Page 55 of A Dead Man's B-Side
August, naturally, found me with ease. I watched from afar as his eyes barely scanned the room before zeroing in on me. A grin grew across his face as he headed in my direction, plopping down with a deep sigh. “Today was a nightmare. Can you imagine having to go about your day after the events of yesterday? It’s torture.”
I moved the asparagus away from the meat on my plate before cutting it into smaller pieces, muttering, “You wouldn’t understand real torture.”
He paused from scooping up the mashed potatoes lathered in a sauce so good I didn’t bother wondering what it was made of.
It was silent for a beat too long, and when I lifted my head to meet his stare, he let out a strained chuckle. “So… I did some research. I didn’t actually find much, considering how hush-hush this entire thing is, but apparently Thaddeus is an alumnus, and he was a student…”
He finished speaking with a mouth full of food before tapping his fingers to the beat of a drumroll. “Exactly twenty years ago.”
He held his palms up and his mouth formed an O shape in amock-shocked face.
When I didn’t react, August threw his hands up before picking up his spoon again. “Really? No reaction? I thought that would be mind-blowing news.”
I shrugged. “I guessed as much yesterday.”
He mumbled something too unintelligible to understand before continuing to scarf down the food on his plate.
I tapped a finger against the table, wondering if I should throw him the idea I was beginning to turn in my head. Something worth researching.
“Hey, August.”
“Yeah?”
“If you happen to have the list of students in Thaddeus’ year, wouldn’t we be able to… I don’t know.”
I shrugged and waited for him to arrive at his own conclusion. Or rather, my own conclusion that I was allowing him to borrow. And as I’d hoped, he did.
His eyes lit up as he dropped his spoon for at least the third time since he sat down. “We can find the other six students he–wait, but how would that even help us?”
I shrugged again, picking at my food with my fork. “Who knows what we might find. Like Thaddeus implied, knowledge is important.”
I peeked at August from under my lashes and watched him think it over. A contemplative look filled his features as he ran his finger under his chin. “... I guess, yeah. It wouldn’t exactly be commonknowledge, so it wouldn’t be easy to find. But that would be a good place to start.”
“What would be a good place to start?”
A new voice sounded above us, and August jumped before whipping his head back at whoever was standing over him.
Wolf was holding his tray with his head tilted to the side, eyeing us with a suspicious look that I didn’t think was warranted. He was a ghost up until now and even absent during the finance class I was sure we shared.
Missing out on the bloodless battle Mr. Rutherford allowed to ensue as two students, I couldn’t remember their names if I tried, went head-to-head in a ‘merger scenario’.
Quite cutthroat.
I must have noticed Wolf missing when I lost focus because Mr. Rutherford spoke quickly as he did sharply, as if he were cursing us instead of teaching us about things called ticker symbols.
GE, IBM, Mobil, Xerox.
Only by the end did I realize why I couldn’t find myself understanding what I was sure was English.
He was talking about companies in code, essentially. At least I hoped.
“And where were you this morning?” If I didn’t hold myself back, I’d be leaning forward with both hands gripping the table in eagerness. Instead, I sat back and crossed my arms over my chest.
I felt like Wolf was hiding something, but the connection between himself and Thaddeus was too broad to figure out. Theydidn’t seem to have any familial relations, and the age gap was too wide for any sort of friendship. So why was he picked out of the bunch yesterday?
He raised his brows a beat and settled next to August. “Around.”
Prick.
