Hutch cursed the knowledge he'd gained, as he laid on his bed and stared at the ceiling, hoping to get some more sleep.
The day had moved at a turtle's pace, from waiting for everyone to wake, eat, and get ready, to packing up the truck and heading back to the home in Cauthard Hills. Even putting away the mounds of food the chef had packed for them seemed to take twice as long as it should. By the time Hutch could go and take a nap, exhausted beyond reason, he was wired, and struggled to get comfortable. Haunted by the story Casimir had told him, he couldn't stop questioning everything he thought he knew, how much else he might have gotten wrong, and wondering if any of it was even true. Yet, at the same time, he wondered what reason Casimir would have to lie.
"It's not like I hate him, anymore," he whispered to himself as he rolled onto his right side. "Not even sure I ever did." He sighed, tucking his sheet beneath his chin. "More like I hated what I thought he did, but that was before I found out he was Cas. And clearly, he is not Salvador." Rolling over to his other side, he aggressively fluffed his pillow and slammed his head down against it. "This is bullshit!" he shouted in frustration, before shifting onto his back and stretching out his arms and legs. "I hate this," he groaned. "Being wrong about him sucks. He's such a bastard. I can already imagine his gloating little face, with that smug little smirk, and his 'I told you I wasn't evil incarnate!' tone when he figures out that I believe him. Stupid Salvador." He ground his hands together as if squishing Casimir's imaginary head, before dropping his arms back out at his sides. "I want to go back to before, when I knew I was right and too stupid to question it."
Hutch would manage to fall asleep eventually, and when he awoke, he found it was three hours later. From that point, through the following day, his life went by in a blur, culminating in his first day back at school.
Unbeknownst to Hutch, Celina had been working in the background to secure his enrollment in the prestigious, private school of Tamerlane Hills Academy, a stone's throw from the quaint village of Cauthard Hills, using her connections with the members of the Admissions board, along with a generous, and hefty donation.
As grateful as Hutch was when Celina told him, just before they went into the store to purchase his uniform, he was more surprised than anything, as they hadn't really spoken about which high school he was going to attend. He'd just assumed that he would be going to whatever public high school he was in the district of. But when he asked her about this, Celina set her hand to his cheek and giggled, saying, "Hutch, just enjoy the opportunity, and let me spoil you something fierce."
To in which, he could only reply, "As you wish, ma'am."
Between shopping with Celina, which was all about getting him prepared for school, and the time he spent with Casimir, which consisted of driving lessons, and conversations about the amulet, Illimev, and Brett, he felt as if he's had a year's worth of information crammed into his brain overnight. On top of everything else, he still managed to perform his butlering duties. And while it was a lot to juggle, he found the challenge pleasing; a picture slowly taking form, showing him how different his life was going to become. It resonated with him, and that only made him eager to take further pride in every aspect of his life.
After a lengthy discussion, it was decided that Casimir, and Julian, would leave together on Wednesday for an overnight in Utah, thus leaving Casimir available for Hutch's first official day of school. Which given that it was mid-year, lacked all the usual pomp and ceremony of a first day, much to both of their relief. However, Tamerlane Hills was not the type of school, Hutch remembered. The halls weren't filled with noise, and chaos between bells. The entire place was a monument to wealth and privilege making his former school, despite its quality reputation and upper middle-class environment, look run down and classless in comparison. It was obvious from the moment he arrived, that there wasn't a student that didn't want to be there, or a teacher that wasn't completely dedicated to the position that they held. Even the non-teaching members of the school staff wore uniforms, and cared for the school as if it were their home. There was no graffiti in bathrooms, no dents in the locker doors, no dust in corners, or trash on the floor. Students held other students accountable, and the standards were kept high, as failure for one, somehow meant failure for all, on a class versus class basis, reminding him of life at the King's Guard Academy.
