We have a new chapter! We have a new chapter! We have a new chapterOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

And you can start dancing now!

Hello my dear and beautiful readers! I don't know about you, but March took forever for me. But we're finally at the first of the month and that means being able to enjoy a new chapter of this beautiful story! (modesty sold separately)

Now I'll leave you in peace so you can read to your heart's content:

I'll see you in the endnotes!

Chapter 4:

"Piano"

Nico finished buttoning up his jacket while his partner was still putting on his shoes. Leo still felt a little strange about having a partner, especially one as quiet and serious as Di Angelo. But it felt good to have some company for a change. Now there was only one thing to do...

-Hey, it's lucky we have the same schedule- -And that was learning how to engage in conversation with your partner. Which seemed to be quite difficult since he only received one nod in response-I know, since you're new, I'll be your guide until you get to know the place.

Once again he received only a silent nod, although he was happy that I had not rejected his offer. Or so she thought, the mute responses were difficult to interpret. But at least Di Angelo said nothing against it when Leo started walking by his side. Most of the students were already out of their rooms on their way to their classrooms to start classes.

Along the way, the quiet Nico Di Angelo took the opportunity to observe the student population. The youngest students were few, most were between fifteen and seventeen years old, in essence it was like an ordinary high school; everyone was dressed to their taste and style, clearly following the rules that prohibited miniskirts, very low-cut blouses, and other undignified clothing. As they walked, Nico couldn't help but notice a couple of strange looks from the others. He had been aware that his arrival would draw a lot of attention, especially after the drama the director had made looking for him the day before.

But there was something strange, something more than pure curiosity. Of course, he was not at all affected by the hostility with which some older students looked at him and Valdez, which was his partner's last name if he was not mistaken, who also seemed oblivious. For a moment Di Angelo couldn't help but feel a little respect for the Moreno. So they made their way to the cafeteria, where the noise of the students eating and chatting, commenting on their schedules or complaining about them reigned. Leo doubted for a moment, he wasn't sure if Di Angelo would want to sit down to eat with him, only that when he turned to ask him the boy had disappeared

"-He said to himself, unable to avoid surprise. He was a little disappointed, but it was clear to him that he could not expect the new boy to want to be his friend.

He walked up to the line, grabbed a tray and picked up his food: a cheese sandwich, orange juice and an apple. As always, as he walked between the tables looking for a place, most of them pretended to put their things in the free seats, others just looked at him threateningly, to which he responded with a sly smile. Thus he always made his way to the empty tables at the back of the room. There at least everyone pretended he didn't exist and let him eat in peace. But this time his mind was busy with other things, like where had Nico Di Angelo gone?

Across the dining room, Jason was eating his apple while watching, amused, Annabeth rebuke a half-asleep Percy for staying up late. The wise blond man knew that the reason his best friend hadn't slept well went beyond just practicing with his guitar for hours. But Percy had already asked him not to say anything, that he didn't want to get in trouble with his girlfriend, so he just finished eating while chatting with Piper, another of his classmates, about the day's lessons.

-I already want to start classes with teacher Hestia-Comento Jason-I read a lot this summer so I think I'll do better this year.

-You say it as if Hestia was strict -I comment with humor on the girl.

-I know, I just want to improve my lyrics, okay? -Third Jason.

-It's good to see you so motivated, brother," said Percy, "a little more alert, because seriously, your lyrics are bad.

Says the boy who can't rhyme better than a five-year-old. He fought back immediately:

-It's not the same, poetry is not my thing-

-And to his horror, all his "friends" nodded in agreement, including his girlfriend.

-Changing the subject...-Agrego, trying to save some of his pride. Who would think of putting Aphrodite and Persephone in a row?

-Only to our director; I hope Will doesn't listen to me -I'm telling Piper fun -I guess this afternoon will be, interesting...

They continued chatting animatedly until the bell rang announcing the beginning of the first period. The corridors were filled with the din of students heading to their classrooms, some teachers were also on their way surrounded by some students with whom they had classes. Percy and Annabeth walked around holding hands, while Jason and Piper just chatted quietly about their first class. None of them noticed how they were overtaken by a quick blur of brown.

Five minutes later the whole group was gathered in the classroom; the tables were arranged in a semi-circle in front of a desk in front of the blackboard. Instead Nico directed his thoughts to his schedule: Tuesday, from 8:30 to 10:30 Eloquence and Improvisation class with Professor Caliope Valdai.

