They Came In Hoodies

Chapter 20: Not With That Attitude

Gray POV

Song for the start of the chapter

As I sat on the floor to my small dorm room, I held up a gem from Else's box into the light. It glittered, causing rainbows to appear on the ground in front of me. It lit up the room with such a brightness that didn't seem real. The brightness caused me to squint and drop the stone on the ground.

I still wasn't sure what I was supposed to find in this box, but something told me that there was something important in here. I spent hours hoping for answers, but all of it looked like fancy jewelry and gemstones for evening wear.

There had to be more to it than that, though. Else kept them in a box that looked like a book, shoved in a drawer. That meant she wanted to hide them from prying eyes. This box was important, but I wasn't sure why.

My mind drifted back to when I asked Egrick why he searched Else's apartment. He never gave me a straight answer. Just like Else, there were things he was hiding. A part of me believed he was searching for the box in my hands. I just wanted to know why. What did he know about it that I didn't? What was so special about this box?

Breaking me from my thoughts was a knock on the door.

Not sure who it was, I jumped to my feet and quickly shoved the box under my pillow.

"Come in!" I called out as I sat on the bed, trying to look casual.

Egrick walked in without wasting a second. "Hey," he said.

"Hey," I echoed.

In silence, he looked around my room for a moment before meeting my eyes again. "Grayson, we have a meeting I would like you to attend."

"When?"

"Now."

I nodded as I stood up from the bed and slipped on a pair of shoes as Egrick continued to look around my room. It was as if he knew I was hiding something and that set me on edge. It made me not want to leave, fearing he would find the Else's box.

"Are you looking for anything?" I probed.

He stuffed his hands into his jeans and shook his head. "Nope. So, are you ready to leave now?"

"Yup. I'm ready," I replied. Quickly, I followed him out of the room, locking it behind me, praying that was enough to keep Else's box safe.

I followed Egrick through hallways and up a few flights of stairs until we ended up in the dean's office.

As the people in the room watched as we entered, my thoughts shifted to the place time I was in this room.

I hadn't been in this room since the night the royal family was murdered. Their blank expressions on the wooden floor were the only thing I could think of when I looked around the room.

If I would have fought better to stop my father, we wouldn't be here talking about how to stop him. I failed Churchwell and few people knew that. Few would know. That was something that I would keep to my grave.

However, as I looked around the room, it worried me that everyone knew my secret about that night. There were a million reasons I was hated, and that was just one of them.

"Grayson, Egrick, good, we can start," the dean of the school said as Egrick closed the door behind him.

The dean was a strong, powerful lady that stood nearly six feet tall. She commanded the room as she should with her power.

I didn't know the dean well, but I knew she was someone that Else trusted. Else told me herself that she was one of the few in the school that she believed in. Maybe if I had a question about Egrick or even Else, she would be the best person to ask.