Author's note: (Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. Here lies a person who wasted their time reading the author's note) Hey hey hey, it's chapter five, whadaya know? Time flies when you're writing cruddy stories. Okay, time for some drama. This'll be good. Yeah right. I think we all know what's gonna happen here, so let' s just get this cliche over with. Oh, and before I forget, a reviewer asked me to make it Thalia x Nico instead of Rose x Nico. I have considered this, and after procrastinating, sitting on my butt, more procrastinating, and pretending to work hard (but really just procrastinating) I have decided. I'm sorry to anyone who likes that couple, but I want to continue with my original idea. Again, sorry.
"Oh Gods, that's disgusting!" Percy said grossed out by Thalia's open leg that the doctor as operating on. Percy, Annabeth, Rose, and Nico were in the gallery watching the surgery.
"Wimp." Nico criticized.
"Nico! Don't call him a wimp!" Rose scolded. Nico didn't necessarily want Rose to come along anyway, but she insisted on it. They even sat with Annabeth and Percy between them.
"Yeah... If you're gonna insult him, do it right. The term would be stupidly sissy squeamish wimp." Annabeth said simply
"Thanks, it's great to hear what you really think of me." Percy pouted, which only made them laugh more.
A week had passed since Thalia arrived. She had managed to avoid telling Annabeth how she really got kicked out of the hunt, but she knew she wouldn't be able to on much longer. Annabeth kept drilling her for information, in her clever daughter-of-Athena way. And frankly, she was tired of hiding her sobs at night. Her ankle was healing nicely, and would be back to normal in about three weeks. Her ribs on the other hand would take much longer. Nico got two more detentions for reasons 'No one could prove,' and had been avoiding Rose all he could. And Percy and Annabeth were graduating from Goode High today.
The Grad ceremony was held outside in the middle of the football feild. The school concil had set up a stage with a corny banner that read, 'Congradulations!' Thalia had come along for proof that Percy was actually graduating, and Nico was dragged there by an ecstatic Rose, and he kept fidgeting with the tie Rose made him wear. Paul and Percy's mom couldn't of looked prouder. Same with Fredrick and Annabeth's step-mom.
"Annabeth Chase," the Dean called. "Despite her disabilities she has went on to achieve a spot on the Honor roll, and this fall she is going to attend the University of Cambridge, where she will be majoring in architecture. Congratulations" The crowd cheered as Annabeth went up to receive her diploma. Percy was cheering louder than anyone.
When she sat down again, Percy kissed her and said, "Congrats, Wise girl."
After a long list of other graduates, two streakings, and a stage-dive, the Dean finally called, "Persues Jackson," Percy stood up, "*Cough* Good Ridance *Cough*, Oh dear me," The dean said patting his chest. "Terribly sorry. Percy has somehow managed to make it this far and will be attending *Cough*Poor Suckers *Cough* Cough* *Wheeze*, Oh bother, I should get that checked out. Er- Jackson will be attending the City College of New York." The Dean finished hastily. (I know almost nothing about these colleges. I just picked them because of their locations)
As Percy reluctantly walked up to the stage, all the teachers were whispering things like, Finally! I never thought we'd be rid a him. And, those City College guys don't know what they're in for. All except a certain English teacher who was positively beaming with pride.
Percy tried to take his diploma but the Dean didn't want to give it. Percy tugged twice then just snatched it from his hand. And when the Dean shook his hand, even from the back row, Annabeth could see the Dean's knuckles turning white.
Percy came back rubbing his hand. As he sat down Annabeth returned the favor from earlier, "So Seaweed Brain, was it worth it now to stay up all night before exams?" Annabeth reminded. Percy wouldn't stop griping about how late it was and how he wouldn't remember any of the stuff anyway.
Percy looked thoughtful. "Hmm. Well, maybe if I got my reward, I'd have an easier time deciding."
Annabeth rolled her eyes then kissed him passionately. "How about now?"
"Definitely." Percy replied happily.
Later, after numerous congratulations', Percy and Annabeth went out to celebrate. They had planned to go to Annabeth's favourite restaurant. Percy wore a black suit with a sea-green tie, to match his eyes. He even made an attempt at combing his unruly hair. And as Annabeth will tell you, he looked good. Annabeth wore a beautiful silver dress with her hair done up. She wore her sliver owl earrings, but refused to wear make up. Percy's hart nearly stopped when he saw her. So gorgeous, Percy thought.
Thalia and Nico sat on Percy's coach and watched Friday night- (Pick your favourite sport. They were watching that). "Pass the chips, and for Gods' sake stop double-dipping." Thalia scolded.
Nico shrugged. "Hey, it's a free country. Try and stop me." Nico said, but then he saw Thalia's famous death-glare. "Uh, never mind."
