The Academy - First Days (22 page)

“No, she’s… yeah. She’s going home now.” North hung up, holding
his phone out and pointing it at me as he came after me. “You’re in big
trouble, missy.”

“What happened?” Silas asked, edging in front of me as if to
shield me from North.

“Have her tell it, because I want to hear this, too.” His eyes
fired bullets at me. “Start talking.”

I shivered. I swallowed. “Gabriel got into a fight and I tried to
help.”

Silas smirked. Luke looked confused.

North shook his head. “Start at the top.”

I started describing how I was in the hallway when I heard shouts,
until I was in the office getting checked out by Dr. Green. “Gabriel said I was
grounded but I didn’t know he was serious,” I finished.

Luke rubbed the back of his head as if in disbelief. Silas’s mouth
was open.

North lunged for my arm. He half dragged me back to the church. I
stumbled along the gravel drive until he stopped under the light near the
doors.

“Easy on her,” Silas barked at him.

North ignored him. He positioned me under the halo glow and
examined my face. He licked his fingers and started smudging my lower lip and
at my bruised cheek.

“Ouch,” I said, backing my head away.

“Stay still.” He cleaned the makeup off my face, observing the
damage. He pulled my lip back with his thumb, checking the cut. “I thought
something was wrong with your face but I assumed it was just the bad lighting
in the kitchen. God damn it Sang baby, why didn’t you say anything?”

My lips twisted and I crossed my arms over my chest, feeling
cornered and uncomfortable. “I don’t know. I thought you guys already knew and
weren’t saying anything about it.”

He pointed a finger at my nose. “What the hell made you think you
could jump into a fight?”

“Gabriel was in trouble.”

“Gabriel can handle himself. You, on the other hand, are in deep
shit.”

I backed away a half step, unsure of how to respond. My mouth
seized. Wouldn’t he have jumped in and helped, too?

Silas approached. He traced a broad finger across my chin, tilting
it so he could examine the bruising. “Who did it?” he asked, his deep voice
bubbling with subdued anger.

“I don’t know who,” I said. “Kota’s got to, um…, wire the people
who did it.”

North chuffed. “Uh huh. Kota, Victor and Gabriel are out there working
overtime because of you. You were supposed to stay home and out of trouble.”

“But if I’m with you, I’m out of trouble, aren’t I?”

North’s mouth fell open but nothing came out. He grunted, threaded
a finger through the dark hair on his head, and turned away to stare at the
wall of the church.

Silas sighed. He bent over, wrapping his arms around my shoulders
and hugging me. “Good one.”

I wrapped my arms around his neck to return the hug. He dropped an
arm down to scoop me up at my butt, picking me up off of the ground. He pressed
me to his chest, hugging me closer so he could stand up straight. It was way
too hot but I didn’t care. His hug was amazing.

“Okay,” he said, turning sideways to North as he hung on to me.
This let me peek over his arm at North. “Sang didn’t know. We can’t blame her
for sticking up for one of us if she didn’t know. We’d do it for her.”

“She was doing what we would do,” Luke agreed, coming up from
behind Silas. “What was she going to do? Run off? Are we going to ground her
for that?”

“She’s grounded for being reckless,” North said, turning around
again. He spotted me in Silas’s arms and his shoulders dropped. “But I guess if
she’s here with us, it’s better for her anyway.”

“Right,” Luke said. “But she can’t stay out all night. I should
take her back.” He motioned to me. “Let’s get going. You’re already in trouble.
Kota will probably skin us if we let you get caught again.”

Silas lowered me to the ground until I was standing again. North
spun me around and wrapped arms around my shoulders. His face pressed to my
hair as he held on. “Next time, you better fucking say something. And no more
fights.”

I sighed, feeling better that he was done yelling. I wrapped my
arms around his neck to hug back. “I’m sorry, North.”

He stiffened against me as if surprised by this but he embraced me
tighter and let go. “Get out of here before I ground you, too.”

Luke had my book bag and handed it to me. I hauled it to my
shoulders. I waved to Silas and North. Silas waved. North only nodded, that
half smile playing on the corner of his mouth. He shook his head at us and
turned, heading back to the church.

Luke caught my hand and we walked together through the darkness
toward the woods. We followed the short cut that led to my back yard. I was expecting
him to let go of my hand at some point but he never did. His fingers
intertwined with mine. I was grateful he was right there next to me. After the
argument, I was worried as he’d been so quiet that maybe he was mad at me, too.

“We got a lot done today,” he said. I couldn’t make out the
features in his face in the dark and it felt strange to be able to hear his
voice but not see him. “We make a good team.”

I smiled to myself that he changed the subject. I didn’t want to
talk about the fight any more. “I’m just happy I could keep up,” I said,
blowing out a breath. “You guys work hard.”

“We do what we have to,” he said.

We made it to my back yard. I expected him to leave me there and
walk back but he held on to me as I moved forward in the yard.

“I don’t think I should bring you to the door,” I said, though I
was sorry to have to say so.

“You were going to use the door?” he asked. “Maybe I should help
you up.” He tilted his head toward the second floor. “You can sneak in and
pretend you’ve been there the whole time, right?”

I blushed. “Well, yes, but...”

He pulled at my hand and I stumbled after him. We slipped through
the yard and toward the back porch. The back porch was screened in, and the
roof was lower to the ground than anywhere else. He tilted his head, looking up
at the ledge. “I’ll boost you up.”

“I don’t know.”

“Come on,” he said. He moved forward, letting go of my hand so he
could bend and put his hands together to make a spot for my foot. “You won’t
fall. I’m right here.”

