just another solangelo high school au :)

Nico

Nico groaned in agony.

His alarm clock was ringing, and he really didn't want to get up.

He also didn't want to go silence it, because his phone was on the other side of the room, and he would have to get up to do so.

He just sat there with it ringing for a good five minutes before crawling- yes, literally- out of bed and across the room.

Nico turned the alarm off in triumph.

But now he was already up, and was going to be late for school if he didn't get on with it.

He threw on a grey shirt and black ripped jeans. He styled his ebony hair to perfection, and came out.

Well, out of his room. His family already knew he was gay.

He went down for breakfast.

"Breaking out the summer colors, I see," Hazel, his sister, noted.

"I almost wore a white shirt," he told her, and she gasped in disbelief.

Their stepmother, Seph, snorted as she dished out breakfast on their plates.

Nico took a bite of his eggs- sunny side up, just the way he liked it- and grinned. His dad might absolutely suck at cooking, but his stepmother's was excellent. He usually didn't much of an appetite, but for her cooking? He ate the entire plate. Eggs, bacon, french toast, and all.

"Thanks, Seph," Nico and Hazel chorused, putting their dishes in the sink and filing out of their room.

"Jules-Albert is outside!" she called. "And your father says he's very sorry that he couldn't drive you himself, and he'll be back from his work trip on Friday."

Jules-Albert was their French chauffeur. Yes, they had a chauffeur. Their dad was... kinda rich. Just a little bit.

He and Hazel hopped in the car, and they weaved through the streets of Manhattan.

Their high school, Olympia, was on Long Island.

"So," Hazel said. "It's your first day of junior year!"

Nico gave her a look. "Whoop-de-fucking-doo," he deadpanned, adding in a pair of jazz hands.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. I'm excited, at least."

"Fine, I'm excited to finally see your face at school. I'm not excited to see all the rest of the faces, except maybe Reyna and Jason."

Hazel was a freshman, and it was her first year at Olympia. Her middle school was a fancy private school called Jupiter Academy, and Reyna and Jason had gone there too way back when.

Nico had gone to HB Middle at first, and the beginning bit was okay, but it was a living hell after Bianca died. He had transferred to Jupiter for his last year, and met Reyna and Jason. They became closer friends freshman year, and now they were his besties.

He kinda knew Jason's girlfriend, Piper, and Piper's friend Leo. They had hung out as a group before. But... that was it. He had four friends and his sister, but he was okay with that. That was all he needed.

He and Hazel got out of the car, and Jules-Albert pulled away. "Welcome to Olympia," Nico told her, flicking one of her bouncy, caramel colored curls.

"Home of the Heroes," she added.

Nico snorted. "Yeah, just about the most inaccurate mascot a school could have. But whatever."

They went inside, and Nico showed Hazel to her first period. "Bye, Neeks!" she called as he hurried to his own class- which was, thankfully, on the same floor.

He had chemistry, and none of his friends were in it. That was actually terribly tragic, because, as he found out, you have to have a lab partner. Yippee.

Ms. Venus was also the cheerleading coach, so she was chill. She started assigning seats, and told us that our partner was going to be the person next to us at our tables.

Lab partner, sorry.

A kid named Cecil sat across from him, and Lou Ellen sat next to Cecil. He kind of knew them from HB Middle, but hadn't had very many classes with them since.

"Hey," a voice said.

Nico looked up and locked eyes with an extremely hot guy. He was wearing a bright blue t-shirt that made his eyes look electric.

"I'm Will Solace. You're Nico, right?" he asked as he sat down.

Nico nodded once, and tore his eyes away. He had met Will before, and even had some classes with him.

A memory flashed through his mind:

Nico, in sixth grade, a few months after Bianca had died, had cut his leg in manufacturing.

He was at the nurse's office, and Will was there, helping as one of his electives.

The nurse was getting mad at him, because he wouldn't sit still. He kept bouncing his leg while she was trying to heal it.

Will helped him with that. "Hey, tap my palm instead. So your leg isn't bouncing but you're still moving."

Nico complied. "Are you saying something in Morse code?" Will asked him when the taps seemed to have a pattern.

"Maybe," Nico said. He tried to spell "thanks," but he was pretty sure he mixed up some of the letters. Oh well.

Nico came back to the present when he realized Will was talking to him. "...my sister, Kayla started today. She's a freshman. It's crazy," he was saying.

"Oh, my sister actually started here today, too," Nico told him.

"Really? What's her name?" Will asked.

"Hazel. She went to Jupiter."

"Ah, nice. Kayla wouldn't know her, then. She went to HB."

Nico mumbled, "Mmm hmm."

Why was he even talking to this guy? He didn't do that. When he talked to people, he usually just complained about having to talk to people.

Will made the period fly by, and soon enough, Ms. Venus was telling everyone that those were their seats for the rest of the semester and class was dismissed.

"Later, Solace," Nico said.

Will tipped his head. "Angelo."

Will went left, and Nico went right. Nico had drawing, and Will, as he would learn, had sewing.