Thalia smirked contently. "That's what I thought."
He. Is. Dead. He is so dead. Rose thought. This was it. This was Nico's one chance to redeem himself and he doesn't show. She sat at their table at the Red Lobster eating bread until the candle on the table turned into a puddle. (I told you this was gonna be really cliche)
Rose went home, bitter tears slipping out. Her thoughts swirled in her mind in a deadly hurricane of pain. She burst through the front door to her townhouse and slamed it behind her. Mr. Charis looked up startled. "Rosey? Shoot Rosey, what's wrong?" He said in his heavy country accent.
Rose dashed up the stairs trying to hide her crying. He'd warned her. He'd predicted this feeling of desolation, now churning within her. She couldn't let him know he was right. That would just give him ammunition for later, like Hey Rosey, remember that time I was right? Well I'm right now. That was her dad's logic.
She bounded into her room- slamming the door behind her- and straight onto her bed. She burrowed her face in a pillow, tears spilling out like rush-hour. How could I let this happen? I saw the signs, and I did nothing. All the times he held my hand... All the times he stroked my face and said he'd always be there... How could he have let this happen? I know why. He doesn't love me. He never loved me. And I fell right into his trap. I was just Nico di Angelo's girl-of-the-month. Why did I let him do this? Rose thought hopelessly.
Mr. Charis was getting worried. Rose had run by without even the usual Hello Daddy! She ran up so fast he didn't even get to see her pretty face. He didn't take note of it at first, but twenty minutes later he heard the faint sound of... sobbing, wafting down from her room. His eyes widened and he called, "Rosey? Rosey what's wrong? Rosey!"
He barreled up the steps, shouting his daughter's name desperately. When he came to her door, he pounded on it hollering, "Rosey? What's wrong? If this is 'bout me not letin' ya go to dat grad-u-ation ceremeny, I'm a sorry. Dat delinquent di Angelo was gon' be dere, and I don't want your hart to be a hurtin'." (This sentence made spell check go in crazy)
A smile flickered across Rose's face. Her dad was so gullible sometimes. "I-i-it's not th-that, Daddy. I j-just had a little fight. With Nico." It wasn't true. They hadn't talked about it yet, but it would be true soon enough.
Mr. Charis's face went red. "DID DAT BOY TOUCH YOU? 'CAUSE IF HE DID-"
"No! Nothing like that."
"Then why are you crying Rosey?" Mr. Charis said exhausted.
"B... because... because I'm going to break up with Nico." Rose said not only trying to break it to her Dad, but to herself, too.
Mr. Charis was beaming. But he'd never tell Rose that. It's a good thing he was talking to her through the door. "Aw, it's okay Rosey. You're doing the right thing. An' seein' as you're not mad at me, could you come on out here for a hug?"
A minuete later, the door opened slowly. Mr. Charis embraced her, and whispered sweet nothings to calm her down.
Rose had calmed down enough that she could Iris Message Nico. Her eyes weren't as puffy, and her face wasn't as flushed. She wasn't so resentful at Nico, either. She went to her bathroom, and started the sink going. She had grabbed a golden drachma from her nightstand, and tossed it into the sink.
After a prayer to Iris and Nico's location, the mist showed an image of Nico and Thalia watching some sport. The place was a mess. Empty dip cases scattered on the floor, the coach cushions off the actual coach, and chips were everywhere. Nico was kneeling on the floor, his head in his hands muttering something like " Why? Why? Why? She'll never let this go..."
Thalia was thrashing her arms up and down in an attempt at a victory dance, "WOO! YEAH! IN YOUR FACE! I! TOLD! YOU! SO! DOUBLE OVERTIME! THEY CAN'T LOSE! HA HA HA!" Thalia howled in pure rapture.
"Uh, hello to you too, Thalia." Rose said meekly.
Thalia stopped and blushed furiously. "Heh heh, uh- my team won the... game."
Nico brought his head from his hands, "Rose? What's up?" He still doesn't remember! Rose thought bitterly.
"What's up, Nico? Oh, nothing much. No, nothing much at all. What is up with you, Nico? Doing anything interesting tonight?" Rose asked hastily.
"Uh, no. Just-"
"His team lost the game, and now he owes me twenty bucks. That's pretty interesting to me." Thalia smirked triumphantly.
"Ten. I owe you ten bucks." Nico reminded.
"Same thing. All I know is I won and you lost. Ha ha ha!" Thalia chuckled.
Rose sighed. "Listen, I need to tell you something, and I'd rather do it in person. Why don't you meet me tomorrow at that graveyard you like?"
"The Marble Cemetery?" Nico asked.
"Yeah. Be there at 9 A.M. And Nico, don't forget." Rose hinted.
