Solangelo 1

Part 10

NICO

I avoid the infirmary. My mind is in a mess, and Percy and Jason only agree to stop bugging me about it after I agree to play Capture the Flag. I find my way over to Annabeth; all heads of the cabin have to gather to talk strategy.
'So, what's my position?' I ask. I haven't spoken to her much, if at all, since I came out to her and Percy.
'Well, I just had a talk with Will...more of a lecture, saying that you're not allowed to do any underworld stuff, so your stuck to sword fighting.' Annabeth says. I try to ignore the mention of Will's name. I find it hard.
'So, no scouting?' I ask, addressing my normal position.
'No scouting.' She agrees, 'How'd you feel about defence? I'm going to use half of the Aphrodite cabin, and half of the Demeter cabin as a first line of defence, and you'll be our last line?'
'Sounds good.' I say.
Percy comes up and puts his arms around Annabeth, resting his head on her shoulder.
'So what body of water are you putting me in?' He asks, studying her map.
'You know they're going to avoid water because of you...or maybe they'll think we'll assume they'll avoid water.' She trails off, overthinking everything. Percy looks at me, smiles and rolls his eyes.
'Come on Wisegirl, what's my mark?' He pushes her, 'I want in.'
I watch as Will talks to Phoebe - being the head of the Apollo cabin. He looks intense, dedicated to the game. His eyebrows knit together. His thousands of freckles are even more prominent in the sun.
I watch as Annabeth marks her strategy. Our flag will be positioned in the centre of the river; she's hoping that people will be hesitant to cross the river, seeing as we've got Percy. While in reality he'll be on the offence.
I sit at the table, not contributing much, but wanting to steer clear of Will.
I stay until the bell rings and classes start. Percy turns to me.
'You want to do the assault course? I booked it for Poseidon, but y'know, not a lot of support there.' He says. Normally I would say no, or at least put up some resistance, but the assault course is far from the infirmary and I'm not likely to run into Will up there.
'Yeah, sure.' I say, trying to sound casual. Percy looks surprised but pleased.
'Nice, alright lets go before Annabeth ropes us into spy work.' Percy says. At first I think he's joking, but the look on his face tells me he is deadly serious. He ushers me away without saying goodbye, and we make our getaway quickly.
The first time I did the assault course it seemed near impossible. But now Percy and I do it without thinking. We know where the lava comes out from, we know which footings give out.
Still, Percy gets winded fairly easily now. He comes to a rest at the top of the climbing wall and I sit down next to him, legs dangling over the edge.
'Hey, I just wanted to say sorry. About the other day. Y'know.' He says, winded but propping himself up on his elbows. I pass him a water bottle and he drinks graciously.
'Why're you Sorry?' I ask, confused.
'I was kind of thrown when you said...about having a crush...' He trails off. I go red in the face.
'It's fine. I kind of threw you in the deep end. Metaphorically speaking.' I say.
'Yeah, but still.' He says, 'thank you for telling me.'
'Course.' I say, 'we're good, right?'
'Yeah, we're good.' He says, standing up and giving me a hand to help me up. I accept, 'rope course?'
'Sounds good.' I say, following him as he jumps onto the next platform.