The Academy - Friends vs. Family (47 page)

“Good,” Mr. Blackbourne said. “Here’s the rules. No one is to
touch her further than already established. Let me make that clear. Holding
hands, fine. Letting her sit in your lap, fine. Anything platonic, that you’d
do to a sister, fine. Beyond that, she has to make the first move. That means
any touch, kiss, everything.”

“But she’s never done it before,” Gabriel said. “She doesn’t know
what she’s doing.”

“Which is why this is important,” Mr. Blackbourne said, touching the
brim of his glasses. “It’s the only way you will be able to establish if she
really wanted to or if she’s just letting you to please you. If she makes the
first move, you’ll know.”

“What about dating?” Victor asked.

“You can take her out, but I prefer you did it with a group or in
a public place. If you want something more private, she has to tell you what
she wants. Just remember, though, if you’re taking her out, you have to allow
the rest of us, too. We need time to get to know her anyway.”

“So we can kiss her and stuff if she says we can?” Gabriel asked.

Kota’s eyes flared. He wanted to kiss her? He stared off at the
table, biting his tongue, but his ears strained to hear the answer. He’d wanted
to ask the same question.

Mr. Blackbourne shook a finger at Gabriel. “You can’t goad her
into telling you she wants to. I mean it. No tricks. No trying to talk her into
it.”

Silas cleared his throat for attention. “What about spending the
night? We’ve already done that. She prefers when we sleep next to her.”

Mr. Blackbourne frowned. “Why am I answering questions as if
you’re all looking for a way to get around the rules and date her? You can’t
all date her.”

Kota leaned against the table, putting his head in his hands. Was
he ready for this? He’d been putting the thoughts off for a few weeks... or a
month? How long has it been since he first started watching Sang?

He loved his Academy family. They meant everything to him. For
years they’ve supported each other. They shared a lot. Now they were sharing
Sang’s attention. How far was this going to go? Would he have to fight off the
others?

But didn’t he already have that answer? What did Sang do when she
was lonely? She found the first available one of them that was close by. And
how did he feel about it? Nothing. Well, he missed her. Kota missed her now.
However, if he couldn’t be there next to her, he wanted Nathan or Victor or any
of them with her. He didn’t trust anyone but his Academy brothers to take care
of her. When he had watched Sang crawling into Gabriel’s lap at the party, he
was happy she was happy. He did want her in his own lap, but he felt he could
wait. She was right there.

He grumbled to himself. This was confusing.

“I think we need to put this off,” Dr. Green said. “Focus on the
rules and we’ll talk about this later when she’s in better shape and we’re all
more familiar with her. It may turn out none of you want to date her. The
Academy might learn about her and want to take her into another group. We don’t
even know if she’ll want to stay with us or if she even wants to date any of
you.”

“That’s correct,” Mr. Blackbourne said. “So rule one, no one
touches her further unless she moves first. Rule two, no intimate date
locations unless she suggests it first. Three, until the appointed time where a
decision is made, no one should date another girl and no more guys can join the
group. Sang’s too vulnerable to bring in another member or could feel hurt if
she sees you with another girl.”

 “So if she kisses one of us? We can kiss her back after that, right?”
Gabriel asked, his eyes squinting, as if trying to understand exactly what he
could get away with.

“If she really does it first. A kiss on the hand, you can kiss her
on the hand. A kiss on the mouth, then you can kiss her there. You can mimic
how she touches you,” Mr. Blackbourne offered. “And you all have to agree to
this. No jealous arguments about who gets to hang out with her. No one fights
over who is holding her hand today. If that happens, I’ll have to insist you
all back off even if she does try to take it a step further.”

“I think that’s a call for a unified agreement,” Dr. Green said,
putting his hands behind his back and smiling pleasantly at all of them. “Are
we in agreement with three rules in the case of Miss Sang Sorenson? Plus the
job of finding out the truth and then deciding if we convince her father to let
us take her?”

Everyone turned to Luke, the first in line at the table today.
Luke’s dark eyes focused on the opposite wall, as if already dreaming up what
he was supposed to do. “I am willing,” he said in a quiet voice, “and I will
obey.”

It was an impossible request. The first girl in the group, and
they were making crazy promises. It meant Kota couldn’t date her until she
asked him out. Or maybe he could. Hadn’t he kind of already asked her? His
mother did, but Sang had said yes. Did that mean he could take her? He couldn’t
kiss her like he wanted. He thought about all the ways he had touched her
before. What could he do with her now?

Victor was next. “I am willing,” he said, “and I will obey.”

