December 20 | Friday #14
After picking up an application form, Will walked on, wondering if he should fill it out.
It wouldn’t cost him anything, after all.
Worst case scenario, they’d decide he was unsuitable and toss his application, just like they did with the vast majority of candidates.
No shame in that, and there was always a chance it might work out.
He remembered Danny’s words: Guys like you and me don’t stand a chance.
They’ll handpick the top two percent of students with the highest grades in fields that interest them, make them offers, and that’ll be it.
After a moment’s thought, he concluded that his friend was right.
Not wanting to waste any more time, he ripped the application apart and threw the pieces into a nearby trash can.
“Mr. Morgan.”
Will turned at the sound of his name. He expected to see a teacher, but standing before him was Nathaniel Kubrick himself.
“Good afternoon. My name is—”
“Nathaniel Kubrick,” Will blurted out involuntarily, still in shock. “I know. I’m sorry,” he corrected himself a moment later, realizing he had rudely interrupted the man and hadn’t even returned his greeting. “Good afternoon.”
“Could I have a moment of your time?”
“Of course.”
Will had no idea what such an influential man could want with him. And how on earth did he know his name?
“I saw you circling our booth. Were you planning to submit an application?”
“Uh… Yes,” Will admitted slowly, wondering if Kubrick had seen him tear up and throw away the form. He felt self-conscious. “I was thinking about it, but I came to the conclusion that you’re probably not looking for someone like me.”
“On the contrary, Mr. Morgan,” Kubrick countered, to his surprise.
“I wanted to personally inform you that submitting an application won’t be necessary, as you’ve been identified as one of our preferred candidates.
In addition to reviewing applications, we have other selection methods that led us to you. ”
“To me?” Will asked, uncertain. Maybe Kubrick had made a mistake?
“Yes. Exactly,” the man confirmed with a smile. “Are you interested?”
“Yes, of course!” Will replied immediately, but then doubts washed over him again. “It’s just that I don’t understand why I was chosen. I don’t have the best grades.”
“If school grades were the measure of ability, this world would be run exclusively by people who graduate from universities with the highest honors. Meanwhile, those who get the furthest most often have a narrow area of specialization. That’s what we’re looking for.”
The thing was, Will didn’t have any area of specialization.
“I see,” he replied slowly. ““But I don’t know much about the hard sciences. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I’m interested in the labs, machines, and that sort of thing, but I don’t have any talent in that area.
I’m more of a humanities type,” he admitted, somewhat helplessly, painfully aware that he was an average humanities type at best.
“What field do you plan to graduate in?”
“I was thinking about psychology,” Will blurted out, as it was the first thing that came to mind.
“Excellent. I’m sure you’ll be able to develop your aptitudes with us.”
“Really?” Will was still having trouble believing any of this.
“Of course. Our organization isn’t just built on scientific minds. We employ people with a variety of talents, and I believe you will be a good fit.”
Will smiled, stunned by the honor.
“Thank you.”
“We’ll take care of all the formalities during your first visit to the company. How about tomorrow at four? You’ll be done with classes by then?”
“Yes,” Will assured him excitedly. “I’ll be there.”
“Excellent.” Kubrick gave him a smile, then pulled a business card from his jacket pocket and handed it to him. “If you have any doubts, please don’t hesitate to call.”
“Of course.”
They said their goodbyes. Kubrick walked on, and Will stood right where he was, shocked by what had just happened.
He was grinning happily, thinking about how lucky he was.
His smile faded, however, when he looked up and saw Blake standing nearby.
Alden was staring at him icily, and when their eyes met, he growled, “Get over here.”
Seeing Will move, Blake stepped into a nearby classroom. Will joined him a moment later. Alden closed the door.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” he seethed.
“What are you talking about?” Will shot back, confused.
“Why did you agree to that internship?”
“And why wouldn’t I? It’s KC.”
“Yes, it’s KC,” Blake repeated mockingly. “The place where they experiment on people. Are you really that stupid?”
Will froze for a brief moment, then snorted in disbelief. It sounded like some idiotic conspiracy theory.
“That’s absurd.”
“Sure, absurd. Just like vampires, werewolves, and a wannabe-wizard who messes with electricity,” Alden retorted, giving him a disdainful look. “Not so long ago, you had no idea about any of this, so spare me your absurd and just accept what I’m saying, because I, unlike you, know the situation.”
“So what? In your opinion, they offered me an internship to experiment on me?”
