Sonder: A Solangelo Story

Chapter 3

The bell rang to signal the end of class and also cause Nico to fall out his chair. Yes, he had been sleeping but it was still demoralizing to end up face first on the floor. After a moment, he slowly started to push himself off the ground and grabbed his bag, grateful that the school day was finally over. It was strange to experience a small town school day because by lunch time everyone had already known he cursed at a teacher.

"Well, this is a dream anyway" he mumbled and started to walk towards Will's home. He found out that Kayla Knowles and Austin Lake were his siblings, well half- siblings as they all had different mothers. Apparently, they all lived in their father's home and mostly took care of themselves. Once at the house, he shoved the door open and ignored the questions the two had before storming up the stairs. After he arrived in the ungodly yellow room, he closed the door and slid down before starting to cry. The tears he had been holding back ran down his cheeks.

Bianca Di Angelo was only 13 when a car drove right through her. She had been walking with Percy when it happened and called 911 but it was too late. By the time the paramedics arrived, she had already passed on. For the first two years after the incident, Nico ignored Percy and blamed him for his sister's death. It was around that time he attempted suicide and had to be placed in a mental hospital. Over the next few years, the want to blame Percy had faded along with the wish of death.

After rubbing his eyes, Nico laid on the bed and yawned slightly. Eventually, he fell into a gentle slumber, dreaming about being with his sister again.

~

Will had found a way to escape Hazel and Reyna's questions long enough to run into the apartment and lock the door. After a moment, he walked to the kitchen and poured himself a cup of soda, drinking it while considering how idiotic he looked today. He wondered why teachers pulled him aside, asking if he was okay, or why the principal gave a sad expression.

"I fucked up....I'm sorry, Nico, hopefully, nothing too chaotic happens..." he sincerely hoped this was a dream now, because how cruel does someone have to be to ignore the fact they killed a teen?! Once done with his soda, he placed it in the sink and walked down the hall to Nico's room. After a bit he started to clean, finding that it helped to eliminate a minority of the anger he felt.

"Does his family never cook?" He whispered and threw the rest of the trash away. After completing that task, Will collapsed on the bed. The feeling of exhaustion from the events of the day had started to take over. Maybe a nap would be good? Plus he wouldn't have to think of asshole drivers. God, it still pissed him off but he was too tired to care. In moments he had snuggled into under the blankets, his eyes soon falling shut and he started his nightly practice of being dead, actually asleep.

~

Nico jolted awake, a gasp quietly escaped from his mouth before he gazed around the room. It was dark due to the black out currents but he could see the outlines of his skull drawings and rock band posters. A faint smile appeared on his face, it was just a dream. He wasn't in Kansas, he didn't curse a teacher out and his name wasn- what was the name of the blonde? He had blue eyes? Whatever it wasn't important.

"I'm home, but it was nice to be somewhere else," he muttered his expression turning to confusion when he realized his floor was clean. What happened to the wrappers? Did they vanish? Soon he noticed he wasn't wearing the clothes he fell asleep in and that his backpack was slightly ajar. After a bit he got off the bed and dug in his bag, pulling out his notebook. All the pages seemed fine until the last one, the handwriting was nowhere near the chicken scratch on the last few pages.

"Was it real?....does that mean I got him in trouble?...WAIT WHAT DID HE DO TO ME?!" He yelled, starting to panic and pulled out his phone to call Reyna.

"Hey, Nico? You doing alright now? I know your sister's death can make things hard for you." The female voice on the other side of the phone said calmly.

"Yeah, I'm doing fine Reyna....Did I do anything weird today?"

"Well, you smiled a lot and said Y'all?"

"Fuck..." he held his head, it had to be real.

~

The male groaned at the sound of knocking and slowly opened his eyes, struggling to see from the brightness of the yellow. It wasn't even his choice that the room was this bright, his dad had painted yellow when he was born. Recently, it seems to have become bright enough to blind anyone that looked directly at it.

"Will! It's time for supper." Kayla said from behind the door, the sound of feet stomping down steps was heard soon after. A grin appeared on the blonde's face as he looked in the mirror, the expression quickly fading.

"I don't remember changing" he mumbled before opening his door and walking down the steps. He found Austin in the middle of draining noodles for spaghetti and Kayla setting plates. The smile had already reappeared as he started to help, making sure there were enough cups for the three of them.

"You seem to be like yourself again," Kayla regarded, finally taking a seat while Austin brought over the food.

"I don't understand? How was I different?" He asked and placed some noodles onto his plate, grabbing the Alfredo sauce to pour on top.

"Well, you cursed out a teacher according to Piper and Jason," Austin said before taking a bite of his food, leaving Will to stare at him like he was insane.

"No....i didn't...I never have?" He was confused and staring at Kayla.

"If dunt kow iff igs two," she responded, her mouth full of food.

"Please don't talk with your mouthful and it has to be false." There was no way he switched bodies with a New Yorker.

"Whatever you say, anyways are you guys ready for the meteor shower on Friday?" Austin said with excitement as Kayla nodded her head. The two continued to discuss while Will ate his food, was it real? He didn't even remember the other's name. It seemed most likely to be true and he was going to have to lay down some ground rules. First off, don't curse out a fucking teacher!