“I’m unwilling,” North rushed in. North always had to cast a
different vote, Kota knew that. Being unwilling, though, just meant he wasn’t
happy with the rules. “but I will obey.” And there it was. He wasn’t happy but
he would follow through. It was enough.

“I am willing, and I will obey,” Silas said, his voice strong, as
if he’d already made his decision for everything and he was waiting for the
meeting to be over.

“I am willing, and I will obey,” Gabriel said, staring off at the
table.

“I am willing, and I will obey,” Nathan repeated, flexing his
fists. Kota knew this meant he wasn’t happy with it.

Kota was last. He could bring this all to a halt right now if he
said he would not obey. Three words. I won’t obey. The ruling would be overturned.
If he did, it would force them all to back off and remain strictly platonic
with her. No one could date her if she stayed with their group.

If he did decline though, he would have to establish himself as
platonic with Sang for a while, and hope that sometime in the future the others
would find other girls they wanted and they could overturn the decision. Maybe
Sang would outright say she wanted out of the group and join another Academy
family, but she could still date him if she wanted.

It was a big risk. This would assume she was interested in him at
all. It would cut off her chance with the other guys if she had feelings for
one of them. How would she know they wanted her if they weren’t allowed to tell
her or pursue her? Could he expect her to wait as a friend in a slim hope she
might understand and still want to be with him? If they all establish
themselves as platonic, what would stop her from trying to date someone else?

All Kota knew was that his need to touch her and to hold on to her
was winning out. If he agreed, he could go home to her as soon as their job was
over and curl up with her in that damn attic all evening. Someday maybe she’d
kiss him and he could then kiss her back.

Could he risk that she might kiss one of the others? What would he
do if she did?

Share her or possibly lose her forever.

Kota knew the answer to this. “I am willing,” he stated, inducing
a pitch of assurance. He would not be misheard in this instance. He knew this
weeks ago when he first started watching her, before that first night he bumped
into her. He wanted Sang, even if he had to share her. “And I will obey.”

T
HE
E
ND

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Books by C. L. Stone

The Academy Series:

Introductions

First
Days

Friends vs. Family

Forgiveness and Permission (Coming Soon)

Other C. L. Stone Books:

Spice
God

Smoking
Gun

READ AN EXCERPT FROM THE NEXT BOOK IN THE ACADEMY SERIES

T
he
A
cademy

Forgiveness and
Permission

Year One

Book Four

by C. L. Stone

o
nslaught

If you had asked me last week when my life changed, I might have
said it did when I met Kota Lee and he dragged me into the world of the Academy
with secret agendas and boys who were handsome, who knew how to infiltrate, spy
and rescue and did so on a regular basis.

Today, if you asked me the same question, I would say it was when
my mother told me she wasn’t my mother.

My name is Sang Sorenson. I was your untypical straight A student
who was shy and never had a friend in my life until I met Kota. I had an
abusive... I guess I should call her a stepmother, who didn’t want me and a
father that was never there and didn’t want me either. The only thing my father
asked me before he disappeared back into his double life was to keep my head
down and keep an eye on my older half-sister until the end of the school year
and to take care of my stepmother if she managed to make it out of the hospital.
He left us money and a house. We were on our own.

And my sister, Marie, didn’t want me there, either. After I
revealed to her what our father had said, she claimed she didn’t need a
babysitter and she could handle things herself.

But I made a promise to my father, and from that to the dead
mother whose name I didn’t even know. He had promised her to take care of me
and I would allow it, for now and I wouldn’t abandon my sister like our parents
had abandoned us.

But I also had Kota, Luke, Nathan, Silas, North, Gabriel, Victor,
Mr. Blackbourne and Dr. Green. Nine friends. Nine members to my own secret
family. They looked after me and promised to be there for me no matter what.

Except I had a sketchy idea of what family meant, and what they
wanted with a girl with such a complicated situation.

I could only wish, with all my heart that they would stay and not
leave me alone.

They were all I had left to believe in.

I heard the footsteps of a couple of boys in the hallway before
they managed to open the door to my bedroom, inside the two story gray house on
Sunnyvale Court. It was Saturday. I could sense it was another hot day for late
September through the glare of sunlight assaulting me from the window. For me, having
grown up in Illinois, I was unused to the warmth of southern summer so late in
the year. The boys kept telling me I could expect summer days on through
November. It seemed impossible but I’d believe it when I felt it.

The footsteps quieted by my door. The handle was twisted, the door
had been unlocked. I was under the sheets and blankets on my bed, the one
Victor bought for me. I could still smell him in the sheets since he’d spent
the night with me. He didn’t need to, none of the boys did, but they did it
anyway often enough. Marie and I were alone, but we were never really truly
alone when the Academy was always watching.

