Push and Shove: The Ghost Bird Series: #6 (The Academy) (13 page)

I was glad the lights were turned off. I was sure my whole face was red. Nathan placed me gently down. He turned slightly from me, taking his jeans off, leaving on a pair of boxer briefs and the T-shirt. He fell in next to me.

I cuddled into him. He trailed two fingers along my arm, over my shoulder, along the side of my neck, until he was touching my lips. I kissed the tip of his finger, parting my lips. He slid the finger inside and I bit down.

Nathan grunted. He found my hand, singled out my forefinger, and tucked it into his mouth. His teeth grazed against my skin.

He sunk into me, his body encompassing mine. I fell asleep with his finger in my mouth, and mine in his.

––––––––

N
athan got up during the night, but I was caught between the dream world and this one. He lifted my hand, and kissed the back of a knuckle. He whispered something, but I didn’t catch it before I fell back to sleep.

I woke up again and the sun hadn’t risen yet. His arm was tucked around my stomach. Did he even leave at all? It felt like my imagination. I was chilled. It was cool enough that even with the blanket covering both of us, it wasn’t enough.

I turned over, weaseling my way closer until I was snuggling into his chest, only to discover it was bare. Didn’t he have a shirt on before?

Nathan moaned softly, winding his arms around me. He pressed his gruff cheek against the top of my head, pulling me in. I wondered if he was a little cold, too.

I had my face shoved up against his chest. The thud of his slow-beating heart pushed back against me. His lungs filled and emptied with each breath he took. I was comforted listening to his life, feeling him so close to me.

Why did it feel like it was never close enough?

There were footsteps in the hallway. I ignored them, assuming it was Kota, or one of the other guys. We weren’t late for school. The sun wasn’t high enough. I wondered if he was just checking on us.

When the door opened, I didn’t budge.

When the light flicked on, I was ready to groan at Kota for waking us up so early. I was going to tell him Mr. Blackbourne said I was supposed to sleep.

“Oh my god,” a female voice said, loud and with a sharp whine at the end.

My eyes shot open and I sat up, wiping away the sleep from my face so I could focus.

Danielle stood in the doorway, her brown eyes wide, and her jaw hanging open enough that I could see her tongue.

Nathan flipped over on the bed, looking confused. When he spotted Danielle, he sat up next to me. “Get out,” he bellowed at her.

“What’s going on here?” she asked. She folded her arms across her chest and leaned against the door frame. She turned to me. “I thought you were going out with the tall one.”

“Get the fuck out, Danielle,” Nathan barked at her.

“You get out,” Danielle said, dropping her hands. “You’re not supposed to be here.”

Nathan jumped off the bed, standing and rolling his shoulders back, facing her off. “Fuck off. This is Sang’s house, not yours.”

“Funny,” she said. Her eyes lowered to his underwear and then back up. Her lips twisted into a sneer. “Thought it belonged to Mrs. Sorenson.”

“She’s not here,” I said in a quiet voice. I didn’t want a fight. I didn’t know what Danielle was doing, but I didn’t like her here.

Nathan stepped between us, presenting himself as a shield and blocking my view. “It’s none of your business.”

“When I asked Marie, she said her mom wouldn’t like a boy in the house.”

“So why did she have Derrick stay?” Nathan snapped back. “And why isn’t Marie in here telling us this?”

“I came in to borrow a skirt,” she said. “Marie said I could.”

“Sang’s shit doesn’t fit your ass,” Nathan said. “You took all her other clothes.”

“Where’s the ones she wears to school now?”

Nathan growled. “Get out. Stop stealing her shit.”

“I’m just borrowing,” Danielle said. I leaned over on the bed to look around Nathan. Danielle had her hands on her hips. “The clothes belong to both of them. Her mom said...”

“Her mom can kiss my fucking ass,” Nathan bellowed at her. “She doesn’t get to tell Sang what to do any more. Do you even know...?”

“Nathan,” I said, reaching to tug at his elbow. Danielle already knew too much, that my parents were gone. I wasn’t sure I wanted her to know the things my mother did to me.

Nathan looked back at me. “Tell her, Sang. Tell her to get out.”

I glanced at Danielle. I’d never spoken to her before. This was the first time she actually acknowledged me, and she was in my room, demanding things. My finger sought my lower lip, pressing it to my teeth. “Could you please leave us alone?”

