The House of Grey- Volume 4 (9 page)

“I already told you
.
” Monson turned back toward
s
Brian
.
“I’m not
—
”

“And the final nominee for Augustine
…
drum roll
,
please...wait
—
what? That’s impossible.
”

Derek look
ed
at the camera
,
his eyes growing to the size of stoplights.

“The final nominee for the Spring
Solstice’s
Augustine is Monson Grey
.
”

***

  “You’
ve
got to be kidding me,” said Monson
,
cutting off his own explanation
.
”
You have to be nominated, and then
backed by the Senate. Didn’t Indigo say that freshmen aren’t even allowed to enter?
”

  “Actually
,
Indigo said that they hardly ever get through
.
”
Artorius
continued watching the TV.

“Is that what she said? Are you sure?”

“I remember everything that comes out of
I
ndigo’s mouth
.
”
Artorius
stared off into the distance
,
a fara
w
ay look on his face.

“That’s not creepy or anything
.
” Monson rounded on Brian
.
“
H
ow on earth did you know? How do you always know? I don’t get it!”

“I have my sources
.
” Brian
puttered
about retrieving cups
.
“
N
ow how about a fruit smoothie, it will
make…”

“
Brian,
” said Monson
in
exasperat
ion.
“Why are you so calm
? As matter of fact, why are all of
you
so calm? Hello, you do realize what just happen
ed,
right?”

Casey spoke up
.
“
H
onestly
,
I can’
t
say I’m terribly shoc
ked.
I’ve just kind of gotten
used
to weird stuff happening around you.”

“And I’m actually kind of happy,” added
Artorius.
“
T
hat means we get to go in your group.” 

“Guys! You don’t understand. I don’t go dances! I don’t ask girls out! For heaven’s sake look at me!”

“Master Grey
,” Brian
used that
same
calm, comforting voice
.
“
T
ake a breath
.
”

Monson glared at him.

“Come on
,
you
wi
ll feel better.”

Monson did what he
was
told
,
closing his eyes. He took one deep
,
steadying breath and then another. After a few of these
,
he did in fact start to feel better. When he opened his eyes
,
everyone in the room was watching him. Monson was at a loss for words.

“
Monson,
” Brian
walked
to the side
of the seating area.
“
T
his is a dance
,
not
a conference on world peace or
meeting of the Federal Reserve
...
”

“The what
?
” Monson raised his signature eyebrow.

“Never
mind
.
” Brian chuckled affectionately
.
“
This is not difficult.  All you
have to
do is find a nice girl, ask her to the dance
,
and then go and enjoy
.
I know you like to dance
.
Molly told me
so
.”

“She did what
?
!
” Monson
burned
bright red
.
“
W
ell
,
it’s true I like
to watch some of those reality dance competitions, but that doesn’t mean I like to dance myself—
”

“Molly said that you danced all the time before
your
...
incapacitation
.
”

“She said what?”

“Really?”  Casey
c
himed in
,
suddenly interested
.
“
W
hat kind of dancing? Break
dancing
? Hip-hop?”

“Ballet
. A
pparently Master Grey was quite the Nutcracker
.
” They watched
as
Brian’s calm smile
became slightly
malicious.

“Brian!” said Monson sharply
.
“
N
ow that’s just a downright lie!”

Brian,
Artorius
and Casey all broke out laughing
.
Monson threw up
his
hands
in
defeat.

***

Seeing as the Spring Solstice was the social event at Coren University, rumors concerning
Monson’s
nomination spread like a weaponized version of the black plague.
Most of them involved Monson either blackmailing or manipulating his way onto the list.
As such, by Monday night
, the overall attitude towards Monson on the part of nearly
everyone in the school, including the teachers
,
had surged from a passive, begrudging indifference to a full-boiled hostility. It was about the most idiotic thing ever.

In
defense of
the other students
,
Monson thought
they
probably would
treat any freshman that way
.
Still, the emotion seemed excessive; i
t was not until Casey explained
that Monson fully understood the task set before him
. 

The Spring Solstice wasn’t just some measly high school dance; it was far beyond that. It was like a college interview, scholarship application, artistic showcase, and backstage party all rolled into one. The honor of becoming royalty at the Spring Solstice was a huge deal. The endeavor was ripe with
all kinds of
career and educational
opportunit
ies, and many important people were involved
. Many of the most successful newcomers in show business
had
made their connections through the
“
Meet and Greet
”
and
the
“
Dinner of Eloquence.
”
A
great many foreign figures and political leaders attended
as well,
giving the politically savvy an opportunity to
network
. Truthfully, just about every industry imaginable
had a presence
, from
music to finance
. Monson lamented
his nomination
upon hearing this. No wonder everyone was so pissed.

Thoughts of the event occupied
the minds of the students with a
n intensity that bordered on feverish; g
irls were looking at boys with newfound fire as they scouted their potential matchups. The boy nominees
,
who
include
d
Damion Peterson, Derek Dayton, Boston Timberland
,
and
at least one other Monson did not know, all dealt with the familiar
or newfound spotlight in different ways.

Monson, who
had
already
experienced
an inordinate amount of
attention,
was receiving
even
more than his
fair share as
the student body vacillated between bitter discontentment and hopeful opportunism at his nomination. Monson was both a cursed, scarred, potentially psychotic freshman in high school (granted, no one
knew
he was psychotic – heck he didn’t even know if he was psychotic), and a candidate for one of the biggest honors in the uppity rich person world. People were torn about how they should treat him. The opportunistic side of the student body won out in the end, and he went from being ignored and looked down upon to being
approached by
random
girls
making
awkward
conversation about things like the weather.
The situation wanted to make Monson put a bullet through his head. Artorius
and Casey
were
not the least bit
sympathetic
.

“When did I walk in
to
the twilight zone
?
” Monson
fell
into step next to
Artorius
and Casey
.
The two had
been waiting patiently while
a
group of sophomore girls
who
Monson had
never
seen
,
let alone talked to
,
accosted him. 

“It’s a big opportunity
.
”
Casey spied over his shoulder at the
girls
who were waving enthusiastically. “The youngest
Horum Vir
in history is now nominated by the School Senate
,
a task that most
had
understood
to be
impossible.
You’ll be hobnobbing with directors, producers,
fashionista
s
—just to name a few.
You
’re
going to get a lot of hype in the coming weeks leading up to the dance.
Your date, w
hoever
she
ends up being
,
will
get the same treatment.”

“
Well, people are shallow,”
Monson
said with a sneer. “You see that blonde who’s waving all sexy-like? Yeah, I’m pretty sure she
was
there
when Derek and his goons tried to jump me right before
winter
break.”

“Pity
.
” Casey tried not to laugh
.
“She
’s
cute
.
”

“I don’t find this funny
.
” Monson glared at Casey
.
“
And y
ou
so
aren’t helping
.
”

“
OK,
OK
.  You’re right
.
I haven’t been very helpful.” Casey put a
thoughtful
finger to his cheek
.
“Let me
think. Arthur
,
who are you
planning to ask
?
"

Artorius
, who was still watching the group of sophomore girls
,
turned back
around
. He shied away
,
an embarrassed look on his face. “Already asked someone
.
”

“WHAT
?
” Casey spat
,
visibly shocked
.
“
W
ho
?
W
hen?”

“Indigo
,
” said
Artorius,
his face a bright shade of red
.
“I asked her at lunch on Sunday. She told me
‘
yes
’
this morning
,
but on one condition.”