I’d slept in. Seven am was late to sleep in for boys who were
usually up and working at dawn. However, Victor had me up late watching a
movie, and I was feeling lazy.

My skin electrified. The boys in my room were being sneaky. They
were up to something and I had no idea what. My fingers clutched the blanket,
ready to hold tight to it or push it back and jump up and catch them at
whatever they were doing.

The edge of my blanket was collected at the foot of my bed in
someone else’s grasp.

Silence. Either side was waiting for the other to strike first.

My blanket was yanked from my grasp. I raced to pop up and go
after whoever it was. Instead I got a spray of ice water smack in my face. The
edge of a shrill cry caught in my throat but I held it in. Screaming was
pointless.

There was a rush for the door. I caught Nathan and Gabriel dashing
out, large Super Soaker guns in their hands. Nathan was shirtless, his
muscular, tanned body leaving me breathless. He wore red sport shorts, and was
barefoot. His reddish brown hair was wet, sticking up. Gabriel’s leaner frame
was also shirtless, wearing camouflage shorts. Two locks of blond hair stuck
wet to his cheeks and the rest of his russet brown hair was raked back, hanging
behind his ears. White crystal studs hung from each lobe, and three black rings
were pierced into his right ear toward the top crest.

Sounds like thunder rumbled through the house as the two of them
raced down the front stairs. They threw open the front door and ran outside.

My wakeup call had been delivered.

More footsteps rushed up the backstairs. I jumped up on the bed,
moving to the wall next to my door, pressing my back to the frame. I’d gotten
hit in the face once and I didn’t have a weapon. I was outmatched for speed and
power by all of the guys so it didn’t matter who it was. I hoped I could wager
sympathy from my new assailant.

The footsteps padded closer, slowed, stopped behind the wall.

I peeked out into the hallway.

Luke peeked back in at me. His shirt was gone, too. His khaki
shorts hung low on his hips. His tapered shoulders were starting to get a
little pink from sun. His longish blond hair was sloshed behind his head, tied
back with a clip he’d probably borrowed from me. He grinned down at me, his
brown eyes brightening.

“About time you got up,” he said. He stepped back, holding out a
second Super Soaker gun. Pink. “Look what the Kota fairy got for us.”

I grinned. Kota bought us new toys. I took the pink gun from Luke,
holding it in my hands and feeling the weight.

“I’m going to run out the front door,” Luke said. “Head out the
back and around the house. I’ll try to get their attention. You do that super
silent thing you do and sneak up on them.”

“Okay.” I didn’t know what he was talking about. What super quiet
thing? Tiptoeing?

I raced back to my bookshelf, snatching up a hair clip to twist
back my hair quickly to keep it out of my eyes. I checked my clothes, soft gray
shorts and a light pink bra cami tank top. I was decent enough for water guns.

I ran down the back steps, listening as Luke did the same on the
front steps and headed out the front door. I would have to hurry.

I ran past the side door, flew through the family room and
unlocked the back door out onto the screened in back porch.

The morning greeted me with a wave of thick heat. A basketball was
bouncing in the driveway and there was the echo of shuffling tennis shoes
meeting the beige concrete. I closed the door behind me, jumping down the brick
steps to land on the blue utility carpet.

From where I was, I could see Silas’s tall, strong frame nearly
hovering as he stood on his toes over North. North might have been a few inches
shorter, but the fierceness in his almost-scary face from his intense eyes and
strong, two days unshaven jaw, you’d never know it.

North clutched the basketball in his hand, avoiding Silas. Kota
flew into view, his black rimmed glasses sliding down his nose, sweat making
the hunter green t-shirt he wore stick to his back. North tossed him the ball.
Derrick, a boy from up the road, raced after Kota, trying to block him as Kota
aimed for the basket and tried to get off a shot. Derrick was probably the same
size as Kota, wearing only a pair of cut off jean shorts that hung low off of
his hips, revealing a trace outline of dark boxers underneath. Derrick was
deeply tanned from long days spent outdoors all summer. He was a new face,
though, as he hadn’t been there all week, when the other boys had. Word must
have gotten out that the house was no longer a place to stay away from.

I was surprised, too, to find Micah and Tom, a couple of twelve
year old boys, in the backyard, bouncing on top of a large trampoline. The
trampoline had been something like a consolation prize from my father before he
last left. He never even finished building it but North fixed it up. I hadn’t
been on it yet, mostly because I didn’t want to enjoy it. I didn’t like the
meaning of it. I didn’t mind the others using it. In fact, I was glad. At least
someone liked it.

