Alex Van Helsing The Triumph of Death - By Jason Henderson Page 0,21
and Alex followed. When they reached the school, they went in through separate doors. Alex waited in the stairwell for the bell to ring, and at three P.M. he made his way into his European History class.
He slid into his seat next to Sid, who brightened but also shook his head with an apparent array of questions.
A moment later, Paul and Minhi came in, holding hands briefly before they separated, Paul next to Sid and Minhi in front of them. Just his luck he had all three of his friends in one class. He prayed class would start before he had to get into the whole business about Secheron.
Minhi turned and looked at him. “I thought you were just going to be gone during lunch.”
“Yeah, it, uh, went long.”
The door opened and Astrid came in, finding a seat at the far end of the class. She waved at them and smiled. Alex watched her sit and then turned back to Minhi, who looked like she was doing math in her head, sizing up Alex’s story.
Alex asked brightly, “How are things going with, uh, Astrid?”
“I don’t know. She’s been missing for a couple of hours.” The same distrust. Minhi would make a crackerjack detective, Alex thought.
Paul was listening and pursed his lips. “No way.” He laughed, his giant frame shaking. “Is that where…Blimey. Nice.”
“Come on.” Alex opened his hands. “What?”
Minhi looked at him more coldly than he felt he probably deserved as the teacher came in and put him out of his misery.
As Alex melted into the rhythm of class, he felt again the strangeness of a double life. Only hours ago, he had been nearly cut in half by a skull-headed lady on horseback, and now he was listening to something about the start of World War I that he could barely find the needed concentration to follow. He felt the mantle of Student Alex slide over him, and he forced all thoughts of the undead into the recesses of his mind as he opened his history book and began to take notes.
At dinner, the four friends met up in the cafeteria, taking their seats near high windows that looked out onto the grounds.
Astrid joined them, and this time her kiss on Minhi’s cheek was met rather more slowly than it had been in the morning.
They chatted as Astrid sketched in a notebook, peppering Minhi with questions about LaLaurie.
All through dinner and after, Alex kept looking out the window, as if he could spot the skull-faced army that had melted away after the attack. Astrid put down her pencil and looked out, observing to the others, “It should be snowing soon. The woods will be lovely. You’re so lucky to be here.”
Minhi nodded. “It will be lovely! You’ll see. I can take you out in the morning if you want to see the woods before the snow.”
“Oh, I have, when we walked this afternoon,” Astrid said excitedly. She cast her eyes at Alex. “We spent hours exploring. Alex is a gallant tour guide.”
“Ah,” Minhi said evenly. “Yeah, that’s what my old roommate said.”
Alex briefly considered pounding his head against the table but decided it wouldn’t help. It was the story, after all. “I’m getting a soda,” he said, rising and walking to the back of the room.
At the drink dispensers, in the upper end of the cafeteria where the kitchen had been closed and the shadows were growing long, Minhi appeared next to him.
“So you move fast.” Minhi busied herself getting a glass of orange juice.
“It’s not really like that,” Alex said.
“Oh? So you didn’t cut class with a girl you just met this morning?”
“No, I—well, yeah, but it was…” He looked at Minhi. Her brown eyes were wide and expectant. “Um, there was something you wanted to…ask. Before I left earlier.”
She watched him for what seemed like a long time. “I don’t know,” she said finally. “It’s probably not the time.”
“Stop,” he said.
“Stop what?”
“Your juice, it’s overflowing,” he said, pointing to her glass.
“Oh!” Minhi turned and pulled the glass away from the dispenser. “God, I’m so stupid.”
“No,” Alex said. This was all wrong. “No, it’s…let’s go back.”
“To what?” Minhi’s mouth curled into a thin frown.
“Okay,” Alex said. “Look. I can’t keep being jealous.”
“What?”
“Don’t…” He searched for words, looking back at the table. “You know what I mean. I don’t know what else to say, but I can’t keep being jealous of you and one of my best friends, and, Minhi, you can’t keep encouraging me to be. Okay?”