Even with my heart thumping and my legs shaking, he managed to
push me up over his head until I could slide half of my body up and drag myself
until I was completely on top of the roof. I turned around to look down at him,
intending to wave and tell him I could make it from here.

Luke had stepped back. He dashed forward, grasped the edge of the
roof and nearly bounced off the frame of the screens on the porch. Luke landed
on his knees next to me. I caught the outline of his lips turning into a smile
as he looked at me. “Don’t tell anyone I know how to do that.”

“What?” I asked. “Fly? I didn’t even see you climb up.”

He laughed. “I wish I could fly. Would make getting to school a
breeze.” He stood up on the roof and reached down to grab my arm and hauling me
up next to him. “Let’s get you inside.”

I followed close to him as we crossed over the roof, climbing to
where North and I had spread out a couple of nights ago. From there, I pointed
to where I remembered North taking me. Luke led the way up over the apex and
down the other side to my window.

I peeked in. My light was on but no one was inside. The door
looked locked to me.

“I think we’re good,” I said to him. “I don’t think anyone came to
check on me.”

He moved around on the roof, looking inside my room. He pressed
his palms against the window and pushed it until it started to slide open. He
grunted when it got stuck half way. “I need to fix your window,” he said.
“Remind me.”

“You don’t have to do that.”

“We need to if this becomes a habit,” he said, pushing at the
window. It slowly shuddered up all the way. “And I think it will be.”

I couldn’t help but smile at the idea of him already thinking of
next time.

He moved out of the way and held on to my hand as I angled myself
into my room. I had expected him to say goodbye at the window but I turned in
time to see him put a foot down on the carpet and slink into my room.

My breath caught in my throat. The moment he was inside, I grabbed
his arm, putting a finger to my lips to motion to him to be quiet. I listened
for noises. I heard my father downstairs talking in the kitchen. Music flowed
from a radio in Marie’s bedroom. I didn’t hear my mother but she could have
still been passed out.

After a moment, I nodded to Luke. No one was paying attention to
us. I crossed the room, turning the music on my stereo up a notch. It would
drown out our noise but it wasn’t loud enough that I couldn’t still hear
footsteps on the stairs or Marie coming from across the hall.

Luke was on his knees on the mauve carpet looking curiously at the
half-sized door. “What’s this?” he whispered.

“Attic space,” I said.

He hooked his fingers on the handle and opened it. His eyes
squinted as he gazed into the darkness. He stuck his head inside.

I moved behind him, putting my hand on his back before he
disappeared too far. “It goes on for a little way and there’s this platform at
the end,” I said. “When I call you guys, I’m usually back there.”

“It’s hot,” he said. “Is there a light?”

“I use the phone’s light.”

“We could hook up something for you,” he said. He backed himself
out and shut the door. His head twisted toward the stereo. “What are you
playing?”

My eyebrows shot up. My heart thundered. I wasn’t sure how long he
should stay. Here was a shirtless guy in my bedroom and snooping around. “Just
a disc I burned from the computer, a mix of rock and classical and other
things.”

He stood up, starting to head toward the stereo. I wanted to say
maybe he should go but at the same time I didn’t want to kick him out as I
liked him being around. It was nerve wracking.

Once he was further into my bedroom, he turned around again,
considering everything else. I blushed as his eyes settled on the mostly-empty,
small bookshelf and my bed pushed over to the side of the room. They were the
only two real pieces of furniture.

“Where’s all your stuff?” he asked. His eyes flicked to the trunk
near my window. “What’s in that?”

I shrugged. “Just some notebooks and some old things, clothes that
don’t really fit any more.”

“Don’t you have posters? Or magazines? Or you know... whatever
girls have in their bedrooms?”

My cheeks warmed. I wasn’t sure how to answer the question. I
wasn’t exactly sure what he expected me to have. I read books when I could get
my hands on them. There wasn’t much else I could think of to put in my room.
What else was there?

He didn’t seem to notice I hadn’t responded. He headed to the
closet, opening the door and peeking inside. His eyes flicked through my
hanging clothes. “No dresser. No desk. You’ve only got like what, three pairs
of shoes? What kind of girl are you?”

“I’ve got what I need.”

He rolled his eyes and closed my closet door. He crossed to my
bedroom door, unlocked it and peeked out into the hallway.

“Luke!” I gasped, going up behind him. “Don’t...”

“Shhh,” he whispered. He tilted his head toward the door across
the hallway. “That’s Marie’s room, right?”

“Yes,” I whispered back. I reached for his arm, tugging at him.
“Don’t get caught.”

He stepped out into the hallway. I thought my heart was going to
explode. He edged to the top of the stairwell that lead toward the front of the
house. He looked down, angling his head to see as far as he could. He tiptoed
across the hallway, checking the back stairwell. He opened the hall closet door.
He opened the next door, the upstairs bathroom, looking inside quickly and
closing again.

My fingers were over my mouth. I couldn’t breathe. What in the
world was he doing? If my mom could see this, I couldn’t imagine what she would
do to me.

He turned again and crossed the hall to my bedroom. I meant to
step out of the way but his arm hooked around my waist and he pulled me back
into the room, closing the door behind himself. Once he was inside, he let go
and crossed the room to my bed. He sat on top of it, leaning back on his hands.

I sat down next to him, unsure of what else to do. It was a relief
that he was back inside, but I was worried someone had heard him and would come
up to check out what was going on. What was worse was my heart was beating so loud
in my ears, I couldn’t be sure I would hear footsteps.

Once I was sitting next to him though, I felt even more awkward. I
rubbed my fingertips at the edge of his shirt that I was wearing. “I’ll give
this back,” I said to him, mostly as a distraction for something to say.

“Keep it,” he said. He relaxed back on the bed, looking up at the
ceiling. “It looks good on you.”