Simmer

Chapter 7: Apostle

Cloaking herself in shadows had become habitual. She entered Nicholas in his room. Bishop perked up as he sensed her first. Familiars were wary of her though none were aggressive. It took Aubrey's cat a while to warm up to her.

She uncloaked herself and stepped into the light.

Nicholas turned and nearly jumped at the sight of her. “Callie! What are you doing here?"

“I'm on a sugar run." She opened her bag and pulled out the box of chocolate pies. "This war between your girlfriend and my roommate is ridiculous."

He went to her and accepted the box. He smiled at it before opening the box and taking out a pie. He tore open the foil wrapping hurriedly and bit into the pie. He closed his eyes in bliss as he chewed.

"Should I leave you two alone?" she quipped.

As if remembering she was still there, he opened his eyes and smiled sheepishly and offered, "Want one?"

"Sure."

She took a pie from the box and unwrapped the foil. Nicholas stared at her as he continued to chew. He asked, "How did you get here without being seen?"

She bit into her pie and shrugged. It was easier to let him come to his own conclusions instead of accidentally letting slip any truthful details.

"Invisibility spell?"

"Something like that."

His dark eyebrows furrowed. "Where are you from again?"

"I was homeschooled in England."

"No accent?"

She was regretting choosing England. Everyone was so concerned about accents. She should've said she was from Canada.

"I moved there when I was ten," she replied. "I didn't get out much."

He looked contemplative as he finished the last of his pie. "I have cousins that live in Manchester. Where did you live?"

"London."

She had done some basic research for her cover story but it wasn't incredibly detailed. If he stared asking her about places and pop culture references, she might falter. Instead, Nicholas took a seat on his bed. He offered her a seat at his desk chair. There was a respectable distance between them.

"Do you miss it there?" he asked.

"No."

"Why not?"

She shrugged. "I just don't."

He stared at her for a moment. His hazel eyes felt like they were staring straight into her soul. "You seem a little defensive."

This was going all wrong. She tried to lighten the conversation.

"There's nothing much to know about me," she insisted. "I'm boring, really."

"I doubt that."

There were times she struggled to understand how to be human. And boys? Boys were so confusing.

Wanting to get away from his questions and fearing that she would ruin her cover, she decided to leave. She was uncomfortable telling anyone about herself. Only Finnegan really knew all of her. She made her way to the door and left without looking back.

The War of the Snacks was still going strong. Callie was sneaking snacks to Nicholas away from the gaze of his possessive girlfriend. She sneaked boxes of cookies and brownies to him between classes. She brought bags of chips and bars of chocolate to his room when his roommate wasn't around.

While not enjoying being used as a free courier for contraband goods it did give her an excuse to interact with Nicholas. He looked forward to seeing her when he knew she was carrying provisions. When they were alone she didn't immediately leave and he offered to share the food. Nicholas would ask her about her classes and tell her stories and despite herself he made her want to tell him things about herself.

"Hey, trouble," Nicholas greeted her as she sneaked into his room.

She didn't think anything of it. He started calling her that when she sneaked him a box of chocolate pies after lacrosse practice one afternoon. His roommate was some blond lacrosse player that was usually off chasing some girl and she miraculously hadn't been around when she showed up. She wondered if his roommate even slept there.

"Hey, yourself."

She should probably call him 'handsome' or something in return but he wouldn't have noticed. He was too focused on the bags of chips she brought with her. Her personal favorite were the corn chips that she and Aubrey would eat as they did their homework. Aubrey had been without a roommate for too long and insisted they spend time together when they could.

"Can I ask why you moved to England?" Nicholas asked, as they shared a bag of honey butter chips.

Bishop stared longingly up at them, silently begging to have some of the food. She shook her head at him. He continued to stare. He was still wary of her but he was hungry enough to beg scraps from her.

She considered giving him one but decided against it and replied, "My father sent me to live with my mom."

In Hell for six years and it was six years too many.

"And your dad is still here? Why didn't he send you to Shipton instead?"

