"Where the hell is Lucio…" I looked at the clock and it said 5 PM. I had already checked everywhere upstairs, but he was nowhere to be found. "Did he go downstairs?" I asked myself.
"..."
"You've done it again, Nico." I laughed. It was a painful laugh.
I remembered what it was, it came back to me.
"That guard bit him. The guard killed him."
I realized it.
"..."
"I got my friend killed…" I banged my head against the wall at every syllable I uttered.
The door I was standing next to opened.
"Nico?" Someone said,
"L-Lucio?!" I looked up at who said it.
It wasn't Lucio nor my friend.
It was a teacher. Her left arm was covered in bandages. She was in pain, but she stood up and hugged me. "Nico…" It was my PE teacher, Ms. Isabela Alvarado. She was holding a hammer in her right hand.
"W-what are you holding?" I asked.
"A hammer, what else?" She answered me straight. "I hit that guard who attacked that student square in the face-" She said while trying to lift the hammer with her wounded arm, but failing. "W-wait… You killed the g-guard?!" I asked her. "Y-yup! It was in self-defense anyway, that'll probably hold up in a court of law, right?" She answered me gleefully.
"Well, I'm looking for someone." I declared. "Who might that be?" Ms. Isabela asked. "Lucio, my friend. You should help." I dragged her off to follow me to the cafeteria. She had a hammer, so I thought she could put it to good use.
It was dark, and I was scared. Those bleeding people weren't here anymore. I thought they must've left or something, since there's no one else to bite here.
We walked to the end of the cafeteria. I found him there.
Lucio was sitting near an open window. The wind was blowing his hair about, and his legs were over the other side. His hands were grasping onto the frame.
"S-stop!" I shouted at him. Lucio looked at me.
"Nico?" He asked, confused. "Why did you look for me?"
"Because it's almost night, and I couldn't f-find you…"
Lucio looked away from me. The sun was just about to set, and he was staring at the sky. "I don't get it." He said as slammed his fist in anger.
"I don't get how you can be so mature a-and just move on. How you can just make a plan on the spot and ask me for a favor so easily! I-I don't get it at all! I'm not like you! Okay?! I'm sorry I can't act like nothing happened!"
I walked closer to him, as if wanting to say sorry, but she interrupted me. "Hey… It's Lucio, right?" Ms. Isabela asked him as he glanced back at her.
"Yeah."
"Listen. We're not acting like nothing's changed; everything's changed! This is life or death! Nico's sorry that he made you feel like nothing's changed at all, everything has."
"*sniffle*"
Lucio looked back at me and smiled. "Yeah… I understand, " he said, wiping his tears. He put his feet back on the ground, and then he collapsed. He couldn't hold back his tears. I went to him, sat down, and hugged him. I let him cry. Ms. Isabela patted Lucio on the head as his tears fell. "You're wasting your energy. I'll be fine." He said, as if trying to push us away-even if those tears were still pouring.
"It's only fair to cry at a time like this," I said.