A Soul On Fire ~Leo Valdez Love Story

Nico the Nightmare Boy

I walked inside, opening the creaky wooden oak doors. Inside, there were trophies to show off the athletic ability and gloat. But further down the hallways were weapons on armor chest plates. My brother and I had marveled at the bow and arrows, the spears, the swords, the daggers... the were magnificent. Alex saw me and ran up to me. He talked about making a new friend on the bus and I congradulated him. He loved making friends. Loved it. The bell rang, signaling us to go to our lockers to get our stuff. Alex ran towards the right hall. I went to the left. Alex was, of course, a 5th grader, while I was a 10th grader. My birthday is in June, so I'm one of the youngest 10th graders there.

I walked up to my locker. I spinned my lock and unlocked it. It wasn't really full of decorations. I had one picture of me and my brother when we were younger. I also had a mirror, but that had been there when I got this locker. I stuffed my skate board into my locker and got my textbooks. I looked at myself in the mirror and stifled a gasp. My hair was brown. Light brown. WHAT?! Like, 10 minutes ago, IT WAS BLACK. My skin color was turner lighter also. I looked at my eyes and they were blue. BLUE?! WHAT THE HECK IS HAPPENING?!?! I forced myself to calm down. It's okay, figure it out later.

I focused my gaze to the boy looking at me from the reflection of my mirror. He was the boy fromthe side walk. The boy from the nightmare. Nightmare Boy. I stared at him. But I smiled.

"Hi" I said, still looking at him through the mirror. "My name's Ash. What's yours?" He looked at me silently. I quickly turned around to face him. He was wearing all-black clothing and would be labeled "emo" at this school. Bad news for him. Athletes loved to pick on "emo boys". I, however, do not label people. I stared at him intently, smiling slightly, wating for his answer.

"Nico. Nico di Angelo" he responded quietly. I smiled. I held out my hand.

"Well, Nico di Angelo, nice to meet you." He slowly extended his hand and we shook.

"Are you new?" I asked. I haven't seen him before, but what do I know? I maybe didn't notice him. He nodded.

"Well, what classes do you have?" He showed me his schedule. That's weird... he has the same classes as me...

"You have all of my classes. I can take you to homeroom and Ms. Overlock can decide from there" I finalized. I shut my locker and led him through the crowd of kids. We came across it and I led him to the teacher.

"Ms. Overlock, this is Nico, and I was wondering if I could show him around" I asked politely. She looked confused.

"Nico? I don't have a Nico in my class..." she said, fumbling through her mail to see if there wasany notice of a new student. I guessed what was going on and I pretty much saved Nico's butt.

"Nico di Angelo. You know, the exchange student from Italy" I said, nodding my head slowly, as if speaking to a 5 year old.

"Oh yes... Nico di Angelo... yes, you can show him around. I was excuse you from class and count you both present" she said dreamily. Whoa, that ACTUALLY worked.

"Thank you, Ms. Overlock" I said politely, leading Nico away from her.

"Are you a fugitive like me?" I asked intently, gripping his arm so he would look at me.

"Fugitive?" he questioned. Does she mean she is running from something or someone? Is she asking me if I'm a Demi-God? I heard his voice ringing through my ears.

"Demi-God? Aren't Demi-Gods half mortal, half human? And who would I be running from anyway?" I asked. His eyes widened.

"Did you just read my mind?" he asked, amazed. I shrugged.

"I dunno, it just happened. I heard your voice in my head. Now, what about Demi-Gods??"