Everything I'm Not ~ Solangelo

Chapter 7

The morning was a blur. I don't remember much besides Will walking me from class to class, his smile filling me with a warm feeling. But, my good feelings were crushed as soon as lunchtime came. It was the moment I had been dreading ever since I agreed to it, meeting Hazel's friends.

Will caught up with me just as I was preparing to head towards the cafeteria. "Hey!" he said.

"Hey," I said back, my back to him.

"Is everything all right?" he asked. I could hear the concern in his voice.

I shook my head a little too quickly, "Fine, I'm fine." I met his eyes, "Hey Will, could you not walk me to lunch today?"

Will raised an eyebrow, "Um, sure."

"Thanks," I answered. I turned and hurried down the hall before he could ask any questions.

I reached the cafeteria, and skipped the line, as usual. At first, I couldn't find Hazel. Maybe she forgot, I though happily. But, no such luck. As soon as that thought had crossed my mind, Hazel shouldered her way through a large crowd of seniors and approached me.

"You ready?" she asked, her golden eyes alive with excitement.

"Ready as I'll ever be," I replied. Hazel grabbed my arm and lead me towards a table in the center of the cafeteria. Several other people had already taken their seats. Hazel friends, I assumed.

"Hey guys," she said. Everyone at the table looked up and greeted her. "This is my brother, Nico," she told them, gesturing to me. "I wanted him to meet you guys."

A girl with curly blond hair tied back in a ponytail and intelligent gray eyes looked at me and smiled. "Hi, Nico. We've heard a lot about you," she said, "It's nice to finally meet you in person."

I wanted to nod and say, "Thanks! You too!" But, there were two things wrong with that. One, I wasn't that friendly. Two, it wasn't true. Hazel had never really mentioned her friends before. I knew who they were and I heard her giggle at their texts, but she never actually told me about them. I simply nodded and sat down beside Hazel.

Beside the blond girl, a tall, boy leaned back in his seat. He had unkempt black hair, eyes the color of sea glass, and a light tan. He was good looking in a kind of California-surfer-dude way. I knew I recognized him. I couldn't quite remember his name, but I knew he was popular. Very popular. He had a lot of friends, he played on a lot of the sports teams, and half the school worshipped him like a god. He looked at me strangely, "You look familiar."

A scrawny kid with dark curly hair piped up, "Probably because he's Hazel's brother, Sherlock."

The other boy shook his head, "No, he doesn't remind me of Hazel." He stared at me for a few moments more, "Do you have another sibling?"

I stared at my hands. The last thing I wanted to talk about with a table full of strangers was my dead sister. But, it would be rude to ignore them, so I complied. "Yeah," I answered, "her name was Bianca."

The boy raised an eyebrow, "Was?"

I sighed, "She's dead."

A soft "oh" escaped the boy's mouth.

The blond girl punched him in the arm, "Nice going, Seaweed Brain!"

"It's no big deal," I said softly. But truthfully, it was a big deal. I just had to tell a bunch of people I barely knew about the death of my sister. I didn't want their sympathy. I didn't want them to say "I'm sorry", those were the most empty, meaningless words on the planet. I wanted to be left alone. I wanted to return to my table in the back of the cafeteria. I wanted to be anywhere except here.

"So Nico, I guess I should introduce everyone," Hazel said, changing the subject. She started with the curly haired kid, "That's Leo." Next, she gestured to a girl with choppy brown hair and eyes that seemed to change color, "Her name's Piper." She moved onto the boy beside Piper. He was tall and blond, and had a small scar on his lip, "Jason." Next, she pointed to a burly asian kid beside her, "This is Frank, my boyfriend." She motioned to the blond girl, "That's Annabeth." Finally, she reached the boy with the green eyes, "And that's Percy."

"Good to meet you all," I said.

"Who was that you were walking with earlier?" Jason asked from across the table.

"Who, Will?" I said, "He's no one, really. He just likes to walk with me to class."

"I've seen him around," Piper remarked, "He seems nice."

I shrugged, "Yeah, I guess." I fell silent and the others began to talk among themselves. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Leo staring at me with an odd expression.

I glared at him, "What?"

"Nothing, nothing," he responded quickly. "You don't talk much, do you?"

"I like it that way," I replied. He stared at me for a moment more before directing his attention to the conversation.

As the others talked and laughed, I consider leaving early. But, I decided against it. I didn't want to offend Hazel. I was relieved when the bell finally rang. I hurried out of the lunchroom and into the hall. I felt a pang of disappointment when I reached my locker and Will wasn't there. He's probably still eating, I thought. I began grabbing my books when Hazel appeared at my side.

"Hey, Nico," she said, a big smile on her face. "You did great!"

"It was better than I expected," I admitted.

"I knew you'd like it," Hazel said.

"Well, I don't think like is the word for it," I answered.

She raised an eyebrow, "Well than what would is the word for it?"

I thought for a moment. "I felt lukewarm about it," I decided.

Hazel giggled, "Alright then, lukewarm." She glanced down at the watch on her wrist, "Oh! I'm going to be late!" she exclaimed, "See you later, Nico!" She turned and dashed down the hall. As soon as she was gone, Will materialized from the crowd.

"Nico!" he called. He hurried over and leaned against the locker beside me.

"Whoever owns that locker is going to be annoyed, you know," I remarked.

Will shrugged, "I'll move."

I gave a short laugh and collected the last of my books. I slammed my locker and turned to Will, "Let's go."