12. Trinity
Chapter 12
Trinity
Morning prayers ran shorter than yesterday. Despite my meeting with Father Gabriel, I get to the dining hall way ahead of everyone else. Since I don’t know when Jasper’s arriving, I decide to lurk in the corner close to the urns and have a cup of coffee. Which means I’m alone with the blond-haired film student when he wheels out a trolley full of breakfast trays.
At first, he doesn’t see me.
The coffee must give me a spark of courage, because by the time he’s done unpacking the food trolley, I march across the hall and come up behind him.
I open my mouth, but he beats me to it.
“Nice dress,” he drawls. “Really brings out your eyes.”
I freeze to the spot. Nice dress ? This fabric is so stiff I could prop it up in my closet—no need for a hanger.
“Why do you keep filming me?”
“Filming you?” He turns, watching me for a second from the corner of his eye. I take back what I said before—he is handsome, perhaps because of his sharp nose and blade-like cheekbones. It makes him look like a fox, especially when he narrows his honey-brown eyes. “Now why’d I do that?”
“That’s what I’d like to know.”
“D’you really think you’re that pretty?” He sets down the tray he was holding and turns to face me. When he steps forward, I step back on automatic. “Or are you just that vain?”
Now I’m regretting walking over here. I thought I’d have the upper hand, but?—
Without warning, the guy tucks a stray curl behind my ear. When his fingertips brush my cheek, they leave behind a static charge that’s both terrifying and exhilarating.
“Stop filming me or I’ll report you.”
The guy narrows his eyes again. “Who you gonna tell?”
My mind scrambles to the scariest person in this place. “Sister Miriam,” I say, jutting my chin into the air. “She won’t stand for it.”
“What if she’s the one who told me to film you in the first place?” He reaches for me again, and this time I take two steps back.
By now, boys are starting to file into the dining hall. Thankfully, one of them is Perry. The blond guy glances toward the doorway and then back at me. “I got work to do, pretty thing,” he drawls through a wicked smile. “I’ll catch hell if you distract me much longer.”
He hurriedly offloads the rest of the trays and pushes the trolley away without looking back. I start after him, but then stop. I don’t have the guts to demand his name. I mean, I barely stood my ground.
I grab a tray and hover around the table until Perry comes up to get one too. He spotted me from the doorway already. When he gets close, he moves around like a skittish deer, as if he’s convinced I’m going to go for his throat.
“Morning!”
He flinches. “Hey.”
“Sleep well?”
“What do you want?” he asks, frowning at me as he grabs a tray and steps back. Did I look like that when I was dodging the blond-haired guy? Like a nervous rabbit facing off with a wolf?
I’m such a wuss.
Here I am, minutes after the provost tells me how remarkable I am, and I can barely hold a conversation?
Screw that.
I’ve been in the passenger seat for way too long while some anonymous driver takes me from point A to point B. Time to take the wheel.
“I wanted to thank you,” I tell him.
He glances back warily when I trail him to his seat. I sit beside him before he has a chance to object, and a moment later another kid boxes him in on the other side.
“What for?”
“I really think I can help Jasper.” I lay my hand on top of Perry’s. “I want to help him. And if I can, and he passes, then he’s got you to thank for it.”
Perry stares at me for a second as if I’ve totally caught him off guard.
“What the hell are you doing here?”
Perry snatches away his hand and ducks his head. I turn and beam up at Jasper. “Waiting for you, silly.” I point at the empty space opposite us. “I want to talk to you about something.”
Jasper growls out something that could have been a curse—was definitely a curse—but he sits anyway, wincing the last inch of the way as if he can’t bear the thought of spending breakfast with me.
“So talk,” he says, taking a noisy sip from his cup without making eye contact.
“I need a student to tutor. Do you know anyone that needs help?”
Jasper frowns at me, and then moves that look to Perry. “No,” he says. “Ask the teachers.”
“Oh, right!” I snap my fingers and point at him. “Of course. Why didn’t I think of that?”
Because I don’t want to teach just any kid. Jasper doesn’t like me, but he seems bright enough. I want to show Father Gabriel I can do this so I’ll aim for some low hanging fruit first. Plus, if I can get him to stop treating me like shit while I’m still his roommate, it would make my life that much easier.