“What other reason could they have? What great talent did Nathaniel Kubrick discover in you that he decided to come down here personally? Enlighten me, because I don’t recall you distinguishing yourself with anything other than causing short circuits.
Are you really such an idiot that you couldn’t figure it out? ”
The words stung.
“Yes, I’m an idiot!” Will snarled uncontrollably. “I’m an idiot because I agreed to an internship at fucking KC. Forgive me for not being able to match the intelligence of a spoiled vampire who could buy half the mall and not even feel it. You don’t have to worry about your future. I do.”
“Then you’d better not work there, because it won’t be rosy,” Blake replied dryly.
Will had a sincere urge to scream at Blake what he thought of him, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that somewhere in the middle of it he would start crying from anger, which would be an exceptionally pathetic sight.
So he threw on the jacket he’d been holding and ran out of the classroom, slamming into Liam, who was standing right outside the door.
He gave him a critical look, then bolted for the exit.
A moment later, he was outside, and if he hadn’t grabbed the nearby railing, he’d be tumbling down the stairs—he had slipped on his untied shoelaces.
He took a sharp breath of the cold air and sat on the first step to tie his shoe.
His hands were shaking, so much so that he couldn’t do it properly and ended up creating an impressively large knot.
Cursing quietly, he yanked at it in frustration.
He heard someone come out of the school.
“Hey,” Liam said, stopping beside him.
“I don’t want to talk,” Will grumbled without looking up.
“Mhm. On a scale of one to ten, your anger at Blake is a solid… eight and a half. Yep. I’m sure of it.”
Will glared at him, irritated.
“Very funny,” he hissed.
“I know he pissed you off, but he’s right.”
“So you were listening?”
“I wasn’t listening, but I heard. That’s what happens when you have sensitive hearing.”
“And you’re standing right outside the door,” Will added sourly.
The corner of Liam’s mouth lifted into a slight smile.
“That, too.”
“He’s an asshole,” Will snarled in frustration, still struggling with his damn shoelaces.
“He is.”
“A complete asshole.”
“Mhm.”
“The worst of the worst.”
“Let’s not get carried away, there are worse.”
Liam crouched down on the step below him, sorted out the knot in about five seconds, and then neatly tied his shoe. Will turned red.
“Thanks,” he grumbled, with a hint of resentment. “That’s just what I needed. Not only am I a talentless idiot, but I’m not even a functional adult.”
Liam straightened up, looking amused.
“Let’s walk,” he suggested. “It’s cold.”
“For you, maybe,” Will assessed, eyeing him. He at least had a jacket on. Liam had come out into the freezing cold in just a hoodie.
“No, I feel fine, but you’re going to freeze your ass off, and that probably won’t be pleasant. Mr. Surfer would be devastated.”
A shadow of a smile appeared on Will’s lips. He stood up. They walked down the stairs, then headed toward the sports field.
“KC is a bad option,” Liam stated.
“I know. I got it. If someone had told me earlier, I would have reacted differently, but I had no idea.”
For a long moment, they walked in complete silence.
“How can you be friends with him?” Will finally asked. “Seriously, how do you manage to put up with him?”
“Years of getting used to it,” Liam replied with a shrug. “The longer you’re around him, the less his comments affect you. We live close to each other, so we practically grew up together.”
“Ah.” Will gave a sour smile. “So he only respects his neighbors. You and Abby.”
“Abby is more than a neighbor. They’re cousins.”
“Really?” Will asked, astonished.
“Yep. On Blake’s mother’s side.”
“But Abby’s not a vampire,” Will said, remembering Norma mentioning that the vampirism gene was always dominant.
“She isn’t. Blake’s mother is human. You didn’t know?”
Will looked at him, shocked.
“Of course I didn’t know! And I seriously feel sorry for her if she has to listen to his bullshit about subspecies and pig comparisons every day.”
Liam chuckled.
“She doesn’t. Blake is a total mama’s boy, he’d never say something like that to her.”
“Blake? A mama’s boy?” Will repeated in disbelief.
“Total,” Liam emphasized again.
Will started to laugh. He appreciated how easily Liam had distracted him from his negative thoughts. Now he couldn’t even be that angry at Blake, because whenever he thought of him, he tried to picture him as a well-behaved little boy, nodding along to whatever his mother said.
“I’m sorry for calling you a wolf,” Will said at one point. “Back when I was arguing with Blake,” he added, as Liam looked at him questioningly. “You must have heard. He said it was offensive, and I’ve been meaning to apologize, but I didn’t really know how to bring it up.”
“It’s cool.”