Heart of Glass [manxman]

Chapter Eleven

At exactly 18:30, Louis was knocking at my door. I answered, having just barely gotten my shoes on when I heard his door close.

"You ready?"

"Ready enough," I said, feeling my pockets, checking for my weapons, as well as the burner phone in my coat pocket and my regular phone in the pocket of my jeans. "By the way, it's rude to force people into going to dinner with you."

"I didn't force you. I asked, and you didn't give a proper answer, so I took it as a yes."

"You ran over top of any answer I tried to give and pulled me along even though I didn't want to come."

"So why are you standing there, dressed and ready to go?"

I folded my arms over my chest. "For one, I'm hoping this will get you off my back. And most importantly, it's not often I'm asked to give my input and opinion, so I want to take full advantage of this opportunity and make you regret every second of it." I smirked, stepping out of my apartment and pulling the door shut behind me, locking it.

Louis rolled his eyes, leading the way down the stairs of the complex, where the trio of professors joining us stood, chatting amongst themselves while they waited. Among them were Meredith Lavenk, from the strategy team, as well as the Unit 01 team, Remy Kloves, from the strategy team, and Abigail Kinsley, also from both teams.

"Hey," Meredith said, smiling at Louis as we joined them. Her blonde hair was pinned up in a bun and she wore jeans with a gray blazer and lavender button-up. She glanced over at me. "Glad you could join us."

I nodded, giving her a tight smile. Enough to be polite and acknowledge her, but not open the door to conversation. While I was there and going and sucking it up, I was also trying my damnedest to ensure nothing like that happened again. Being a polite asshole was the only way to get through the evening unscathed as well as get the point across.

"Well, we should probably get going," Remy said, picking up quickly on the fact that I didn't want to be there and things were already off to a wonderfully awkward start.

The five of us walked across campus, the four of them chatting about their day, classes, and everything in between. I, on the other hand, hung in the back, walking along like a dog on a leash, hating every second of it. I didn't belong there, and it was painstakingly clear. Hopefully, Louis would notice too.

Once we arrived at the restaurant, we were seated directly across from a large table full of students I recognized. As everyone was filing in, I heard my name. I glanced over, suppressing an eye roll when I found the call came from one of my fifth-year students—Grayson Akers. He was waving, gesturing for me to come over with a broad grin on his face.

"I'll be back," I muttered, slipping away from the table to torment Grayson and anyone in his vicinity. I walked over, brow cocked, running my gaze along the table. Almost everyone there was someone affiliated with the assassination department, from fifth-years to ninth-years, not a single young one in sight.

Oh, that was nice.

"We're out of class and yet you summon me over here? Either I'm too nice to you, or you're a masochist, Mr. Akers," I said.

Grayson snorted, grin not faltering in the slightest. "We've never seen you outside of class!"

I looked at the table again and frowned. "Each of you have been to my office, because you've fucked up. That counts as outside of class."

"But not in a normal person setting," he said. "We just wanted to say hi."

"Well, hello." I waved at the entirety of the table, all twelve students there waved back, grinning shit eating grins. I looked back at Grayson, deciding to pick on him since it was his bright idea to call for me in the first place. "Eat your vegetables, Mr. Akers, otherwise, you'll be useless next week in the first training simulation."