The Curse of Arkady by Emily Drake Page B

discussed.” He put his hand on Jason’s shoulder and drew him inside the doorway.
    â€œPeer acceptance?” Jason looked at both of them warily.
    â€œBullying,” said Finch, standing, with an expression that could be taken as a smile or a glare. “You could call it bullying.”
    Peer acceptance? Jason thought. This was about the bullying? “Then why are you hauling me in? I’m the victim.”
    â€œOnly because you attract and allow it. But I’m here to change all that.”
    Statler Finch stood behind the cluttered desk which was overlaid with books and files, and boxes still half-opened, their packing leaking out onto the desktop. He was tall, thin, wore glasses perched high on a prominent nose, had pale skin, and his body teetered on the brink of clumsiness. If anyone was made to suffer smirks and bullying, it would have to be Statler Finch.
    He turned, nearly pitching headfirst over the arm of his desk chair. Grabbing frantically, he righted it and himself and sat down with a thunk. Neither he nor Murphy seemed to have noticed anything, but Jason pinched his own leg, hard, to keep from laughing.
    The impulse stopped dead when Finch settled his dark brown eyes on him. Eyes dark and hard as flint, without any light to them.
    â€œThank you, Mr. Murphy,” the man said. “I’ll just be a few minutes, then we can all go.”
    The vice principal left, with Jason quelling an urge to call out after him, not to leave him with Statler Finch. But he did not, and the two of them stared at each other.
    â€œThat name give you trouble?” Finch smiled thinly.
    â€œJason? No.”
    â€œAdrian. It is rather like a girl’s name, isn’t it?”
    Jason looked over the counselor’s shoulder to a single framed object hanging on the wall. There were other nails, waiting, but this was the only one that had been utilized yet. It stated that one Statler A. Finch had graduated, with honors, with his doctorate in Psychology. “People will make fun of anything,” he said. “I don’t worry about it.”
    â€œBut you don’t stop it either?”
    Sitting there, with the faint reek of the trash bin still clinging to him, there wasn’t much Jason could say. “It’s not important.”
    â€œIt isn’t?”
    â€œNo.”
    â€œWhat is important?” Finch smiled thinly. It didn’t reach his flint-hard eyes. There was no way Jason was ever going to tell him anything remotely personal or important. There was no way he’d ever admit to being a Magicker or share what was important in his life. Silence stretched between them.
    â€œCan I go home now?” Jason finally asked.
    â€œIn a moment. You see, the school hired me to help fellows like you. Bullied around, mistreated. A lot of harm can happen. Anger driven inward. People need to know how to assert themselves, how to express that anger . . . safely. Or there can be tremendous problems later.”
    Great. The school thought he was the problem, not the idiots who did the bullying. Jason kept his silence, afraid that anything he said would be remembered and used against him.
    â€œThat’s where I come in.” Statler Finch leaned over his desktop, across the clutter, his thin body clenched with intensity. “I’ll work with you and your family until you can handle these situations on your own. I’ll . . . defuse you.”
    Jason had a mental image of his skull being opened from the top, his brain being defused, and his head being snapped shut again. He barely kept from shuddering. “I don’t think I need a program,” he said finally.
    â€œWe’ll see. I’ll make an appointment to talk with your parents. I am sure I can share a few insights that will help everything.” Statler rustled his thin, bony hands through the paperwork on his desk. “The first evening free, I’ll be there.” He stood. “Thank you for