Nico

You know that person you hate instantly? You can't stand looking at her face and the fact that you have to see that person every day is unbearable.

For me, that person is Will Solace.

He is, for a reason unknown to me, "popular", at my school, just because he is the Vice-Captain of the basketball team and by some miracle, his grades are good. Athlete privileges? Perhaps. And also, because, and I hate to admit this, but he, well, you can say that he has the potential to be a model if he wants to.

But the point is: he is nothing but an arrogant, ignorant and stupid player, but for some reason the boys want to be him and the girls and some boys want to be with him. Why? Obviously, for his huge amount of "popularity".

And I'm considered the "Nerd", the one with the perfect GPA, the one who follows the rules and wears glasses, as if having a bad vision was a requirement for being intelligent, which it's not.

Nevertheless, "Nerd" is the label given to me by my peers because I care more about my grades than they do.

Truth is, they know nothing about me.

They see what they want to see, and they choose to see me as a nerd. More specifically, the nerd that Will Solace hasn't left alone since elementary school. This "kid" has been pissing me off for years!

I sigh. Take my glasses off and rub my tired eyes.

Why am I even thinking about this jerk?

The door to my room opens suddenly, and my dear sister Hazel enters without asking permission, may I add, and throws herself on my bed.

"What's up, little brother?" She asks without looking at me as she flips the page of the comic book in her hand.

"Don't call me that." I complain, putting my glasses back so I can go back to focusing on my homework.

"But you're my little brother." She says in a childish voice, coming up behind me and ruffling my hair while hugging me.

"Hazel. Stop." I say, sulking.

She walks away, but not before giving me an unwanted kiss on my cheek.

"Ugh!" I say, wiping my face, making Hazel laugh.

She goes back to the bed, but this time she sits facing me.

"Are you okay? I mean, after what happened yesterday?" She asks.

Yesterday, as always, Will was being an idiot, but what else is new?

"Why wouldn't I be okay?" I ask.

Hazel sighs, her expression becomes serious.

"-Listen, I know that Will is an idiot. And I know his infatuation with you is annoying... scratch that, very annoying!-"

Infatuation?

"Hazel! Care to get to the point?"

"One more year and you'll be free of him. So, hold on tight."

"Very comforting." I say dryly. "Anyway, you don't need to worry. I know how to take care of myself."

"I know you do, but I still worry."

"Well, you don't have to. Will never did anything too extreme."

"I know, but still ... I want you to know that you can count on me. Always."

I turn to Hazel, facing her. She looks into my eyes; I take her hands.

"Lo so, Hazel. The same goes for you." I know.

She nods:

"Buono. I'll let you finish your homework. Ti amo." Good. Love you.

"Ti amo anch'io." I say. Love you too.

She stands up, kisses the top of my head, and walks out the door.

I like to study. I am naturally curious, and I love discovering new things and understand how they work.

Therefore, I like school, but having to put up with the ridiculous pranks of the arrogant prick drives me crazy.

I would really like to have peace at school. One solution would be to change schools, but I refuse to let him win by thinking I'm running away from him. I never run away.

"What's up, Nikito?" The jerk asks, provoking me, as he walks past me, heading for his own desk right behind me.

Stronzo. Idiot. I think.

Why do I have so many classes with him? That's a question I always wanted to ask the school board.

I cast a deadly look at him and go back to look at the front.

It's not like it's worth looking at him. I mean, I suppose his face is symmetrical and the size of his head is proportional to his body. He is tall and has these incredibly lean muscles. His skin it's a beautiful bronzed color, his hair is not bad either, is blond and slightly wavy and his eyes... God! His eyes! His smile too, his teeth are white and super straight... Enough, Nico! So, he's gorgeous. Big Deal!

I feel a crumpled paper ball reach the back of my head and immediately I know who threw it. I take a deep breath and choose to ignore the idiot and concentrate on the lesson.

"Don't be so cold, Little Ghost." He provokes throwing another paper ball on the back of my neck.

