Chapter 2 : Vincent

"You don't have to keep bailing them out all the time, Vincent. They won't learn otherwise."

Vincent leaned down to give his wife a kiss, "Nah, it's alright, they know already. Plus, I'm going to be heading down that way this morning anyway."

Vincent turned into the front entranceway, "Hey kids, you ready to get going? Got your bags packed and everything?"

"Yeah, we're all good Dad!" Lisa answered.

"Alright sweeties, I'll see you later tonight," Their mother said, "Oh, Vin? Don't you have that volunteer thing tonight?"

Vin's eyes remained trained on tying up his black and white sneakers, "Yeah, it starts an hour after school, so I'll be late for dinner."

"Ok, I'll pack you what I make, and give it to you when I drive you over after school."

"Thanks Mom," Vin stood up, readjusting his bag on his back, "I'll see you later."

"Have a great day, you three!" His mother declared, before all three stepped out the door.

Soon enough, the three piled into their family's basic navy blue SUV, with their father in the driver's seat, and after a quick game of shotgun, Vin in the passenger's seat, and Lisa in the back.

"Passenger's seat privilege," Vincent turned to his son, "What'cha putting on?"

Vin pulled his phone out of his pocket, and plugged it into the aux cord hanging loosely from the car's console. After a moment, the sounds of music began to emanate around the car's cabin.

"Huh, a little bit of Hendrix to start off the day?" Vincent smiled.

The rest of the car ride was spent in peaceful silence. A peaceful time that years later, Vin would recall as a cherished memory in the most bittersweet day of his life.

School was boring, as usual. Either classes were drier than the Sahara Desert, or were simply too vapid for Vin to find himself connecting to at all. The majority of the class periods were spent doodling idly in his notebooks, and contemplating just what scale of disaster would facilitate shutting down school for the rest of the month; so you know, business as usual.

It wasn't until the final period that anything particularly noteworthy came into effect. The teacher came up to the front of the class, and began to speak.

"Alright class, we're talking about volunteer hours and opportunities."

You could feel the disinterest surrounding the room like a thick miasma, students glazing over their eyes, and shutting off their ears, all in preparation for the incoming lecture.

"So, you're all likely aware from the beginning or your high school careers that you need to have a required number of volunteer hours in order to graduate. I'm going to tell you now, that as you come through this and next year, these hours are going to become really important. Some of you have already completed well over the amount of hours, some, not so much."

The fact that Vin could feel the teacher's gaze land on him at the end of his sentence did not inspire confidence in Vin whatsoever.

"Vin, why haven't you gotten any hours yet? You're the only person in the class who has yet to log anything."

Oh boy, here he was, being put on the spot. God, he hated the teacher for this.

Vin cleared his throat, as he sweated under the gaze of his other twenty-something classmates, "Um… Sir, I actually just got a job opportunity lined up. I was going to start working today, actually."

The teacher raised his eyebrow, "Oh? Where exactly?"

"Uh… The Vatican, sir. A friend of my Dad's got me a position."

Vin could see more than a few sets of eyes go wide in disbelief. Good, he'll just, um… not mention the fact that it's for a janitorial position.

"The Vatican, huh?" The teacher gave a low whistle, "Wow, very good… I expect you will be on your best behavior, then."

What the hell kind of response was that? Regardless, soon after, the teacher went back to talking about co-op opportunities or something, and most of the class forgot about the whole thing.

Most of the class.

By the time that class finally ended, and everyone began to pack away their books for the day, the chair in front of Vin's swing around to reveal a beautiful, strawberry-blonde girl smiling ear to ear.

Now, the general student body of the school knows a lot of things about Irina Shidou. You couldn't be considered one of the prettiest girls in school and not have people know more than just your name. One of those things though, was that Irina was very religious.

Lucky him.

"Oh Vin, it's wonderful to hear that God's great generosity has shone upon you! I know you'll do just great! Are you excited to be visiting the Vatican?"

Wow, she could talk.

Thankfully, Vin was spared from having to undergo any conversational gymnastics to find answers to Irina, as the door opened, revealing another renowned girl.

"Irina, it's time to go. We don't want to keep the others waiting."

That blue and green hair was recognizable anywhere. Xenovia Quarta, best friend of Irina Shidou, current reigning champion in nearly every category of the school's track and field (Both for Men's and Women's), and the unofficial record holder for the most weight lifted. She was a complete atlas of physical perfection, which combined with her usually either detached or cold demeanor, created a very powerful, and intimidating image for her. Her popularity within the school was summed up perfectly by one particular hormone-addled teenager.

'I'd let her step on me.'

Anyway, it didn't take long for Irina to turn around to face her friend. Her chair twirling back to face the front of the class as she grabbed her back in a shockingly acrobatic display.

"See ya around, Vinny!" Irina smiled, as she reached into her collar, pulling out a rosary hanging around her neck, "If you have any questions about the Lord, don't be afraid to ask! Amen!"

Xenovia simply nodded, before the two of them left the room.

Did they… know he was an atheist?