WPOV

I spent the time in the gym craning my neck and scanning the crowd of students for Nico. I was almost to the front of the line, but I planned on stepping to the back when he came in.

He was probably stressing out about this - he's hardly comfortable with his friends touching him, let alone a stranger. And he looked almost afraid when Mr. Brunner said he had to get the scoliosis check....

I wanted to talk to him, to reassure him. I wanted to make sure he was okay.

Except I couldn't find him.

That made me a little worried, despite the fact that there wasn't really a reason to be. I kept telling myself Nico was already in the gym, and that I just hadn't found him yet.

"I need your name." I suddenly heard a voice say. It succeeded in snapping my attention away from the search.

I was surprised to see that the students in front of me had disappeared, leaving me in the front of the line. A guy about the same age as my parents was waiting on my answer. He had a clipboard in one hand and a pen in the other.

"Uh, Will Solace." I mumbled. I threw a distracted glance over my shoulder.

I still didn't see Nico.

The guy scribbled something and put the pen in his shirt pocket. "Okay, come behind this curtain and take your jacket off. This should only take a minute or so."

~

I weaved between the groups of people on the school's lawn, most people were busying themselves by standing around talking. I, however, was looking for Nico.

Where is he? At this point, it wouldn't have surprised me if Nico had magically been able to turn himself invisible.

"Frank!" I waved my arm to call my friend over. "Have you seen Nico? I can't find him anywhere."

"I've been trying to find him, too. Was he in the gym?" Frank asked. I remembered he wanted Nico to answer some questions about the truck Luke had won.

"If he was, I didn't see him."

"Did he turn the form in? I wasn't paying attention when Mr. Brunner wrote the names on the board-"

"He did." I said, telling Frank what I overheard. "But the wrong signature was on the form, so he still had to do the scoliosis check. He looked really upset about it."

I could've just said Nico didn't have the form, but there seemed to be a bit more to it than that. Nico didn't want me knowing anything regarding his apparent legal guardian. I wondered why he freaked out the way he did when I asked about Octavian.

Was Octavian his dad? That would make the most sense. I knew Nico lived with his sister, and he told me that his dad left a long time ago. That could cause enough resentment for him to not even want to hear his father's name, right? Maybe?

It wasn't any of my business.... but I was still curious.

Frank must have been, too. "What do you mean?"

"His sister signed the form, but Mr. Brunner said they could only accept a signature from a guy named 'Octavian Anderson'. I asked Nico about him, and he didn't want to tell me who he was."

Frank nodded, but he wasn't looking at me anymore. His eyes were focused on something behind me, confusion dominating his features.

I turned to see what it was that got his attention.

It was Hazel.

She was supposed to be in one of the classrooms, but instead she walked straight up to us. My confusion only grew when I saw that her face was red and her eyes were puffy, evidence that she had been crying.

"Hazel, what happened?" Frank asked her, his tone sounding alarmed, concerned, and shocked all at once.

She wiped her eyes with her sleeve. "He didn't want me to tell you guys.... but I can't stay quiet about something so serious. There are some secrets that shouldn't be kept.... Your parents are cops, so I'm going to tell you."

"He?"

"Nico."

My world froze.

I felt my chest heave. A cold sense of dread washed over me. Whatever this was, it couldn't be good.

When I was able to talk, my voice came out as a whisper. But, nonetheless, the rush of syllables sounded frantic and afraid. "What happened? Is he okay?"

Please tell me he's okay.

Hazel hesitated, but then took a small, steadying breath. "He's being abused."

I stared, blinking and trying to process what I had heard her say.

"How do you know?" Frank gripped my shoulder. I think he was trying to steady me. 

"I had to go get some movies for Mrs. Athena, okay? Nico was in the supply closet when I got there, shaking and crying. He wasn't wearing his jacket, so I saw his skin.... I don't even know how to describe it...."

The way her voice trailed off left room for my imagination to kick in. It spit the worst possible scenario, filling me with even more uneasiness.

"Did he tell you who was hurting him?" Frank asked quietly.

"He said it was his brother."

I frowned. "Nico doesn't have a brother."

"That's what he told you." Hazel said it softly, gently. If she was trying to keep me from freaking out, it wasn't working. "He told me that he was lying to you about who he lived with."

I should've known. There were enough hints that I should've noticed and pieced together.

But I never wanted to pry, to push him too hard for answers he'd rather not give me. Now I saw that it was my biggest mistake.

Nico was going home to a Hell, and I didn't even know. I didn't even suspect anything was wrong.

~

I went back inside the building and looked for Nico, more desperate and determined to find him. Frank and Hazel came with me to help.

We weren't successful.

I slammed the supply closet door, where Hazel said Nico was earlier. And I cursed myself for not being there for him, for being so oblivious.  

"What if he left the school?" I asked. I felt numb to every emotion but worry and irritation towards my own stupidity.  

"Well, nobody seems to know where he really lives, so we can't meet him at his house." Hazel said, brushing her hair out of her face. "Should we tell a teacher?"

"No, that won't do anything. We don't have any proof, and they can't talk to Nico until tomorrow." 

"What are we supposed to do, then?! He needs help!" 

Frank was the one who came up with a plan, but his voice had too much hesitation and uncertainty to convince me that it was the best option.

"I still know my dad's password to the Police Department's computer programs - I'll get a background check done on Octavian, who I'm assuming is Nico's brother. Tomorrow after school we'll try to get Nico to turn him in."

"Why can't we just go to the police now?" I asked. I didn't want to leave Nico in that situation for any longer than I had to.

"We need to at least give Nico a chance to tell the story. He kept his scars hidden for so long, surely there was a reason why."

And, as much as it killed me, I knew Frank had a point. 

A/N ~ ;)

CAN YOU SMELL THE PLOT THICKENING? I CAN.

But this story is still nowhere close to ending, sooo

I started another AU (I just really like AUs, okay?). I know most of you have already took a look at it, but I figured there's nothing wrong with shAMELESS SELF PROMO

The updates for this story are still going to be regular, so don't worry!