Nico's POV

      My favorite day of the week was Friday for two reasons. First of all, it was the last day of classes for the week. Secondly, the debate kids left early — either leaving after third block or before school started. Today, their tournament was in a nearby city, so I had to put up with them for three classes.

      When the bell rang to signal the end of third block, I felt almost happy. Jason kept pestering me and I was tired of him pretending to be my friend. There's no use in making friends, I thought; people either leave you or hurt you.

I made my way to my chemistry classroom. Mrs. Hawthorn was giving us stern looks and looking at her notes. With her elaborate hairstyles and dark clothing, she always gave off "dark magic in the best way" vibes. "Class," she says after the bell rang. "Today we will be having our first lab of the year. I'n glad you all passed the lab safety quiz, but some of you are wearing open-toed shoes. You can come here and exchange for these."

She gestured to rows of pairs of hideous looking shoes with thick white soles. Everyone frowned and Drew made a face. "We're supposed to wear those horrid things?" she exclaimed.

"Yes," Mrs. Hawthorn said. "Unless you'd prefer a zero for this lab."

Drew sniffed, but she and a few others came up to change into the ugly shoes. Then, we all stood in line and Mrs. Hawthorn gave us each a pair of goggles and told us our lab partners.

"Nico, you'll be working with Will," Mrs. Hawthorn said.

I sighed, but nodded and went to my lab station. I read the instructions on the worksheet. We were supposed to figure out the boiling point of tap water versus water with different levels of salinity. "What do you think will happen?" Will asked me.

"The water will boil if we're lucky," I said. "If not, we'll get zeroes."

Will raised an eyebrow. "Is that your version of optimism, Death Boy?"

My hands curled into fists. "Don't call me Death Boy!"

I began working, putting the vials of liquid over the benson burner and taking out the digital thermometer. I write down my hypothesis and beget making observations, trying to not think of how Will was standing so close to me. Even as I tried not to, I noticed him. He smelled of laurel and sunshine and instead of looking ridiculous in his lab coat, he looked cute. Nope, I thought; this is not up for cognition. Will was not cute — he was annoying.

We finished the lab in relative peace and began cleaning up. "So Nico, would you want to hang out sometime?" Will asked.

"Would you just leave me alone, Solace?" I asked. "Why would you want to hang out with a loner like me?"

Will's blue eyes narrowed and his tone was uncharacteristically angry. "You always say that you have no friends, but the truth is that you reject everyone. You have friends — or at least you would if you gave us a chance."

With a huff he left, leaving me feeling like someone had stolen my Happy Meal.