The House of Grey- Volume 4 (8 page)

Overall, the break was pretty upbeat for me. Casey lent me one of his bokken, so I got in a lot of sword practice. Now that I have some money, I really should buy a new one. I still have the splitters and broken hilt of the last one. As of now, I can’t bring myself to part with it; who would have thought I was so sentimental—

“Master Grey?” Brian poked his head into Monson’s room. “Master Kay and Master Pain are here to see you.”

Monson looked up from his journal as BOB the cat nuzzled him on the cheek. “All right Brian, one more second.”

Monson scratched BOB’s ears then he flipped a page and started writing again.

I forgot to say, Baroty came back with another offer and this time Molly accepted. I’m not going to write the amount, but I’ve basically got more money than I know what to do with. I thought about buying a mountain. I’ve never known anyone who owns a mountain; maybe I could put my face on it like Mount Rushmore. Heh heh. Mount Grey…I wonder how hard that would be. Hmm…I might have to look into it.  I’d better go. People are here. I’ll check in with you later. (You?? Blah! There I go personifying my journal; I feel so lame.)

Monson put down his pen and feeling excited at seeing his friends again.

***

The first week back, classes were brutal—seriously, horribly brutal. Monson did not know whether their teachers were trying a new sort of shock therapy for learning or they just wanted to prove a point. Regardless, the students suffered a rude awakening during those first few days of class. By the time Friday came around, everyone was ready for the weekend. 

“Oh, it’s good to be back.” Artorius stretched as the clock struck one in the morning and the boys ended their movie marathon. The others laughed as they switched to the Japanese Direct Subtitle channel. They all ended up nodding off shortly afterwards, the rich tones of the Japanese voices lulling them to sleep. At some point during the wee hours, Monson left his friends sprawled on the couches and moved to his bedroom.

“Grey, get your butt out of bed!”

A familiar voice startled Monson back into reality.  He
was
annoyed
—
he had been enjoying an utterly delicious
, dream-free
sleep
—
but Monson recognized the voice, and it was
wise
to
be on the alert
when Casey came for a wake
-
up call.

Monson held his breath
,
hearing the patter of bare feet pop the floor and go airborne. Monson reacted in an instant
,
r
olling to his left and
fleeing
his blankets
.
He
hit the floor with grace
,
landing
on
one knee
,
cringing at the touch of co
ld
wood.  The move was well worth it
,
as he caught a priceless glimpse of a shocked Casey floating through the air, his elbow positioned forward where it could do the most damage to his unsuspecting friend. Monson smiled
,
readying his counter
attack
. Casey land
ed on top of the
blankets
just
as Monson whipped down
a
pillow
,
crashing it right on Casey’s head.

“Ouch! Dude
,”
Casey’s
muffled
voice
emerged
from under Monson’
s
weapon
.
“
H
ow did you know? Unfair, I’m calling for a recount.” 

“You s
eem to be in good spirits.” Artorius
assumed his customary position by the full-framed
window overlooking the
forest.

“I do find myself feeling really good
today. I had an excellent night
’
s
sleep
—
one of the best I’ve had in a long time.”

“
You must be feeling good
,” agreed
Artorius,
sounding impressed
.
“
Your reaction was outstanding.
We’ll make a fighter out of you yet.”

Monson beamed
,
taking a sarcastic bow, which he ended up paying dearly for as Casey sprung out f
rom under his pillow
and
p
ounced. After their scuffle, the boys moved from Monson’s bedroom to where Brian’s customary muffins, fruit and juices sat waiting.  They each grabbed
some breakfast
and
proceeded to the sitting area where
they
ate and chatted idly about what they should do that day.

“How about a workout?”  Artorius tried to speak between massive bites of a bran muffin
.
“
Grey has been looking so good these days. I’d hate to waste the time. You just wait
,
Casey. I’m going to make him good enough to beat
the
both of us.”

