First Kiss: The Ghost Bird Series: #10 (The Academy Ghost Bird Series) (46 page)

Lake stood really close to me. “So we don’t look like two people,” she explained when I started to back away from her.

I realized she was right. Standing together, we’d make one big shadow.

We stood hip to hip and I counted down with hand signals to Carla.

Three. Two. One. Go!

Carla lit up the beam, creating a strong enough glow to spread across the back of the tent wall. She even angled from below so the beam went up, making our shadow taller.

Lake raised a curled hand like a claw and growled, doing a great bear impression.

I raised my own hand on the other side—another claw.

The tent erupted with the sounds of grunts, curses, and a few squeals.

“Kota!” Gabriel’s voice erupted over the mix of noises. “Bear!”

“Bears don’t have flashlights,” Kota said.

“Shit,” Gabriel said. “Fuck. Shit. Fuck.”

“Enough,” North said.

The three of us outside giggled and started making our way back around the tent, when I was tackled, and on the ground in a heap before I even realized what had happened.

The smell of leather and cedar wafted over me. I’d recognize the big bulk of muscle anywhere.

“It’s just us!” I cried out in an eruption of giggling, struggling for breath with him on top of me.

“I knew it was you,” Nathan said, leaning back while still sitting on my hips. “No one else at this campground would dare.”

The others had been tackled, too. Silas was on top of Lake. Luke was on top of Carla.

“Get off,” Lake said but she was laughing, pushing on Silas, only Silas was bigger, and sat squarely on her hips.

“Silas,” I called to him, remembering Lake had said she’s had hard times with guys. In a stern voice, I said, “Get off of her, please.”

Silas stood up instantly, offering a hand to Lake. “Sorry,” he said. “I was just teasing.”

“I know,” Lake said and took Silas’s hand, allowing him to help her up.

Luke picked up Carla, threw her over his shoulder in a sort of hug and twirl. “It’s the second bringer of the Sang!”

I sighed.
Boys
.

“What are you doing back here?” Kota asked quietly.

Nathan backed off, helping me up. The other guys had come around the back of the tent, looking at us. They were all in warmer pajama pants, sweat shirts or long-sleeved T-shirts. 

I brushed the grass and dirt off my butt and back. “I need your help,” I said.

The guys looked at each other and then nodded.

“Anything,” Nathan said. “Tell us what to do.”

We moved inside their tent and sat on the cots as Carla, Lake, and I explained the situation.

Then I explained my idea. I didn’t have to go far into it before the other guys were adding their own, even better ideas. They told us they’d take care of everything before they sent Carla, Lake and I back to our tent. We would have stayed to help, but we didn’t want to be missed by the others and draw attention back to us.

Despite being sent back to our tent, as I lay on my cot, I was a jumble of excitement.

It would work. I was sure of it.

It had worked on me.

TRUST YOUR FAMILY

D
espite not expecting to be able to sleep, I did manage to doze off sometime in the middle of the night, long after Lake had started snoring softly beside me.

I woke up with a hand over my mouth, stopping my breathing for a second. I startled, and tried to sit up, but a second hand kept me down against the cot. It was soothing, though, gentle.

I opened my eyes, finding Luke hovering over me. His brown eyes filled with delight at spooking me. He winked and held a finger up to his lips.

I should have known.

The dawn light was starting to come in. The other girls slept. I had no idea how he managed to get in so quietly. Only Luke could pull that off.

I sat up as Luke signed to me. “Breakfast is set up to be made outside. Do you want to wake them all now?”

I shook my head. I pointed at Carla and Lake. I wanted them to come help.

Luke nodded and shooed me toward Lake, as he went to wake Carla.

Lake seemed almost awake already when I poked her shoulder, sitting up almost instantly.

Carla took a minute and inhaled loudly. I think she would have cried out at finding Luke on top of her if he hadn’t covered her mouth already. He pointed at Lake and me so she understood we were getting up, too.

We slipped out of the tent and took turns dressing in the spare tent with the luggage.

