Sonder: A Solangelo Story

Chapter 8

Keeping the trip hidden from Will seemed like an impossible task. First off, they switched three more times. Secondly, It was now Friday and Rachel was shitty at keeping her mouth shut. It felt like with every opportunity she got she would mention it.

"Oh, Nico! Does Will like chocolate chip?"

"Hey Nico! Can we go a day early?"

"Nics! I have the cutest outfit you could wear" Which had ended up with him in a black skull sweater with skinny jeans and a pair of blue space sneakers. When the word was finally washed off, Nico walked out of Rachel's bathroom and to the launch pad. The redhead had decided to wear a silky green dress herself and was sitting in the back of her father's copter, smiling as Nico climbed inside "Welp, you look ready! So where in Kansas is it exactly?" She yelled over the motor blades.

"I think it was called Lecompton?" He responded, tapping his chin while recieving a wide-eyed look from Rachel. Was the response weird? The pilot seemed to accept the destination and started to ascend. Well, it didn't matter anymore as he fiddled with the edges of his sweater.

Honestly, he wanted to be texting on his phone but heard that electronic devices interfere with the planes software so, he just watched the ground. From up above it was hard to tell what anything was from above. The ocean looked like a pond that Kayla drove them to on Monday and buildings seemed to be nothing more than lego block.

"Awesome, Huh?!" She asked with a large grin, but it felt a bit false and insincere. He didn't really understand how her mood could suddenly shift. It actually gave him a bit of anxiety about the flight. Was the pilot okay? Were they about to crash? Why weren't Percy and Annabeth here?

"Yeah.....sure? Um...Where is Percy?" He asked, keeping his eyes on her face to avoid gazing at the ground below. If he just focused on meeting Will in person for the very first time, then nothing should go wrong.

"Oh! They're in a seperate helicopter. I think they might arrive before us but I don't really know. It'll be a few hours before we get there anyways," She said, not even looking at the other while staring out the window. So, maybe they weren't going to crash but why did she seem so sad? Did he do something? No, probably not.

Two hours later and the helicopter slowly landed near another one, a few miles outside of the town. It would be a thirty minute walk but Nico would prefer that over riding in a car. After stepping on the grassy plains of Kansas, Nico's eyes lit up at the sign. He was almost there, almost able to see Will!

"NICO!" A familiar male voice called before he could ran off causing him to turn and glare at Percy.

"What?!" He snapped, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Wait, we'll leave together." Percy responded as Nico shook his head, continuing towards the town. His blood was rushing, his palms were sweaty and he felt a bit dazed. The voices of his friends starting to fade the closer to the town he got.

At this point, he was actually imaging what it would be like to see Will for the first time. His blonde hair, that optimistic smile he has in pictures and those beautiful blue eyes that pierced his heart. Yeah, he had fallen in love with a male he only knew through whatever supernatural force was occurring but it's not his fault that Will had amazing genes. It's whatever attractive god's, that this tan male was related to, fault. He's just too good looking to be a normal human.

Soon, Nico was lightly jogging towards his destination with a very large and sincere grin on his face. Normally, he would be exhausted after five minutes of running but with the anxiety of meeting Will building up in his chest he couldn't wait.

20 minutes later, he saw the school in the distance and grinned before practically sprinting. Though he regretted it soon after, his expression faltering as he stared at the crater behind the building.

"No....no, no....there...there's supposed to be a town and....Will...." he then looked at his phone as Percy came up from behind. Where were his messages? Tears started to brim the edges of his eyes as he crumbled on his knees, his breath shaky.

".....Im sorry, I...I tried to tell you but you ran off...." he murmured and crouched down to rub Nico's back. "I googled his name on the way here.....Will died two years ago"

Two years ago?! How was that even possible? He was just inside his body two days ago. The news made him take another shaky breath as the tears continued to role down. This was a joke? A game that Will...no, he wouldn't have done that. He was kind, optimistic and a friend to all. He was also dead, dead because he had been at home. "I....I loved him"

"Hey...hey, Nico. You were just catfished. It's okay, we'll find the as-"

"SHUT UP! JUST SHUT THE FUCK UP JACKSON! YOU DON'T KNOW ANYTHING!" He yelled back, watching the other's eyes grow wide before he started to run off. Where was he going? Anywhere besides here, anywhere besides where that boy had lived and died. Shit, what was him? What was his goddamn name?! It started with a W right? Nico honestly didn't know anymore as he tripped over a rock and ended up on the ground, the burning tears being too much for him.

It was clear to him now, whatever God did exist was an asshole to him specifically.  First killing his sister then making him fall in love with a dead male, did the world really hate him?

"What did I ever do t-to deserve this......Why does the universe fucking hate me?!" He cried into the dirt, gripping the grass between his fingers. "I fucking loved him!"