No Strings Attached

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

"Oh, my gods." I muttered. "Will, I'm so sorry but I promised Jason that I'd wingman him on one of his dates." I looked at Will and sucked my teeth. He put an arm on my shoulder.

"Don't worry about it." He said. I heard a ding from his phone. He looked at it and smiled. "My dad wants to pick me up. Perfect timing! Anyways, you're wingman-ing someone? Doesn't seem like you."

I rolled my eyes. "I know. But Jason has this girl he met on this app that supposed to guess your soulmate. He hasn't met her and just wants me in case something goes south."

He squealed. "That sounds so cute. I'm all for young love." He said this, staring at me such intensity I was half expecting him to perform telekinesis.

I broke eye contact to stare my shirt. "Are my clothes okay?"

Will squinted at me. "Nico di Angelo, you have the chance to wingman a date. That's straight out of a movie! You've gotta dress for the occasion. I'm thinking a trench coat, sunglasses, newspaper and if you wanna go the full length, a cigarette."

I snorted. "The trench coat and sunglasses I'll allow. But there's not way I'm finding a newspaper in today's world. And no way I'm going to smoke."

He gripped my shoulder with his hands and pushed me into my room. "Go pick some clothes. I'll be waiting here for you."

Rummaging through my closet and tossing clothes on my bed, I managed to find a beige trench coat, which I had, again, stolen from a school play. I paired this with a sun hat and some sunglasses. I walked out the room with jazz hands. Will squealed like a proud mother.

"Now this is art." He grinned. "And what are you waiting for? Get going!"

"I should at least say bye to you," I said, not budging. Will flashed my a cheesy smile.

"Aw, you loooove me."

"That would be something." I grinned.

We both ran downstairs, our footsteps thumping loudly. When we reached downstairs, a bell rung throughout the house. Will and I looked at each other. I grabbed the door handle and was met with a man.

The man, presumably Apollo, was five inches taller than my father and had a mop of curly blond hair that reached his eyebrows and his shoulders. Shades of platinum blond, dirty blond and even strands of brown were mixed in with the classic blond of his hair. He had Will's Ocean eyes, except his had flecks of white in them. He greeted me with a confused smile.

"Hello, you must be Will's friend." He said. "I like your outfit."

I blushed. I had forgotten the fashion insult that he had called my outfit. I cleared my throat. "I'm sorry. I'll be heading out about now."

"It's no problem." He smiled. "You'd better leave then. I wouldn't want you to be late."

I nodded and waved Will Solace and his father goodbye, before speeding down my street, missing all of Persephone's carefully cultivated garden and all the bees that called it their home, down to the café he texted me the address of.

It was a small café, hardly any people in it. Only a pigtailed college student wearing her bright red headphones and her lips in a thin line. The bright light from her laptop shone on her face, highlighting the dark bags under her eyes. Also, there was a mother and her two rambunctious songs each wearing a superhero themed shirt, one in blue and the other in red.

"Nico!" Jason put a hand behind my shoulder and laughed. "You look ridiculous. But thanks for coming."

I nodded. "She hasn't come yet." I inspected the area. An employee worked the coffee machine with no light in her eyes.

"I'm sure she will." Jason said, tapping his hands against the phone in his pocket. "Right?"

"Right." I assured him. "But let's get into places."

I sat at a table near the entrance, and Jason snagged a table for two by the window. The sunlight revealed the nerves that he displayed so proudly on his face. I began feeling hot in my layers, but as I began to take my coat off, Jason, pressed his lips in a thin line and shook his head. He stopped when a girl walked into the café.

The girl that walked in was heavily accessorised. Teal earrings, multiple bracelets and a feather hanging from her pendant, she looked like a fashion designed in training. She had brown skin and darker hair and wore a small smile on her face as she sat down opposite Jason.

I couldn't tell much of the conversation from where I was sitting, just bits and pieces. Jason was smiling a whole lot and Piper kept an even expression the whole time, occasionally laughing.

A man in a green apron and a forced smile came up to me. "Would you like to order?"

I fumbled with the menu before speaking. "Yeah. Could I have a Classic Burger please?"

The man nodded and shuffled to Jason and Piper. I couldn't hear what they said, but I could see that Jason had heart eyes and they were looking right at Piper. Suddenly, I heard a ding from my pocket. I pulled out my phone and saw Will's smiley profile texting me.

'How's it going??' He texted me. "Did Jason fumble yet haha"

'Not yet' My fingers tapped on the keyboard with speed. 'It's going well I think'.

The man from earlier set down my burger on the table, the plate clinking on the wood. He cast a shadow on my sunlit table. I thanked the man and went back to watching Jason and Piper.

I hadn't seen it, but in front of Piper and Jason were delicious burgers. Piper took a bite and said something to Jason, and I faintly heard 'Oakman High'. Probably where she went.

After a few minutes of them engaging in mild conversation, I turned my attention back to my phone, scrolling through YouTube shorts on low volume, through Twitter's controversial takes, and through pretty Instagram pictures.

A while later, from my peripheral vision, I saw Jason and Piper pay for their food and her grab his hand and walk out the door. I quickly paid for my food and walked out as well. I followed them, the scene changing from the crowded mall to a sketchy alley. Jason looked bewildered at every step he took. I felt my heart speed up in my chest. Why on Earth did Piper take Jason here?

I followed him, despite every bone in my body shaking, despite every one of my nerves telling me to run in the other direction, despite all the dangers that came with what I was doing. I followed him.

I saw Piper smile with her eyes, open her mouth and spit words like acid to Jason with her snake tongue. She pushed Jason up against a crumbling brick wall. He was no longer smiling. Beads of sweat dripping down into puddles on the cracking concrete.

I saw a ray of reflected sunlight shine into my eyes. I rubbed my eyes and peered at the two of them. The sound of screaming winds ceased as Jason screamed. He yelled out with such vigour I felt it in the ground. No one but me paid any mind.

Piper laughed, low and evil, before she pulled something else from her pocket, it was small, and hard to tell from the sunlight blocking me. But as I knelt downward, the object and the weight of the situation became clear.

Piper held the knife with an evil smirk and drew an 'X' on Jason's chest. He screamed so loudly the heavens shook. He cried so loudly; Hell grieved.

Piper stabbed Jason.