-He thought to himself: "Frequency and Improvisation". That didn't exactly sound like a serious subject, but he decided to trust the reputation of the conservatory's curriculum. So, while most were talking to each other and waiting for the teacher, he reached into his backpack and pulled out a book, which he immediately opened and began to read in silence, ignoring everything else around him.

Leo saw out of the corner of his eye how the boy began to read; so he took out his drumsticks, which he carried everywhere, and began to set a slow, smooth jazz style rhythm. It always helped to entertain him, although he couldn't help but be curious about which book he would be reading the new one. But from his place he couldn't make out the cover.

Then the door of the room opened, giving way to a young woman; with long legs, slightly brown complexion, long and shining dark hair and straight hair tied in a high ponytail that almost reached her waist. She wore not very high black heels that gave her a perfect pedicure, a tight cream-colored lack that reached just a little lower than her knees, a short-sleeved blue king blouse and a slight neckline, her clothes denoted a slim, slender figure that would bring out sighs at any party. Her wrists were adorned with several pairs of gold bracelets, as well as a necklace around her neck with a small blue stone.

-Good morning! Despite dressing so elegantly, even a little formally, his expression was completely cheerful. Welcome to his third course of Eloquence and Improvisation... Through his body language one could conclude that he was a very lively and expressive person, just like the subject he taught. Besides, listening to the murmurs between the tables it was obvious that she was one of the favorite teachers of all.

The woman looked at all the posts: Percy was lying with his arms crossed on his table, Annabeth was as straight as she could, Jason was holding his head in his hand resting his elbow on the table, Chris was looking bored in front, Leo was spinning one of his drumsticks between his fingers, Piper seemed happy with her half smile, Connor seemed annoyed not to have his brother around

-She said suddenly, stopping her gaze on a face she easily recognized. "Nico Di Angelo, I was anxious to have you in my class.

-Lucky if he can get him to say something profane - I'm just kidding one of the guys in the back, getting a laugh out of everyone. Even the teacher.

-Oh, I already know the young Nico-In two steps the teacher stood in front of him and put her hand on the table, giving him a very determined look.

-I wouldn't bet on it." His defiant response only accentuated the smile on that face, but it didn't surprise him. Nico remembered perfectly the teacher Caliope Valdai, who had been one of his jurors during his audition to enter the conservatory and his interviewer. He was only in her presence for the twenty minutes of the interview, but he could tell that she was a sagas person not to be taken lightly.

-After a pat on the back, he went back to his place in front of the class and looked at the whole group. Let's start, I want to see how awake everyone is... Even miles away you could see Percy's sarcastic smile.

-Bobby Day! -Someone immediately jumped in the background. A girl, small, with curly, light hair. She immediately started singing something that sounded like "biribiri" with rhythm. The teacher applauded happily as soon as she finished.

-Excellent, I must say that this song is one of my favorites-I say-What are the alterations in the D Major scale?

-F-

-A shortcut to see that another student, this time a boy, was going to respond. Connor was self-conscious, but not the girl on his right who intoned both notes.

The class itself was not one of Annabeth's favorites; so used to theories and organized practice, she found it difficult to be comfortable with rushed responses without raising her hand first or having the teacher be as noisy as everyone else. The opposite of her boyfriend who loved that class. Percy was usually the loudest of all along with Valdez and Stoll.

-There are only thirty minutes left in class," said Calliope looking at the clock on the wall. "How about a little debate before we go?The signaling group murmured with acceptance, so I took a seat behind the desk and adopted a businesslike posture that sent shivers down the spine of a certain electric-eyed blond. "As members of the artistic community, even though we are musicians, we cannot close ourselves off from the auditory realm; we must also learn to transmit the superficial beauty of our presentations with our appearance. As soon as she finished the last sentence, everyone heard Annabeth speak:

-We cannot let them think we are good just because of how we dress.

-But no one takes someone who looks like a tramp seriously.

-But the CDs don't show us, they just give the sound.

-Yes, but if you are going to release a CD to the public you must make a cover that will attract attention; you are practically an unknown, that's why the name of the songs is also important. In case you are a composer, of course.

-That's an excellent point-Caliope spoke again- How much can we be superficial without losing our essence as artists?

-A little silence spread throughout the group, some murmurs were heard as if they were arguing among themselves or with themselves.

-That's not our business-Percy was the first to look in awe at the one who had given the answer, followed by all the others.