But Nico just said, "Uh, okay." Unbelievable. He still can't remember. Rose thought.
"Goodbye, Nico." Rose said, running her hand through mist to disconnect.
"Um, yeah. Bye." Nico said lamely after she was already gone. He turned to Thalia, "What do you think that was about?"
The look Thalia gave him was a mix of disgust and pity. "You really don't know? You're really that hopeless?"
"What? What'd I do?"
"If can't figure it out for yourself, you don't deserve her. Besides it's not my problem anyway."
"Excuse me?"
"I said," Thalia retorted. "You don't deserve her. I mean, the whole time I've been here, you've been complaining on and on about how she's smothering you. But did you ever think she does that because she cares? So she goes a little overboard sometimes. Big deal. By the looks of things, you're just using her. I don't know what for, but it's obvious you don't love her."
Nico's face got red, "How do you know? H-how do you know how much I cherish her, or how much I appreciate her? She's so special, an-and you can't prove I think any different!"
Thalia's eyes softened. "Did you ever tell her any of that?"
But Nico was still defencive. "I told her plenty. Mind your own business, Thalia."
Thalia put hands up in surrender. "Don't shoot the messenger. I was just saying-"
"Too much." Nico finished.
"Look kid-"
"Don't call me kid, I'm almost as old as you are."
Thalia waved her had dismissively. "Whatever. Nico, you're right. It is none of my business. I just want to warn you to be careful. Don't take for granted what you have, trust me, it can get taken away way too quickly." Thalia said, her eyes hard yet sad. Nico knew she was referring to Luke.
Nico sighed. "Whatever. I'm going to bed. You should, too. We leave for camp after I talk to Rose tomorrow."
"Oh no you're not. Loser cleans the mess." Thalia said gesturing towards all the stuff on the floor.
"But-"
"But nothing. Now get your butt off the ground and start cleaning. Percy and Annabeth'll be home any minute and I don't want to get yelled at. See you in the morning." Thalia said, winching in horrible pain as she got up, and limping over to the guest room on her crutches.
Nico grunted then started cleaning. This was going to take a while...
The next morning, Nico had a lot on his mind. He picked at his syrup-drenched waffles with his fork dully. What did Rose need to say that she couldn't on the Iris message? What Thalia had said... it had really gotten to him. Besides the fact that he had to stay up to clean the mess Thalia had made, he had also had a fitful sleep. He tried not think of all the possibilities... but it was hard.
Thalia was the only one who got a good night's sleep and she was rubbing it in Nico's face. Percy and Annabeth got home really late, so they didn't get a good night's sleep either. But Annabeth, despite being so tired was bubbly and cheerful. Why shouldn't she be? She was going to her favourite place in the world, with her favourite person in the world. Percy... Where was Percy? "Hey, is Percy still asleep?" Annabeth asked.
"Guess so. But I don't need to sleep in. Had the best sleep of my life, how about you Nico?" Thalia asked smugly.
Nico glared at her, mumbled something inaudible, then went back to play with his waffle.
Annabeth wasn't gonna let Percy be lazy. She had an idea. "Hey, are going to finish that sausage Thalia?"
"Uh, no. I guess not. Why?"
"I'm gonna get Percy up. Could you cut the rest up into small chunks? I've got a plan."
Thalia smiled evilly. "What ever it is, I'm on board."
*A few minuets later*
Annabeth snuck into Percy's room with a bucket full of oatmeal and sausages. She poured the concoction onto Percy's head, while making gagging noises. Percy's eyes flung open. Luckily, Annabeth hid the bucket before he could see. Percy let out a disgusted yelp. "Oh, maybe I shouldn't have had that many sausages..." Annabeth lied. She was trying to keep from laughing, but the look on Percy's face was priceless. She joined Thalia and Nico, who were laughing hysterically in the next room.
Percy couldn't have looked more disgusted and confused. Again, priceless.
Once Annabeth had stopped laughing enough to explain to Percy it was just oatmeal, Percy's face went red, but he joined in on the laughter.
After that, Percy went to go take a shower and Nico went to go meet Rose at the Marble Cemetery. (I picked the Marble because when I searched New york cemetery on Google maps, that one came up first).
On the bus ride over there, Nico tried not to think about why he was going there. But then again, maybe she just wanted to hug him goodbye. Yeah. He would think positive. That would be better than worrying about the worst possible scenario.
He got off the bus, walked down to the cemetery, and saw Rose sitting on a park bench gazing out at the beautiful scenery surrounding her. Nico walked up and sat down next to her on the bench. The was a long awkward silence, mainly because Nico was studying her. He loved the way the early morning sun shone on her, lighting up her beautiful face, and making her smoldering brown eyes glow with vitality. All that was missing was her radiant smile. She was staring hard at the ground, frowning. "Hello Nico." Rose spoke in a soft voice.
