Absolute Mortality

Chapter 3

A/N: So I'm not going to do these POV's in any specific order. As the events play out, I'll just choose the person whose POV fits best. So sorry if you're anxious to see your favorite character's POV.

It's the weekend so I've got nothing going on. Should give me a lot of time to write.

Also, I know. They keep getting shorter and shorter. Sorry about that. As we get deeper into the story, we should have longer chapters then.

And again, if you have new title ideas, throw them at me.

When I got up to room 218 on the fifth floor, I was surprised to find the door unlocked. I opened it and stepped inside to find two sets of living areas. I hadn't know that I'd be having a roommate.

"Who are you?" a cautious voice asked. I hadn't noticed a boy setting in a chair in front of the desk on the left side of the room He stood and faced me.

The boy had shaggy black hair as if he'd just gotten out of bed and pale skin. His face might have been handsome, but his dark brown eyes were cold and distant. He was clearly depressed, or just deeply sad at the moment. He was really skinny.

He was wearing a dark aviator jacket that was covering an extremely deep purple shirt with a skull design on it. His pants were black jeans with a chain laced through the belt loops instead of a belt. On his left middle finger was a silver skull ring that I suspected had a little more meaning than it just being a random fashion choice.

"I guess I'm your new roommate," I said to him. I extended my hand out to him. "Percy Jackson."

He shook my hand hesitantly. "Nico Di Angelo. The right side of the room is yours." With that, he sat down at his desk and began writing, no, drawing something.

I wanted to get some more conversation out of him but decided now wasn't the time.

I examined my surroundings before setting my stuff on my bed and sorting through it.

The nightstand next to my bed was pretty big so I was able to fit all my pants and shirts in the bottom drawer and all underwear and socks in the top. I took out my hoodie and hung it on a hook above my desk then hung my backpack right next to it.

My laptop was at the bottom of the suitcase. I took it out and set it on my desk and ran the cord into the wall.

Finally, I plugged in my phone charger to the outlet near my nightstand and plugged my phone in.

I opened my laptop and signed in. I was about to go to YouTube when I remembered that I wasn't alone. I'd have to go off campus and buy a pair of headphones this weekend.

I closed my laptop and debated over what I wanted to do today. I eventually decided that I would go down to the gym and work out a little bit, but wasn't sure if that was allowed so I fingered through my student manual.

I didn't find any rules strictly prohibiting it, but I thought I'd ask Nico just to be sure.

"Er, Nico?" I said tentatively.

He flinched ever so slightly. Clearly he wasn't used to hearing his name spoken too often.

"Yeah?" he said.

"Are there any restrictions on where we're allowed to go during the day?"

"I don't think so, as long as it's within campus."

"So I won't be yelled at for going to the gym?"

"You shouldn't. There's always at least a couple kids over there."

"Cool, thanks. Seeya later, man." I grabbed my phone off of my nightstand left the room.

It was about a four minute walk to get to the gym from mine and Nico's dorm.

I walked to the front door of the building and pulled it open. Sure enough, the lights were on and there were a couple other kids on some of the exercise machines, and quite a few just standing around talking.

I looked at all the machines there and only knew what about half of them did. I decided I'd try out the equipment another day and just settled for finding a clear stretch of floor and alternating between fifty pushups and fifty situps.

After about an hour of that, I left the gym and ran maybe ten laps around the track, I didn't keep count.

I wanted to take a shower after I was done, but I didn't have a towel or soap with me. I figured body spray would get me through the rest of the day then I can shower right before I went to bed.

When I got back to my dorm, Nico wasn't there. I looked at his desk to see a completed drawing. It was a very well drawn image of a pretty girl whose head rested on her hand. I noticed that she had on the same silver skull ring Nico wears. She had a floppy hat on but it was angled up so her face was clearly visible.

The more I looked at it, the more I realized that she looked very similar to Nico. I assumed this must be his sister.

I pulled my phone out of my pocket and lied down on my bed.

A couple minutes later, Nico came back and sat down at his desk again.

Before I could stop myself, I blurted out, "You're a really good artist."

He looked over at me. His eyes looked angry for a split second before replaced by discomfort. Perhaps he wasn't used to getting compliments. "Thanks," is all he said.

"Is that your sister?" I asked.

He stayed silent for a while before finally saying, "Yes. Her name's Bianca. She— she died three years ago."

I could hear the pain in his voice and suddenly several things became a lot clearer to me. His dark and distant attitude was a defense mechanism. It shielded him from the pain he burried deep inside.

"I'm sorry," I said.

"It's fine." It clearly wasn't fine. "It was three years ago." The way he talked about her, it may as well have been yesterday.

