“Do I have to wear a habit?” I whisper.
I hope they don’t hear the horror in my voice. Ruth shakes her head, lifting a finger to tut me. “No, no. There’s a school dress. We just haven’t made many of them.”
Thank. Heavens.
“Bring the dress.”
Lo and behold, there is a girl’s uniform for this place.
It’s brown.
It’s hideous.
And it looks like they made it out of felt. I can already tell it’s going to be scratchy as all hell. I take a step back before I can force myself to hold still and let them slide it over my head.
Yup. I look like a turd.
I peek over my shoulder, but there’s no one by the window.
Is it weird I’d rather let that guy see me in my underwear than in this monstrosity?
“You come back here this afternoon,” Miriam says, slipping a pale belt over my waist and yanking it tight.
“Oh, I won’t have it ready by then, Sister,” Ruth protests.
“Not for the dress.” Miriam turns me around adjusts my dress as if she can somehow make it two sizes smaller by tugging it here and there. Her eyes fix on me. “This is where you’ll spend your afternoons.”
I open my mouth, but from the look on Miriam’s face, I know there’s no reasoning with her.
“Yes, Sister,” I manage.
Lord, I’ve got to start earning some brownie points with Father Gabriel. I don’t know how else I’m going to survive this place.
Chapter Nine
Trinity
My other teachers are mostly middle-aged men and women, none of whom are even remotely as interesting as Zachary. My mind drifts in each of their classes, and it’s increasingly difficult to bring it back to the subject at hand.
The dress has given me a rash along my collarbones. I scratch the rest of my body as surreptitiously as I can, but I’m sure everyone in my class thinks I have leprosy.
For the first time since I arrived at Saint Amos, I’m relieved when the bell gongs for lunch.
I don’t bother trying to find Jasper—he made it clear he’d rather stick a fork in his eye than spend any more time with me than he has to. I head for the first open seat I see.
As luck would have it, I recognize the boy sitting opposite me a few minutes into my meal of sausages, gravy, peas, and mashed potato. He doesn’t look like he’s going anywhere, so I might as well get some answers.
“You’re Jasper’s friend,” I say, pointing at the kid with my fork.
He leans back from me as if he’s worried I’ll reach over and stick him with my cutlery. “Yeah, so?”
“So what’s his problem? I mean, is he genuinely just a prick, or did I do something shitty to him a previous life?”
Jasper’s friend watches me with owlish eyes. “He…he doesn’t like girls.”
“No one in this place does.” I stab a stray pea and shove it in my mouth, bursting it between my teeth. “Tell me something I don’t know.”
His friend shakes his head, and then ducks down.
I’m all hot and cold inside. I so badly want to thump my fist into the table and make his friend look me in the eyes. I’ve got a bad temper sometimes, but I never let it show back home. I’d rather suppress it until I’m alone.
Things are always easier to handle when you’re alone.
“What’s your name?” I ask, switching to a softer voice.
Jasper’s friend glances up at me, and then shifts in his seat as if even that question makes him uncomfortable. “Perry.”
“Perry…I’m going to level with you.” I put down my fork and place my palms on the table, spreading out my fingers. It helps me keep calm, and Perry can see I’m not palming a switchblade or something. “I’ve had a horrible few weeks. I…”
Why is this so difficult?
Come on, Trinity. Just open your mouth and—
“My parents died. Recently.”
Perry’s eyes go even wider.
“This place is all I’ve got left. I’m not picking a fight with anyone. Why would I? That would just make my life miserable.”
Perry nods a little.
“So why is Jasper treating me like his enemy?”
Perry picks up a pea and presses it against his lips, but he doesn’t eat it yet. “Because you’re a girl.”
“Bullshit.”
Perry shrugs.
“So he just straight-up hates all girls?”
I sit back. Perry looks relieved as he pushes the pea into his mouth and swallows.
“How can I show him I’m not a bad person?”
Perry shakes his head. Eats another pea. I pick up my fork, toying with it. “Nothing, huh?”
“I guess…”
I sit forward. “Tell me.”
“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 I can teach 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 Ten
Zac
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.
A double row of columns cut the room in half, forming a square in the center where they meet the second row of columns intersecting diagonally.
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.
The smell of weed hits my nose.
“Christ, I almost feel sorry for her,” Cass says, and then glances up at me. “You took your time, Boss. Everything okay?”
“Never better,” I say as I sink down in the seat closest to Cassius.
“Apollo taped her,” Reuben says, his voice steeped in disapproval.