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There are three new emails since I checked earlier this afternoon. All three sent almost simultaneously from the three guys in front of me. Each titledImportant.
Although they’ve come from their own university email accounts, I hesitate to open any of them. At this point, those emails could contain anything, and the guy in front of me isn’t on the small list of people I trust.
“Your computer looks new,” Syn says when I don’t do anything. “If you want to keep me from throwing it against the wall, I suggest you hurry up and read your emails.”
My old computer doesn’t turn on at all anymore. This MacBook came at the right time, and I desperately need it to get all my assignments done. The university won’t get me a second one.
Silently praying this isn’t a trap, I click on the email from Synclair Keyingham, and open it up.
Midterm assignment: Discuss the use of foreshadowing in Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky.
Length: 1500-2000 words
Confused, I look up at Syn. “You want me to tutor you?”
XXVI
Syn
“Do you really think a senior would ask a freshman to tutor them?” The suggestion has me sneering in disgust. “If I were to do that, I’d start by finding someone with some level of intelligence.”
No, I don’t want her to tutor me. I couldn’t think of many things I want less than to be stuck in the same room as her for a significant period of time, where I have to listen to what she’s saying.
“The assignment is due on Monday. If I receive anything lower than an A, you will be punished.”
“You think I’m going to do your assignment for you?” she asks, incredulous. “You don’t think I’m capable of tutoring you, and yet you think I can write an essay on a book I’ve never read, and get you an A?”
Do I fuck?
Honestly, I’ll be surprised if she manages to pull off a C. I’ve already had an initiate submit assignments for us last week. But Gemini has devised some ingenious site where, when she uploads a document, he gets access to her computer. And while that would only take one assignment, I have another way to fuck with her.
“Assignments for me, Royal,andGemini. There were three emails.” I stand there, waiting for her reaction, trying not to look at her hair. One of the initiates had come up with that idea and knowing how important appearance is to girls, I approved. The fact she then dyed all of her hair still irks me, not at all because it looks good on her.
The words practically explode out of her mouth in a burst of laughter. “You expect me to read a book and write three assignments in less than two days? How hard were you hit in the head?”
My mind flashes back to last night. I’d paid a small amount—although lifechanging to the homeless guy I fought last night. When he got the first hit, I was sure they’d finally found me a worthy opponent, but the guy hadn’t lasted long. At least I managed to vent some of my anger.
There’s no way she knows what I did, of course. But her laugh has that anger flaring back up. It takes two strides to close the distance to the table, where I slam the lid down on her laptop, trapping her hand. She lets out a cry of pain, which is at least somewhat satisfying, but I ignore it. She gets her hand free, but I don’t let go of the laptop. “What did you say?”
She’s nursing her hand under the table, but it doesn’t stop the defiance in her eyes. “If you’re so eager to get an A, maybe you should look online. There are people who will happily take money from you and give you an assignment you need. For that matter, I’m sure you could probably even pay off the professor.”
“We’re not paying you,” Gemini pipes up from behind me. “And it’s three different books.”
Her eyes widen a fraction, but she doesn’t take them off me.
Maybe there is some intelligence in there…
“Even if I didn’t have my own assignment to do, I do not have time to do these, and I’m a freshman who isn’t in some senior level course.”
Obviously.
I’m supposed to be at the church for one of the initiate’s… events… But this was something I wanted to do first.
Only, her insolence is walking a fine line between irritating and impressive, so before I get swayed in the wrong direction, I need to remind her who’s in charge.
I trace a finger over the glowing apple on the back of her laptop. The laptop I made the university send her. “Let’s be clear, worm, I do not justify myself to anyone. When I tell them to do something, they fucking do it. Apparently, you need to learn this.” I look up at her without raising my head and the effect makes her shiver visibly. “You think being here is difficult now? Because I promise you, I can make it much worse.”
Despite her reaction, she continues to glare back at me. “You underestimate me.”
