Page 39 of Facade

“Only if you plan to walk fast,” Jace said loud enough to be heard.

Heath looked curious, but closed the car door, and jogged toward him with a Ravens jacket draped over one arm. Jace started moving again the minute Heath reached him.

“What’s the rush?” Heath asked. “The game won’t start for a while yet.”

“I left Clarke with all twelve boys,” Jace said. “They are good kids, but they are hyped up. The boys act like they’ve been stuck in a monastery for years, and might lose their good sense at the sight of pretty girls.”

“It’s like that at the first home game every year. Where are Mitch and Ray?” Heath asked, keeping pace with him.

Jace gave him the basics, including the depressing mood in the elemental dorm, and the fact that Mitch had tried to prevent the students from leaving with him. Unsurprisingly, Heath seemed to find the news disturbing.

“Why would they do something so obviously negligent? That doesn’t make any sense. Currently, Mitch’s behavior concerns me the most. I think you should bring this to Top Dog right away,” Heath said thoughtfully.

Despite Mitch and Ray putting him in a sour mood, Jace had to smirk at that. Abner Livingston, the head of the shifter department, was a wolf shifter. Heath had been calling him Top Dog for years, and it stuck.

“You think I should get ahead of this, since Mitch will attack, even if Ray decides to stay out of it,” Jace guessed.

“That, and Carl Washington should know what is going on in the elemental dorm. Mitch sounds like he’s lost any sanity he might have had. For the sake of the students, we can’t allow this to continue,” Heath said. “Go through the proper channels by informing Top Dog. He can pass it on to the elementals. As a monitor in good standing, they will appreciate you speaking up, and take you seriously.”

Jace was positive from the look on his face that Heath knew more than he was saying. But that was fine. Even if he wanted to elaborate, this was neither the time nor the place for such a conversation.

Heath was right. It would all come out, and cause a shitstorm regardless. Jace would be better off telling his side immediately, instead of making Abner ask him about it after hearing skewed stories from other sources.

“I’ll email Abner from my phone before the game starts,” Jace said.

Heath nodded as they wove through the crowds on their way to the concession stand. “I’ll sit with you guys, so you and Clark have the freedom to use the bathroom, or whatever, without worrying about the boys being unattended,” he volunteered.

“I appreciate it, but will that mess up your plans?” Jace asked. Heath was right that using the bathroom or getting more snacks would be a production with only two monitors on duty.

“Nah, I was going to meet my sister and her mates, but Nadine will understand. I’m texting her right now,” he said, and continued after a brief pause. “Ah, she said they’re already in the stands, and will save seats for us.”

“That works for me,” Jace said.

He knew that Heath’s sister taught at Venus. They had met in passing a few times. It was a good thing Nadine was saving seats. The bleachers were already packed with boisterous, screaming fans, who formed a living banner of gold and burgundy.

Jace spotted Clarke then, and waved to get her attention. It took him and Heath a few minutes to reach them through the press of people. After exchanging greetings, Heath led them to seats on the fifty-yard-line.

Nadine was holding rows five and six. It was perfect. They would have an amazing view.

Ray joined them with an enormous tray of food and drinks that he offered to share, as the marching band took the field to play the territorial anthem. Either he really had confused the dates of the game, or was making a good show of it to save face.

It was hard to tell. Jace did remember having seen Ray at games the previous year. Jace stopped thinking about it when the game started.

The Harbingers were a tough team, who made the Ravens fight for every inch of turf. It made for a tension-filled game with the crowd on the edge of their seats.

All the boys were equally invested. They watched intently, and chatted with other students during halftime.

Ray seemed just as passionate, and was actually pleasant to be around. The caster boys appeared to be comfortable with him, so maybe he wasn’t all bad. Jace still wasn’t fond of Ray, and probably never would be, but he was better than Mitch.

In the last thirty seconds, the Ravens scored a touchdown, taking the victory by one point. All the fans in burgundy and gold leapt to their feet, screaming their joy and approval. Jace caught Clarke’s eye as the boys jumped up and down, yelling, and shaking their fists.

Neither of them would regret bringing the elemental boys along, and provoking Mitch. Seeing the kids this happy was worth whatever it might cost.

Clarke

Clarke was surprised by how much fun she’d had at the game. She loved football, and had always enjoyed supporting all of her college’s teams when she was at university.

But Clarke had expected herding girl-crazy seventeen-year-olds to diminish the experience. And that was before she and Jace decided to rescue the caster and elemental kids from a boring night in their dorms. The boys had such a blast, though, that Clarke found it impossible to worry about how Mitch would retaliate.