In The Spotlight - Solangelo

Chapter Eight

I don't know what I was thinking.

Will had said he loved me. (Well, not exactly, but that's basically what he admitted.) Will had said he loved me. I didn't even know what too think. Everything was a blur. Did I love him back? Part of me wanted to kiss him right there and then.

But no. Instead of returning his feelings, there I was, sitting with my face buried in my knees under Thalia's tree, tears streaming down my face.

Thalia's tree was... Well, people were afraid to go there. When Thalia still went to this school, she would always hang out under the tree. The single tree on the top of the hill, at the back of the field. I would join her. We would sit on the branches together, and just talk about life. Jason would sometimes join us as well. The tree was where I came out to the two of them. Before then, only Bianca knew, but she... She left this world, almost four years ago now. None of us saw it coming, and I took it much worse than everyone else. Thalia helped me through it. Because of her kindness, I trusted her. So I told her my secret. And she accepted me.

However, a year or so later, Thalia had a complete breakdown. I didn't know what was going on, but I assumed something must have been going on in her life. Something she wouldn't tell me about. Tears dripped onto the ground below. She looked me in the eye, a sad expression on her face.

"Please," she whispered, "please promise me you'll take care of yourself when I'm gone."

I stared at her, tears forming in the corner of eye. "I don't... Understand. What's going on? A-are you ok?"

She just shook her head. "I have to leave, ok?" She looked down. "I don't have a choice. I don't think I'll-" she sniffed, "-ever see you again."

I shifted closer to her. "Thalia, I-" I took a deep breath. "Please explain what's going on."

She shook her head, again. "I can't. I'm sorry," she apologised. "I'm leaving, ok? I have to go to a different school, somewhere else. I don't know if we'll ever meet again. But if we do..." She looked up at the sky. "Promise me you'll be alright."

She didn't give me chance to respond. Before I could do anything, she leapt down from the tree. And she must have landed wrong, because the next second she was lying on the floor, clutching her leg, screaming in pain.

Panicking, I lowered myself down, and knelt over her. "A-are you ok? What happened?" She couldn't move her leg. Or anything, more than matter. I shouted for help, but there was no one around. Who would come to the tree anyway? I sat there for God knows how long, whispering words of condolence to Thalia, telling her she'd be alright. Eventually, Jason came over, as he always did. He saw Thalia lying there, then ran off. I called for him. He ignored me. After another eternity, he came back with a teacher, and the school nurse. They told me to leave. They said they would take care of it. They said she would be ok.

I never saw her again after that. Jason informed me that she was just fine, but didn't give me the details. I wished he had. I wanted to know what happened to her.

Because of the incident, no one ever came to the tree. After Thalia hurt herself falling out of the tree, she never came back to the school. No one knew what happened to her, so they all assumed the worst.

They thought she was dead.

And, to be honest, after a while, I believed them.

A/N: Hey! Thanks for reading! I'm sorry about this chapter... I actually planned on having Jason come and speak to Nico, but I kinda got carried away with Thalia's story... Jason will be in the next chapter! And I promise it will be happier! Maybe... I don't know. It should be happier. Bye!