The Class Reject: A Pariah in Purgatory (Book II)

Chapter 28

Miren's eye twitched. Hadn't she just lied to Theodora about him doing the musical for her? And then I went and...She fought the urge to scowl. I have nothing to feel bad about.

Right?

"Either way, don't pretend that I didn't see you face deep in one of my old anatomy textbooks." She offered Miren something of an all-knowing look. "I don't know if I can trick any of my children to go into medicine, but in the short time I've known you, it really appears to me that you have the makings of a physician."

Miren blinked. It was ironic, despite how well she did in school, she never considered her end game. It was always just survival. She never thought about what she'd do if she lived through the tortuous hell that was high school.

But a physician? She was already sick of school. "Are you sure?" was the only thing Miren could think of replying with. The woman nodded.

"You're observant, but caring and open," she said. "Furthermore, you listen. I've never seen someone so conscious at your age."

"I guess it's just a force of habit." Or circumstance. But then again, she was Miles now.

"Either way, you're a junior, right?" Miren nodded. "Well, just keep up what you're doing academically. Get a good ACT score, and keep in contact with me. I'll do my best to help you get into some schools with good medical school feeder programs. Then you won't have to worry about the MCAT." She sighed. "Took that damn thing three times. It's a bitch of an exam."

If you say so, Miren thought. But Penelope was a bitch of a girl. And something told her that most exams were relatively harmless if you studied hard enough. Penelope couldn't be reasoned with. Which was precisely why she had to be destroyed.

A light clicked on in the kitchen, and she heard a faucet run. Then the exhaust hood.

"Rory's probably making his New Year's Swedish pancakes." Janice opened her casebook before typing something on her laptop. "I'd go help, but unfortunately these surgical hands can't cook to save a patient's life."

***

Miren left the following day with Jeno and Jemma, so the whole ordeal was as horrible as it sounded.

Edsel left earlier that morning to take a detour to Newark with Cowdry, and although driving with them would have meant cutting their travel time by two hours, Miren almost preferred it. But she used the word 'almost' very loosely.

As Mr. Rutherford drove them to the 30th Street Station and they shared their goodbyes, Miren felt mostly in the clear. Jeno hadn't mentioned the other night, and the look in his eyes indicated no knowledge of what had happened. Although the idea was a little sad and mostly cliché, Miren knew it was better this way—it had to be.

When they boarded the train, her mind was in as much ease as it would allow. Until Jemma decided to be Jemma.

"Well, now we know you're a lightweight." Jemma patted her brother's shoulder. He looked especially annoyed, but it was hard to tell whether he was still slightly hungover, or if being grumpier was his New Year's resolution. "I guess joining a fraternity is out of the question."

"Stop talking," was his simple reply.

"Why?" She took the liberty to tug at his collar this time, probably being especially annoying because Miren was her audience. "Don't think I didn't notice those hickeys. Funny, I didn't think Theodora had that much bite." She turned to Miren before laughing. "Literally."

If Miren was drinking a beverage, she would have spat it out.

Jeno just grumbled in response before offering Miren an, I'm-sorry-I-share-DNA-with-this-idiotic-wench look. Miren smiled as painlessly as she could.

Thankfully, Jemma apparently had enough of tormenting them because she retreated to her phone.

"Jesus Christ," she then said as she texted furiously. Her blue eyes landed on Miren. "Can you believe Penelope's trying to blame her fucked up performance on me? I wasn't even there!"

"Knowing her, that's probably why she's accusing you," Jeno replied.

"Where the hell would I have gotten the video of Miren?" She wove her hands in the air frantically. "So she said she left it in her room. Shouldn't we be interrogating her old roommate or something?" she considered. "The only thing that's certain is the prank probably came from my school. Can wait for Castro's earful when I get back."

"Do you have any information on what might have happened?" Miren then asked. She knew she was running out of time—she had to look at her phone now, not later. Then again, Jemma could tell her everything she needed to know. And the last thing she needed was to face Parker, even if it were just his texts on a digital screen.

Jemma pursed her lips in contemplation. "Honestly, I have no fucking clue. Artemis texted me about the mishap, said we have to go to an emergency meeting later this week." She turned to Jeno. "I think you and Parker and Levi are supposed to be there. It's a student exec meeting."

Despite how eager Miren was to attend, she figured it be better if she sat this one out. Between Jemma, Artemis, Penelope, Parker, Jeno, Wallace, and Levi, it would practically be an intervention.

"Alright," Jeno said, leaning against his chair. "Hopefully we can get to the bottom of this."

"I don't know, it is sort of fun." A twisted grin spread across Jemma's lips. "I can't wait to see who's responsible for all of this. I mean, where was Miren's revenge committee before?"

Miren and Jeno exchanged looks before she turned to Jemma. "Was Miren's experience really that bad there? I mean, I saw the YouTube video, but this all seems really extreme."

"If you ask me, Artemis probably has something to do with this." She started picking her nails. "You saw how devastated she was. Wouldn't be surprised if Parker had a hand in it too. But yeah, Penelope was pretty horrible to her. Then again, apparently there was some incident between the two of them and Parker." She crossed her legs as she slouched further in her chair. "I've tried to pry, but it's the one secret Penny insists on keeping." Her eyes were toying as they hit Miren again. "I should put in a good word for you, Miles. Maybe she'll tell you if you play your cards right."

It was Jeno's turn to glare at Miren. She would have felt annoyed (hell, maybe Jemma had found out and this was the interrogation), but she mostly just had the urge to kiss Jeno again. She gulped it down. Stupid brain.

"Sounds interesting." His eyes were still on hers. "I'd like to know about The Incident too. Then again, curiosity did kill the cat."

More like curiosity would kill the Miren.

But she ignored his indirect prodding and focused on the window. She would tell him. Maybe. Or never.

Fortunately, the remainder of the train ride carried on as painlessly as it could. Miren closed her eyes, basking in these few hours of peace. Because once she returned to Rinzen, she knew there would be no place for the word.

Especially since Jemma's words were more insightful than they let on. And despite her own reservations, Miren could feel a new plan form in her brain.

And it wasn't a good one.