Danielle smirked in a way that made her wide jaw seem bigger. “What should I say to your other boyfriend next time I see him?”

I glanced at Nathan, unsure with how to handle this.

“We don’t really care what you tell him,” Nathan said. “I don’t know what you heard. Sang’s with me. And blackmailing us isn’t going to get you anything.”

“Marie could call her dad,” she said.

“Let her,” Nathan spit back. “I’d like to talk to him, too. He said he’d be by with food and to take care of things and he hasn’t been here in weeks. I’ve got a few things to say about abandoning his responsibility.”

Danielle pursed her lips, her eyes shifting a little. To me, it seemed like she was calculating her next move. “Are you staying here this weekend?”

I glanced back at Nathan, not sure how to respond. We’d lied before to Marie, saying we’d be in the house when we weren’t.

“We’re staying here this weekend,” Nathan said in a tone lower than I’d expected. His hands clenched.

“Maybe you shouldn’t,” she said. Her eyebrow lifted and she focused on me. “Go to his house for the weekend.”

“Why?” I asked.

“What are you planning, Danielle? Whatever it is, stop it.”

Danielle smirked again. “It’s Marie’s house, too. She can invite people over if she wants. And she’s the oldest so she’s in charge.” She turned away, walking across the hallway into Marie’s bedroom. She slammed the door closed.

My heart thundered. Danielle knew too much. Nathan had been right before when he’d said this was coming. She’d planned something with Marie. Inviting other people over? Who else did Marie know?

“Shit,” Nathan said. He sank down, sitting on the edge of the bed. He propped his elbows on his knees, rubbing his palm over his bowed head. “I think I just fucked up.”

I knee walked over until I was sitting behind him. I placed a hand on his back. “You didn’t do anything. She...”

“Silas is supposed to be dating you,” he said. He lifted his head up, turning to look back at me. “Where’s my phone? I should call him.”

“What does it matter?” I asked. “Kota said before to just say I was dating whoever...”

“Silas wanted to change that,” he said, he leaned over, finding his phone mixed up in the sheets. He hit the button and started typing in a message.

“Why does it matter?” I asked. “Why do we care what anyone else thinks?”

“It’s the football team,” he said. “We’re trying to get the team to trust us. Or at least Silas and North are. We’re not supposed to get that close to anyone while we’re here, so Silas had you as his girlfriend so the guys wouldn’t pressure him to date one of the cheerleaders. And it stopped all those rumors going on about you. If people thought you were dating Silas, no one would mess with you.”

“What about North?”

“No one fucks with North.” He flopped onto his back on the bed, gazing up at the ceiling. He heaved a big sigh. “And now we’ve got to figure out what Danielle is up to.”

“They’re inviting people over.”

“Yeah, and we have to find out who. I mean are we talking a couple of guys? Or is she planning something bigger?”

“Well,” I said, standing, stretching. “She was asking about a skirt.”

“You’re right,” he said, and he sat up, his eyes wide. “Maybe it’s a guy. That’s why she’s here. And that’s why she’s particular about you leaving. She wouldn’t kick Marie out, but if you’re gone—shit.” He stood up, moving toward the closet. “What fucking perfect timing my dad has showing up this week.”

I shifted from foot to foot, glancing at the messed up bed. Was Danielle planning on having boys over? Was she planning to use my room? I shivered. “What are we going to do?”

“We’re staying here this weekend,” he said. He shuffled through the closet, pulling out a white T-shirt, dark gray pants and the dark blue blazer for the faux school uniform. “We’ll get Kota, or someone else to stay too, if we have to. The only thing we can do is occupy your bedroom. We can run anyone else out.”

“Maybe we should stay at Kota’s or Victor’s for the weekend.” I didn’t want anyone in my room, but if Danielle was going to try, I didn’t want to be here. I also didn’t want Nathan and Kota getting into fights; it would draw too much attention. We were supposed to be keeping a low profile. I was scared. I didn’t know what Danielle was capable of and I didn’t want to find out. I wanted to avoid it.

“Sang,” he said. He dropped the clothes onto the bed, walked over and held my shoulders as he looked at me. “You can’t back down. You can’t let Danielle take over. She’s using your sister to do what she wants with this house. If you have to stay here, then you need to fight back.”

I shook my head. “If she wanted to, she could say something to the police, or maybe...”

