Boys Like Boys [Nico di Angelo]

chapter one

"Good morning, sweetheart," my mother greeted as I walked down the three flights of stairs from my room to the kitchen. I didn't reply. She already knew how I was. "I'm making omelets. Would you like one?"

"Yes please."

She hummed at her work. My mother had a beautiful voice. She would've become a professional singer, but she told me she had given that up when she figured out she was pregnant with me.

Bobby walked down the stairs and glared coldly at me. I stared emotionless back.

"Stop staring at me, little boy," he snapped. His name for me was extremely demeaning, but I had grown used to it. It's not like I could change it.

"Be nice, honey. Please," my mother begged. Bobby just grunted and slumped into the chair straight across from me. My head rested in my palm as I waited for breakfast. "Do Veda, Greyson, or Greg want anything to eat?"

"I dunno," Bobby grumbled, checking his watch. "Can you hurry up? I have to leave for work soon."

"Once I'm done with Calum's breakfast, I'll start with yours, okay?"

"No, that's not okay. Make mine now."

"I've already started Calum's. He likes his differently than you like your's," my mother replied softly.

"Throw it away and start mine," Bobby demanded.

"You're not her father," I replied in a monotone voice. I was tired of him constantly ordering her around.

"Excuse me, little boy? I know you weren't talking to me in that tone of voice," Bobby growled.

"You're not my father either," I told him.

"Excuse me?!"

"Bobby, calm down. Calum, stop, please," my mother said gently.

"Did you just hear what he said to me?!" Bobby practically screeched.

"Yes, I did. And he's right," Veda replied as she walked down the stairs and sat next to me.

"You're siding with the problem child?" Greg laughed as he walked down the stairs and sat next to his father.

"What problem child?" Veda asked. "You?"

"That's enough," my mother said and set down a plate in front of me. It was an omelet filled with cheese and topped with ketchup, siracha sauce, and green bell peppers.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome sweetie," she made a motion like she wanted to kiss my forehead, but stopped. I instantly felt guilty at the pain in her grey-green eyes.

I ate while my mother made breakfast for everyone else. After a while, Bobby left for work and Veda, Greg and Greyson left for school.

My mother sat beside me and sighed.

"Honey, you can't keep antagonizing Bobby," she reminded softly. I sighed.

"I know. But he treats you and I so bad. Why do you stick around?"

My mother took a few seconds to answer.

"I...sometimes he can be very sweet," she said slowly, as if she was trying to hide the lie. "And you and Veda get along really well."

"What was my father like? All you ever said was that he was beautiful and I looked like him. I want to know more," I told her and she looked away. I knew her eyes were brimming with tears.

"He was a very sweet man, Calum. He was on a business trip to San Antonio when I met him."

I was raised in San Antonio until I was six, when my mother met Bobby.

"He was unlike anyone I had ever met before," she continued, smiling to herself. "A very kind man, but always spoke the truth and the harsh realities. He was very honest and I loved that about him. I was walking to work, when he came up to me. He told me that I was very beautiful and that he had never seen anyone like me. Being the seventeen year old I was, I instantly fell in love." She blushed, the dark pink contrasting against her pale skin. "He was very honest with me on the first date. When I was eighteen, he told me he loved me. I said it to him right back. It was true. I loved him very dearly.

"The next events...well, I think you know. A few months later, I found that I was pregnant. I got an ultrasound and it was a beautiful baby boy. I went to tell him, but he already knew. He was so excited and told me that he already loved the baby in my stomach. He wanted to name you Somnus Reyez. I immediately turned it down, but the name grew on me. He fantasized that you'd have my pale skin, his eyes and hair, but my looks." She laughed. "He was wrong. Two months before you were due, he told me that he got a promotion and had to move. We lost contact after that. I believe that he loved you. Probably still does. I hope he still thinks of us," she said, her voice cracking. "You look so much like him, Calum."

"Why'd you change my name?" I asked and she looked surprised that I asked.

"Somnus was too elegant of a name. I wanted something simple and modern."

"So you named me Calum," I continued and she nodded.

"It's much more simpler, don't you agree?" she grinned and I nodded.

"I like it better than Somnus."

"Me too."

---

I walked upstairs to take a shower and looked in the mirror. I had short, wavy black hair and grey eyes that I got from my mother. One was actually grey, with flecks of brown and I hated it. I wanted normal eyes. I wanted something about me to just be normal. My skin had a Hispanic tan and I had a dusting of freckles on my cheeks and the bridge of my nose.

I sighed and took a shower, before putting on a Beatles t-shirt and some random jeans.

I walked downstairs to see my mom on the phone.

"I'm not sending him to that camp! Are you insane?" She paused as if she were listening to what the other person had to say. "Yes, I get that it'll protect him, but I'll never get him back!" She paused again. "No! He's not going unless you send someone to take him and that's final. I'm not changing my mind." Another pause. "You're not sending him to take him. I won't allow it." Pause. "Absolutely not! I don't trust him." I walked over to the table and sat down. She looked back at me and turned away. "I have to go. Goodbye."

She hung up and sat back down.

"Who was that?" I asked.

"An old friend. He recommended a camp for Greyson to go to. I didn't like the idea of it."

"Okay." I looked down at the table, tracing patterns with my finger.

"Let's start your studies. Which do you want to do first?" she asked.

"Can we start with French?" I asked and she smiled.

"You're so good with languages."

It was true. Ever since I started learning English (considering Spanish was my first language) I had been good at memorizing words and verb conjugations. As of right now, I knew Spanish, English, Italian, German and Latin. I was just really good at memorizing languages.

"Alright. So..." and we started my French studies.