By the time we were done, Silas and North had come over and set up the picnic tables together and had covered them with tablecloths, piles of paper plates, and plastic cutlery. Nathan and Victor were squeezing oranges, making juice.

Luke showed us the pancake batter. He held up a second box, pointing to me. “Vegan,” he said quietly.

We got to work. North had hooked up camping griddle pans to some batteries in his Jeep that he and Silas had silently rolled onto the campsite.  

Once some of the food was cooked, Lake and I took plates of bacon, opened the flap to the tent, and wafted the air toward the girls inside.

Two of the younger girls sat up sharply on cots almost instantly. They rubbed their eyes and peered out at us, blinking. Emma sat up, too, yawning.

One of them reached for another sleeping nearby, one on the air mattress. That one woke up, woke the others.

“Come on out, girls,” Lake said in a happy tone.

“The world is spinning without you,” I said, something Victor had told me once.

They all leaped out of bed, excited, following us out. April was up, too, and woke Taylor to join us, surprise on their faces as well.

Once they were outside the tent, the boys waved them over. Some of the girls grabbed jackets and boots to put on.

Nathan waved them closer, smiling. “Come on,” he said. “Eat up. We’ve got a lot of work to do.”

The girls looked to Lake and I, confused.

“We’re going to make breakfast for some other teams today,” I said. “We’ve invited them over—some of the other new ones—to help them feel welcome.”

“Will you help us?” Lake asked. Kota had told us some things to say to make them feel like they were part of the helping team, which was a big deal.

Five heads nodded enthusiastically. They rushed over to the set-up table, where North stood by, teaching them how to make perfect pancakes. Luke stood nearby, asking if they wanted chocolate chips added.

April wrapped an arm around Taylor as they stood by watching the excitement. She tugged in Emma and the three of them stood together, watching the girls getting involved. “We’ve taught them well,” April said.

I smiled. This just might work.

We were almost finished eating our own breakfast when the first other team wandered in. It was another team of young girls, led by Mrs. Rose—the ten-year-olds we’d seen before. They all had wide eyes and seemed eager to be included.

“We’re here,” Mrs. Rose signed.

I asked the new girls to come sit down and join us. Our team would take care of them. I invited Mrs. Rose to relax, even as she offered to help.

Luke taught the girls about serving like at the diner. “Ask them what to drink first,” he said. “And make sure they have napkins and forks before they get pancakes.”

Lake, Carla, and I monitored and helped, directing the girls, staying at their elbows.

We all took turns giving them thumbs ups and saying, “Good job.”

While I’d never focused on the other girls before, right now, they were beaming with delight and I could tell they loved helping out and being useful.

They smiled. They talked to the little girls. They opened up a discussion about the Academy and what they hoped to do.

When the young group was almost done eating, a group of boys showed up. They were about the same age as their servers—around fourteen.

This time, the girls were nervous but the rest of us encouraged and helped where we were needed.

Soon there was a line, with people standing around with paper plates, making room for any younger kids at the table.

By the time we’d fed all the teams the boys had invited over, it was almost ten.

We offered to help clean up, but the boys shooed us away.

“Time for round two,” Kota said.

I nodded and took the lead. I’d gotten permission from Mrs. Rose, thanks to Kota talking to her and explaining the purpose.

I waved my arms and got the fourteen-year-old girls to pay attention.

“Are we ready for crafts?” I asked.

The girls looked at each other and then back to me.

“There’s a trick,” I said. “You can’t make anything for yourself now. We’re all going to make bracelets for someone else. You see, those younger girls and boys are new, and we want to let them know, they’re welcome.”

The girls nodded, smiling. “Yeah,” one of them said. “We’ll do that.”

Lake gathered them together, getting them organized for a quick change of clothes, a latrine break until they were ready to go.

I paused by the Jeep, where North was cleaning off a griddle.

“Thank you,” I said quietly.

“anytime, Baby,” he said.

I waved and said thank you to the other guys, too, who were busy cleaning up and moving tables back. I hated to leave them to the mess but was grateful they had been so willing to participate.

