The Academy - First Days (26 page)

“Sang’s got detention,” North said.

“Fuck,” Nathan said.

“So does Gabriel and Luke and Kota,” I said. It felt good to
tattle on them, even if it was only to Nathan.

“They’re not the only ones,” North said. He searched his pocket,
pulling out a detention slip with his name scrawled on it.

My mouth popped open. “North!”

“Hey,” he said. “I didn’t think Kota and the others were going to
do it. Besides, someone has to drive you home.”

“What did you do?” I asked.

“I slept during class,” North said. “I made sure to snore.”

“Hell, I’ll do that,” Nathan said. He put his head to the desk.

I turned around in my chair to poke at his arm. “Nathan, don’t you
dare.”

“You’re not my boss,” he said without lifting his head. “Kota is.”

“Kota would tell you no,” I said as the bell rang.

“No, he wouldn’t,” North said. He slapped me with a palm on my
thigh. “Shush and get your homework out before the teacher gives you another
one.”

Despite his best effort to sleep the entire time, Nathan didn’t
get a detention in geometry class. The geometry teacher seemed to have some
sympathy since he did look tired and he’d been out ‘sick’ the day before.

Nathan walked beside me to my violin class.

“Don’t get detention,” I warned him as we got to the music room.
“I’m telling you not to.”

He waved me off dismissively as he held open the door. I groaned and
stalked into class.

I swallowed hard as I spotted Mr. Blackbourne across the room. I
wasn’t sure what to say. Should I warn him what the others were doing? Would I
have the nerve to tell him why this all started? So far every time I’ve bumped
into him, there’s something new going on. He was going to think I was the
troublemaker Gabriel claimed I was.

Mr. Blackbourne wore a dark gray suit, his red tie snug against
his neck. Perfect. His steel eyes caught mine. “Miss Sorenson?” It wasn’t the
usual greeting, but a question inviting me to spill it.

“I got detention,” I said. I thought it was best to get it out of
the way. “And the boys are all now trying to get detention, too, so I won’t
have to do it alone.” There. Maybe he’ll give an order for them all to stop. I
could spare Silas and Victor and maybe even catch Nathan before he got written
up. If anyone could override the crazy hierarchy of these Academy students that
I didn’t understand, I was pretty sure Mr. Blackbourne could.

Mr. Blackbourne raised a dark eyebrow coolly, staring at me as if
I were about to tell him I was just kidding. When I didn’t, he sighed out loud.
He held a hand out toward the bench of the piano, inviting me to sit. When I
had crossed the room, he took my violin case and my book bag from my hands to
put them in a chair nearby.

Mr. Blackbourne sat next to me on the bench, slightly turned so he
could look down at me. I felt weak next to his powerful stature and the steely
gaze as he seemed to know everything before I even said it.

“Start at the beginning,” he said softly.

My composure melted. My mouth opened and I told him everything,
doing my best to explain sitting in Kota’s lap, getting caught by Mr. McCoy.

When I finished, I was shaking. “And I can’t let my mother find
out,” I slipped. It was what I was thinking but hadn’t meant to relay this to
him.

“Why not?” he asked. He hadn’t questioned the boys’ participation
or my own recklessness with Kota. Was he not angry that we were being so
ridiculous? I was embarrassed for my own actions and for not putting more
pressure on Kota and the others to stop.

I pushed a finger to my lower lip. “My mom is strict,” I said. “If
she hears I got detention because I was sitting in Kota’s lap...” I didn’t
really know what would happen. What could she do? Maybe it would be enough
reason for her to convince my father to pull me out of school. I shivered at
the thought. It was the one place where I could get away from her without the
overhanging guilt I got when I ran away to be at Kota’s or somewhere else. “But
besides that, I thought maybe you could stop them. Silas and Victor might not
know yet. Nathan’s been trying to get detention by sleeping in class.”

Mr. Blackbourne frowned. He took his glasses off and brought his
fingers to his forehead, rubbing his eyebrows. “I’ve been working with the guys
for six years and in less than a month you’ve got them wrapped around your
finger.”

My mouth fell open. “Mr. Blackbourne...”

He sighed, putting his glasses back on. “This is what you’re going
to do,” he said. “Let the guys continue to get detentions if they want. More
than likely they’ll all have one by lunch time. Behave and avoid McCoy, if you
can.”

I blushed, feeling the strength in his gaze on me. “I’m trying.”

“I know. Unfortunately it’s our fault that you’re getting into
this,” he said. “Meanwhile, don’t tell the others you’ve talked to me yet.”

I sucked in a deep breath. “I’m sorry for this. Did I mess
everything up?”

His eyes softened. “No, Miss Sorenson. In reality, I think you’ve
done us a huge favor.”

After class, I waited outside the door until Victor turned the
corner. He slipped beside me quietly, reaching for my hand. He held it tightly
as we walked to class. It was the way that his thumb slipped over my skin
between my thumb and forefinger that told me he knew what was going on. The
fire blazing in his eyes told me he was doing the same thing as the others. I
wouldn’t dare tell him no.

In history, Victor answered a phone call in the middle of class to
get detention. He even said thank you to Mr. Morris afterward.

North and Victor and I arrived at our spot in the courtyard for
lunch. Silas was there, and he held up his own detention slip to me.

I smirked at him. “Silas,” I said in a warning tone, though I
couldn’t help my smile. Since Mr. Blackbourne didn’t flip out about the boys, I
felt a little better about the situation. I was overwhelmed by how the guys
were reacting to this. I think it was the first time that I felt we really were
all in this together.

“What was I going to do? Walk home?” He grinned, reaching around
my shoulders to give me a strong hug. I gasped, laughing a little and hugging
him back.

