The Class Reject: A Pariah in Purgatory (Book II)

Chapter 14

Chapter 14

A few flurries danced in the sky, but for early December, it was actually sort of warm. Jeno took it as a good sign as he took note of his open house duties. Which consisted of just about everything.

It was an hour before noon, and the Rinzen students had assembled all over campus at their various stations. He watched the baseball team move to the field as he checked them off.

"Remind me why we're having this stupid thing in December?" Axel's teeth clattered as he carried a bag of potatoes. Jeno opened his mouth to ask why, when he decided against it.

"Because we have it twice a year," he motioned for the mess hall. "If you're too much of a pussy to handle the weather, no one's stopping you from getting the fuck out of my face."

"Someone's cranky," Cliff said, effortlessly grabbing Axel's sac of potatoes. "What? Theodora rub you off the wrong way?"

Jeno rolled his eyes as he watched the two excuses for men walk off in crude laughter.

"Is there a reason you're letting them get to you?" Miren said, coming from behind him. "Actually, it makes a lot of sense for students to come here in the winter. They can see if it's worth putting up with the weather."

"Or Axel and Cliff's bullshit. God knows they'll be repeating at least another year." Miren laughed. But he didn't smile. 

"If you keep up that expression, you'll scare the prospective students away."

"If Parker would just do his damn job as senior class president, then I wouldn't have to," he said with a scoff. "Student Administration deals with things that matter."

Miren raised an eyebrow. "Like homecoming?"

"We raised over five hundred thousand dollars for charity and renovations," he said matter-of-factly. "Giving a bunch of awkward fourteen-year-olds a tour of the school as if it's Hogwarts or something is an embarrassing waste of time."

"I think it's fun," she said as she watched a group of kids and their parents cross the greenery toward the fountain, where they were.

"Oh?" Jeno marked something on his clipboard. "Then I guess you won't mind giving a tour. You're with the blue group.

Miren pouted. "Why can't Wallace do it?"

"He had enough sense to get lost." He gave her an agenda, and then shooed her toward a group of boys wearing blue wristbands. "Don't get caught."

"How about, 'have fun'?" But as she made it toward the boys, many of which already towered her, she knew this would be anything but.

***

The tour of the campus was interrupted almost constantly by inappropriate questions. Her personal favorite was the one about the founder's fountain looking like he was "jizzing" if you looked at it in the right angle.

When they reached the English hall, they practically groaned in unison.

"This place looks boring as hell," one said.

"I want to go back to being homeschooled," said another.

Miren blinked at their lack of optimism. She didn't know what was at stake if she couldn't convince them to care, let alone come to the school, but the last thing she wanted to do was bore them to tears.

"Yeah, this is school, so the English hall isn't supposed to be that mentally stimulating," she informed them, trying to lift the mood. "And you can probably test out of it. I mean, we all speak English, right?"