I wake up with Best Friend Will Solace leaning over me. "Ahh!" We both jump back, me against the wall, him... on the floor. Oops. I suppress a smile and just giggle as I ask him if he's good. "Shut up it's not funny." Oh, it totally was. But I don't tell him that, just add this to the list of things I can tease him about for forever after. "You know, you really should get that look off your face, Mr. Harry Potter!" What? That doesn't even make sense!! "Would you care to explain since you know anything and everything, Mr. Sunshine?"

     His face turns even brighter if possible when I called him that. Sometimes I don't understand my best friend. "Well, you see what had happened was... you were on the way to my house when some guy named Octavian," I grimace. Great. "ran into you and Mr. di Angelo. Then someone called the ambulance, but you were already knocked out by then, and they brought y'all here. Your dad's fine by the way, just a broken arm, so at the moment he's at your place taking care of Hazel, can't say the same about you though. You broke both legs, an arm, and  was unconscious for a week." I groan. Piper is definitely gonna kill me when I return to school. I groan louder and longer when I realize that Octavian is definitely not gonna leave me alone, knowing he got me sent to the hospital for a week. I groan even louder when I realize how badly Clarisse will murder me. 

     Will looks over me with a smile and a confused look. It's kinda cute—I mean what? Hehe. "You know for someone who awoke from a coma, you don't seem very happy." I scoff. What in Hera does that mean?! "Oh, yea? And what was your reaction when you woke up? Holy Hephaestus I just realized how ironic it is that we both were put in a coma. I mean yea at different times, but still." Will blinks at me like I'm still the idiot he knew 5 years ago. Which isn't exactly far from the truth. "Anyway... guess it!" I jokingly groan soon as the words guess it leaves his mouth.

     Will has always been obsessed with starting of good news with those two words. And because he's Mr. Sunshine, he always has good news. And he won't tell the answer until I've guessed three times. "Topic please." "Uh..." I snicker. Didn't think this through huh, Solace, I think to myself. "Our friends...?" Really? Why am I friends with... this, again? "Um... Percy, Jason, Kayla." I just name random friends name. "You're not even trying anymore are you?" He asks with a sad look in his eyes. And I don't know why, but I absolutely cannot resist those eyes. "Of course, I am! Here, lemme try again. Umm... are you gonna start going to my school?" I will admit, I'm not really trying to hide the hopefulness in my voice. 

    He gets another look in his eye. "How did you..." I smirk. Man, oh how I love making best friend Will speechless. "I've told you once, I'll tell you again: I am the ghost king!" He rolls his eyes as I immediately sit up, remembering the nickname he called me. "Hey, Solace. Why did you call me Harry Potter?" Will grins. "Well, you like HP and you have a scare where glass cut you in the accident on your forehead, in the shape of a lightning bolt."

    I need a new best friend. Like, honestly.

  ***Monday***

    Finally, I hear the three-knock, knock at the front door. I struggle with rolling myself to the door when Hazel glides past me opening the door. "Show-off," I mumble, not really completely meaning it. She just sticks her tongue out. "Hey Will, long time no see," she says while pretending she's innocent. I glare at her back. "Come on Will, let's go I don't want to be late." Ok. So I'm a little bit grumpy this morning. "Yes, sir, di Angelo sir!" He mocks salutes me, ignoring my glare.

***lunch time***

    "Where in hell where you?!" Clarisse asks 6 minutes after I sit down at the lunch table, with Will. "Oh, nice to see you again Will." He weakly gives Clarisse a smile. I guess she did change a little bit. "The hospital part of Hell, Clarisse. Dad and I got in a car crash when we were going to Will's that Friday." She didn't believe that. "Why didn't you call me or Piper?" "Gee, maybe because I was in a coma?" Now she believes me. Not like she'll tell me though. "So what did I miss?" 

     Piper and Clarisse share a look. "Oh not much," Piper starts, Clarisse snorts as she holds in a laugh, "just Octavian expelled from school," Clarisse suddenly fails at keeping herself together and laughs with Piper, "with a full body cast!" At this, I burst out laughing despite not knowing what happened. I notice Will with an adorable— I mean with a confused look on his face, so I lean over and explain who Octavian is. He nods in understanding and chuckles a little bit. "Why-why did he get expelled?" 

    From the looks of it, only Piper is able to actually answer me. "Now that you tell us it was you that got in the accident, we can assume that it was your fault," I immediately stop laughing looking between Will and her finger making sure I heard her right. "Now how in literal Hell is it my fault! I'm the crippled emo boy!" She rolls her eyes at me, "Because your car accident wasn't an accident." 

