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‘Though, if I’m completely honest, I actually would like you to receive a higher education, albeit more slowly. Perhaps one or two classes at a time. A small enough workload that it won’t clash with our more important goals.’

‘I’m getting mixed messages here...’

‘We respond by making ourselves better,’ the reaper said. ‘School can be a major source of information, if you allow it to be.’

Hector bowed his head at that.

‘I don’t think I need to remind you how important information can be to us.’

‘No, you don’t...’

‘You’re right to be skeptical, I suppose,’ Garovel said. ‘Most of what you learn will probably never help us in the slightest. But there will undoubtedly be a small amount which WILL be useful. You can’t really know when or where you’ll acquire it, but for our undertakings, it’s entirely worth the effort. Wouldn’t you agree?’

He stared distantly at the seat in front of him. ‘Some tiny thing could be the difference... between saving someone and... not.’

‘I’ve made my point, then?’

‘Yeah...’

‘Good.’

Hector waded through the day like bog water. Everything seemed a painful bore, but he persevered. Listening to everything that was said in class still felt like a gigantic waste of time, but he hoped that feeling would go away if he ignored it long enough. He didn’t know how Garovel could float around him so patiently the whole time.

‘Alright,’ Garovel said between classes. ‘I’m going to help you make a new friend.’

Hector shut his locker. ‘I don’t like the sound of this...’

‘Too bad. Four hours, we’ve been here. I’ve watched you walk past about five hundred different people and not say hello to a single one of them.’

‘Is that all it takes to make a new friend? Saying hello?’

‘It’s a start. Real friendship takes time.’

Hector tried not to sigh. ‘W-what do you want me to do?’