SUNSHINE and DARKNESS

"are you stupid or stupid?"

Summary - Will and Nico get paired up for their history project.

word count - 6033 (not including my rambles just the chapter)

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Nico walked into the classroom just as the bell about to ring. It was his first class of the day, and it had to be history with Mr. Quintus. Truth to be told, Nico was not a morning person. And, he was certainly not looking forward to sitting through an hour of learning mildly incorrect facts and things that he already knew. Nico took his usual seat at the back of the class and placed his bag on the floor.

As the bell rang and the rest of the class started to take their seats, Nico contemplated covering his face with his AC/DC hoodie and just sleep. He was no delinquent or trouble maker per se, but he had a bad-boy reputation. He guesses it was because of the way he always dresses in all black and wears ripped jeans and band tees or hoodies. Or maybe it was because of his no-nonsense attitude and lack of trust. Either way, he thought that he might as well play into his reputation.

Mr. Quintus began class as always by quickly going over what they had covered in the previous lesson. Nico tuned him out and thought of ways he could get away with taking a nap in this class. He was sure that Mr. Quintus had an extra sense or an eye in the back of his head to know when people are not paying attention. But at the same time, he felt like Mr. Quintus had it for him ever since he corrected the teacher at the start of the year. Nico had given his all on class assignments back then, but whatever he did, he never got anything above a 92. And so, he stopped putting all of his effort.

History class was the same as always, only this time they were starting a new unit. Mr. Quintus rattled off some random facts about world war 2 before he went on to explain the upcoming assignment. "You will be paired up," he stated, "it will be worth 15% of your final grade."

There were some groans and some whopping around the class. Several students broke into chatter amongst themselves, trying to partner up with their friends. "Don't get ahead of yourselves," Mr. Quintus interrupted the class. "I have set up a randomizer app using your seat numbers to pair you up."

The students grumbled in annoyance, but one look from Mr. Quintus has shut them up. And so he began calling the students from their seat numbers. Nico tried to tune him out but kept an ear for his name. "Seat 26, Nico di Angelo with seat 38, Will Solace."

Nico froze in his seat as he looked at his partner. Up ahead in the front row, Will Solace had turned around to wave at Nico with a stupid smile on his face. Nico cursed his fate as he returned the gesture.

It wasn't that he hated Will; rather, he disliked him. A lot. Will Solace was a school favorite and a somewhat teacher's pet. He always sat in the front, greeted everyone with a warm smile, and had an overall cheery personality. To add to his likable personality, Solace was also aiming to be a doctor, making everyone swoon.

Nico shares 4 classes with Will: history, biology 2, calculus, and music. Will had excelled at the first three subjects, but when it came to music, he had a hard time carrying a tune. That was the one class that Nico felt superior to Will, and he was eternally smug about it.

As Mr. Quintus finished off the list of pairs, he asked the students to move next to their partners and discuss what topic they will choose for their projects. Nico saw Will grab his bag and make his way to the back of the class. Good, Nico wouldn't have to move.

As Will sat down next to Nico and placed his bag on the floor, Nico couldn't help but notice the pride pin on the bag. It was another thing that Nico had both had disliked and envied. Will was out and proud about being bisexual. While Nico knew he was gay since he was 8, but now four years later, he still hadn't told anyone. Well, the only person he told was his father, and it was by accident.