“Watch out,” Kota said, coming up behind us. “You’ll both get
another detention. I really don’t want to have to ask Ms. Johnson for another.”

Nathan walked past us, sinking to the ground on his knees and
falling back on the grass. “I haven’t been able to get detention yet,” he
complained. “I’ve been sleeping through all my classes. No one cares.”

“All the kids sleep in class. You should curse,” Gabriel said.
“Just start cussing. They have to give you detention for that.”

“You have to be careful with that,” Kota said. “You might end up
with in-school suspension instead.”

We were sharing packages of chips and sandwiches we had made at
home. I was picking pieces away from my sandwich to eat it a little at a time.
They were talking about what detention might be like. I had to bite my tongue
at thinking of Mr. Blackbourne and I was wondering if he was going to be able
to get them all off the hook.

I also worried about what my mother would think when she found
out. Could I get away with it not being mentioned to her at all? Would the
school say why? Would they even call her? I wondered if Marie would notice. She
hadn’t said much to me since school started. I could only hope she wouldn’t
care today.

I sensed eyes on me and I caught Marie across the courtyard. She
was walking alongside Danielle. Their eyes flicked my way. Marie said something
to Danielle and Danielle laughed, looking at me again.

“Your sister is kind of stuck up,” Gabriel said next to me on the
bench.

“That’s funny. She said the same thing about you guys.”

Gabriel laughed. “I can see why she thinks so but doesn’t she know
pointing and laughing at people is really rude?”

I shrugged. “All the other students do it.”

“You don’t do it.”

I blushed, being caught at being told I was different. “Should I
start?”

“I’ll shoot you if you do.” He grinned at me. He took my hand that
was holding my sandwich and brought it to his mouth so he could take a bite.

I laughed, rolled my eyes and handed him the rest of it. He took
the sandwich from me and ate it. I stood up to brush crumbs from my skirt.

“Hey, sexy lady,” called a voice behind me. I spun around as Mike,
the red haired kid from the day before, crossed the courtyard. He was trailed
by a couple of friends, shaking their heads. Mike stopped a few feet from me,
and got on his knees. He knee walked until he could grasp my hand between his.
His eyes settled on my face. “Hey there sexy. Will you marry me?”

“God damn it,” North said. He crossed his arms over his chest,
glaring at Mike. “She fucking said no already.”

“Shut up, I’m not asking you,” Mike barked back, though he was half
smiling. He looked up at me again and his face became serious. “Please?”

I rolled my eyes, shaking my head. “No, sorry.” I had too much to
worry about to have to deal with crazy proposals. Now I knew he was teasing me.

“Damn,” Mike said. He jumped up off the ground. “Maybe next time.”
He stalked off toward the door to the school. His friends were giggling behind
him.

“What the hell was that?” Nathan asked from the grass. He had been
on his back nearly the entire time but he was sitting up now.

“Second marriage proposal this week,” Luke said, holding up two
fingers. “Am I going to need to keep a scoreboard?”

“There might be another one in here somewhere,” North said. He
pulled out a handful of folded notes from his pockets, tossing them at his
brother. “I didn’t go through them yet.”

My eyes widened, my hand going over my heart. Was this school so
much different than my other one? “Who is it?” I asked. “Who keeps writing to
me?”

“It’s different boys,” North said. “Homeroom, geometry and history
now.”

Kota pulled out two folded notes from his pocket. “English, too,”
he said, looking guiltily at me.

Victor pressed a palm to his eye. “God, I swear, I feel like we’re
back in elementary school.”

“Why are they writing?” I asked, confused. “Are they being mean?”

They all blinked at me and started laughing.

“I don’t talk to anyone but you guys,” I said over their laughter,
not really understanding. “No one ever talked to me at my old school.”

“Sweetie,” Luke said. He collected my hand and tugged me until I
was sitting next to him on the bench. “What did you do at your old school?”

“Went to class, and went home. There wasn’t much else I could do.”

“Did you bother to try to talk to anyone?” he asked.

I blinked, and shook my head. “I never really had the opportunity
or knew what to say. Most people ignore me.”

Kota started to laugh. “Everyone probably thought you were stuck
up. Since you’re here and talking to us, everyone thinks you’re open and
popular so they’re trying to climb the ranks.”

“What are you talking about? I’m not popular.”

They all laughed.

I groaned, putting my elbows on my knees to rest my face in my
hands. “You’re all crazy.”

The other classes were quiet. I expected to see Mr. Hendricks or
Mr. McCoy pop in, as I’d seen them so often that week. When I made it to gym
class without incident, I was happy.

It was the first official day we were supposed to get dressed for
gym. When I changed into the uniform, the shorts looked really short. I clapped
my palms to my thighs. They were a few inches shorter than my longest fingers.
Did the school check for this kind of thing? The t-shirt at least was normal,
and perhaps a little big for my frame even though I’d ordered a small.

I’d brought another clip with me just for gym class. I twisted my
hair, pulling it away from my face. Gabriel couldn’t do anything about it now.
At least I hoped he wouldn’t.

I was walking with the other girls toward the gym when a hooting
echoed through the hallway. The girls crowded at the door, peering out. A few
of the girls had already entered the gym, crossing the room. The guys were
sitting in formation and started hooting cat calls.

“What are we going to do?” one of the girls said, looking back at
us. “They’re being stupid.”

The others were thinking of taking the long way around so we had a
shorter distance to walk.

“Let’s just all go out together,” I suggested. The others turned
to me and I pushed my finger to my lip, unsure. It surprised me that I’d said
anything. Maybe the boys were right. Maybe I needed to relax and open up more.
“I mean, let’s go and get it over with. Who cares what they do? We’ll be doing
this all year and we can’t just avoid it. Just don’t let them think we care.
They’ll get over it.”