Within the Forest (Werewolf Solangelo AU)

Introduction (Part 1)

Nico's POV

   (Trigger Warning: Death, depression, abuse, and some things kids at Nico's old school say about the fact that he's gay.)  

 My life hasn't been the best. My father disappeared when I was a baby. I only know him through stories from my mother and older sister Bianca. I grew up in Italy until the age of ten. Then, my family moved to America. It wasn't that bad. I had trouble adjusting in the American schools since I knew no English. But after speech classes and many new friends, I learned to adjust just fine. I then found out I had a younger half sister, Hazel. She's amazing and I love her so much. But, it didn't last long. It didn't last long at all. It all went to hell when I found out I was gay.

 It was in middle school when I found out. I made friends with this kid named Percy Jackson. He was a great guy and still is a good friend of mine. It wasn't until I began feeling strange every time he did something normal to him. Sometimes he gets excited about things and grabs the closest person and runs to whatever is causing his excitement. When a group of my friends (Percy, A really smart girl named Annabeth, Hazel, A funny kid named Leo, A weird girl named Piper, Piper and Leo's best friend Jason. Hazel's best friend Frank, my good friend Reyna, and Annabeth's best friend Luke.) and I went to this Carnival, Percy found out about the cotton candy machine. He saw some kids with blue cotton candy and freaked out. That's when he grabbed my hand and started pulling me towards the machine, leaving our friends to have to run after us. I began to panic on the inside. My heart began pounding against my rib cage. My face felt like it was lit on fire. 

 Once we got there he let go and went over to buy the candy. One of my friends, Reyna, asked why my face was so red. Then Hazel gasped and said I was blushing. I was so confused. Was I blushing because Percy grabbed my hand? Well, he hasn't done that before. I went home that day and asked my sister about it. She got really excited when I explained what happened. She said I had my first crush. Then I panicked a bit. I had a crush on Percy?! But, he's a boy. Shouldn't I have crushes on girls? It wasn't the best way to find out. But, it went bad when I told my friends about it. Everyone else said it was perfectly fine except Luke. He just stared at me for a second then snickered. I didn't think much of it until lunch. Luke stood up on our table once we sat down and yelled,

"HEY EVERYONE! I FOUND OUT MY FRIEND NICO DI ANGELO IS A BIG FAGGOT!"

 Everyone turned and looked at me. Some laughed. Some just looked confused. Others looked disgusted. My heart dropped into my stomach as more and more kids laughed. Luke even laughed and began chanting,

"FAG-GOT FAG-GOT FAG-GOT"

 Soon, everyone was chanting. Except the remaining of my group. Annabeth, Percy, Jason, and Reyna stood up and pulled Luke off the table. I wasn't able to see what they did to him because Frank, Leo, Piper, and Hazel grabbed me and rushed me out of the cafeteria as a table of boys began throwing food at us. We ran into the empty art room and stayed there until the others came back, looking furious. Reyna and Jason were ranting about how much of a jerk Luke was. Percy was trying to comfort Annabeth who looked plained shocked. Frank and Leo were standing guard outside the door. Hazel and Piper were comforting me, telling me there was nothing wrong with liking boys. It was the worst day of my life.

 Well, that's a lie. The worst day of my life was when mom and Bianca died. We were all coming back from a night out to eat when three large guys dressed in black appeared from no where. They demanded our money and whatever variable things we had. My mom immediately gave them her purse and begged them to leave us alone. One of the three grabbed her purse while another one asked for her jewelry. She reluctantly took her necklace, rings, and bracelets off and gave them to the man. Bianca immediately did the same, removing her earrings and bracelet. He smiled and nodded towards the third man who was the only one we didn't hear from. He reached into his jacket with a sickening grin on his face. Mama began screaming in Italian, begging for mercy. Bianca pulled me behind her and ducked behind Mama. Then, I heard a sound I can never unhear. A shot.