The first day was an eye opener for Hutch, who aside from having to get used to being called Jules or Mr. Hutchinson, had to contend with discovering he was the dumbest kid in every room, despite his impressive maturity, and having already lived to the ripe old age of thirty-six. While it wasn't quite the disaster, he imagined it would turn into, his first day was nothing short of completely unimpressive, as he opted to not interact with any of the students and was held back after every class for a quick lecture from the teacher about how his previous conduct wouldn't be tolerated, regardless of who his patron was. By the end of the day, Hutch had easily fallen into his old habits, and walked the halls as if he were still a soldier. The school felt like a palace after all, and he was still representing the Salvadors even if Casimir no longer wanted to be called king. So, he carried himself with a sense of nobility, nothing less than befitting that of solider of the first division of the King's Guard; he bowed to every teacher, disregarded their pointless threats, and carried on as if his reputation was untarnished, and the honor of his patron's house was something to protect. All while ignoring the snide remarks about 'who does that guy think he is?' from the nobody's who were somebody's he didn't know in the hall.
By the end of the day, Hutch had had his fill of that place. The most interesting aspect of the entire day being how quick word had spread, about his connections to the Salvadors, and the odd, yet not entirely unexpected rumors, that popped up because of it.
"That is not the face of a happy man," Casimir remarked as Hutch climbed into the Expedition, his first day finally over.
Closing the door, he buckled his seat belt, and slumped forward. "What fresh hell is this?!" he complained, clawing at his own face. "What did I do to deserve ending up in this nightmare? If I didn't know better, I'd swear Ghan'dono had me cursed by Folanola for abandoning Lala."
"Bit dramatic, don't you think?"
Hutch lifted his head, and stared at Casimir, the corner of his eye twitching erratically. "Every teacher, in every class, all day long, felt the need to remind me of what an absolute trainwreck I was! It's like the entire school was issued a memo about me before I arrived! Training for the King's Guard wasn't this mentally challenging. I've fought in wars and had less temptation to murder. I couldn't follow a single word of what half of them were saying. Let's face it, I'm dumb. We both know it. I'm fit for hard labor, not academic desk work. My homeroom teacher is already looking for any excuse to get rid of me so I don't bring down the class average because for some reason that seems to matter to these people. It's going to take a fucking miracle for me to get my grades up to anything decent and chances are I'm going to be expelled long before that can happen."
"Are you finished breaking down yet?"
"Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo…" Hutch breathed out and slouched back against his seat. "Fuck. I don't want to disappoint you, or Celina, but I think this was a mistake."
"For who? If you don't make it here, then you don't. We aren't worried about it, and you shouldn't be either," Casimir replied, tapping his fist gently against his shoulder. "Besides, you going here makes Celina happy, and that is all I've ever wanted for her. So, we have a miracle on standby to help you with your grades. Julian will be tutoring you twice a week, and you will be working on extra credit courses on the weekends."
"You're doing this to torture me, aren't you?" Hutch asked, as he straightened himself up.
"I'd be lying if I didn't say it was a perk, but more importantly, I am doing this for your benefit. Even with the improved potential in our own project, we need to consider every possibility. Including the one where we fail and nothing that we do works. And even if we do succeed, it could be years before that happens. So, I won't have you ignoring every other possible future while you wait. This can't possibly be worse than sitting around the house all day with nothing to do, or going back and slumming it in a public school with a bunch of people you either can't remember or have previous ties to."
"Ren being the exception, you aren't wrong. This is marginally better than either of those. And thanks for coming and picking me up, by the way. I can hardly wait to hear all the new gossip and rumors about me tomorrow."
"Awe. My pleasure, kiddo," Casimir replied with a brimming smile as he plopped his hand onto the top of Hutch's head and ruffled his hair in clear view of everyone else either waiting to make their exit from the schools parking lot or heading towards their cars.
"Will you stop that!" Hutch barked, swatting his hand away. "You seriously are not helping!"
Casimir laughed as Hutch attempted to straighten out his hair.
"It's not funny."
"Yeah, it is," Casimir replied, as he managed to pull out his parking spot, the way having finally cleared.
"It's really not. There are already rumors about me being your secret love child, and frankly, for the family's sake, I'd rather not have that one perpetuated further."