“You know what? Maybe you should stop calling me sister. I’m not your sister. I’m not even your friend. Because if I were, you wouldn’t treat me like you’ve been treating me lately.”
He looked hurt, but I didn’t care. I knew I was right.
“You know why…”
“Why you keep your distance when you don’t have to interact with me? Yeah. Because you’re scared shitless. Just like the others. At least, the MDC doesn’t pretend that they’re my friends. They’ve kept away from me since day one, so okay. Fine. I can deal with that. I can appreciate their honesty. But you? You keep saying you’re my friend, you keep calling me sister…” I shook my head to emphasize my point. “I don’t see it.”
“I’ve tried to help you. Remember how I teleported all those dead cockroaches out?”
“Yeah. I could have thrown them out myself. They were dead. No big deal.”
He ran a hand through his light-blond hair. “Mila, you have to understand…”
“That you’re a coward? That you’re a mage, and you have all these powers, and still… you’re a coward who won’t stand up for his friend,” I mimicked air quotes, “because he might get his own feathers ruffled?”
His jaw clenched as he looked straight into my eyes. “No, Mila, you have to understand that I can’t mess this up. I can’t risk losing worth points over some crazy shenanigans. I can’t risk enraging the Mighty Jerks, getting in trouble, drawing the professor’s attention to myself. The Headmaster’s attention… It’s not that I don’t want to help you or spend time with you. Because deep down, I do. But I can’t. If my parents find out, I’ll never hear the end of it.”
“If they find out that you’re hanging out with a human?” He nodded, and I rolled my eyes. “Right. Your reputation.”
“Their reputation, not mine. They already have to deal with the fact that… well, I like boys. They haven’t gotten over it. When the invitation to apply to Grim Reaper Academy came in the mail, it literally saved me from being disowned. I make it through the end of year tree, I become a Grim Reaper in my own right, and they forgive my... “
“Gayness?”
“I wanted to say digression, but yeah. Sure. That.”
“I don’t believe this! Klaus, your parents are bullies! They’re bullying you just as much as the Mighty Jerks bully me. On a more emotional level, but it’s still so, so bad. Don’t let them do this to you!”
He shot me one last look, turned around, and walked straight to his Cabal. I blinked in confusion as I found myself alone in the middle of the road, but the confusion didn’t last long. Kitty and Sammy bumped into me from behind, their sharp elbows digging into my ribs.
“Good luck tonight, dumpster girl. We hope they’ll eat you alive. Put you out of your misery.”
They laughed, and I shuddered. I didn’t have any decent comeback in me, and it was probably better to keep my mouth shut, anyway. I straightened my back, took a deep breath, and headed to the VDC campfire. Mrs. Po was already there, hovering over the students as they roasted marshmallows, explaining the rules of her “little exercise”, as she liked to call it. I called it “death by public humiliation”, but that was just me. Francis was flanked by Sariel and GC, so I had no other good option but to sit between two boys that I hadn’t interacted with yet.
“The Academy is putting so much strain on you, kids,” Mrs. Po was saying. “I’ve seen how hard you work. You barely have time for yourselves, so it’s no wonder you haven’t bonded with your Cabal, yet.”
“Or, maybe, we haven’t bonded with our Cabal because the sorting was all kinds of fucked up this year,” I heard a guy whisper to the guy next to him. “Fucking Headmaster Colin.”
Everyone seemed to hate the Headmaster. I had no idea who’d been before him, but the students and parents alike loved to blame Mason Colin for all the things they didn’t agree with at the Academy. Seeing all the drama, maybe being an outsider wasn’t that bad, after all.
“But don’t worry,” Mrs. Po chirped. “Tonight is all about you and the Cabal you belong to. Forget about everything else and allow yourselves to see and be seen. I kno
w some of you think this exercise is useless. Yes, Mr. Gracewing, I’m looking at you.” Sariel rolled his eyes. “But if I may, I believe it’s crucial. You’re going to spend the next three years together, eating at the same table, living in the same tower, and starting with year two, attending the same classes, specifically designed for our future Violent Death Reapers. Yes, starting with year two, there will be less classes that you’ll share with the other Cabals. You will see the MDC, the RDC, and the NDC in Geography, and on the field in PE only. The rest of the subjects will be designed for the specific requirements of each Cabal. So, you see, my darlings…” She took a long moment to lock eyes with each of us, one by one. When our eyes met, I had the fleeting impression that she sighed right before looking away. “That’s why you have to start getting to know each other. You won’t be just classmates or members of the same Cabal. You’ll have to become friends to make it through the rigors of the next two years.”
Yeah. Her speech didn’t resonate with me at all. Apparently, it hadn’t resonated with the others, either. The minute she walked away and went to tell the RDC the same thing, the boys started laughing and making crude jokes. I felt sorry for Mrs. Po. She was such a nice lady. She deserved more respect from her students, but I wasn’t going to point that out to the Jerk Cabal.
“So, who wants to start?” a dark-haired guy asked.
Everyone ignored him at first, then Sariel spoke up. “Yes, someone! Anyone! Let’s get this over with, so we can move the fuck on with our lives.”
It was strange watching them. The only ones in the VDC who had some sort of connection were Sariel, Pazuzu, GC, and Francis. They sat next to each other most of the time and talked between themselves. That was… when the girls weren’t drooling all over them. It was easy to see they thought they were the only ones who belonged in the Violent Death Cabal.
“I’ll start!” GC moved closer to the fire. “But first, why the hell are we all drinking soda and light beer?”
He dug into the inside pocket of his jacket and pulled out a flask. The guys cheered and held out their plastic cups. I made myself small, hoping GC would forget about me. No such luck. He leaned so close to the fire that the flames almost licked his cheeks, and I was forced to pass my cup to the guy next to me, who passed it along, too, until GC could pour a generous amount of whatever was in that flask into my soda. I shouldn’t have agreed. God knew what he was giving me, but the others were already drinking it, so if they were fine, I’d be fine too. He looked so gorgeous in the light of the campfire. This was the first time I saw him wearing something other than his school uniform or PE uniform. He had a pair of jeans on, a black T-shirt that showed off his lean muscles, and a leather jacket that made him look rather dangerous. Also, interesting. I took a sip of my soda as I looked straight into his eyes. It was as if he was waiting for my verdict. I nodded and took another sip. Not bad. What is this? Rum? Apparently, GC Apis knew how to make a decent Cuba Libre in a plastic cup.
“Okay, ya’ ready? Here’s what I have to share about me. It applies both to before the Academy and now, but who cares?” He laughed. “Mrs. Po thinks the Academy will change us.”
“I’m pretty sure she thinks it has already changed us,” Sariel snickered.