“We’re running that risk right now, anyway.” He sighed, rubbing his palms against my arms. “Maybe we’re fooling ourselves, Peanut. Maybe we were wrong to let you stay here.”

“What else can I do?” I asked. “Where else would I go?”

“I don’t know. Maybe we’ll get our own place somewhere,” he said.

“Our own?”

He nodded. “I was thinking about it last night. You and I could move. We’ll find an apartment. Maybe one where Silas lives. We can both work at the diner now. You and I could do it together, I bet.”

“Could we?” I hadn’t thought about it. I glanced at the jar on top of the bookshelf; I didn’t think I had enough to afford an apartment.

“Then we wouldn’t have to worry about your parents, or mine, or anyone finding out about anything. We could just... And I’d take care of everything. And with Kota and Victor and the others around and the Academy, we’d be okay.”

“The Academy would help?”

“They’ll always be there,” he said. “For us. As long as I’m here.”

“What if I joined?”

His eyebrows shifted. “You?”

I nodded. “If I could join, I wouldn’t have to keep going to Ashley Waters, right? I’d be in the Academy.”

He slid a palm across the back of his neck. “I don’t know, Peanut.”

“We’d go to the same school,” I said. “I’d be able to help out.”

“You don’t even know what it is,” he said. “You don’t know what we do.”

“You help people,” I said. “Family first. Family is a choice. And you do...” I stopped, unsure. The truth was, there was still very little I did know about the Academy. They had jobs to follow, rules I didn’t know the full measure of. I still didn’t know where the Academy was. It was good that I didn’t. Principal Hendricks still asked about it. “I mean, I could be useful.”

“It’s dangerous, though,” he said.

“It’s dangerous now, isn’t it?” I asked. “Mr. Blackbourne thought I could, and so did Victor.”

His eyes widened. “Victor said?”

I nodded. Was that important? “I know Kota’s worried, but I thought maybe if everyone else was okay with it, he’d see it wouldn’t be too bad.”

Nathan twisted his lips, shaking his head. “I’m not going against Kota,” he said. “But let’s worry about it later.” He grabbed his clothes. “I’m going downstairs to your parents’ bathroom to shower. Get dressed. We need to talk to Kota and the others about this.”

♥♥♥

B
y the time I’d washed and dressed, Nathan was ready. He was sitting by my bookshelf, checking it out while he waited. He had one of the books out, staring at the cover.

“This is your journal, isn’t it?” he asked, holding it out to me.

I checked while stuffing a text book into my book bag. “Yeah.”

He opened it up briefly, flipping through the pages and then turned it over, holding it upside down. “You wrote it in Korean, didn’t you?”

“Just borrowed the lettering,” I said. I went back to sorting out my book bag, trying to recall what I needed for school and what I could leave behind. “It’s in English, but it’s just coded, I guess.”

“Can ... can I practice?” he asked.

“What?”

“Mr. Blackbourne mentioned it once. And now that I’m looking at it, I thought it might be useful. I don’t know when, but if some of us knew this.”

That sounded reasonable. I didn’t think it would be very useful in too many places, but Mr. Blackbourne had already used it once to get a coded message to me. Maybe he was right. “You want me to write it out.”

“Can I maybe practice by trying to decode the journal? Is it that private?”

I thought about it and shook my head. “It’s mostly just old dreams. Maybe a few rants about my family.” It really didn’t bother me. I relayed bad dreams to North and the others a lot, so if Nathan read some of my past dreams, or even some of the times I vented about life, I didn’t mind.

He nodded, smiled a little. “I’m not like Kota or Mr. Blackbourne,” he said. “They get this stuff in an instant. Some of us still have to practice.”

“If you want,” I said, zipping up my book bag. “We have to go.” I said.

He followed me downstairs to the kitchen. He split a banana with me and we each had a coffee.

Nathan dashed upstairs to grab his shoes. When he returned, he held out his hand, a wad of cash was collected in his palm.

“Here,” he said.

I stared at the money. “What?”

“You should take some with you,” he said. “I saw the jar.”

I took the cash from him, squeezing the dollar bills. “Why?”

“Should have given you some before,” he said. “Just in case. Keep it in your bag or with your cell phone, if you can.”

I didn’t count the money, and folded it up and placed it next to my phone in my bra. It was itchy at first but I made sure to place it between the phone and the bra.