A/N: Gosh! It's been more than two weeks! I'm surprised I got such a good feedback! Anyways, thanks to all who have reviewed, favourited or followed. Thanks so much! Next chapter should be up soon. And for anyone who gets confused the following is a key for the different types of speech:
1) 'American Sign Language.'
2) Thoughts
3) "Normal speech."
4) 'Writing on paper'
Enjoy, okay? Okay.
QOTD- have you read TFIOS? I love it!
"So how did your assignment go, Nico? I was waiting to hear about this all day," said Hestia, Nico's guidance counsellor.
Ever since Bianca and the whole promise thing, his parents had made him go to see several psychiatrists. Each one of these had said that Nico suffered from PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) which caused depression and was the reason of his whole no-speaking act. But Nico knew, he knew he wasn't depressed per se, just angry. He was angry that he couldn't be there for Bianca. Angry that he didn't step up to save her. She'd sacrificed her life for him and he'd done nothing in return.
Well, as it turned out, his guidance counsellor was the only person he 'liked'. Ms. Hestia was a sweetheart and she really understood what Nico was going through even better than Hazel and his own father. She was the only person who he considered a 'friend' (if a friend is on your father's payroll) apart from Hazel, who was his sister, so that didn't really count.
Then, there was Percy... Percy.
"Nico?" Said , waving her hand in front of Nico's face. She wore a concerned expression.
'Oh it's nothing, I'd just spaced out. Sorry.'
"It's perfectly fine. Now, how was your assignment?"
'It sucked. I hate Omegle. It's the dumbest site ever.'
"Were you able to converse freely, though?"
'You could say so...'
"Better than in real life with the people you know?"
'I don't converse with people I know at all, so I guess... Yeah.'
"Okay, then. That's progress! Keep it up!"
'Thanks? I really am not good at this conversation thing.'
"Hm... so I've heard. Anyways,moving on! Did you make any new friends?"
'One.'
"Just one?"
'Yes. Just one.'
"Oh..."
'His names Jason and he can be a real weirdo,' he paused.
"Go on," encouraged Hestia.
'But I don't know if I can call him a friend,' he paused again, this time in order to phrase the following sentence.
' I like him way more than normal people though...'
"So are you both keeping in touch?"
'Yeah. He forced me to send him an email...'
"Good. So I want you to go on-"
'NO! I hate that site. Not even Satan himself can make me go back on there!'
"Nico, dear-"
'Don't "Nico dear" me... I thought you were better than that!'
"Sorry."
'You're the only person, not including Jason, that I've spoken to freely in a long time.'
"I know that..."
'Then please respect the bond, okay?'
"Fine. Gosh! You act like my teacher. I'm the doctor here, remember?"
'I prefer the term friend...'
"Really now? Anyways, 'friend', session's over. Tell me next time about any progress you make with this 'Jason'. Oh and don't give out any personal details to him, okay?"
'I'll make sure of it...'
"Bye."
'Bye Ms-'
Hestia shot a glare at Nico.
'Bye, Hestia.'
"Better. Your car is waiting outside..."
"Nico you really missed it! I wanted to formally introduce you to my friends! And then you disappeared..."
'I told you hazel, I had an appointment with Ms. Hestia.'
"You know I don't understand ASL... Write it down, would ya? Or speak... I'd prefer the latter but..."
Nico raised an eyebrow and smirked.
"What's so funny?"
'No... I was just thinking about my assignment-'
"For heavens' sake! Write it down!"
Nico grabbed a sheet of paper that was lying nearby and wrote- 'NOTHING!'
"I don't know what to do, Nico. You never open up. Not even to me..."
'Oh? Is that so?'
"And I'd wanted you to meet Frank. He's amazing you know..."
Hazel continued her rant, while Nico pretended to listen. The usual stuff.
His mind was actually playing over the incidents of the day... Jason. Should he mail him or not? He wondered whether there was actually a chance of meeting this guy in real life. He rather hoped not. People always drifted away from him. Especially people he cared about. His mum, his sister, even his father, for that matter! They all... Drifted away.
There was only Hazel now. Only hazel. She was bound to leave him behind soon too. He had to leave this place. This- this hellhole. This... World. There was no place for him here. He didn't belong. He never would. Not even percy- not even Percy- who knew what he'd been through, cared, so what hope was left for him? What hop
"Nico?" Said Hazel, a worried expression governing her face.
