Push and Shove: The Ghost Bird Series: #6 (The Academy) (62 page)

Nathan hated that Victor was getting so excited, like he was getting his way.

Talking to him like this seemed to be going nowhere, because Victor was convinced this was right. Nathan needed to hear it from Mr. Blackbourne directly, and then he’d talk some sense into him because he knew this couldn’t happen.

Because the first moment he got, he was going to find Sang and break the rule. Then he’d wait it out. He’d wait them all out. They’ll find other girlfriends. They’ll discover they didn’t really love her like he loved her. And she loved him. He was feeling sure about that. The way she called his name when she was so high. She’d cried out for him, Karen had said. Just him. The kiss he could still feel on his lips. There was the way she’d looked at that couple kissing at the football game, and then had looked over her shoulder at him. He could see it in her eyes and he couldn’t do a thing. He was sure she was just too shy to tell him that was what she wanted.

He wouldn’t push her to love him back. Not now. Not when the others were going through this. He’d wait. He’d stay by her.

He’d kiss her, though. He’d be completely honest with her, too. He wasn’t going to hold back from Sang any more.

He’d find a way to win her over, and when he was sure, he’d approach the Academy, and then maybe they’d talk some sense into the others.

He hoped he didn’t have to. He watched Victor focusing on his laptop, and his heart ached for that, too. He remembered how Victor had looked a few years ago when he confessed to Kota, with Nathan in the room, how his father had berated him so much and he was a complete mess. Victor still lived with his parents and tolerated his father now. He still needed the others, though, especially when his father picked on him and he had to do those stupid concerts he didn’t even like.

The others had been there for him, too. Some of them still had family problems on occasion, like where they were now with Erica. Things came up all the time. They dealt with them.

He was sure Sang wouldn’t like trying to belong to several different guys at once. It wasn’t what was normal. She would want the nice house, and a pretty wedding, and the white picket fence.

He’d find her. He’d kiss her. He’d tell her how he felt. Then he’d wait to be sure she felt the same way. When the others realized she didn’t feel for them like she did for him.

Normal. That’s what she really wanted. He’d do whatever she asked. He’d do anything to keep that soft skin free of bruises. If he could help it, he’d never see her cry like she did before. He’d never known how much he loved her until she started crying. When he felt his heart breaking because of it, only her smile pieced it back together.

He pursed his lips, staring at the wall, waiting for his time, and thinking of exactly what he would say to her, and then hopefully Mr. Blackbourne would listen to him. Mr. Blackbourne would know that his feelings had to be different than the others. He’d have to stop this chaos before they hurt her.

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Books by C. L. Stone

The Academy Ghost Bird Series:

Introductions

First Days

Friends vs. Family

Forgiveness and Permission

Drop of Doubt

Push and Shove

House of Korba
(Fall 2014)

––––––––

The Academy Scarab Beetle Series

Thief

Liar
(Fall 2014)

Other C. L. Stone Books:

Spice God

Smoking Gun

FROM THE NEXT BOOK

IN THE

ACADEMY GHOST BIRD SERIES

The Academy

The Ghost Bird Series

House of Korba

♥

Book Seven

♥

Written by C. L. Stone

Published by

Arcato Publishing

I
guarded the register, occasionally scanning receipts and handling payments from customers, but they didn’t happen often enough to keep me occupied.

Bob’s Diner was slow for a Saturday afternoon. The lunch crowd had already passed through. Uncle was in the back monitoring the kitchen. Luke occasionally swept by me and caught my eye with a handsome smile. His blond locks were drawn back with the clip he stole from me. I had to make do with twisting my hair and using two pencils to hold it in place like hair sticks. Bits of my chameleon blond hair tickled my neck, just short of the collar of the hoodie I was wearing. I kept trying to sweep back the locks that were loose behind my ears, but if I leaned forward, they fell out.