I hate him. Questo idiota! This idiot. Is it too much to ask for a person with that appearance to have a brain?! Or a good personality?! Is it?!

He keeps bugging me during the entire class, dividing himself between poking me, throwing paper balls at me and pulling my hair whenever the teacher isn't looking. Honestly, what's this guy's mental age?

He manages to hide it from the teacher. Since he is sitting behind me, the paper balls hit my neck and fall back into his desk.

Towards the end of the class, I lose my patience and turn when he is about to throw another paper ball at me again.I hold his hand to stop his movement.

"Can you give it a rest?!" I shout and then the entire class is watching. Damn it!

Will looks surprised for a moment, but soon a sarcastic smile opens on his face followed by an expression of feigned innocence:

"I'm not doing anything."

I pick up the paper ball from his hand.

"And what were you going to do with this?!" I ask in exasperation.

Will shrugs, still with a false expression of innocence on his face.

"Throw it in the trash, of course."

As we speak, everyone in class turns their heads from side to side, as if they were watching a game of ping-pong.

I take a deep breath and ask with a calm as false as the look of innocence on Will's face, as my anger is boiling.

"And since when did I turn into a garbage can?"

Will leans toward me, getting very close, looking at me intensely and I refuse to back down.

"Since always. Nerd." He says loudly enough for me to hear, but low enough that the other students didn't listen.

We continue to face each other with anger, the tension between us increasing as we continue to face each other.

"Will and Nico. To the principal's office. Now." The teacher says, her voice full of authority.

The sound of her voice makes me withdraw. Realizing now that I too had leaned toward Will, I turned to the teacher.

"But I..." I try to defend myself, but I'm interrupted.

"No 'but'. Principal's office. Now!" she orders, pointing to the door.

Will and I exchanged an angry look and stand up in silence, not wanting to make the situation any worse.

As soon as I leave the class, I don't wait for Will and make my way straight to the principal's office. I'm barely aware of the sound of the door of the classroom closing or the steps of Will behind me.

"I cannot believe this," I say to myself as I walk, not believing that we were actually going to the principal's office. Again!

I'm in my Junior year of high school and I'm being sent to the Principal's office for the... I don't even know how many times we've been there and all because of this idiot:

"You sent us to the Principal's office." Will says accusing me.

He sounds nervous and hits his feet hard on the ground as he walks behind me.

As soon as I hear it, I turn around facing him, causing him to stop walking abruptly. He takes a step back, surprised by my sudden movement. I put my index finger on his chest as I look up into his eyes, trying to convey all my irritation with the situation.

"This is your fault." I say, poking at the chest with my index finger to every phrase I speak. "Don't even think about turning this against me. This is all your fault. Entirely yours and of your ridiculous behavior." I say.

I go back to walk towards the board, this time faster since I'm even more angry.

"If you had not been so pissy..." Will starts to say, sounding annoyed.

Oh My God! He's still talking. Somebody shut the fucking five-year-old up, please!

"And if you were not the biggest idiot I've ever met." I interrupt him.

"I'm not an idiot."

"Yes, you are."

We continue to argue and exchange insults until we reach the principal's office where a very angry Principal Lisa receives us after being informed by her secretary of our arrival and letting us in.

The principal is sitting behind her big oak table and signals for us to sit down.

She takes a deep breath before leaning forward, resting her elbows on her table with the fingers of her hands entwined.

"Boys. It's been a while since I've seen you here. I thought both of you had learned your lesson after the last punishment, but apparently not." She says, clearly disappointed.

"It was a misunderstanding. A silly prank." Will was quick to explain himself.

"Idiot." I murmur just so Will can hear, but Principal Lisa looks at me with an arched eyebrow, which means she heard. "Prank ... Idiot prank. That's what I meant." I amend, trying to get around the situation.

Principal Lisa shakes her head in exasperation, then leans back in her chair again.

"I will not hand you the punishment now. I need time to think. I'll hand it after summer vacation. Now go back to class."