My ... stepmom would have had a fit seeing all these boys running
around the yard, through the house, and playing with me.

I ran for the screen door in the porch that led out into the yard.
I flung open the door, stepping out into the grass, feeling the heat heavy
around me, the water swishing in the gun in my hands.

North stopped in mid-step, glancing over at me and temporarily
distracted from his basketball game. He smiled after me, his black hair hanging
in his eyes. I gave him a small wave and a wink before dashing off in the
opposite direction, heading around the back of the house toward the side yard,
taking the longer way around to the front.

I crouched by the bushes surrounding the front porch, glancing
over them for Nathan and Gabriel.

Luke was dashing around the front yard. Nathan was on his heels
and after him. They aimed their water guns at each other, spraying the other
one down with a fresh blast every few seconds. The front yard was large and
bare, with plenty of space for running around. I didn’t have much to block me
if I just ran out there. And where was...

A spritz of cold water caught me in the back. I squealed and
without thinking, started to run. I found out where Gabriel was. So much for
the surprise attack.

“Oy, Trouble,” Gabriel called after me, laughing.

I flew across the yard. My cover was blown. Time for rushing in
head first.

I pumped my water gun and aimed for Nathan as he dashed after
Luke. I caught him in the back with the spray of my gun. He turned, spotted me
and started running.

I cut across the yard, Gabriel was after me, too, taking a
different angle. I ran as hard as I could toward the porch but there wasn’t
much point. Both of them were much faster than I was.

Gabriel managed to cut me off before I made it to the steps. I
aimed my gun at him as he started to squirt at my chest and stomach. I caught
him in the face as I turned again, intending to run back around the house.

No use. Nathan caught up with me, scooping me up by hooking his
arm around my waist and dropped me into a soft tackle to the ground. I landed
on my back. He sat square on my hips. I aimed my pink gun at his face as he
aimed his orange one at mine.

“Say ‘mercy’,” he warned, his eyebrows shifting above his blue
eyes, a wide grin splashed on his face. Droplets of water sashayed down the
ripples of his abs.

“No,” I called out. I pulled the trigger to squirt water at him.

Only I’d forgotten to pump my gun and I got the last of a trickle
before the pressure ended.

Nathan made an evil-sounding cackle. “Brave words from a dead girl
who forgot to load her gun.”

He fired. Ice liquid shot at my face. I dropped the gun to hold
both hands up at the end of his, blocking the spray. The water still caught me
against the neck and around the top of my shirt.

“No,” I squealed, laughing. “Stop.”

Gabriel came over, standing over my head, his camo shorts dripping
on my face. He aimed his gun at me. “You should know better than to put your
gun down.” He squirted me in the face with a short shot.

I blocked my head with my arms. The water bit into my skin with a
sharp chill. “Holy crow, how is the water so cold?”

“We put ice in it,” Gabriel said, pumping his gun.

Luke flew over me, jumping over my body and aiming his gun at
Gabriel and catching him in the side of his head. Gabriel shot off after him.
Luke flew over the rail of the front porch, using it as a bunker as he aimed
over it at Gabriel and fired. Gabriel crept around the bushes, crouching up the
steps. They both shot streams of water at each other before Luke flew back over
the rail, landing in the yard to fly across the grass toward the side of the
house. Gabriel went after him.

Nathan laughed, aiming the gun back at my face. “Come on, say
mercy and I’ll let you up.”

“No,” I squealed, giggling and pushing his gun away, reaching for
mine.

Nathan let go of his gun, holding it in one hand while with his
free hand, he snatched up my gun and chucked it a few feet away and out of my
reach. “Say it,” he grumbled at me, a playful growl emanating from him.

“No,” I wailed again, now trying to twist my body around, gripping
at the ground to claw my way out from under him. He sank his full weight onto
my body, pinning me to the ground. A free hand found my face, and he squeezed
my cheeks until I made a fish face.

“Sang,” he said, “you’ve got to learn how to admit when you’re
outgunned. Now say it.”

“No!” My squeaking mumbled through fish lips. I pushed his gun
way, poking him in the ribs, trying to tickle my way out.

He laughed, patting my hands away as if he were swatting away
flies. “Doesn’t work on me, sweetheart.”

“Luke!” I cried out.

“Kinda busy,” Luke called back, running past my head. Gabriel
jumped over me on his heels. Luke was out in the open, crossing the large front
yard and made a U-turn back around, running for a tree in the far corner almost
in the neighbor’s yard, to hide behind.