It was nearing the end of October, and I was happy it was almost over. My hope for a quiet, ordinary school year had already vanished. After the bomb threats on the school, a principal and vice-principal after me and the Academy guys, bullies, at home and at school, I got nervous when things got quiet. I wondered what was lurking in the shadows, always waiting for the next surprise.

I leaned against the counter, my head propped up in my hands, counting down the minutes until the end of my shift. Most of the time, I stared at Luke so not be rude and stare at anyone else while I dazed out. In his Bob’s Diner blue polo shirt, his long, lean arms flexed nicely as he carried a tray, or wrote out orders on a ticket. The way he interacted with customers was really enchanting; he’d put on a handsome smile, lighting up those dark eyes, and joke around with the patrons, making me think many of them were repeat customers because of him.

I’d already cleaned the counter, organized the receipts, refilled napkin dispensers and had even scrubbed down the soda fountain machine. Just a few more minutes, and then I had to go home. To my soon-to-be former home. I’d promised my sister, Marie, I’d have the last of my stuff out today so I would finally not have to return for a while. I already had all my clothes at Nathan’s house, but I wanted to do a sweep and check for anything I may have left behind.

Moving out at sixteen is complicated. In my case, it had to be done slowly, because we had people watching the house. There were three of them at a time now on our street. One was outside the diner, since Mr. Hendricks had figured out some of us worked there.

I idly traced the edges of the register, listing things in my head that I should look for in the house. My birth certificate was something I hadn’t been able to find. The boys didn’t mention it, but I’m sure they forgot. I thought it might be in my stepmother’s room. I wanted to check the attic, too. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to leave their photos taped to the wall inside the secret space they’d created for me. Part of me was heartbroken at the thought of taking them down. I considered leaving them, for now. I could come back for them later.

A figure moved in front of me, and I reacted by holding out my hand, expecting a receipt and readying a smile.

The girl’s eyes widened a little. “Um,” she said.

I shook my head, retracting my hand. “Sorry,” I said. “Did you need something? Did you call in an order?”

“No,” she said. She was a pretty girl, with blue eyes and dyed blond hair, dark brows. She held up a silver can with sequins glued on it. “Are you ... running?”

I stared at her, waiting for her to explain, but she just looked at me with raised brows. I realized now this wasn’t anything about the restaurant, and my insides started to rattle. When I knew the procedure, I was to be fine handling customers, but something random like this made me want to tell people to ask for Luke. “Huh?”

“For homecoming queen,” she said. She shook her can, making the sequins sparkle under the light. “I didn’t know you worked here. I didn’t see you on the list, but... I didn’t want to ask about leaving this if you were running and didn't want to compete.”

“Homecoming?” I asked. She went to my school? I didn’t recognize her, but she seemed to know me. I looked at the can again, and caught the edge of a photograph and some writing. “I didn’t even know.” I’d only experienced homecoming once at my old school, and I didn’t participate except checking out the posters. Wasn’t that in early October? Or, when the football team had an away game and then first came back? That was weeks ago.

“It’s kind of a last-minute thing,” she said. “We finally got the principal to approve, but we had to convince him we could raise enough money to have one. That’s what the cans are for. The girls running for queen get additional votes for every dollar they earn.”

“Oh,” I said. “Oh wow.” They weren’t even going to have a homecoming? Mr. Hendricks was horrible. I didn’t know what to say, but tried to look sympathetic.

“We usually do a charity event,” she said. “But we had to change and do it for ourselves, since he’d said no and cancelled. Something about these bombs that keep showing up.”

Mr. Hendricks’s concern for the students was a surprise. He cancelled an event because he was afraid of the bomb threats? Sounded more like an excuse to me. He said himself they get bomb threats all the time and it wasn’t a big deal. Did he cancel so he could keep the money? “Aw,” I said, pushing my suspicions aside for now. “Well, did you want to leave your can, here?” I reached around the register, picking up the tip jar Luke had left and put it under the counter. “I’ll let the others know.”