"Hey." Nico said back.
Another long silence. Rose finally broke it minuets later. Looking up at him for the first time, she said, "I want to talk this out. Why weren't you there last night?" She said in calm yet louder voice.
"What do you mean?"
Rose studied his face. He really didn't remember. "Remember earlier this week when you got in trouble with the cherry bombs?"
"Yeah. Did I miss a detention or something?"
"No. Nico, come on, you honestly don't remember?"
Nico raised his voice in frustration. "No! Just tell me, Rose! What did I do that was so terrible?"
"Red lobster." Rose said simply, trying to trigger his memory.
Nico calmed down a little. "What?"
"The Red Lobster. You missed the apology dinner. You promised to take me out to dinner one last time before you went off to camp."
It all came back in a flood of guilt. "R-Rose, I...Wait, apology dinner? What do I have to apologize for?"
"Well," Rose said, trying to put it delicately. "Lately, I've been feeling...well, unappreciated. A-and it's not just because of the dinner. You haven't really been around lately. Maybe this is just me, but it feels like you've been avoiding me. And you've been acting like a jerk. Saying awful things sometimes. And... and I've heard things. Seen things, too."
"What did you see?"
"I saw you flirting with other girls."
"What? No, Rose, you don't understand!"
"And you've been lieing to me. About little things, I know, but...It's getting harder to trust you. And you're being selfish. You don't think about what I want, or what I need." Rose continued.
Nico was freaking out. "What? Why didn't you tell me you feel like this?"
"I did," Rose said. "That's another thing. Sometimes you don't listen or care what I have to say. But I know this is my fault, too."
"What's your fault, too? What's going on?"
Rose sighed, and took Nico's hands in hers. "Nico. The last year and a half has been the best in my life. No matter what my father says you're really special. You know I really care about you, a-and this is really hard, but-"
Nico was shaking his head. "You're b-breaking up with me?" His vocie was quivering.
"Not exactly. I want some space to figure this out. Please understand how hard this is for me. I don't wanna do this, but we can't keep doing what we're doing. I'm miserable half the time-"
"But the other half you're happy right? Come on, Rose, this isn't over! It can't be! Whatever problems we have, we can sort through them-"
"That's what I'm doing Nico. Please understand."
Nico was in hysterics. "No! You can't do this! Not right before I leave!"
Rose looked down. "I thought... well, I thought this way if we can't... well, you could be happy with someone else. You could meet someone at camp."
"B-But you said this was temporary!"
"It is, for now. You never know when you'll find love. You're a really spacial guy, and anyone would be lucky to have you."
"But you don't get it! I already did! With you!"
Rose was holding back tears. "Nico, please understand. You have to understand." Her voice was pleading. Up until then she had tried to be calm and understanding.
Nico locked eyes with Rose, "Just...tell me this is what you really want. Say it to my face, a-and I'll believe you."
"Gum Drop," Rose swallowed. "This is what I really want." Her voice was dry, but Nico could tell she really meant it.
Nico heaved a sigh and looked to the ground. "So, that's it. It's done."
"For now," Rose reminded, trying to lift his spirits. "When you get back from camp, we'll talk again. Maybe."
Rose kissed him, then said, "Bye, Nico."
Nico was still staring at the ground, his head down, and Rose couldn't see his face. But when she got up to leave, he grabbed her hand to stop her. She looked back to see him in tears. He stood up and hugged her tight. "Nico-"
"Please," He said, his voice wavering. "I need to memorize how this feels..."
So they stood there, holding each other, memorizing what their love feels like. Like how an animal before hibernation must first stalk up on food. Nico stalked up on her ecence, her very being, her... love.
What felt hours later, Rose slowly pushed away, her eyes still puffy from crying, "Y-you know, you'll always be my Gum Drop." She said, giving a weak smile.
Nico nodded.
"Good. Good bye, Nico."
"G-good bye."
And with that she walked out of his life. Maybe for good.
WOO! I'M FINALLY DONE THAT STINKING CHAPTER! Okay, I'm not just saying that because it's long, but I had to rewrite the middle part THREE TIMES! Okay, the first time, I tried to save it, and apparently it was past mid-night on the third day since I first signed in, and when I saved it it said I had to be logged in to save, so I lost all the things I wrote. I was really mad, but I forged on. So the second time I wrote the middle, I had written a lot, but then my arm must've hit the button that makes you go back to your last page, and, you guessed it, I lost all that I worked on. I was incredibly frustrated. It finally worked the third time, but jeez! That was horrific! Anyway, thanks for the reviews! They make me go into this sorta rapture.
P.S. I love the word rapture. It's so powerful and insane...rapture. :D