He turned his head to look right into her eyes.
They were really beautiful, he noted for what was like the millionth time. How could someone so nice, so good be related to him? If only his mother and his sister had lived, they would've loved Hazel. Everyone loved Hazel... How could they not? Nico loved Hazel very much himself. Those beautiful eyes of hers' often made him want to forget everything else. He cared for her and that's all that mattered. But... He would have to cause her pain. He had no other option. The pain would be caused only if Hazel really did love him...
Nico mentally smacked himself for even thinking of such a thing. He had no right, no right at all, to degrade his relationship with Hazel. No right to doubt her in this way. He had no right to-
"Nico, you're spacing out again..."
'Oh. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to. I just need some time. I should go back to my room or something...'
"You okay? You haven't got a fever or something? Have you?"
Said Hazel being the anxious person that she was.
'No no hazel, I'm fine, I'm just feeling a little sleepy... That's all.'
"Oh thank god. Well what are you waiting for then? Off to bed!" She tutted.
'Ha... Okay bye. Good night.'
"Yeah. Sleep tight, Nico." She said, giving him a tight hug and receiving the gentlest peck on the cheek in return.
As Nico paced around his room, he wondered whether or not he should mail Jason. He didn't like lying to Hestia, he most certainly did not like lying to Hestia. But he'd already told her that he'd mailed Jason. That was a lie, right?
Well, not if he actually did send him the mail. Then it wouldn't be a lie. Problem solved! But then came the next problem. What to send him?
Nico had never been good at socializing with people... Never. And even that was putting it mildly.
People seemed to steer away when they saw him. It was as though he wore a sign saying - CAUTION! DANGER AHEAD.
That was the plus when it came to talking with Jason. He wouldn't- or rather, couldn't judge him.
But what to send him... He finally decided on sending something that was neutral. He typed out a message and sent it to this 'Jason'.
Nico sat on his bed and impatiently tapped his his foot as he waited for a reply... He soon got one too...
[from here on the key works again]
[%- Jason.]
[# - Nico.]
#...
#Do you always end your conversations with emoticons?
%Um... I wouldn't really call that an end to our conversation... It was only just the beginning.
%Besides, some harmless flirting is good for health. ;)
Um... Now what? Wait? Did he just say flirting?
Nico checked the message a million times to make sure he'd read right. It could be just sarcasm, in fact it most certainly was, but he didn't really know how to respond.
What should I say?
What did Jason mean?
Flirting? With a guy?
Is he like- like me?
Am I over thinking this?
He could've meant it as a joke... But what if he didn't?
What if his ulterior motive of this chat was matchmaking?
What if-?
Questions flooded Nico's mind till he was tired of reasoning and thinking through each one of them. He finally decided to sleep on the matter and make a decision the next day...
Nico di Angelo was not a morning person. He was definitely NOT a morning person. So you can imagine what his reaction was when he was forced to wake up by the noise of a message being received quite early in the morning. Unfortunately for Nico, he was a light sleeper and even the slightest sound could wake him. This time, it was Jason's message. At what time? Around four in the morning.
What. The. Hell? Nico was pissed off. This wasn't done.
Okay, you were eager to get a reply but four in the morning was NO time to disturb someone.
I'm going to kill him! He thought.
%Good morning. :) I hope you weren't disturbed by my last email.
%it didn't mean anything, honest!
%I was just joking...
% I really like emoticons and that's the only reason why I used one.
%sorry if you were offended...
#Gods! Jason! It's four in the morning! If anything you disturbed me now!
(Around thirty seconds later)
%Oh. I'm sorry. I didn't think you'd wake up this early...
#I never do, that's the point!
#your mail woke me up...
#If there was an emoticon to express what I'm feeling it'd probably be:
# :-Z
#Or :-{{
#Feel free to choose.
#Ps) I googled "angry face emoticons" to make sure I had the right ones. And no. IT'S NOT FUNNY!
%Okay...
%lol. Im sorry?
#Gods! Which sane person wakes up at four in the morning?
%lol.
%To answer your question though... um. People who train for sports? My football/basketball coach trains me this early.
