“I hope I’m not intruding.”
“No, it’s ok. The truth is that my goal is to join the Swiss Guard and serve His Holiness.”
“I thought the Swiss Guard didn’t allow female members.”
“They don’t, but I’m going to be the first. If I can prove myself, then I’m sure the Holy Father will allow me to serve him. What about you, do you plan to become a priest or do you have other goals?”
“As it so happens, it’s my dream to become Pope.”
They both stopped at the top of a staircase, Helena looking at him in shock. “Really? You intend to go that far?”
“Indeed,” he said as he brought up his hand and lifted her chin. “So maybe someday, you’ll serve me.”
Helena again felt her face go red and for a moment she couldn’t move. She stared into his eyes, confident and ambitions, with her own eyes suddenly trembling and meek.
He then stepped back and moved down onto the first step. “Shall we continue on?”
She nearly jumped from the question, as if awoken from a trance. “Oh, y-yes. Of course.”
She hurried down the stairs past him, and as she walked, he watched her and licked his lips. “And that day will be soon,” he said under his breath.
Helena pushed that strange moment out of her mind as she showed Xavier around the campus. She found herself curious about this newcomer. “So where are you from? You speak English clearly as a first language but I can’t place your accent. You certainly aren’t British, but you don’t quite sound American.”
“I’m from a little bit of everywhere. I’ve been traveling since I was born, so while English is my first language, I’ve picked up accents and mixed them all together. I can certainly tell that you are Irish, from that hair and name, but I can also tell that you’ve worked to try and hide your accent. So why would a ruby beauty from the emerald isle try to hide her heritage?”
She turned around quickly, her face flushed both in annoyance and undeniable pride from the flattery. “Now you listen here, relationships among students are forbidden, both by this school and God himself. Don’t go thinking that some compliments will win me over.”
Xavier stepped back, shocked by her outburst but still maintaining that small smirk. “You misunderstand, this is how I talk to everyone. I hope I didn’t make you uncomfortable, I just find honestly and politeness to be the best policy.”
Helena’s face paled and she turned away from him. ‘Why did I get so worked up right then? Something is wrong with me today…’ “A-anyway, let’s keep going. I’ll show you the cafeteria now.”
She brought him to a large brick building, the sides caked with ivy and moss that were basking in the sunlight. Through the large oak doors, they stepped into an expansive cafeteria. Long tables were set out with enough seats for hundreds of students, but now all were empty, save for the few kids who came to study during their free period.
“This is where we come for our meals at 9:00 am, 3:00 pm, and 9:00 pm. Because of how many students we have, there are three shifts for each meal. The older you are, the later you eat. The school does it to accommodate with the students’ circadian rhythms. Come on, we’ll cross over through here to the science wing.”
Marching past the empty tables, they made their way to the back of the dining coliseum. Halfway through the room, they came across a girl sitting alone, nobody on either side or across from her. She looked about fifteen but was small for her age, with brown hair cut short and her head low as if someone had just tried to tickle her neck. She didn’t have any books or even food with her. She looked very forlorn, very fragile. As they passed by her, she looked up at Helena and Xavier. He smiled and winked at her, making her tense up nervously but with sparkling eyes. She had caught his interest.
Reaching the exit, they stepped back outside. Just as the door closed behind them, Helena’s stomach let out a loud grumble. She quickly turned away, knowing that Xavier would chuckle. “I… uh… I missed breakfast this morning.”
“Why didn’t you grab something to eat in there?”
“Because I’m trying to get us to our homeroom before our next class starts. At lunch, I’ll have to go and apologize to the three punks I beat up. Hopefully I can get something in the city.”
“Would you like me to come with you?”
“Thanks, but it’s not needed. Let’s just get to class.”
“You’re late. Detention, both of you.”
Helena tried with everything she had not to curse at the sound of Sister Olivia’s voice. She and Xavier had just entered the classroom, barely a second after the bell for the next period sounded. She put on a brave face and turned to the nun. “Sister, this is Xavier Michaels, the new—”
“I know who this is, do not talk to me like I am an ignorant fool!” She then turned to him. “Being new to this class is no excuse for tardiness. You two will be here at 10:00 tonight. You’ll need to wear some short pants for what I have planned.”
The whole class watched, praying for God to have mercy on the truants’ souls. Helena watched Xavier, waiting to see his reaction, and to her shock, she thought for a moment that he was actually smirking. “Spare the rod, spoil the child,” he simply hummed, stepping away and making his way to one of the few empty seats in the classroom.
“And Helena, I still expect you to translate that verse.”
‘Damn it.’
The following classes continued on without anything out of order. As usual, multiple students got a hard smack from Sister Olivia’s meter stick for small infractions. Helena got it twice when her stomach growled. Both times, she held a defiant scowl on her face, refusing to show any pain. Several times, the teacher directed the hardest questions to Xavier, but with his usual confident smirk, he answered everything with perfect accuracy and detail. Luckily they got a reprieve when the class had to a different building for Biology Class.
“Are you sure you don’t want me to come along? I could help you keep your temper in check.”
Xavier and Helena were standing at the entrance to the cafeteria with students from grades 9 through 12 streaming past them to eat.
“I’ll be fine. You go eat. I’m more worried about the time. There is no way this will take less than an hour, meaning of course that I’m going to once again be late for class.”
“Well maybe there is something I can do to convince Sister Olivia to give you a pass this one time.”
Helena laughed and began walking away. “Nice try, but that won’t work. You’ll probably just anger her even more. Relax; I’ll be fine. She can’t break me.”
Helena looked at the address above the door and then back at the list the Discipline Committee had given her. This was supposedly the home of the guy that she had knocked out with a strike to the neck. After the injuries he had received, he would be home, but considering the graffiti she had found him doing, it probably wasn’t like he had school to go to anyway. The house wasn’t much, or at least any better or worse than the other pale brick houses lining the street. Above the door was the window to a bedroom, currently open.
Back at the university cafeteria, Xavier sat alone. There was a tray of food in front of him, but he wasn’t eating. He was merely spinning his fork around his thumb, smiling.