Page 31 of Tis the Season to be Bullied

“I mean…he’s getting really bad grades for English Lit. And you’re like two grades up. Maybe you can teach him? I tried, but I’m not good at explaining stuff.”

I have no idea if Icanteach anyone anything. Then again, I’ve never tried. It can’t be all that difficult, right? And since I don’t have a clue what I’m going to do with myself after I graduate, I guess staying here for a year or two to teach would give me time to figure things out.

If I can convince Jasper to let me help him.

That’s going to be the hardest part of all.

Chapter 10

Zach

Gravel crunches under my shoes. With no moon out tonight, this path is as dark as those heading toward the stables and sports ground. This time of night, the students and staff should all be snug inside their beds.

There’s a light fixture outside the crypt, but the bulb’s been busted for months. The tomb isn’t exactly a place students care to go, and even the staff avoid it. Superstition, of course. The only corpses nearby are those in the handful of graves outside in the cemetery.

Warm light spills out when I open the door. Should someone happen to glance out of a window, they could see me enter, but hopefully I wouldn’t be recognizable.

It’s one of many reasons I chose this place for our meetings.

The crypt’s interior is cool and, despite the size of the room, stale.

Until the smell of weed hits my nose.

A double row of columns divide the room into a grid, forming a square in the center.

I don’t know who would ever hold a class or an impromptu sermon in this place, but if they did, it appears the maximum seats allowed would be no more than the dozen inside that sunken square.

Twelve seats

Twelve apostles.

Only three of those seats are taken.

Apollo chuckles as he leans forward, turning his video camera so Cassius can see the playback screen. Reuben’s watching the entrance. He sits up even straighter when I enter the square.

“Christ, I almost feel sorry for her,” Cass says, and then glances up at me. “You took your time, Boss. All good?”

“Never better,” I say as I sink down in the seat closest to Cassius.

“Apollo recorded her,” Reuben says, his voice steeped in disapproval.

“That was the plan.” I hold out a hand for the camera.

“I didn’t know why she went in there,” Apollo drawls through a grin as he passes the camera to me. “Would’ve tried for a better shot if I had.”

Him and Cassius laugh as I look at the screen.

Trinity’s a blip on the small screen until Apollo moves closer with his camera.

I flip the screen closed without bothering to watch more.

Apollo throws up his hands. “You missed the best part.”

I hold up the closed camera. “This is not what I meant.”

“You said t’ watch her. This is me watching her.”

“Showering?”

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