I couldn't help but laugh as Thad asked me for a ride. "I don't know. I don't deal with students too poor to even own a car," I said.

It earned an even louder one from Thad. "Please have mercy, o great one," said as he took the passenger seat, and we started driving. He stayed silent before speaking again, this time in a more measured, serious tone. "Keep it until the end of the semester," he offered.

"That's far too long," I was quick to refute. I didn't like to owe favors. Even with the fact that without my help Thad would have lost a car, borrowing one for a little while was my limit. "But I might keep it a couple of weeks, until I could get a new one."

"Whatever you wish," he answered, smart enough to realize it was a point I had no intention of changing my mind. Then, he smirked again, but this time, it was more of a hunter's bloody grin than a cheerful one. "And keep the dashcam on, I would love to have the recording of Kevin or his buddies smashing my car if they get rowdy again."

"As you wish," I said even as I shook my head. It was his car and his decision, even though the ability to sacrifice a car just to have leverage over a rival was not something I could comprehend easily with my limited financial resources. "Let me drop you to your home, then."

"You're very helpful," Thad said, once again exploding in laughter.

Meanwhile, my invisible guide interjected. "You have such a helpful friend, how nice." Then, she looked around the car happily as she settled on the backseat. "And this one looks even better than the old one."

I ignored her in order not to seem like a crazy guy to Thad, and focused on following the route Thad had described. "So, how was the training today?" I asked.

"It was rough," Thad answered. "With our match against our rival coming up, the coach is literally killing us, though, be warned. The real hell is tomorrow. We have a full night of film studies, and that's the true torture. Coach Bill doesn't let anyone who fails to memorize the whole playbook for the week."

"Even a newbie like me," I asked.

"Especially a newbie like you. Coach Bill doesn't believe in coddling the newcomers, and he wants everyone to be ready for the match regardless of the likelihood of playing."

"Sounds interesting," I murmured.

"That's not the word I would use," Thad answered. "Pity you missed today's practice. A physical one is certainly more entertaining than a glorified study session."

I shrugged. "Unless football team decides to pay full scholarship for a fourth-string backup, or at least decide to guarantee my scholarship no matter what, I'm going to prioritize the program that's keeping me in the school," I said with a shrug.

"Fair," he said. "So, have you had the chance to study our defensive schemes."

"Not yet."

"I recommend you to go through them, not unless you want to stay there until Tuesday morning," Thad explained. "Though you need to go the stadium for the actual schemes we're going to use for the match, as the coach doesn't allow us to bring them outside, or allow us to bring any phones to the study room. He's very strict about information leaks."

I shrugged. "Sounds sensible. Luckily, I don't have a busy day tomorrow, so I'll definitely make sure to visit early and study."

"And don't forget to arrange a meeting with one of the conditioning coaches tomorrow if they didn't get in contact with you yet," Thad said. "Coach will definitely appreciate you being proactive."

I nodded in appreciation. Thad wasn't exactly sharing earth-shattering secrets with me, but that didn't make them useless, not even close.

Thad was showing himself to be a surprisingly thoughtful teammate.

Our drive together took barely fifteen minutes. Apparently, Thad was living in a house near campus, a nice two-story with an impressive garden, fancy enough to be referred to as a little mansion, and an even more impressive garage. I could see two cars outside, both quite expensive, and the garage door was still closed, no doubt hiding even more expensive stuff.

Thad was even richer than I expected. A level that could clearly afford to give a car as a gift without blinking.

Too bad that my experiences growing up in the streets taught me that accepting favors from my 'friends', no matter how well-meaning they looked was a bad idea.

It never ended well.

"See you tomorrow," Thad said as I dropped him off.

"Finally," my guide said as she pointed toward our destination. "This way, go."

"As you wish," I answered even as started driving. Not full speed, of course, not even as fast as I could drive on this road. The later we arrived there, the better. Maybe whatever was happening would have already ended.

My guide was clearly unhappy with our performance. "Is this the fastest this carriage goes?"

"Unfortunately, yes," I answered, quick to give her an excuse. "Any faster, and it's against the rules. We might lose the car," I explained.

"Really?" she said. "But why are the others are going faster if that's the case?" she asked.

"Well, they have the luxury of paying the fines if the police notice them," I explained. "I don't have the money for it. So, unless you want to risk being delayed even further, you have to accept it."

I had hoped that she would take that excuse, but unfortunately, not for the first time, my expectations were crushed by her. "It's a risk we have to take, go faster," she ordered, her tone once again gaining that scary quality that made my bones freeze.

"As you wish," I said even as I sped up.

As I drove in relative silence, I finally had the opportunity to think about the sudden event. I had no idea why she was able to feel some kind of ceremony from such a great distance, but I had a feeling that it wasn't anything good.

Not when the old Gods that relied on the system had disappeared into the stories and myths.

Maybe it was a glitch, I tried to convince myself. After all, it wasn't like we would miss the existence of Greek Gods running around. Especially, in any account, they weren't exactly subtle. But that didn't change the fear I was feeling toward what was waiting for me at the end of our destination.

Luckily, driving slowly wasn't the only way for me to delay.

"Which way?" I asked her several times, but only after picking a route that would push me closer to the city. It wasn't exactly peak traffic hour, but even then, the city offered several ways to slow us down.

Especially with me picking the most crowded streets intentionally.

"Why are we not moving," she asked in frustration as we got in the middle of a particularly packed stretch of road.

"There's nothing we can do, there are too many cars on the road," I said, doing my best to sound as frustrated as her despite my raging desire to smirk.

"Can't we pick a different path?" she asked, but luckily, didn't follow up when I stayed silent, her lack of knowledge and common sense working to my benefit for once.

Just like that, we stayed stuck in the traffic, delaying more and more. Luckily, unlike her angry face, her frustrated expression only underlined her cuteness — in an admirably sexy way considering she was still clad in a sexy leather corset — making the wait more fun than it would have been otherwise.

It took us two hours to even get out of the messy city traffic, though it expanded every little trick I could manage. "Finally," she murmured once we got out of the gridlock and started driving once again. Though with her enthusiasm, I would have preferred to stay there for a long time. "Use the road at the right, I can still sense the ceremony," she said happily.

"Are you sure?" I asked her, as the road she picked was not going through the safest part of the town.

"Yes, now go," she ordered, and since I lacked a useful reason to reject her offer, without getting too suspicious. I continued to drive, glad that Thad's car didn't look too expensive. It was a delight to drive, of course, but it didn't look like a luxurious car from outside, meaning driving through a rough neighborhood wasn't an immediate request to be gunned or robbed.

"Just a minute," she said soon after, but this time, it wasn't her words that caught my attention, but sirens, multiple types. And living in a bad neighborhood, I was a child when I learned how to recognize different sirens.

Here, I could hear all three big ones, firetrucks, police cars, and even ambulances.

They bypassed us quickly.

Unfortunately, they were driving in the same direction, and I had a feeling we didn't just share a direction, but also a destination. I looked back to my guide, hoping to bargain with her about maybe delaying some more…

"Drive," she ordered, once again scary.

I sighed as I started following the sirens.