Shoot an Arrow Through His Heart

Everyone's Shit Father

CHAPTER SUMMARY

Bianca and Nico find out the truth about their friends.

BEGINNING NOTES

Word Count: 2845
Content Warning: Underage/statutory rape (mentioned only, no details)

And all the characters are owned by Rick Riordan.

Credits at the end.

I wish I could say Bianca and I figured out the Octavian/Hazel situation right away. But we didn't. I told her the day after the Valentine's Day dance, and she was just as angry as me.

Of course I was. No one touches my little sister.

I told Nico we had to go to Persephone, but he wouldn't listen. I tried to explain that his stupid grudge against our soon-to-be stepmother shouldn't interfere with protecting our little sister, but, if you didn't already pick up on it, Nico can be super stubborn when he wants to be. And being nice to Persephone? That was non-negotiable.

February passed, then March, and there was nothing. It was so frustrating. I, as Papà's basically P.A., had access to all his records, all his accounts. I had every detail on the Olympus Scholarship at my fingertips, but I couldn't find a single damn thing that would disqualify Octavian. I started to pressure Hazel into bringing him to the house, but she never did. I hated watching her waste away; she looked more depressed every passing second. I'm not a violent person--

I am.

--but I wanted to kill that bastard and skin him alive. Persephone was right, like she'd said on Thanksgiving, Hazel trusted too easily. Maybe at the beginning we could've saved her, but now she was too jaded. Every opportunity I gave her to speak up she ignored.

April came, and still, nothing. My head was spinning. Yeah, the Jason/Piper situation had wrapped up, but that was also the easiest problem to solve. Nico and Papà still weren't talking to each other, Thalia was still clinging to Luke and had no money to raise a kid, Hazel was in a probably emotionally abusive relationship that I couldn't stop... and, the first week in April, I got a reminder that time was running out.

Nico, Percy, Will, and I were finishing up our homework in the usual spot when Persephone came in with a pile of mail. "Bianca," she said with a smile, "you have a letter."

She held up a fat envelope. Stamped to the front was, "COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY ADMISSIONS OFFICE."

"Dude!" Percy shouted. "You got into an Ivy League!"

"Congratulations, Bianca!" Will said and pulled me into a hug.

Nico shot up. "Congrats, B. I'll be upstairs," he said and ran off.

"Nico!" I yelled. I pushed Will off of me and bolted up the stairs after him. I could smell the signature mixture of cigarette smoke and marijuana from the hallway. But when I tried to come into his room, the doorknob wouldn't turn all the way. "Nico, Nico let me in," I begged. I tried the doorknob a few more times, but it was no use. Tears fell down my cheeks. I'd finally made some progress with Nico, and then this had to happen. I thought about going outside and climbing the gutter to his room, but, by the smell of things, he didn't have the window open. I can find a rock? I thought. But Papà would kill me for breaking a window. I'd look like a psychopath.

It was the hardest thing in the world to let go of that doorknob. I sank to the floor. I should never have applied to college in the first place. What was I thinking? How could I leave when my family still needed me?!