Young Writers Society

Chapter 16

~1205 words

A/N: All the young men I'm writing are just getting more and more creepy. What the heck, me? Heads up, Tommy crosses some lines in this chapter. That's why this is rated higher than normal.

Ivy

Helping at the workshop seemed much more normal now that Nikki was back. Grey seemed to have realized that he’d messed up last time and gave Ivy plenty of space, which Ivy, for one, didn’t mind in the slightest. He spent most of his time with Nikki actually, leaving the menial task of sorting through screws and bolts to Ivy. She didn’t mind. It gave her plenty of time to think.

Now that she could take a step back from Grey and just observe him, she could see he wasn’t a bad guy. Sure, he could look a little moody at times, but other times, he had an easy smile. Nikki was probably right. She was probably just misinterpreting friendly gestures as too forward. Ivy was ready to give their friendship another shot. She hefted her bucket of screws over to where Nikki and Grey were tinkering with Alder’s big machine and joined their conversation.

“So you’re an apprentice here, then?” Nikki was asking.

“Yeah. My mother and father wanted to send me far away while it still looked like I was receiving an excellent education. That’s not really what this is. It’s not a respectable apprenticeship, really, but I don’t mind. Better than being stuck with those stuffed shirts for all my life,” Grey answered.

Nikki noticed Ivy walking up. “Grey’s nobility, did you know?”

Grey snorted. “I wouldn’t call it nobility.”

“His mother and father are with the inner circle though, right? The crust of society as they say?”

“Yeah, they weaseled their way in there somehow, even though their title is all but made-up and the money’s run dry. They’re clinging to society with every inch of their lives. They think being title-less is worse than death itself, the pretentious pricks.” Grey was scowling in earnest now.

“Still that means you’ve got connections,” Nikki said with a knowing look.

“None that I care to be connected with. As far as I’m concerned, once my apprenticeship is over, I’m a free man. I’m never going home again,” he spat.

“At least you have someone who you could fall back on if you needed to.” Ivy had meant the comment to come off breezily and flippant, but instead it sounded dark and self-piteous.

“Oh?” said Gray. “What d’you mean?”

“Sorry. I didn’t mean- Well, I don’t have any parents myself, now do I? I’ve got my gran, but she needs me to fall back on, instead of the other way around.”

“I’m… I’m sorry to hear that Ivy. I didn’t know.”

Ivy searched his face. She didn’t need his pity: she had long ago come to terms with her life. But she was intrigued to see there was real empathy behind Grey’s eyes. They held each other’s gaze for a breath before Grey jerked back to examining the machine. There was a beat of awkward silence.

“Boy. I feel like I’ve taken my family for granted,” Nikki said. “When I go home tonight, I’m going to give them all a big hug.”

Ivy cracked a grateful grin. Soon, they were all talking easily again, about matters that mattered very little.

After a while, Grey stood up and stretched. “We’ve got a recruitment speech again tonight. There’s one every week. Do you girls want to watch it again? I don’t, because I’ve seen it a million times and it gets old really quick, but… you guys might be a little more insane than I am. You did join this society willingly. I was shipped into it, you remember?”

Ivy and Nikki looked at each other.

“I think I’d like to see it again,” offered Ivy.

“Maybe I’ll understand more of it this time,” said Nikki.

“Suit yourself,” said Grey with a shrug. “It should be starting in a little bit. I’m going to see if Jack is here.”

The three of them walked together through the maze of machines to the small chamber room full of pews. Alder was already standing at the front, reading a dirty scrap of paper through thick-lensed spectacles and clearing his throat nervously every few seconds. Sure enough, Jack was sprawled out on the back pew again, eyes closed, looking like the hard wooden bench was the most comfortable seat in the world. He was wearing a different nice suit from last week, but the same gray bowler hat.

“Hey Jack! Have you met Ivy and Nikki?” Grey asked.

Jack opened his eyes slowly. They were a piercing hazel. “I believe I have,” he said, lazily tipping his hat. “The only two strangers to ever make it through one of Alder’s speeches, I believe. Pleased to see you ladies again.”

“Likewise,” Nikki responded with a curtsy.

The man seemed to consider Nikki with a calculating, appraising look. His eyes flicked to Ivy, and he seemed about to speak when the door opened suddenly.

A dirty, mousy-faced boy poked his head in. His eyes scanned the room. They passed quickly over Jack, almost as if he wasn’t there. His eyes lingered on Nikki, for perhaps a little too long, because she folded her arms and looked irritated and embarrassed. The boy smirked and moved on. When his eyes landed on Ivy, they widened a little, blinked, and darted right to Grey, who said, “Tommy?”

“Yeah, of course it’s me, who’re you expecting? The Pope? Thought I’d drop in, and just have a few words.” Tommy ran a hand through his hair and glanced quickly back at Nikki. “But I can stay for a while. Maybe you can introduce me to your… friends.” He smiled like a hungry fox.

“Uh, sure,” said Grey. “This is Jack-”

“We’ve met,” interrupted Tommy.

“Indeed,” Jack said, his voice quiet like a cat’s purr.

“This is Nikki,” Grey hurried on. “I think I’ve-”

“Yes, you’ve mentioned her. But you never mentioned what a… curvaceous beauty she is.” Tommy smiled slyly at Nikki, who looked more taken aback than Ivy had ever seen her.

“T-thank you?” she said.

“The pleasure is mine,” Tommy said. Quick as a wink, he snatched Nikki’s hand and planted a kiss there.

Nikki made a strangled scream, but looked to horrorstruck to do anything else.

Grey cleared his throat loudly, glaring at Tommy.

“What?” Tommy asked indignantly. “That’s what you did to the Gyp here, ain’t it?”

Ivy gagged in surprise and sudden rage.

Grey looked livid. “Roma. And I can see you needed no introduction to Ivy, here,” he said icily. “What did you want?” It was more of a challenge than a question.

“I told you! I just wanted to have a bit of a chat.” Tommy raised his eyebrows in mock innocence.

“Well I’ll ask you kindly to wait until lamplighting.” Grey’s voice was steel. He sounded anything but kind.

“Ah, but we were having such fun!” Tommy scooted closer to Nikki. He was still holding her hand, and she was still petrified.

“Thomas!” Alder yelled from the front of the room. “Stop harassing my volunteers or I’ll have you thrown out on your ear! I mean it!”

Tommy rolled his eyes, but let go of Nikki’s hand. She looked relieved. “Yeah, yeah. I’ll see you later, Grey.” And with that, he walked out the door.