-That's ridiculous," Chris argued.

-We compose, but it is the listener who can actually say whether we have essence or not... -I explain the Italian.

-You say that in music the opinion of the listener is more important than that of the musician," asked Annabeth. The green eye was able to capture perfectly the discomfort well hidden in the tone of his girlfriend, in fact more than one was upset by what Di Angelo's response implied.

-Yes, our opinion as musicians is the last one that could come to import. Jason could almost see more than one of them willing to jump on the new one; he looked for some support from his teacher but Calliope just looked at Di Angelo with her interlocking hands in fascination.

-How can you think that? -I ask Annabeth.

-How does everyone not think so?" answered Nico, answering a question with a question - everyone here has only argued for the commercial side of the music. And from that point we can only conclude that the important thing is how many people know a musician, how many buy him or go to his concerts. In itself, reasoning about an essence is ridiculous.

-What if we just played for fun? This time the question was harmless. Nico couldn't help but look at the questioner, a green-eyed boy with a curious look.

-In itself, it would be like color; it's something contradictory to echo-Was Nico's answer.

Calliope was expectant, as was everyone, waiting for an explanation but instead they only heard the bell announcing the end of the class. And more than one wanted to take the new one and wring his neck, Chris among them; but the point was that the boy disappeared so suddenly that even the teacher was surprised.

¸,ø¤º°°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°°º¤ø,¸°°ø¤º,º¤ø°°¸,ø¤º°°º¤ø,¸ ¸,ø¤º°°º¤ø,¸ ¸,ø¤º°°º¤¸,

During lunch, both Percy and his friends noticed a certain amount of anger in their blonde friend. Clarisse, a rude girl from another group, asked Jason with her eyes but he made a "Don't ask" gesture that was olympically ignored, only before the girl made any sarcastic comments just because she loved to make the blonde angry, Annabeth stepped forward with a:

-She's brilliant," she said, "leaving everyone very confused.

-Did we miss anything?" asked Percy.

-If it's like the color-Response.

-At the end of the class with Calliope..." Jason explained to those who hadn't been there. "The new guy made everyone angry that we only saw the music commercially, and at the end he said it was like color. Which, by the way, I don't understand-Agrego, looking at his blonde friend. It was obvious that he had reached a conclusion.

-Light is made up of seven colors; the reason we see a red apple is because its chemical composition absorbs colors and only reflects light that is red, so the apple is actually all colors except red...

-I still don't understand.

No; the point is this: colors are a way for the brain to interpret light, in reality colors are something that we only perceive in our mind, they do not really exist-I explain the blonde-and there are animals, like dogs, that only pick up four colors, and others that pick up up up up to twenty-four. That's why music, even without being commercial, is like color theory. Not everyone perceives it, those who do, do not perceive it in the same way, and with each form comes a different opinion.

-Translation...-Percy asked, making everyone's thoughts audible.

-Even if we maintain an essence as musicians, it will not reach everyone. It is something that is our responsibility and at the same time escapes our hands-I conclude Annabeth before saying again-it is brilliant! A perfect paradoxical analogy.

-I think that explains why Valdai was so motivated by the new guy.

-We could talk about something else before Annie' suffers an attack- -I'm kidding, Percy, gaining a stern look from his girlfriend. But none of them had a chance to joke about it, they heard how from inside the cafeteria a riot was beginning to form. Sure enough, someone had slipped and dropped his tray, so everyone was laughing.

Her first class after noon was with teacher Aphrodite Crocus, but she was too embarrassed to remember her. The only event worth mentioning was the teacher's pouting as she took roll call and saw the absence of that mysterious new boy. No one failed to mention this, at least until they got to their second class, which was gymnastics, and saw that he was already there.

-A loud whistle made them look in the direction of what appeared to be the teacher - a line at the edge of the court, now! -Persephone Hell was as tough and strict as she was attractive. With her dark skin and her well curved figure, she was a real beauty. Everyone rushed to form. The gymnastics uniform was a simple orange shirt, purple on the left side with a thin white stripe separating both colors and the school's shield at heart level; along with white shorts with two thin orange stripes on each side.

-At the end of the line was Leo, who kept hugging his side. Persephone didn't ignore that but didn't make any comment about it either. Instead she blew her whistle and started the fifty-lap trot.