Taylor, April, and Emma wandered off on their own. It was just Carla, Lake, and me now to guide the girls for the rest of the day.

♥♥♥

Once we got to the arts and crafts area, Gabriel was there, waiting beside a cheery Dr. Green.

“Good morning, ladies,” Dr. Green said. “Are we healthy and full of good food this morning?”

The girls nodded. A few of them giggled nervously, looking at the two of them with wide eyes.

Dr. Green wore khakis and a lime green polo shirt. Gabriel was dressed in a button up blue shirt and newer jeans. Had they dressed a little more nicely just for the girls?

The five girls were seated, Dr. Green and Gabriel explained they would help pick through beads and assist with the clasps.

Working together with the five girls, and Lake, Carla and I participating, within an hour, we had over forty different bracelets, each with unique charms. Each one different.

When we were finished, we collected the bracelets in boxes.

“Are we going to give these to the others now?” one of them asked.

“Tonight we will,” I said with a smile.

Lake elbowed me in the gut, gently. “Don’t give away spoilers.”

I winked at the younger girl.

She whispered to the others. “There’s more. There’s a secret.”

I shared looks with Carla and Lake, unable to help grinning. It was fun to get them excited about the day.

Carla had gone over the girls’ interests with us the night before. She’d told the boys, and they had spent all night setting up for the morning. All we had to do was walk them to the different stations at the right times.

The girls followed us to the beach after bracelet-making. First on our list was dancing. One of the girls wanted to be a ballet dancer but liked any sort of dancing.

Gabriel had followed us to where Luke and Nathan met us on the beach. There were other groups there, both younger girls, and another group of guys, including Ian and his team.

We took up a section of a flat area of the beach.

Gabriel led the class. I was nervous about the guys making the girls shy about dancing with them. Luke and Nathan were enthusiastic and joined in, which made it easier for the girls to get into it and not be embarrassed. It was the younger boys who hesitated but Ian’s team participated and encouraged them, they all joined in.

Lake, Carla and I mixed in with all the kids, not just our group, making sure everyone was part of the conversation.

Gabriel taught the steps to
Beat It
. I pretended I didn’t know the steps and purposely fumbled a lot. I laughed at my own mistakes. The girls laughed with me and I shared secret winks with Gabriel when they did.

After going through the song many times, we were exhausted and sat down on the beach.

We’d spent the entire morning together and this was the time we’d been waiting for.

Lake, Carla and I had gone over what to say the night before. But now it was time, I was nervous. I felt like I was suddenly on stage, and with the other teams around, it was like revealing a piece of my soul to them all. I was rattling on the inside, not just with stage fright but because I’d be exposing part of myself.

Lake seemed to sense I was nervous and started for me. “Whew,” she said. “This reminds me of the time when I was in on a team, and they took me to help out a bunch of Mexican kids.”

Lake borrowed the story I’d told her. I didn’t mind as it got the conversation going. She embellished a little, too. Luke laughed when she said he’d done crazy parkour back flips to get on top of the roof.

We wanted to show fun experiences with other teams, and open them up to the idea that you wouldn’t be on the same team every time, but it was still fun. So we mixed up a few stories, mostly true, just to share with them between activities.

When she finished, I nodded and found the courage to join in. “That’s nothing,” I said. “There was this one time...”

“Speak up,” one of the girls said. “We can’t hear you.”

My throat was dry from talking a lot over the last few days and my voice had never been very loud to begin with, so I was going to need help to be heard. I started looking toward Lake when I then focused on one of the fourteen-year-olds sitting close to me.

“Will you be my voice?” I asked her.

She nodded.

I spoke, and she repeated my words, shouting at first, but calming after a while. I told the story about Thanksgiving, the families we’d helped, about Academy neighborhoods, and what the one we had visited was like.

“I wish I lived there,” the girl who had been my voice said to me after I’d finished.

I winced, wondering about her background. I suspected a lot of them had hard times at home.