G-GAME: The Cross of Santo Domingo

Chapter 4

The next morning, I took Amber to school and met up with Pogues before our test in first period. 

"Okay, so Diocletian?" I quizzed Pope, as we walked to Mr. Sunn's classroom. 

"Diocletian was a Roman Emperor; best known for administrative and military reforms. He also established the Tetrarchy, which is a system of rule by four emperors, and thus provided more effective governance and addressed the vast territorial expanse of the empire." Pope replied.

"How did we end up with them as our friends?" Kie asked, as she turned to JJ. 

"You're asking me." JJ replied. 

"Ha, ha. Very funny." I replied, sarcastically. 

"You guys will be thanking me when a question about Diocletian comes up and you have that to remember." Pope smiled.

"I'll take my chances, Pope." JJ shot back, as we turned the corner into Mr. Sunn's room. 

After we settled into class and reviewed testing procedures, the exam began. 

It had been about twenty minutes into the exam when we heard a knock at the door. We all looked up. 

"Mr. Sunn, can I borrow Pope for a minute?" A man in a suit asked, as he peered in through the door. 

"We're in the middle of a test." Mr. Sunn replied. 

"I'm from the Vanderhorst Foundation." The man continued.

"Mr. Heyward, it's for you." Mr. Sunn said, as he turned to face Pope. Pope looked over at Kie, before getting up and following the man into the hallway. Kie looked over at me, with a confused expression. I returned the same one. 

After about a minute or so, Pope came rushing back inside the classroom, an envelope in hand. Kie, JJ and I all turned to face him, curious as to why he was called out of class. 

"Okay, what was that?" Kie whispered, as she looked over at Pope. He turned around to face us and showed us the back side of the envelope. The envelope had a golden wax seal stamp on the back, and on the seal, was the wheat symbol. 

"Is that the wheat symbol?" I asked to ensure I wasn't going crazy. Pope nodded. 

"What the f--" JJ started, before Mr. Sunn turned to look at him. "Fu-- fudge." JJ finished, before falling silent again and looking down at his pencil.

As soon as the test was over, we all ran out of Mr. Sunn's classroom and headed towards the library, so we could talk about the envelope. 

"Is this a game of tag?" JJ asked, as we chased Pope down the hall, trying to keep up with him. 

"I don't know." I muttered, as Kie and I picked up the pace. 

"Am I gonna have to beat you with your protractor?" JJ started, as we entered the library. The librarian hushed him. "Pope, what's going on?" JJ continued. 

"Seriously, Pope, you are driving me insane." Kie whispered. 

"Okay, so that guy was from the scholarship committee." Pope replied, as we sat down at a computer. "Take a look at this." Pope added, as he held out the envelope and JJ grabbed it. "Read it." 

"Out loud." Kie added. 

JJ opened the letter and stared at it. "I can't read cursive." He muttered, embarrassed. I gave him a confused look, before I grabbed the letter from his hand and read it aloud.