiltily into his hazel eyes. "Go back to your girlfriend, Smith." Daniel paused. His hands removed themselves from a begging position and stuffed them into his pockets. "You knew about me and Char?"

"How big of an idiot do you think I am?" He said, brushing him off angrily. He started storming towards the bus that was now leaving school property. He indeed did not know about "Char," he had only pulled the girlfriend card as a last case resort. It was stupid of me to assume we were exclusive. He's not even gay. I'm such an idiot, he thought to himself bitterly.

"You still haven't answered my question!"

Nico tried not to cry as he stared at the bus that was driving away. He slumped on the bench on the other side of the school, near the soccer field. "Nico? You okay?"

Goddammit. "I really can't do this right now," he said, mumbling to himself. Of course, Percy had soccer practice after school. Just his luck, that the day he least needed drama, his ex-crush confronts him, as if he didn't know the amount of pain he caused Nico when he started dating Annabeth, discarding Nico like a used tissue. Nico jumped off the bench and started running to wherever the wind took him.

By some miracle of whatever God you believe in, he ended up at the studio. Nico glanced up at the faded neon sign. The Jump Click Dance Studio For the Talented Youth.

He waved at Annabeth, who was at her desk working on something at her computer.

"Hey Nico. Need anything? Your class starts at…" She checked her computer, "5, I believe."

"Yeah, I know. I just wanted to get an extra hour or two before class. My ball change is still crappy." She nodded at him, and handed him the spare key. "Just don't tell Ari I was the one who let you in." She winked at him, then turned back to her computer, clicking away at some emails.

Once in the empty room, he took his shoes out of his bag. He breathed in the scent of disinfectant, sandalwood, and a little bit of sweat. It was moments like this, that reminded him why he was a dancer. The window at the top of the wall filtered the afternoon sunlight. The light reflected on the smooth floor, illuminating the small ridges created by years of people dancing.

Nico stepped into the center of the room. He breathed in to get his bearings, then let himself be taken over.

He started with a simple step-heel and heel-step. He glided into a small shuffle and evolved into a single buffalo. The click of his shoes on the floor injected confidence into him, and he tried a basic ball change. It worked this time 'round, and he smiled to himself. Gaining speed, he slammed his feet passionately into the floor, feeling better than Fred Astaire himself (although, Lavinia would kill him for saying that. She idolized him).

By the time he finished, he was panting. Daniel, Percy, and El were erased from his mind. He gulped down his water, and smiled at Annabeth as he left.

All in all, today was saved by dance, he thought to himself.

Until he read his text messages.