   Well, I'm confused. "Octavian saw you in your dad's car. He didn't see your dad though. Anyway someone overheard him telling his goons he was gonna do a hit and run, that obviously failed, but that person went to the principal and told her what they heard." She paused for a long while. "Well?" "Oh yea," I scoff. Only you Pipes. Only you. "Now he's expelled. Out of every state in the school," She says nonchalantly, but also proudly. Clarisse, Will, and I look at her like she's crazy. Which, once again, isn't far from the truth. "Did you mean: every school in the state...?" Will timidly asks, once realizing neither Clarisse nor I would've said something. "Wha-oh yea, I guess so." 

    Yea, this conversation is boring and I'd take any excuse to leave it. But I can't think of any. "Oh yeah, I got the-" "Doll you've probably been wanting to complete your myth'o'magic army?" I stare at Will, for some reason I can feel the tips of my ears warm as he continues, "For the record my army could beat yours anytime." Now I stare open-mouthed at Will. He did not just-- I know he didn't just-- "They're not dolls and you can take your great army and--" Now Clarisse cuts me off, "Ok Nico. Calm down, buddy." She nor Piper can help but grin at Will's smirk, for making fun of my obsession. 

    I cross my arms like a moody toddler, and state, "Bene, arrivederci devo trovare il signor Grisham." (A/N: I'll check that when I learn Italian. In the meantime: thanks google!) Everyone at the table, but Will glares at me. Clarisse and Piper both hate it when I speak in Italian. Will instead asks, "Why?" The females and I stare at him, and he blushes under the attention from us all at once. When did he learn Italian, dam it! Piper voices my question. "Last week," Will shrugs his shoulders like it's no biggey. It is definitely a biggey. It's a big biggey! "Γαμώτο," and with that, I roll away humming Sincerely, Me.

***Mandy Grisham***

   I hesitantly roll in Mrs. Grisham's room. The only good thing that came out of the accident besides Octavian expulsion, is I get out of the musical. "Um... Mrs.Grisham, I don't think I can do the musical anymore," I try as hard as I can to not let happiness seep into my voice while saying that. Mrs. Grisham walks over to me a tad bit disappointed. "Oh no! When will you get them removed?" I mentally throw my non-broken hand in the air. Well, there goes that sympathy. Or is it empathy. Cue the mental shrug. "Two weeks," I say a tad bit smug. 

    "Oh phew," I look up at her with a worried look my eyes. She supposed to still be "sad". I don't want to be in this production.  I was planning to soar by this school year not doing anything special. But nooo Hazel and Dad want me to do something "special". I really hate them sometimes. "That's great Nico! The theatre class won't start working or auditioning for another 4 weeks. This is great! Oh," She turns around looking for something leaving me, a blinking mess of disbelief, in her wake. "Here I found some songs you can start practicing. I highlighted Laurens', Jefferson's, and Hamilton's part in different colors so you can pick which one and practice. Ok, Nico, you come tomorrow and let me know which one you choose." 

    I stutter out an, "Ok, I will thanks," as I turn my self around leaving the classroom. Gods dammit, I was hoping I got out of this. And I still haven't told Hazel or Dad. 

    The rest of the day passes by in a blur, as I'm still thinking about being basically forced to do the musical. I mean, I've always wanted to watch Hamilton, not be apart of  Hamilton. 

    Hazel helps me up the stairs, and when we make it up to my room I collapse on my bed face first with an ouch and, "This is your fault." She stops moving to the door, and I assume she walks over towards my bed with her hands on her hips. "And what's that supposed to mean?" I groan, "I have to audition for the school musical now because the choir's full, and I don't want to, so it's you and dad's fault."

   I can basically hear the smirk in her voice as she speaks again. "Well, too bad you big baby. Who are you gonna audition for?" I blindly point towards where I think I threw my bag, "You pick." I count her footsteps as she walks over towards my bed. One, two, three, four, I wonder what Will's doing. Wait, wha-? Pretty sure that wasn't a number.  

  Hazel walks back over to me slowly before sitting on the edge of my bed. "Umm, My shot, for Hamilton... Ooh your favorite: What did I miss, for Jefferson... and Story of tonight, for Laurens. I'm thinking... Jefferson. Or Hamilton. Shoot I don't know, ask dad maybe..." 

   I have no clue what she says next because I quickly let darkness take over me. Exhausted from today.