Since everyone was going at their own pace, and most were not exactly the athletic type, the line became deformed with everyone jogging at their own pace; the tallest were in front, except for Jason, who preferred to slow down. Strangely enough, he was close to Di Angelo and could not resist looking at him out of the corner of his eye. Without that aviator's jacket, his thin complexion was more evident, as well as his very light skin. On the other hand, he did not seem very used to exercise, his hair was already sticking to his face because of the sweat and his face was a little red from the effort.

At the end of the fifty laps, despite being so exhausted, Nico remained standing with his back to the wall while he recovered his breath. Out of simple curiosity, he looked at the rest of the group, most of them sitting on the floor, but he particularly noticed a few who seemed barely tired. Among them was an older blond boy, who, if he noticed, he could better remember running near him before.

-Hey, how are you? -I salute you. Nico looked at him for a few seconds before responding with his usual nod.

-I'm still short of breath," he replied, unconsciously holding his hand to his abdomen.

-Like everyone else- -Jason jokes.

-Voiluce very quietly- -Short cut.

-I like the exercise," said the blond man after a few laughs. "I'm Jason, by the way, Jason Grace.

-Despite his formal greeting, he kept his arms folded. Blue Watch would have liked to chat a little more, but the coach's whistle announced that the class was going on. It was two hours of hard, strenuous exercise; it seems the instructor's last name Hell was the work of an ironic coincidence. By the end of the class, almost no one felt like talking.

Instead of going to the dining room for dinner like everyone else, Nico preferred to go up to his room first to take a bath. Only when he entered the supposedly empty room, he found his companion sitting on the edge of the bunk. What surprised him was not seeing Valdez without a shirt, but seeing him feel with his fingers an ugly mark on his side.

-Leo almost jumped in place, trying to cover the bruise with his hand.

-What happened? Looking directly at the bruise on the brown's skin.

-Ah, this...-Leo was trying to look funny, pretending that he had just noticed-It's nothing, just a little hit- Luckily his partner seemed indifferent, perfect, the last thing he wanted was to wake up to pity in-

-Maintain-

-What? -His line of thought was cut off, as soon as something appeared abruptly in his field of vision.

-Take it, it's a pain-relief spray," Nico said, leaving the plastic tube in Valdez's hands.

Instead, Leo was stunned by the sight of the jet taking a towel from his side of the closet and entering the bathroom without saying more. By the time he came out he had finished applying the medicine, it was cold and seemed to be effective. He put on a white sleeveless flannel again.

-Hey-

-Leave it on the desk-Short cut Di Angelo.

-Okay, thanks-I add a little self-conscious. I was afraid the Italian would start asking him how he got such a blow; but, to his relief, it never happened. The jet just put his shoes back on before he walked to the door and walked out saying:

-I'll go to dinner.

Instead, lying on his back, he could only try not to think about how hungry he was. Which his stomach, very kindly, reminded him of every minute. But he had to make do with an energy bar he had in his backpack before he went to sleep.

¸,ø¤º°°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°°º¤ø,¸°°ø¤º,º¤ø°°¸,ø¤º°°º¤ø,¸ ¸,ø¤º°°º¤ø,¸ ¸,ø¤º°°º¤¸,

Down in the dining room, amidst the noise of hundreds of conversations, Annabeth and Piper watched bored as their friends kept arguing about what was better: hamburgers or burritos.

-Hey...-You mentioned something about a bet yesterday.

-Ah yes-Annabeth was happy to have a more civilized chat-we still have no idea what instrument the new guy plays, so we bet on it. Percy bet on the guitar, Jason on the piano and me on the cello.

-The fee is ten dollars-Dijo Percy turning to the girls-You in, Pipes?

-Sounds like fun. The girl smiled.

Outside, sitting on one of the garden benches and dimly lit by the moon on a clear night, Nico was finishing his meal while his head was spinning on various issues. His teachers, his classes, his roommate... His-

-He didn't interrupt himself. That he had promised himself not to let it interfere with his life while he was at the conservatory.

To be continued...

Uhhh! With that ending, even I got anxious...

UHUHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Alright my loves, unfortunately that's all for today. I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter as much as I did writing it. Anyway you have no idea of everything that is coming our way in this story so I recommend you to get ready, maybe a seatbelt or a helmet. Ok ok, also an axe or a shotgun because, I'll be honest, you're going to hate me.

On the other hand, I can't wait to read what you thought of this chapter, don't forget that reviews are a vital part of a good feed.

See you in May with a new chapter!