“Thank you.”I think.
“I’m Blaine. It’s a pleasure to meet you. Please follow me.”
We followed Blaine to one side of the store and stood out of the way while he wheeled a small cart from his path. He pulled back a curtain that I assumed led to their back storage room. I quickly found out I was wrong, though, as we stepped into a huge area that was at least four times the size of the front of the store. A man who looked to be close to Atlas’ age glanced up from a desk in the corner. It was one of those antique looking desks with thin legs and carvings on them. I quickly scanned the room and saw a section with messenger bags.
“Alister, these are the gentlemen Mr. Christos sent. This is Aiden, Luca, and Ryder,” Blaine announced. “This is Alister, and he will assist you with your general supply list. Luca and Aiden, please let me know if either of you need anything.”
“Yes. I’ll be up in a few minutes,” Luca replied as he glanced at Aiden.
“Excellent!” Alister said and shook each of our hands. “It’s wonderful to meet you. Congratulations, Ryder.”
“Thank you,” I replied.
“It’s exciting to meet young men as they start their journey to become young gentlemen.”
I smiled and nodded, not knowing how I should be acting.
“You’re the last student for the new term to collect your supplies,” Alister commented.
“Ryder arrived in New York late last week and had some things to take care of with Mr. Christos,” Aiden quickly said. It made me wonder how much of my situation with Roger Atlas had told Aiden and Luca.
“I understand,” Alister said as he looked at Aiden. He then turned to face me and said, “The important thing is that you’re here now. Have you visited Dawson & Clarke’s for your clothes?”
“No, not yet,” I answered.
My answer caused Alister to glance at his watch and then to Aiden.
“Mr. Christos will take Ryder to Dawson & Clarke’s tomorrow,” Aiden told him.
Alister smiled and then looked at me again. “Dawson & Clarke’s have amazing tailors, and they’ll be able to get you measured and everything delivered to your dormitory prior to your first day. Now, let’s concentrate on your list.”
“There are seven items I’m supposed to get,” I said as my eyes wandered over to the messenger bags. I spotted them in a few different areas of the store.
“What cohort are you assigned to?” Alister asked me.
Fuck, I didn’t know. Atlas and I hadn’t talked about that yet.
“He’s Aqua,” Luca said.
“Very well. Please follow me,” Alister said.
I followed Alister but looked over my shoulder when I noticed Aiden and Luca were hanging back and talking amongst themselves.
“Are you excited to start the academy?”
“Yes. I am,” I answered.
“This entire section is for students in the Aqua cohort. It has the same items that all the other cohorts have, but there are slight variations with the colors and designs. I’ll let you wander a bit, but all the displays will have the cohort names on them,” Alister explained, pointing to the frames that hadAquaprominently displayed. “Holler if you have any questions. I’ll be right over there.”
“Okay, thanks.”
I glanced at the display of bags and then looked at Luca and Aiden. Luca took a few steps back toward the curtain that we came through and gestured over his shoulder with a grin on his face. Aiden turned around and walked toward me, also with a grin on his face.
“Hey, okay, so did Alister show you the Aqua sections?”
“Yes. Where is Luca going?” I asked quietly. My eyes almost bugged out of my skull when Aiden made a blow job gesture with his fist toward his mouth and his tongue pushing his cheek out. “Seriously?”
“Yes.”