Two birds, one stone.
Jasper scrapes his spoon through his oatmeal for a few seconds. I slurp at my coffee and take a bite of my toast, happy to shut up and wait.
I don’t think he’s going to go for it, when he suddenly asks, “Will it get me out of swimming practice?”
“Will what?” I ask through a mouthful of toast. I know I’m pushing it, but I need him to think this is his idea.
“Extra classes.”
“What, for you? You need extra classes?”
“You said you need practice.”
“I do.” I drop my toast and dust my hands. “Yeah, I guess I could do a few with you. Just while I figure things out. What do you need help with? Is it math? I could def?—”
“English,” Jasper cuts in.
I nod, frowning a little. “Okay. Let’s do it.” I hold out my fist.
He stares at it until I put it back in my lap. “See you at three,” he says.
I salute him with my mug of coffee.
And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how it’s done.
I don’t risk pissing off Jasper by joining him at lunch. Instead, I sit off to one side and munch on a slightly soggy cheese and tomato sandwich while I steal glimpses at the rows of boys. Sister Miriam pops in on our meals as randomly as if she’s doing a spot check. The boys seem to have developed a sixth sense around it. Seconds before the dining room doors or kitchen doors swing open, the entire hall hushes.
As soon as Miriam’s walked up and down a few times, she leaves. Seconds later, noise levels return to normal.
Maybe I can get the hang of this place. It can’t be that hard—not if all these boys manage to coexist.
I don’t have Psych today, and that suits me fine. If I did, I’d probably sprain my ankle on the way to Zachary’s class and arrive late…again. Heaven knows what penance he’ll assign me.
Is he the kind of teacher that would go old school and draw me over his knee? I don’t think that shit’s allowed anymore, but Jasper didn’t look like he was kidding about getting lashes.
I head to my room just before three. I don’t want Jasper to wait for me in case he loses his nerve and bails on our first lesson. Honestly, I’m a bit nervous. I paid close attention today in each of my classes, trying to figure out if there was anything specific I needed to do if I was going to start teaching. But nothing really jumped out at me, so I’m going into this blind.
“Not here,” Jasper says as soon as he steps into the room.
“Oh, okay.” I stand up, my notebook and math textbook pressed to my chest. “Then where?—?”
“Library.” He flicks his fingers, and I follow him.
He leads me out the building and across the grounds. I slow down when I realize where he’s headed.
“That’s where the library is?”
“Relax. It’s not haunted or anything.”
“But…”
Who in their right mind puts a library in a cemetery? Thankfully, our path doesn’t lead us too close to the gravesides, but it’s still eerie having to walk within sight of the gravestones.
The inside of the crypt is emptier than I thought. There are some chairs in the center, as if this place is used for bible study groups or AA meetings. Most of the space is filled with columns.
He leads me to the back of the enormous room and then down a circular stairwell. When I clear the stairs, I pause for a second to gape.
This chamber is huge. It’s not in a cross shape like the crypt, so I’m pretty sure it extends beyond the upper building’s walls.
I guess they didn’t have enough dead bodies to put in here, so they decided to use it as a library instead.
Row upon row of books line the walls and form narrow aisles. Closer to the stairwell are two sections with overstuffed chairs and sofas for people to read or study. A few feet away is a podium with a large, leather-bound bible on it. A spotlight set in the ceiling illuminates it. Dust motes disturbed by our presence catch fire in that beam of light.
It’s so quiet down here.
As if the books are all waiting for something…or someone.
I guess the only thing a book ever wants is to be read. It’s sad to think no one ever comes down here—that’s obvious by the film of dust on everything and the staleness in the air. If I ran a place like this, I’d make sure it was clean and filled with curious minds.
“We’ve only got an hour,” Jasper says.
“Sorry.” I run my hands down my thighs, grimacing at the touch of the coarse fabric. “Just…taking it all in.”
He takes a seat on one of the couches and leans back, watching me expectantly. “Do that on your own time.”
I roll my eyes as I take a seat on the chair closest to him.
Lord, I hope this isn’t a big waste of time.