Nico had just started nodding off, phone still sitting on his chest when Luke threw open the door and slammed it behind him, cussing as he threw a jacket onto his bed.

"Fuckin' bitch can't even have the decency to give me my shit back," He kicked the bed frame hard enough to push the bed out of place. "This is why I don't do relationships, people get too goddamned attached." He threw himself onto the askew bed, kicking off his shoes as he grumbled more under his breath. 

Nico looked on with concern and horror, sitting up slightly, he opened his mouth to attempt to say something.

"Don't," Luke said sharply, "If I hear one more word from anyone tonight, I am going to fucking kill someone."

Nico took the hint, and, while throwing the bedsheets over his head, wondered what kind of sick  circumstances led to him being stuck there. 

                                                                                                      ...

Nico woke up before Luke, and after quietly and quickly running through his morning routine, headed off the the cafeteria. Traversing the labyrinth of halls from the dorms to the cafeteria only took Nico ten minutes, as opposed to the thirty that it took the pervious day. Recalling the dubious eggs that Nico was served earlier, he opted for an orange instead.

Reyna was already sitting at the table, shoveling down an enormous bowl of cereal while staring at a stack of papers with a glare on her face that gave Nico chills. He sat down opposite of her and quietly peeled his orange. 

"Sorry about all this," Reyna sighed, looking up at Nico. As she glanced up, her eyes softened, "it just seems that I'm the only person in the entire student council that can do anything. I mean, at this point, there's no use in even have a whole council of people if they're going to throw all of their work onto me!" She pinched the bridge of her nose, "I mean seriously, if Luke fucking Castellan spent  half  the time he spends screwing girls on running the fucking treasury, none of this would be an issue, but here we are!"

"Luke's on the student council?"

Reyna's eyes widened, "please tell me you haven't had to deal with him yet."

Nico laughed bitterly,"he's my roommate."

"Oh my gods, Nico I'm so sorry. He's such an asshole."

Nico rolled his eyes, "believe me, I know."

The corner of Reyna's lip quirked slightly, "I swear I'm always a few comments short of punching that guy every time I see him."

Nico nodded solemnly, "I've been sent out of the room so many times and I haven't even been here a full week yet."

Reyna patted the air above Nico's shoulder, "I am so sorry for you man, I wish you the best of luck, dear comrade." 

She turned her head back down to her papers, furrowing her brow as she read them. She stood up from the table, head still buried in papers, "Sorry Nico, I've gotta work this out, do you know how to get to your next class?"

Nico pulled the crumpled map from his pocket, glancing at it quickly, "I think so."

"Ok, sorry for running off so quickly, people are just..." she sighed, "just... stupid."

                                                                                                   ...

Nico did not know where his next class was.

He glanced around the hallways, clutching the map scanning the room numbers for 2187 and weaving his shoulders through a tumultuous sea of backpacks and torsos. 

The bell rang and the crowd thinned, leaving only Nico and a few other stragglers in the hallway. Recognizing the confused look on Nico's face, a teacher walked up to him, "hey, kid, where are you going?"

Nico glanced up, "anatomy class, room 2187."

The teacher pointed up a flight of stairs, "first door to the left."

Nico nodded in thanks, speed walking up the stairs and into the classroom. As he entered, he could feel the eyes burning into him, dozens of pupils turning the second he turned the knob.

"Ah, Mr. Di-Angelo," the teacher was an older woman, graying around her temples, "I'll give you a pass for today, but if tardiness becomes a habit of yours, I promise you we will not get along."

Nico nodded quietly, slipping into the seat that the teacher pointed at. As he sat, he glanced around for familiar faces, but to no avail. He almost let out a sigh of relief, knowing that Drew wouldn't be able to pester him first hour on B days, maybe, he thought, I'll finally be able to pay attention. 

That fleeting though, however quickly vanished as the content of the class stirred up memories of the anatomy class at his old school, the anatomy class with Will sitting in it. Nico had been upset since his father had told him he was going to Italy, but in that second, Nico missed Will more than he had ever before. He blinked hard, trying to turn his focus onto the cartilage structure of the nose, but his mind wandered, lingering on blond hair, slightly curled, blue eyes, and tanned skin dotted with freckles.

Nico's eyes were watering, he turned them up to the ceiling, blinking harder in an attempt to keep the tears from running down his face. This wasn't the place to break down, he had to hold it in at least until the period ended. He turned his eyes quickly to the clock, he had been sitting for exactly five minutes, there were seventy-five remaining. 

He looked back down, eyes pointed at the diagram in his textbook, but unfocused. He couldn't breath, the images of Will faded away, replaced by the twisting, crumbling structures falling in front of him, the pained cries and frantic Italian words falling around him, quieting as the dust settled. The tears slipped from Nico's eyes, drenching the paper below him.