Shenanigans at SHIHOM

• ๏ภє •

I was expecting things to cool down after the battle with Ixkik, the twins, and Camazotz.

But of course, they didn't.

The first two months after our victory were great. I easily fell into a routine of writing, teaching, learning, and training, along with the other sixty godborns. At first, we'd had sixty-five, but then Serena and four others had run away, and no new ones had come to SHIHOM. Brooks had told me that she didn't expect any new ones anytime soon, since Ixtab had sent me to round up every known one in the United States, and the Queen of Hell was pretty thorough.

So, yay, no more godborn-tracking missions for me. I already had enough on my plate, what with everything at SHIHOM.

The day started normally. I woke up, did my morning routine, then walked over to the mess hall where I had breakfast with Brooks, Ren, Marco, and the others. Occasionally, Hondo would join us, but half the time he was busy setting up his classes for the day. And Quinn had gone back to the Underworld with Ixtab after promising to keep in touch and visit soon.  

Then, it was time for classes. I taught the morning's Harnessing Powers class, where the godborns learned to control their supernatural powers. Each godborn had a power, even if it wasn't as obvious as shooting flames. And some were late bloomers, but that was okay. I never pressured them or put them in any competition with one another. The class also taught how to find and use their 'weak point' to their advantage, which was something I sure wished someone had taught me when I was getting pushed around in the school hallways. A lot of the kids had similar experiences. Not all of them had visible 'flaws', but they all had parts of themselves they wished were different or better. I taught them to embrace what made them special and flip it on its head, channeling their godborn power through it.

I never took Hondo's class, but I'd heard it was pretty hardcore, even for the more athletically inclined godborns. When I'd asked Hondo how it was going, he'd shrugged and said "it was nothing but pure awesome".

Brooks taught a little of the time, about Mayan history and mythology, and a bit of the language. She didn't need to recount our adventures, as all the godborns had read all my books. Itzamna made sure the library always had several of each in stock.

After morning classes, I took one hour before and after lunch break to write in the library. Itzamna never ran out of paper, both truth and normal. I was a pretty quick writer, but with the amount of stuff he was asking me to record, I imagined I'd be at this for at least a few years. And that was assuming I didn't die or get sent off on more impossible quests.

Brooks always joined me for lunch though, so that was a plus. Afterward, I took the rest of the day to do basic high-school-learning stuff.

But today, I still had a while before those boring few hours. Lunch break had just started, and as I left the library I spotted groups of kids in the black SHIHOM uniform grab trays at the mess hall and then fan out to wherever they wanted to eat. Most ate in the mess hall, the amphitheater, or the library's courtyard, but today Brooks had told me to meet her at the top of the hill overlooking the whole place, so I grabbed a sandwich and bottle of water and walked up. Brooks wasn't here yet, so I sat down under a tree and surveyed the SHIHOM campus below me.

I'd never taken the time to climb the hill before, but the view from the top was breathtaking. It was fall, which meant the trees' leaves were slowly changing from their summery green to bright shades of yellow, orange, and red. The red-roofed library now blended in a bit better. The kids looked like little ants from up here.

"Zane!" Brooks's voice called.

I turned to see her jogging up the other side of the hill, her lunch in hand. She was dressed normally, in a black SHIHOM t-shirt, purple hawk hoodie, black sweatpants, and tennis shoes. Her long curly brown hair was braided down her back.

She sat next to me, pecking my cheek in the process. I blushed slightly and intertwined my fingers with hers.

"Do you come up here a lot?" I asked, taking a bite of my sandwich. "The view-"

"It's amazing, isn't it?" Brooks said. "And no, I was flying around the other day and found this spot. Can't believe it's always empty."

I smirked. "Better for us, then."

"Guess so," Brooks said. "Normal afternoon for you?"

"Mhm," I said. "Writing and then school-y stuff."

"You sound like a kid," she teased.

"I'm fourteen!"

"No difference."

"You're the same age!"

She pursed her lips, her eyes sparkling with amusement. "There's a difference there."

I fake-pouted. "No fair."

"Shut up."

"I-"

She leaned over and kissed me, which effectively shut me up.

I just wished this peace could've lasted forever.