Casey star
t
ed to whin
e. “And two hours a day
, five days a week is enough
. B
esides
,
we start basketball soon
.
W
e should take advantage of days like this
.
”

“Casey’s right
.
” Monson yawned
.
“
Y
ou know
,
I’m not opposed to just hanging out here today
.
”

“That’s not what I meant
,
Grey
,
” Casey threw a piece of his muffin at Monson
.
“
W
e
stay
here all the time. We have the ability to leave
campus
this semester
.
L
et’s get out and go
do something stupid like
blow up a mailbox or some
—
”

Brian’s entrance into the apartment shut Casey up. The boys turned
towards
Brian
, who was
carrying some plastic grocery bags, a
crisp
dress suit
in a dry cleaning bag,
and a
glossy
pair of
trendy
black shoes.

“Yo
,
Brian
.
” Monson threw up a hand
,
too lazy to actively watch. “I hope you got
some
more Pop-Tarts. What’s with the
monkey suit?
Y
ou got a date or something
?
”

Monson paused. This scene suddenly felt very familiar.

“What
an
intriguing thought
.
” Brian
sounded
amused. He hung the dress
clothes
neatly on Monson
’
s valet just inside his bedroom
and placed the shoes
underneath
. Apparently satisfied, he moved into the bar area
, began
pull
ing
out fruits, vegetables, a knife, and cutting board
, and then
promptly started chop
ping
. Monson was about to ask Brian
a
question
when he noticed
the smile on Brian’s face.
He
was grinning like a devious child.

“Brian
?
” Monson move
d
towards
the bar
.
“
W
hy are you smiling
like a naughty four-year-old
?”

Brian did not answer but just continued to chop, slice and dice in preparation for something absurdly health
y and totally unfit for human consumption
. Brian sliced the last apple, then wash
ed
his hands
at the sink,
that same knowing smile fix
ed to his face
. “Master Grey, it’s about
that
time. Why don’t you open the blinder to the TV?”

“Brian
?
” Monson stared at him
,
unsure as to what to do
.
“Why are you acting
—
”

“Hero
,
” Brian shot him that same warm smile
and wiped his hands on a towel.
“
O
pen the blinder
to
the TV
.
”

Confused,
Monson
nodded at
Casey and beckoned for the huge controller sitting on his coffee table. Casey grabbed it and gave a
toss that
Monson caught nonchalantly. He pushed the reveal
icon
at the
top of the
screen,
and with everyone else in the room
,
watched as the automatic blinder retracted.

“I’m never going to get over that,” Casey
smiled.
“
S
o cool.”

Once
the reverbs of the last gear sounded and shifted into place
,
Monson turned back towards Brian
and
asked, “Are you going to tell me what’s going on now?”

Brian gestured to
the controller in Monson’s hand, which Monson
handed to him
.

Brian turned the TV on,
flipping channels until he reached the
...

“All Access Network?” Monson let out a fairly believab
le
fake vomiting sound
. “Why do we care about anything that the school network says?
”

“Today’s top story is
an
interesting one
,
b
oys and girls
,
” said the smooth voice
of
Derek Dayton
through
the television
.
“I know that everyone
has been
waiting for the nominees of this year’s Spring
Solstice
, which yours truly
has
just received.
After some weeks of deadlock, this year’s
nominees
have been offered to the Senate
and
each individual nominee has been backed by a specific Senator
. The results have just come in. Even yours truly has not yet seen—
”

“Brian, I know what you’
re
going to say,” said Monson
, catching
on
.
“
A
nd there is no way that I’m going to that dance.”

“
Ladies and gentlemen, I have just been handed the results. And now, the Augusta nominee
s
!
” resounded Derek’s voice in
his
arrogant tone
.
Monson ignored him and continued to glare unflinchingly at Brian.

“Well
,
there’s no surprise,” Casey
kept his eyes on the
TV with a mix of amusement and annoyance. “Taris Green, Cyann Harrison, Mary Braden, Amber Summers
,
and Kylie Coremack for the girls.”
Casey
look
ed
thoughtful
.
“Yeah…maybe we shouldn’t go; this could get ugly
.
”

“I’ll second that
.
” Monson
shifted
back to look at Casey
.
“
L
et’s just have a boy’s night
out. 
I’ll call in the helicopter and we’ll go to
—
”

“I don’t think that’s going to work
,
” interrupted Brian
while
examining the cuff of his sleeve
.
“
Y
ou’ll be busy that night
.
”