Shipton had a grade school department in a separate building but there was no way Edmund Dubois was sending her there. As far as she knew he never told people she existed. He wasn't going to send his half-demon offspring out into the world and ruin his reputation. She spent the first ten years of her life at the mansion in Woodbury in isolation. She never met anyone else but her father till he sent her away.

"He decided he didn't want me around anymore."

Nicholas went quiet. She frowned at the look on his face.

"Don't look at me like that. I don't need your pity."

He stopped reaching for the chips. "How old were you when he sent you away?"

"Ten."

"And did he keep in touch with you? Did he call or write?"

She gave in to Bishop's pleading and handed him one potato chip. "Why do we need to talk about my terrible childhood?"

"So, it was terrible," he concluded, that damn pity on his face made her want to slap him. "What was your mom like?"

"I don't want to elaborate on that."

She didn't want to remember Lilith. It was all too fresh.

"I'm sorry."

She nearly recoiled at the words. "For what?"

"For your parents, for what they did to you."

"Why are you sorry? You didn't do anything to me."

She didn't understand this boy. He barely knew her. What was it with people and having so many emotions? She wished she didn't feel anything most of the time.

"No, but you didn't deserve whatever they did. And I can see that you're trying to forget it," he said. "I know I'm lucky because my parents are tough on me but I never doubted they loved me. Other people, my friends, aren't as lucky."

She knew what he meant. She'd been in Trish's head and seen how her parents treated her. Her parents were never physically harmed her but they were cruel in different ways. Trish's insecurities weren't a mystery when she had never been good enough for her own parents.

He smiled encouragingly at her. "If people tell me something I will take it to the grave."

She could hear the silent offer for him to listen. And she imagined telling somebody the truth, somebody other than Finnegan. She knew it was foolish but it would be nice to be able to be herself and not whatever she had to pretend to be. She wasn't a fool though.

"I should go."

"You ever gonna teach me that invisibility spell?"

"Not today."

Finn found Nicholas's favorite place on campus which was the rooftop that could be accessed from one of the balconies on the top floor. She had to climb up to the roof wearing her school skirt and carrying his contraband snacks in her backpack. He raised both eyebrows at the sight of her and she crawled slowly towards him. He pulled her closer to him so she could take a seat and not accidentally fall to her death.

"What are you doing here?" he asked. "How'd you find me?"

"I got eyes everywhere."

"That doesn't sound ominous at all."

"Definitely not. I'm an angel." She opened her bag and took out the bag of candied fruit and handed it to him. "Isn't it too cold to be out here?"

"I'm warm-blooded. It's only when it snows that I stop coming up here," he replied, opening the bag of candied fruit. The candy was on little sticks. He handed her one. "My special place used to be this tree nearby the greenhouses but they cut it down in my Second Year."

"Where do you go then when it snows?"

"Don't tell anyone but there's this abandoned classroom on the fourth floor and it's all mine."

Finn had told her about the classroom too.

"You'd probably find that place." He gave her a look as he bit into a candied grape. "Are you stalking me?"

She was stalking him. She knew his class schedule by heart. She had Finn watch him during his Herbal Magic classes by the greenhouses.

She didn't give him an answer and instead ate her candied pineapple. The crystalized sugar broke as she bit into it. It had become an odd ritual between them. She would deliver Aubrey's snacks to him and they would share it and talk for a short while.

She hesitated before saying, "Can I ask you something?"

"Go for it."

"Why are you dating Trish?"

He stared at her in surprise, not expecting her to ask that. "What?"

She shrugged, trying to act nonchalant. "It kind of boggles me that a sugar-addict like you ended up with someone who thinks it's the worst thing in the world."

"I am not a sugar-addict."

"I watched you eat half a roll of Oreos last week."

He laughed and didn't point out she ate the other half of the roll with him. He indulged her and answered, "We've been friends for years. She's sweet, funny, and she has a big heart."

"And?"

"And things aren't perfect but that's no reason to give up on a relationship."

It should be a more than enough reason to give up on this relationship. She was beginning to lose hope at the rate this was going.