She smiled pleasantly and handed over her can. I placed it next to the register where my tip jar had been. “Thanks,” she said. “Maybe you’ll vote for me.”

“Sure,” I said. She said it like I should already know her name, but I didn’t. Maybe she was in class with me and I should have recognized her. I didn’t even know how to vote. I could ask one of the boys; they’d know.

“I’ll make sure to vote for your boyfriend,” she said. She waved shortly and then thanked me again and walked away.

I waved back, blinking and totally not registering what she had said.
Boyfriend
... Silas?

Silas was running for homecoming king?

I waited until Luke was finished chatting with a customer before I managed to catch his eye with a wave.

He came over and leaned against the counter. A blond length of hair fell against his face, covering his dark eyes, and he tucked it back behind his ear. “Ready to go home?” he asked. “Or did you want another tour of the freezer?”

The last time he showed me the freezer, he’d nearly kissed me. I hadn’t been back there since. Tempting, but I shook off the thought and then pointed to the can. “Two things, this girl walked in and left her homecoming donation can here. I hope it’s okay.”

“Homecoming?” He picked up the jar, checking out the photo. “Who is this?”

“I don’t know. She just came in and asked if she could leave it here. I told her she could.” I realized now I probably should have asked for permission first, instead of assuming. I didn’t want to tell her no. Now that I thought about it, I wondered when she might be back for it, or if I had to return it to her.

“Oh,” he said. He read the can. “Jenny. Don’t think I know her.” He shook the can. “Her can is empty.” He put it down. “What’s the other thing?”

I reached under the counter for my own tip jar. I pulled out some cash without counting and stuffed it into the girl’s can while I was talking. “She said Silas is running for king.”

“He is?” Luke asked. His smile broadened and he nodded his head, looking impressed. “Wow. Hey, I want to run. Do they really get a crown and then let you ride around in the back of a convertible? Isn’t there a parade or something?”

“Is he really running?”

“I don’t know. Ask him.” He reached into his own pocket and then stuffed a couple of dollars into the girl’s donation can. The rest of the cash he shoved into my tip jar. “I’ll keep an eye on the can. You should go get those things you needed and head to Nathan’s. It’s slow here.”

“You don’t want me to hang out?”

He grinned. “If I work now, I get to have time off later, and then I get to take you out.” He leaned over the counter and planted a kiss on my nose. “But you should head out before it starts getting too busy.”

I could have argued about it, but he patted my head and shooed me along. I emptied my tip jar, tucking the money into the pocket of my hoodie. I waved goodbye to Luke and headed out.

I took the shortcut through the woods home, clutching my phone in my pocket while I walked. Silas for homecoming king. That was a strange thought to me. I smiled that the girl had thought I was running. Maybe it was just assumed because I was with Silas. Pretending. We were pretending to be together so the football team wouldn’t hassle him about going out with anyone, and other boys would leave me alone.

But what did it mean if Silas ran for homecoming?

The two story gray house on Sunnyvale Court was quiet as I walked up. It was difficult to think of it as home now, and at the same time, I felt like I was leaving something behind every time I went to stay with Nathan at his house. I wasn’t sure if Marie was home, or if she was hanging out with Danielle. She seemed happier these days in the few times I did run into her. I wasn’t around as much and the boys stayed away from her. That was what she wanted.

As I entered the house, I stalled in the living room. Would this be the last time I ever saw this place? Would it be the last time I cringed, listening for my stepmother, even though she wasn’t here right now? Would I never have to tiptoe around again?

I went to my stepmother’s room first. I stood there for a long time, staring at the stripped bed, checking the space. It’d been weeks since my stepmother had been home, taken by the Academy to the hospital. They finally told me she was down south in the Mayo Clinic, and that they were watching her. I’d told Marie and the boys left her a phone number, an address and a room number and said she could visit whenever she wanted. They’d even drive. I don’t know if she’d done anything with the information. She didn’t talk to me.