#...
%I saw you hadn't replied and wondered if my reply was too...
#Immature? Childish? Frightening? Traumatic? Breath-taking? Life threatening? What?
%Enough with the adjectives already... But lol traumatic?
#i just want to know what you were thinking when you sent that...
%Look, I get it, okay?
%Im sorry for that mail, I'm sorry I woke you up, I'm sorry I tried befriending you.
%No, I'm sorry I exist!
#Jason...?
#are you alright?
%Just had a fight with dad. Sorry. I'm kind of venting out right now.
%Misdirected anger. Sorry.
#Its okay...
%But now that I think of it, I could actually use those lines for my arguments later...
#Seriously? Dude, you're weird.
%So I've heard. All I need now is something to divert my attention completely...
#Try doing what you love most, it distracts you... Or do what you hate most...
%um...
#Or do something embarrassing. Or...
%I got it okay? Lol.
#:)
%You're not my Nico...
#'Nico', aka, me, was never yours to begin with...
%lol. You know what I mean...
#I really don't. It's funny how I'm racking my brains now at FOUR IN THE FREAKING MORNING!
%Lol. Sorry? Again.
#Hmmph.
%Look, there's nothing I can do about it now, okay?
%Except apologize.
%Repeatedly.
%Hello?
#Im just waiting for you to finish your rant.
%lol.
#thats it? Lol? And that's the freaking seventh time you've used 'lol' in the last hour...
%lol.
#STOP! Please?
%Okay. But only for you, "my sweet".
#"My sweet"? *eyes widen* *coughs*
%Damn! I was going to say something else...
#Do I wanna know?
%I don't think so but I'm saying it anyways...
#I thought as much. Now get it over with. I've braced myself...
%"Okay, but only for you..."
#Go on...
%"NICO, MY PRECIOUSSSSSSSSS!"
#You are NOT Gollum. No. Just no.
%Why not?
#Gollum is amazing! And he's cute!
%*wrinkles nose* Cute?
#Duh.
%Ugh, whatever.
#So you watch LOTR?
%LOTR?
#Lord of The Rings.
#To think someone who quotes a dialogue from it would not know what it is... How preposterous!
%I love LOTR okay? I just didn't know it was called LOTR!
#Yeah... Sure.
%Writing LOTR sure makes one's job easier though.
#Um. I'm still appalled that I'm not acting like the zombie I usually am at this time.
%Lol...
#Stahp!
%Lmao.
#Great, switch it over to lmao.
%Rofl.
#Or that.
%Roflmao.
#No, that's too long.
%Lol.
#NO! NOT THE EVIL WARLORD LOL!
%Lol. Whatever. I've got to go now though. Sad, I know.
#*sarcasm* The thought that you have to go is so depressing that it's like the end of the world.
%Yeah, I know. It's so obvious that it would have that effect on you...
%Anyways, practice in a minute. See you later? Bye.
#I can't understand how I will "see" you later.
%Nico!
#Jason!
%Bah! Humbug!
#Its not Christmas...
%Ugh! you know what i mean!
#No i don't.
%AAAAH!
#...
%Whatever. I've really got to go. Lol. Bye.
#Seriously though, stop with the lol.
%Lol bye.
#Gah!
After having his sleep completely disturbed and his sleep cycle RUINED for the day, Nico was in a bad mood, a mood where he was self-centred , grumpy and cranky version of himself. Which really wasn't much of an improvement over his normal "happy" self.
Oh! That's right! He was always sulking. He was never happy. Right... So his mood worsened the day terribly.
People looked at him with even more spiteful / fearful expressions. He couldn't quite place his finger of which of the two kinds it actually was... Meh. He didn't even want to know. Rather he didn't care enough to know.
After that came the matter of bullying. Nico was strong enough to fight off an army but... He didn't feel like he was worth it... When they hit him, he felt like he deserved it. He deserved it for not stepping up to save Bianca. He deserved it for all the people he'd let down. He deserved it for the way he'd treated the ones he loved.
Heck! He knew that even Percy hated him now! Just the thought of Percy set his heartbeat off the charts.
Of all the people he could've loved... Why did it have to be Percy?
He walked into his school about ten minutes before classes began.
The Olympus School for the Deaf and Dumb.
