Chapter 7
seven
Monty is running his fucking mouth again.
“Your mom’s pussy is so hairy, I came out with burs in my socks.” He snorts, shoveling roast beef down his gullet. The gravy drips off his butt chin.
I keep my focus on my peaches. Though one eye wanders to where the new girl creeps in, looking pale and skinnier than a couple of days ago. She should’ve kept her mouth shut. That’s what they punish most.
“First of all, you were here last night, Monty.” Felix shoves his glasses up his nose. I know he’s not defending me or my mother. He just loves to correct everyone. “Secondly, why would you wear socks while you’re fucking his mom?”
Monty chews slowly as he considers an answer. “Maybe she likes it when I do.”
“Maybe? That means you didn’t actually do it, did you?”
“No.” He snorts and shovels another bite in. With a full, gaping mouth, he chuckles. “But his sister didn’t say no.”
I’m so tired. If I’d known almost killing a kid after I stole that Corvette would lead me here for four summers? I would have told them to put me in prison instead. These pricks are boring as fuck.
“Shit. I think I see my next lay.”
Monty’s block head whips toward the new girl, Ashlyn. The one I love to call baby, just to watch her freckled cheeks flame red with fury.
Something about Monty’s attention on her makes my skin hot.
“That girl’s just a kid,” Felix says, shaking his head.
“So?”
Felix’s nose scrunches. “Guess we know what you’re in for.”
I down my milk and keep my face steady as Monty stands up, heading back to the food line as if he’s going for seconds.
But he times it so that Ashlyn’s green tray hits his just in front of the desserts.
She reaches for the brownies, and he snags it first, then says something that makes her blink up at him several times.
My pulse pounds harder as I watch the two of them to see what will happen. A few of the other kids casually glance their way, but most smart ones keep their heads down.
“He’s fucking gross. I’m out of here.” Felix says, taking his tray to the dish room.
Ashlyn reaches for a piece of cake, but Monty stops her, placing his hand over hers. She rears back and slaps the shit out of his face, then shoves his chest. The tiny creature just wallops on him, like she’s invincible.
The counselors are already aiming for her, yelling, “Control yourself!” One grabs her shoulders so she has to leave the big guy alone.
And that’s it.
I’m out of my seat and strolling straight for Monty. As soon as I’m within arm’s reach, I let loose a jab to his jaw, then an uppercut. He stumbles back, and I snag his brownie and hand it to Ashlyn.
Her eyes widen, but she takes it just as a few of the counselors grab my arms and wrestle me away from her.
The gasps throughout the room are music to my ears. I use my heels to slow their progress as they drag me backwards. But I get one arm free.
Enough so that I press a kiss to my fingers, then wave them at Ashlyn and yell, “That’s for you, baby girl! Enjoy it!”
As they force me outside, she smiles. It makes me warm inside. Especially when she takes a bite of the brownie.
After eating and relaxing for an hour in the student center, I head toward Harvey’s house. The guards open the doors and usher me into his wood-paneled office.
I bow before President Harvey, who welcomes me with a friendly smile. The warm autumn sun streams through the windows behind him, glinting off a purple amethyst gnu paperweight as it sits on top of his desk. It’s the same gem the enforcers wear.
“Tenebris unitas.” I greet him with our Theta call.
“Tenebris vocantur.”
Hmm, this must mean he has a task for me.
With a wave of his palm, he indicates I should sit. I’ve always liked Harvey. He’s pragmatic. Likes to get the job done. Smart.
Plus…there’s something behind his steady brown eyes that makes me think he knows more than he lets on.
“You wanted to meet, sir? I’m here for you.”
“Bonum datur oboedienti, Mr. Cardell. And you are well deserving. Therefore, today you’re bestowed favor.”
We usually converse in traditional Latin, and he’s told me that goodness is granted to those who are obedient.
“Gratias ago,” I say, thanking him.
He doesn’t need to know that my conformity isn’t piety. It’s strategy. And I never sacrifice something I’m not willing to give up.
“One of the finest presidents of Theta we’ve had.
You handled giving us the tapes from Terror Tuesday without anyone becoming alert.
You smoothed over the latest…issues with aplomb until no one had questions.
And I suspect you have a plan to win the points for your upcoming game on the following Wednesday. ”
I nod. “I do.” Card counting, heavy-weighted balls replacing the regular ones, paying off dealers… DPA doesn’t have the kind of money TRZ has.
“Fantastic. I won’t ask what those strategies are, but I’m sure your brilliant mind has come up with some good ones.”
An irritating itch arises inside me, and I freeze to keep from fidgeting with impatience. He hasn’t gotten to his point yet. Unless it’s to tell me not to institute my cheat system…
Using two fingers, he slides a red envelope toward me.
The back holds a dried black seal with the number 9 embossed on it.
“This is…not from the Board of Trustees. We felt it was best to handle it internally. I don’t think you’ll object.
But your father can be a little weary if he’s not actively making decisions about yours and your brother’s futures. ”
“I understand, sir.”
It must be my appointment. Let’s see who the poor woman is whom I get to drown in my blanket of apathy daily.
When I open it and look at the name, I simply nod.
“Thoughts?” President Harvey asks with his black eyebrows raised.
“No, sir. Thank you for giving me an appointed. Truly, an honor.”
“The Dean was rather, let’s say, insistent that you be wed to his daughter.”
“Dean Twinston will make an excellent father-in-law. The College of Health Sciences is run efficiently, and his daughter, Hailey, is well versed in the sacred laws of the Seven.”
President Harvey pauses for a long while without blinking. His fingers drum on the desktop as he dips his head lower to gaze into my eyes with an intimidating look. “But if you have objections…”
“None, sir.”
“Okay, then. Thank you, Mr. Cardell. You’re free to go.”
As my hand hits the doorknob, he calls out in a hushed voice, “Tenebris invicti.”
Darkness is invincible… Now, why would he say that?
Befuddled, I tilt my head for a moment and consider him as he leans over the papers on his desk. The only change on his face is a grin, hidden as he shuffles a wooden puzzle on his desk.
I don’t second-guess myself. I don’t revisit choices. Once I decide something, it’s done. Final. That certainty has been one of my defining traits.
Except now there’s a slip of paper in my pocket that feels heavier than it should. Proof that I was wrong about one thing.
I thought I wouldn’t care who I was appointed to. I told myself it wouldn’t matter. That I wouldn’t feel anything at all.
As I step into the white light outside, the certainty I walked in with doesn’t follow me. The president. The process. My own indifference. None of it sits right anymore.
My thoughts splinter—images and memories I didn’t invite clawing their way in. An ache settles deep in my chest when a flash of freckles and gold crosses my mind. I don’t understand it.
But I know this: There’s no fucking way I’m staying appointed to Hailey Twinston.