Apparently, Ms. Simmons teaches biology, and Cas, well, he isn't good with biology. Normal biology for Hollows is easy. Cells, plants, biomes, yada yada, but when you throw in the biology of Abilities and how they help our bodies tick or the biology of creatures most people believe are fake (they aren't), Cas has a rough time following concepts.
"And I thought Topher was bad at this," Salem notes as he takes a look at Cas' score. "At least, he seems to pass."
"Fifty-eight percent isn't that bad," Cas says, trying to make himself feel better. It isn't working, and Cas has a great urge to go to bed and not wake up until the apocalypse comes.
"Fifty-eight percent is pretty bad, and since it's the first test being put in the grade book for you, so you're starting the year with a giant F." Salem snickers.
"What's so funny?" Cas snaps. It's not like Cas isn't used to bad grades; he is. He's used to having to talk to teachers after class and recommendations for tutors. However, that doesn't mean the inevitable dread of failure doesn't plague him every time he sees the red marks on paper, or that he doesn't gulp in fear when his parents meet up for parent-teacher conferences. The impending feeling of not being good enough looms over Cas whenever things aren't perfect, and with Cas, he's hardly ever perfect.
"What's funny is that you're on a scholarship, and you're not even smart," Salem says, almost cruelly. "What happens when you're kicked out of this school and you have to go back to normal-person land? Think of all the setbacks."
He has. Over and over. Why did he even agree to go to this school? So much for being equal to Remy. She's still the gold medal winner and the beautiful, talented girl she's always been, and the only thing that'll be on Cas' list is a Crowlland flunk-out with dead parents and literally nothing to his name. This was a mistake, and he can't even fix it until it all explodes. He's strapped on a running roller coaster that he knows is going to crash.
BAM!
No surviving passengers.
It's like a switch has been pulled in Cas' brain. From normal uneasiness to silent panic. Bloody fantastic.
"Dude, you okay?" asks Salem as he notices Cas' wide frantic eyes. He may be a morbid, sadistic prick, but he's intuitive, and the last thing Salem wants is for someone to feel uncomfortable in their own mind. Not like he'd know anything about discomfort, him being a slave and all.
"What? Oh, yeah," Cas says. "What did you get?"
Salem doesn't share his grades with anyone. It's none of their business. Especially when his parents want him home for the holidays and play the part of a loving family. Salem would gouge his own eye out before he tells his parents how he's doing in school, and Salem rather likes his eyes.
"Doesn't matter," Salem shrugs, but Cas doesn't listen and grabs the paper that lays upside down on Salem's desk.
"One hundred percent," Cas reads. Huh, who knew the scary snake-boy is a nerd. Cas grins, "For someone who acts like he doesn't care about anything, you sure take your grades seriously."
Salem snatches his paperback and glares, "I don't. I just so happen to know the answers."
"Is that the story you're going with?"
"Not a story if it's true," Salem scoffs.
"Okay, class," Ms. Simmons interrupts. "I'm disappointed with the class average displayed today. Have you learned nothing in this class? I only got one perfect. Why can't you guys be more like Mr. Stone?"
A few people glare at Salem, and he gives them a grin filled with hatred and evil. They turn back around almost instantly.
Salem reminds Cas of the incarnation of death. Fascinating to look at, but filled with the venom of broken hearts and bitter memories, and Cas had the wonderful idea of befriending him. What was he thinking?
He wasn't, obviously. Since when does Cas think before he acts? Then again, he overthinks things chronically. There's no in-between for our young, naive protagonist.
Class ends and Topher meets the two at lunch, spending a good ten minutes reiterating an anecdote that happened in his class. The reptiles got out of their cage, and everyone spent the entire hour trying to find and catch the chameleon.
Cas picks at his mac 'n cheese while the other two talk. He's not feeling quite energetic today, and he finds everything so tedious. Is this how school here will go? Slow and painful, like the worst way to pulling off a bandaid?
When Cas is walking to combat training, his day gets a tad bit interesting. He's walking down the hall when he sees a scene play out in front of him, and he can't decide whether to intervene or play semi-innocent bystander.
There are three guys, playing monkey-in-the-middle with a short girl with almost-white hair. Her large, round, black glasses are a great contrast on her pale skin, and she's trying her hardest to get her book back, jumping around and saying words like "please" and "pretty, pretty please."
There's no way she'll ever get it by actually catching it. The boys have at least a foot and a half on her, and though Cas isn't necessarily tall, he can still see how insanely small she is. Give her some credit; she isn't a midget by any means, but her small structure makes her look almost like a child.
A sudden burst of courage overwhelms him, and Cas is walking over there before he realizes what he's doing. "Hey, guys, give her her book back."
All four people look at him as if they didn't notice him just standing there for the last two minutes deciding what he should do.
"Why should we listen to you?" says one of the guys. He has red hair and a crooked nose. Cas wishes him luck on getting a girlfriend; he'll need it.
"Because you'll feel good about making the right choice?" Cas suggests. "I don't know, man, figure that out yourselves. Just don't relieve your own mental breakdowns by tormenting other people. It's rude."
"'It's rude!'" one of them mocks, hand gestures and everything. He may not be good in Biology, but at least Cas can act older than a seven-year-old. He rolls his eyes. He feels like he's arguing with a kid brother. I mean, if he ever had one, this is how Cas imagines it feels like.
"Okay, guys," Cas reasons, "I'm having a pretty crappy day, and I'm, like, two minutes away from starting something on fire, so just give her her book back." A small little flame starts on Ginger's cuff link, and he goes crazy trying to let it out. It's not going to extinguish, because it's not real, but they don't know that. These are the times that Cas actually finds his Ability useful.
Comments (0)
See all