That was the school he went to.
No, Nico was not challenged in any way, he just... Chose to go there okay? It was time people learned to deal with that... He'd made his decision for reasons they didn't need to know and they should accept that!
Even his deaf and dumb classmates hated him for the fact that he had everything they could ever want.
Except the pain... That is something they wouldn't want. Those selfish brats... He thought.
They bullied him for being able to speak and hear. They bullied him and he hated them for it. But he also cared for them. They were the only others who knew what it felt like to not speak. Though that was also something he'd brought upon himself.
The Olympus School for the Deaf and Dumb
or as Nico and the other students called it:
The Olympus School for the Unheard and Unwanted;
Had a population of about 200 students in his grade and the grade above, fifty percent of whom hated him.
Well, what can be done about that? He thought, as he entered his first class of the day, Ancient Greek.
At the end of the day, the crowd of students pushed out of the school in a hurry to leave... Nico was amongst them, in fact, he was actually in a hurry this time, he had this 'thing' to attend with his family.
As he was running out, someone caught on to his backpack and pulled him behind.
What's going on? Was the only thought in his mind- You'd think so, right? But it wasn't. He'd faced this before. It had to be Clarisse and her on and off boyfriend Chris. They were the only ones who he had supposedly "pissed off" that day.
It had to be something to do with the incident at lunch. He signed to the lunch lady (who was neither deaf nor dumb but she knew how to speak in ASL) to speak faster as he could hear clearly and her speaking so slowly was just wasting his time. What he hasn't realised was that Clarisse was standing just behind him and was listening, more likely, lip-reading too. When she saw him sign that, a mad rage came over her but she knew how to contain it to not fall in trouble. She obviously must have seen it as Nico thinking of himself as a better person than them.
As he analysed the situation at hand, his head was slammed into a locker. He turned to look at the bullies. He was right. It was them.
'Hey Mr.I can hear so I'm better than you! Not so much better now, are you?' Signed Chris.
He really needed to leave... But the fates chose not to help him.
Then Clarisse struck him on the head with some sort of bat-like object she was holding.
Don't they realise that hitting me with that could kill... Oh my gods.
'Does it hurt wimp?'
It did.
Clarisse punched him a few times before Nico pushed her off. He didnt have time for this. He needed to leave now.
'What do you want?' He asked.
'Your misery,' she replied before kicking him where it hurts all men, that too with all her might.
He fell to the floor. It stung. It stung like a bitch.
'Get up and fight you little piece of shit!'
So Nico did get up, but not to fight, to leave.
Chris held his arms out to prevent him from leaving and pushed him into the lockers yet again. His back slammed into the cold metal, pain searing through his body.
Where are teachers on days you need them?
He got up and attempted to leave yet again. This time, Clarisse shoved him to the floor and kicked him in the ribs, hard. Then she repeated the action. Again and again and again.
Nico's vision had just begun to turn blurry when, someone- Chris? , yanked him up by his collar and boxed Nico in the nose with as much vigour he could muster up.
More pain. He crumpled to the floor.
Nico had heard a snap. He was sure that his nose was broken by now. No time for self-pity though.
Chris lifted his leg to kick him once more. Nico braced himself. But the kick never came. Surprisingly enough, Clarisse stopped him. His joy was short lived though.
Chris landed one final kick on Nico before walking off with Clarisse.
He hadn't seen what they were talking about but...
I... Can't... Move... Think...? Hazel...? Dad...? Someone... I need... Really need... Help...
From the corner of his eye he saw someone he didn't recognise enter the corridor.
This...
This person approached him, saying, "Holy shit! What happened to you? Hey! Hey! You! Kid! No! Shit shit shit you can't be-"
Nico squinted to see his face more clearly. The last thing he saw before blacking out was the blonde Adonis with electric blue eyes, gesturing wildly, wearing an expression so comically bewildered and confused that Nico wanted to laugh.
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A/N: The lol part of the chat was inspired from an actual chat I had. As was the question they meet on. Remember that I am in no way recommending the site to you, if you choose to visit it and face any sort of consequences don't say I didn't warn you. Repeat: Am notask ring you to check the site out. No.
A/N: And so they meet! Like it? Love it? Hate it? Absolutely abhor it? Review to let me know...