Monday morning, Will nearly ran to Nico's locker. He was anxious to see him again. They had spent all day Saturday playing videogames. Which was great, up until Will had to leave. Then he spent all day Sunday replaying that last moment in his head, remembering the stunned look on Nico's face.
Will paced nervously. Nico wasn't there yet. In addition to freaking out about what had happened on Saturday, he couldn't stop thinking about what Lou had said last week. It was so simple. Just ask him to Homecoming. He should probably give it more time and Homecoming was still a couple of weeks away, but Will wanted to ask him before someone else did. Even though Nico had an uncanny ability to be a fly on the wall, he was also unbelievably gorgeous and Will was certain that sooner or later other guys would notice and be lined up around the block for the chance to take Nico out.
He glanced at the main entrance. Most of the students were closing up their lockers already. Where was Nico? He thought about shooting him a text, but then the bell rang, and for the first time in a week he walked to class alone.
Will tried looking for Nico again at lunch. He even walked by Jason's table to get a better look. His hopes plummeted when he saw that Nico wasn't there. Although why would he be if he wasn't in class this morning? Reluctantly, he walked back to his own table.
"Hey man. How was your date?" Cecil asked.
Will had forgotten. After his date with Nico on Saturday, Cecil and Lou Ellen had both texted him asking how it went. All he replied with was, It was great! I'll tell you all about it on Monday :D.
Now Will only sighed. He pulled out his phone and quickly texted Nico, Hey! Didn't see you in class today. Everything alright?
"Earth to Will." Lou waved her hand in front of his face.
"Oh, sorry guys." Will ran his hand through his hair, pushing his curls back. "It was really fun. We basically played videogames all day."
"Will, did something happen?" Normally when Lou said something like this, it would sound suggestive. But this time she only sounded worried.
"It's just—he's not here today. And I don't know why. Does he hate me now? Is he ditching school to avoid me?"
"Whoa, chill dude. So he's not in school one day. He could be sick or something," Cecil pointed out.
"And there's no way he would hate you Will." Lou added.
Now Will looked guilty. He rubbed the back of his neck and his face turned red.
"Um, I might've tried to kiss him."
"Oh, Will." Lou shook her head.
"What do you mean, tried?" Cecil questioned.
Will pulled nervously at the beads on his leather necklace while he spoke. "He was walking me out and I turned around to say bye and our faces were really close and without thinking I leaned in and our lips just barely brushed and he froze so I just said 'Um, bye,' and left."
"Oh, honey," Lou said sadly. "You really are hopeless, aren't you? I told you not to move to fast with him."
"Ugh I know. I just forget to think when I'm around him."
"That's called being in love, darling."
"Well it could be worse." Both Will and Lou raised their eyebrows. Cecil usually wasn't the optimistic one.
"C'mon, we all know he likes you back. He was probably just caught off guard. I bet you he'll be back in school tomorrow and you can ask him yourself."
Will looked unconvinced, but felt a glimmer of hope.
Two days passed, and all Will felt was dread that kept growing whenever he looked for Nico and he wasn't there. There was still no response from the text he sent Nico on Monday. He was so angry at himself for screwing this up that he wanted to cry.
"Hey Will."
He glanced up from the blank notebook he'd been staring at to find that the last bell of the day had already rung. Class was over.
Annabeth stood in front of his desk with a concerned look on her face.
"Hi Annabeth."
"Are you okay?" She slid into the empty desk in front of his.
"I'm trying to be." He answered truthfully.
She frowned at that. "What's wrong then?"
"There's this guy I like, but I think I messed it up. I haven't seen or heard from him in a few days and I'm worried that he might be avoiding me."
"I'm sorry. Why don't you tell me about him?"
He took her up on the offer. He talked about how wonderful he thought Nico was. How adorable and funny and sarcastic and sweet he was. And afterwards, strangely enough, he felt a little better.
A/N: So, this wasn't really any faster than last time. Sorry about that. It's been an unexpectedly busy week. Anyway, I hope you all are still enjoying this, cause I'm having fun writing it.