I knew him hiding in his shell like this wasn't healthy, but we'd only just met. I'd be overstepping my bounds to press further on the subject.

"So what else do like to draw?" I asked. He looked grateful for the change of subject.

"Swords and other weapons as well as skulls and zombies, mainly." He slid open his drawer and drew out a stack of papers and handed them to me.

The top paper had a human skull drawn on it. It looked as if he were going for the photo-realistic effect and came pretty close.

I slipped that one to the bottom of the stack and examined the nest one. It was a female zombie that had its head on backwards and blood dripping from the outstretched fingertips.

I flipped through them all, looking at medieval swords, daggers and some very creative skull and zombie designs. Every once in awhile there'd be another picture of Bianca. Some had color, others didn't.

The further I went through the pile though, the more the quality seemed to decrease. I assumed this stack was everything he'd drawn since he first took up art.

At one point there was a space gun, at which Nico promptly said, "I was trying out the sci-fi style. It isn't for me."

I finally got back to the photo-realistic skull and handed Nico back the stack.

"You're amazing," I said. Nico's face was slightly less pale for a second. This must have been the closest thing to blushing that he could do.

"Well, I had a lot of practice," he said. There was an awkward silence for a couple seconds.

Having had been rewarded for opening up to me about his art, he tried to continue the conversation.

"So, what do you like to do?"

"I workout when I'm stressed. I also had a skateboard back at home."

"You like to skateboard?"

"I did. My mom got it for me when I was ten. I even gave it a name, Riptide, because of the water designs on the bottom of it. Eventually it was too small for me. I ended up breaking it."

"You never got another one?"

"Nope. I asked for one right after it broke, but they forgot to carry through with it and I just simply didn't bother asking again."

"Why not?"

"I don't know. I don't like asking for things. It makes me feel awkward, like I'm being greedy. I didn't want to seem to needy to ask for it a second time."

"I get it. My parents don't have too much money, either."

"I didn't say we were poor," I said before I could stop myself. "Never mind," I added hurriedly. "Go on."

"Anyway," he said while giving me a suspicious look. "Every time I ask for something I have to mentally prepare myself, because I think I'm being selfish." He reached on his desk and picked up a white paper stump. "It took me an entire day to build up the courage to ask for this."

"How much was it?"

He laughed. It was a genuine outburst of pure mirth, something that appeared foreign on him. "Just a couple of bucks. Stupid, right?"

I chuckled along with him.

Given time, I think we can become friends.

The next day, Nico and I headed down to the football field together.

As we exited the dorm building, Grover caught up to us.

"Hey, Percy, Nico," he said. "Mind if I tag along?"

"Hi Grover," Nico said. It appeared they were on friendly terms.

"What's up, man?" I said.

The three of us talked all the way up the bleachers.

When we were half way up, I noticed four girls sitting next to each other. The one on the end was blond with stormy grey eyes. She was incredibly pretty. So were the other three, but she was the most beautiful in my opinion.

I noticed she was looking at me. Our eyes met for a split second before she noticed I caught her and she looked away.

About five seats below them, Grover hurriedly ushered me and Nico onto an empty bench.

I looked at Nico who now had a scowl om his face. I glanced at Grover who shook his head and mouthed the word, later.

After the assembly was over, Nico, Grover, and I hung out near the track. Grover and Nico weren't too into running so we just walked.

After about half an hour of talking and joking around, Nico split off and it was just Grover and I.

"What was up with Nico at the assembly?" I asked.

"You saw that girl with the choppy black hair and blue eyes?" Grover said.

I racked my brain. I hadn't paid too much attention to the other three, but I did recall the girl he was talking about.

"Yeah," I said.

"Her name's Thalia Grace. She was friends with Nico's sister."

"Bianca."

"That's her. She died in a car wreck three years back because of a drunk driver in another car. Thalia was the one driving their car, so Nico blames her."

"That's stupid, it wasn't her fault."

"Yeah, but try not to say that to him."

"We can't get the two to talk?"

"We've tried, Annabeth and I. Nico just ends up yelling at her."

"Who's Annabeth?"

"The blond."

"You two are friends?"

"Yeah, kind of. We're secondary friends, I guess you'd call it."

"Ah. What about Thalia and the other two?"

"First name basis."

We stood in silence for a couple seconds.

"I want to run," I said at last. "You gonna join?"

Grover contemplated for a second. "Sure."

I took off at full speed around the track, Grover surprisingly close behind. After sprinting a full lap, we slowed to a walk.

"I thought you weren't into running," I said to Grover.

"I said I didn't like to. Never said I wasn't good."

We walked half a lap. "Ready for another go?"