Hey guys!
So, only one person answered my questions, so I'm just going to use their answers. And I'd like to thank all of the people who reviewed my last chapter. It means so much to me, and I love you all :D
This chapter is kind of sad, and you'll get more clarification of what happened to Bianca in the next chapter, because it's going to start with a flashback. So whoo!
Please guys, listen to the song Nico sings at the end so you can hear the passion n the singer's voice as he sings it. The song is called Lullabies, and it's by the band All Time Low.
Disclaimer: I don't own PJO, HOO, Lullabies [the song I used], or anything else. I only own Ariella, Zach, and Cassia.
Enjoy!
Chapter Eight (Ariella):
"Am I not allowed to have an opinion or something?"
"You are!" I exclaim. "But you can't control me! I'm fifteen years old! I'm allowed to talk to whoever I want."
"He's a bad influence on you," my brother Zach scolds me. "You got a detention because of him!"
"Not technically," I reply.
"Yes technically," he nods.
"Well, I've got to go, or I'll be late." I say, picking up my backpack from my brother's room that he shares with his friend Luke.
"Don't talk to him and don't come back any later then detention runs. I'll be waiting." Zach orders.
"You're starting to act like an overprotective dad," I roll my eyes at him before exiting his room, and then the whole suite.
I can't believe he's trying to control me. He's usually bossy, but never this much. He can't tell me how to live my life. He doesn't own me.
Sometimes, I wonder how Zach and I are even related. We act completely different; he's always uptight and bossy and I'm laid back and happy. We don't even look similar. He's got straight, dark brown hair, with electric blue eyes and I've got wavy medium brown hair with sea green eyes. It's pretty crazy.
I arrive to detention five minutes early. I opted to leave early so I make a good impression on my teacher. Maybe she'll forgive me now and let me leave.
But, that didn't happen. As soon as I open the door, she glares at me. "Hi Mrs. Carson." I greet her with a wave.
"Don't act so happy," she growls. "You're in detention."
"Sorry," I say.
"So now you and Mr. di Angelo are to either work on some music for me to look at or do other work quietly, alright?" Mrs. Carson confirms.
"Yes," I nod. "But where will you be?"
"The headmaster is having a teacher's party," she replies. "And knowing how you usually act, Ariella, I figured I can trust you two enough to stay here for five hours alone."
"Good idea," I tell her. "I won't let you down."
"You better not," she grumbles before leaving the room.
"So…" I say as I walk over to Nico. "We've got five hours to kill. What should we do first?"
"I'm not in the mood to talk," he states, putting his head down on the desk.
"Why not?" I ask him. "Who's not in the mood to talk? Talking is an essential to life. I can't even go five minutes without talking. My head would explode. But for me, talking is also kind of a nervous habit. Like, right now, for example, I'm nervous because you're here. And you're famous, so it makes me feel all weird…"
"Shut up!" he exclaims. "I said I wasn't in the mood to talk, and I'm certainly not in the mood to hear you blabber on about stuff I don't care about! I don't like you and I don't want to be here right now, especially since I'm with you. I'd rather be locked in a closet with a hungry tiger than just being in the same room with you. That's how much you infuriate me!"
"Oh," I barely manage to get out. Tears swell in my eyes and I turn away just before they start to fall. My heart feels like it has deflated and it managed to sink so deep that it rests in the pit of my stomach. No one has ever been that mean to me. Not even Zach. And it's even worse with Nico because I thought I loved him.
I sit down on the steps on the mini stage that everyone preformed on before. I don't sing, though. I'm more of a dancer. But I have a weird feeling in my heart; a strange feeling that I've never felt before.
I dig for a piece of paper and a pen from my backpack and then begin to write. Maybe it'll become a song, maybe a poem. I don't really know. I don't sing much.
"I'm sorry," Nico says, finally looking up from the desk. His eyes are red and his cheeks are tear-stained.
"You should be."
"It's just… I'm under a lot a pressure right now. You know, with my dad, my uncles, my cousins, my sister…"
"You have a sister?" I cut him off completely. Now this is something gossip magazines don't have.
"Had," he corrects me. "Had a sister."
"What do you mean?" I ask him. "Did your dad disown her or something?"
"No, she's dead." He answers sullenly.
"Oh…" I say quietly. "I'm so sorry."
"My dad hates when I mention her. He wants her existence to be kept a secret, and that's why most of our songs have no true meaning of them. Just because all of my, Percy, and Thalia's deepest emotions come from Bianca, and my uncles don't want anyone to know about her. It will 'ruin our image'." He tells me.
"Just about everything will ruin your image," I remember. "Thalia's dad said that a lot."
"Yeah… He's the strictest one," Nico replies.
"So, what are you going to do?" I question him. "Start singing songs about your sister?"
"No," he shakes his head. "Well, yeah, maybe one or two, but my band needs actual emotion. You need to hear it in our voices when we sing. It needs to be recognizable."
"Then try it out," I inform him. "Sing something and I'll see if I can feel the emotion, the passion in it. And if it's good, I'll tell you. Maybe Mrs. Carson will like you better if you hand in the song you write now."
"The thing is," he answers. "I can't sing songs about Bianca. I can barely even talk about her. I'm on the verge of tears right now. Her whole death was my fault and I'm being forced to live with the weight of it, lying on my shoulders."
"Just sing something," I order. "Complaining about it won't make you feel any better. In the long run, it will only make things worse."
"Okay," he says before picking up his black IPhone from the desk. "I have the music prerecorded from before. I wrote this song when I got here, two hours early."
"Stop stalling and sing."
He frowns. "You're going to wish you hadn't said that."
"Why?" I question him.
"You'll see," he says before hitting the play button. "It's called Lullabies." A soothing music starts to play, and then he starts to sing. (A/N: Please listen to this song as you read this part. It'll make a lot of sense. And I changed the lyrics from 'he said' to 'she said' to fit better. )
"Make it a sweet, sweet goodbye -
it could be for the last time and it's not right.
"Don't let yourself get in over your head," she said.
Alone and far from home we'll find you...
Dead - Like a candle you burned out;
spill the wax over the spaces left in place of angry words.
Scream - To be heard, like you needed any more attention;
throw the bottle, break the door, and disappear.
Sing me to sleep, I'll see you in my dreams,
waiting to say, "I miss you. I'm so sorry."
Forever's never seemed so long as when you're not around
it's like a piece of me is missing.
I could have learned so much from you but what's left now?
Don't you realize you shot this family a world of pain?
Can't you see there should have been a happy ending we let go?
Sing me to sleep, I'll see you in my dreams,
waiting to say, "I miss you. I'm so sorry."
Sing me to sleep.
Sing me to sleep.
Sing me to sleep.
Sing me to s...
Sing me to sleep (You've taken so much with you...)
I'll see you in my dreams, (But left the worst with me...),
waiting to say, "I miss you. I'm so sorry."
I'm sorry, I'm sorry."
"Oh my god, Nico!" I gasp. "That was amazing!"
He doesn't respond, or move. He just stands there, a blank expression highlighted on his face.
"Nico?" I cock my head at him. Before I could go over and catch him, Nico di Angelo falls straight to the ground, frozen in sorrow.
So that's what he was talking about.
Remember to review! Tell me what you think. What was your favorite part? Least favorite part? Anything I can improve on?