Heroes of Olympus: a Mortal High School Story

Chapter 12: Mall

     Hazel needed her mother's permission to go to the mall. Of course, after what happened with Bianca, she wouldn't let her go alone, so Hazel lied, and said she was meeting a couple of friends.
     After going and getting a milkshake, she went to the skateboard shop. Her old skateboard was, so to say, dying. The sandpaper-y top was smooth, the wheels were worn down, and the painting she did on the bottom was faded.
      She looked at the rows of skateboards.
To small. That'll never make it to school from the house. Oh, God, that shape is horrendous. How are there only two left? That one's...okay. Never mind, the bottom's pink. Ew.
      She found one that wasn't bad, with black, glittery wheels, and a blank bottom. The perfect canvas. She was finding the price, when,
"Hazel?"
      She looked up, right into the eyes of Frank Zhang. "Oh, hey."
      "What're you doing here?" he asked.
      She found the price and tucked the skateboard under her arm. "Oh, you know, the usual, shopping for toilets. You?" He chuckled and before he could answer Percy rounded the corner, a pink, sparkly  helmet in hand. "Yo, Frank, I found you a helmet. Oh, hey Hazel."
      "Hazel?!" Unmistakably Nico's voice. Hazel looked at Percy with an "I'll-kill-you-later" glare. He took a step back, clearly frightened.  Nico rounded the corner, immediately looking at Hazel. "What're you doing here?"
      "Nico, it's a skateboard shop, what do you think I'm doing here?"
      "You know what I mean. You should be at home!"
      "I got Mum's permission."
       "What did she agree on?"
      "...I said I was meeting friends," Hazel mumbled. "Well where are they?"
      "Nico, I don't have friends."
      "Well, GEE," Percy interrupted. Leo, Jason, and Will turned the corner.
      Jason automatically pulled Leo by his arm back to the other side of the store. Percy followed.
       "Um...You know, Frank, I saw this cool helmet back there," Will said, clearly desperate for an escape.  "Awesome, show me," Frank said, glancing at Hazel. He followed Will out, smiling gently in Hazels direction.
      "Hazel, what are you doing?" Nico nearly shouted. "Nico, I'm not a little kid anymore!" She was near tears. "I can take care of myself, I don't need you to take care of me twenty four-seven!"
     "Hazel, I just–". He stopped and looked away. His eyes were glassy. "I don't want a replay of what happened to Bianca."
     "Nico...," Hazel said gently. She took his hand and pulled him into a hug. "It'll be okay."
       "Just stay with the guys, okay?" he asked. "You can trust all of them." "Even Will?" she questioned. "Yeah, even Will.  If something bad happens, you go straight to one of them, all right?" She thought of Frank. "Yeah," she whispered.
        "Okay." He pulled back and looked at the skateboard she was holding. "How much is it?" "Twenty six." "How much do you have?"
         Hazel pulled out her wallet and counted the money she was saving up to buy a skateboard. She sighed. "Twenty four." She started to put the board back, but Nico pulled two dollar bills out of his pocket. "Here."
         "Thanks, Neeks." She kissed his cheek and bought the skateboard.
          After it was bought, she went to catch up with guys. They all made their way to the food court, Percy, Jason, and Leo talking about some assignment only Jason seemed to do and Nico and Will walking side by side.  Frank slowed down so he was behind the group, and so he was walking next to Hazel. He nudged her with his elbow. "You okay?"
      "Yeah, I'm good, just..." She trailed off. Frank didn't make her finish. They walked in silence until they were at the food court. The group found a table and Nico automatically went to McDonalds. "Get me some fries," Hazel told him. The others went off to different places. Frank came back first. He sat next to her looking at her sketch on the back of her new skateboard, with a pencil she had pulled from her hair. She saw him watching and pulled another out, from in her bun, and offered it to him. "Wanna help?" She asked. "Yeah, sure," he said, giving her that adorable grin.
      They doodled together, and Frank commented on how good her sketch of  a horse was. "Thanks," she said, blushing.
       When the rest of the guys came back, Jason, Leo, and Percy were still arguing about the assignment. "Oh my god," Frank muttered, causing Hazel to giggle. Nico raised his eyebrows at Frank when Hazel wasn't looking and looked at Hazel pointedly. Frank turned red and looked back at the skateboard. Will grinned, noticing Frank's and Nicos silent conversation.
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When it was time to go home, around six, Percy, Jason, and Leo hitched a ride with Will. He offered to drive Nico, Hazel, and Frank home, but Hazel said she wanted to skateboard home.
      "Hazel, it's late, and dark," Nico pointed out. He obviously wanted to go with Will. Frank noticed. "I can go with her."  Nico took a deep breath. "Okay." As they started walking away, they heard Leo call out, "No detours, you two!"
      Hazel turned to glare at him, and caught Nico smacking him, Jason and Percy laughing, and Will staring at Nico. She smiled softly.
      "Hey, what happened in the skate shop? I mean, are you and Nico okay?" He asked arruptly. "Yeah. He, uh..." "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."
       "No, it's...it's okay. He told me he didn't want a replay of what happened to Bianca. She was um, his full sister."
      "What happened to her?" Frank asked softly. "We don't know. She was friends with Percy. One night, before I moved here, she was over at Percy's and it was late. When it got really late, Maria, Nicos mum, called Percy's house. She asked if Bianca was there and Percy said she had gone home over an hour ago. Maria called the cops, and told them every route she could have taken, but..."
      "They didn't find her," Frank guessed. "No they found her, a couple days later, but..." She sniffed. "She was dead." Frank looked at her.  She was trying so hard to not cry. "Yeah," she choked out.
        "Nico blamed Percy for a while." Hazel said. "He said Percy should've walked her home, and that he should've died instead of her. Eventually he forgave him. But Nico never really...healed, I guess."
         She wiped a tear and apologized. "It's okay. You don't have to say sorry." She nodded. They walked in silence. "Are you going to ride your skateboard?" Frank asked eventually. "No, I'll walk with you." He smiled and looked at her. She had stopped crying and seemed like she got something off her chest.
        When they arrived at Hazel's house, she turned to him, silent. He touched his hand to her face, softly. She closed her eyes. "Thank you," she whispered. He quickly touched his lips to her forehead. She smiled and walked up the steps to the door. When she stepped inside, she turned to see Frank gently smiling. She looked at him one last time and shut the door.