The Originals

Chapter Thirty-One: Stoll Finnegan

When Stoll arrived back at the Finnegan House, his older brother was livid. "You blew off your shifts, Stoll!" Sam yelled as Stoll traversed through the house to find a spare bottle of dishwashing soap. Sam trailed after him, fuming. "You and me? We're the only cleaners in the academy, and on top of being the groundskeeper, I can't keep up with your crap!"

With Mr. O'Donnell and Mrs. Black gone, the academy only really kept Stoll and Sam around since they believed being a janitor wasn't that difficult. The rest of the cleaning staff went on break and hadn't returned due to the flood. Good for them. "I was busy," he muttered.

"With who? I know damn well you're not missing shifts for schoolwork." Suddenly, Sam's face turned into horror. "You're hanging around with that Orchid girl, aren't you?"

Stoll found the green liquid dishwashing soap under the counter, slipping on the plasticky yellow gloves. "Sam, Orchid and I aren't dating, don't be weird about the situation."

"You know why we shouldn't enter relationships," Sam snarled.

Stoll rolled his eyes. "Maybe it's just our situationship with Dad and his marriage with Mom—" He stopped, knowing he crossed a line by mentioning Mom. "Sorry, Sam."

Sam basically seethed. "It's because we steal and unless you want to risk a crossfire, I suggest you stop seeing this Orchid girl." If only you knew, Orchid and Saira were the only people who knew how Stoll and Sam stole from the academy. "If we ever get caught..."

"Don't worry about it, we're not a thing. Now, go away." Sam left Stoll washing the dishes while he went to grab the laundry. Stoll scrubbed and dried until his arms ached and the doorbell rang. Yes, an escape!

He ran to the foyer while Sam followed after him. Stoll opened the door, revealing Madeleine Xing. "Oh, hi, Madeleine!" He had forgotten about their tutoring session. "Always great to see you."

She smiled, took off her coat, and hung it up. "Thanks, Stoll."

"Hey, Maddy," Sam nodded as they headed back to the kitchen. "Did you eat dinner yet?" Stoll scrunched up his nose, looking at his brother, then his tutor, and back at Sam. Was he going crazy or did they become friends? Since when did Sam start calling her Maddy? Were they more than friends?

How freaking ironic.

"Uh, no, I haven't yet, thank you for asking."

"You could eat with us, I made too much lasagna," Sam offered and Madeleine agreed happily. Stoll quickly finished up the last round of dishes as Sam took the lasagna to the dinner table. They settled in as Sam cut the first chunk for Madeleine. "Ladies first, of course."

"Haha, what a gentleman," Stoll teased.

"Quite so. Thanks, Sam."

They ate the lasagna quietly as the lights above them flickered. "Ah, shit," Sam grumbled under his breath. "Hold on, I'm going to phone the headmaster." He stood up, walking to the foyer to call.

"This is literally how every horror movie starts," Stoll snorted.

"As a history professor, that's historically accurate," Madeleine kidded, dabbing the corners of her mouth with a tissue. Now that Sam was out of earshot, Stoll had the chance to ask her about the gothic literature club.

"Uh, Madeleine, I need to tell you something." Stoll felt remorseful when Madeleine genuinely looked concerned. For the Originals and sleuthing, he swallowed his pride. "Why didn't I get into the gothic literature club?"

Madeleine's face fell. "Oh God, I'm sorry, I forgot to bring it up." She grimaced, clenching her jaw. "Stoll, I believe you're just as able as everyone else in Silverleaf Academy. However... You're a janitor and on the form, you simply don't have the same time routine as everyone else."