The Academy - Introductions (16 page)

“There’s the obvious,” he said. “English, geometry and a
history class. Any particular interests there?”

I checked over the list. “What’s AP?”

“Applied. The more advanced classes.”

“The English one says they read novels?”

The corner of his mouth worked up into a smile. “I think it’ll
be a pretty fast paced class. You’d have to read the required pages every day.”

“That’s not a problem,” I said. “Better than the text
books.” I looked back at the papers he’d given me, but I could sense Gabriel
and Kota exchanging looks. Was I being stupid? “Is the only Asian history class
an AP class?” My voice failed with the last word, and I swallowed. Talking was
taking a toll on my throat and it felt itchy. I wanted to cough but I didn’t
want to worry them.

“I think that’s for seniors. There’s prerequisites before
you can take it.”

“How about world history?” Gabriel asked.

“I guess so.”

Kota knelt next to me. His body was close to mine as he
looked over my shoulder and I could feel his warmth and caught his spice scent.
He seemed so focused that it didn’t appear to bother him. “There’s not too many
class varieties, unfortunately. You’d be able to take the AP geometry without
getting too bogged down.”

I smirked. “I want to take the AP geometry?”

“It’s the same numbers, they just go at slight slightly
learning different speeds. Besides, you’ll share the class with Nathan or
someone else most likely. I can help if you need.”

“What classes are you taking?”

He smiled. “Particle physics and the AP calculus, although
I don't really need it. A refresher is always nice. They don't have anything
better. I’ll probably take that AP English.”

“No advanced particle English?” I asked.

Gabriel rocked back with his hand on his chest and laughed.
“If there was, he’d take it.”

“What’s so funny?” Nathan asked, coming up the stairs. He
had two sandwiches in his hands wrapped in paper towels and a bottle of water
under his arm. He handed me one of the sandwiches. “I hope you like chicken.”

I nodded, taking the bottle of water from him, too. He
dropped himself into the window seat and opened a grilled chicken sandwich on a
seeded bun.

“We’re figuring out what classes Sang wants to take,” Kota
said. “We’ve got three down. We need three more.”

“There’s the gym glass we have to do,” Nathan said. He came
across the room, reaching for the open bottle of water in my hand. He took a
chug of water, swallowing and handing it back to me before he continued. “Might
as well take it now.”

“I think they separate the boys and girls for that,”
Gabriel said.

“Yeah, into groups but we’re all mixed together in that one
gym at the same time. Like the boys get one half and the girls get the other.”
Nathan took a bite of sandwich, chewing and then talked with food in his mouth.
“I mean, if any one of us has the same class, we’re across the room.”

“Do I need to be in everyone’s same class?” I asked. The
fresh water gave me a little voice back, just enough to do a notch above a
stage whisper. I picked a piece of the bread off of my sandwich and eating it.

“There’s just a strong likelihood a lot of us will be
paired up,” Kota said. “There’s a limited variety of classes and the number of
us taking the same courses.”

I shrugged. So their goal with school was getting to as
many of the same classes as possible. If that was the case, why was Kota taking
separate classes? I supposed studying together would be nice. However, there
was more to this. Gabriel and Nathan acted as if this was normal. This was how
they functioned together. Kota took the lead and everyone worked on it. Did
other students try to take all the same classes so they would most likely get
paired up together?

I was going to take another bite of my sandwich when
Gabriel reached over and took my wrist. He looked right at me, never wavering
his gaze and then brought the sandwich to his face, with me holding it still,
and took a small bite.

“Get your own sandwich,” Nathan said, tossing a crumpled up
paper towel at him.

Gabriel dodged the paper. “I just wanted a taste.”

I giggled but I caught the look in Gabriel’s eye. I
wondered if this was flirting. Was I supposed to say something?

Kota had a piece of paper in his hand, writing down notes.
He slowly slid the glasses on his nose up by his forefinger. “That’s four
classes,” Kota said. “Two more.”

“Science,” Gabriel said. “Chemistry.”

“I haven’t taken biology yet,” I said. “Last year at my old
school, the class was filled. I’d need the biology since it’s a prerequisite.”

“She can take the typing class,” Nathan said.

“You make it sound like she’s going to be a secretary,” Gabriel
said. “Maybe she should take a class in shorthand, too.”

“That’s not what I meant,” Nathan said. “Don’t put words in
my mouth. I was just saying it’s an easy class. Besides, there’s no homework
and it’ll be an easy grade to boost her GPA early. Especially if you’re going
to stick her into a couple of AP classes right off.”

“Three,” I said. “There’s an AP biology.” All of them
looked at me. My cheeks heated up again. Did I say something silly? “Science is
science. It’s not like the frog’s gut chart changes depending on the class you
take.”

They all laughed.

The sound of a car pulling up distracted us.

“It must be Victor with the phone,” Kota said.

Victor was up the stairs in a few minutes. He held a bag in
his hands. His cheeks looked a little flushed, like he had been in a hurry. He
plopped down onto the floor next to me with the package. “I didn’t see a pink
one,” he said. “But there was a pink case. It’ll protect the phone.”

I smiled shyly, unsure what to say. Thinking of a phone was
one thing, but looking at the new bag in his hands, I felt my fingers
trembling. “Thank you,” I said softly, unsure how to argue about having it now
if he’s already went through the trouble to get it.

He took it out of the bag and then pulled the box apart. It
was the latest iPhone, identical to the one he had.

“I thought I said just simple calling and texting,” Kota
said. “What happened to inconspicuous?”

“It does text,” Victor said, his face tightening. “It also takes
pictures and downloads apps. Sue me.” He handed me the phone.

The touch screen was super clean and the app dashboard was
bare, except for Angry Birds.

“I filled in a few essentials on there,” Victor said. “I
also put everyone’s phone number in there.’

It took me a moment to figure out which button held the
phone numbers. I thumbed through the contacts page. “Including North and Luke?”

“You would have gotten those eventually, anyway,” Kota
said.

“Who’s Blackbourne?”

Victor’s eyes went wide. I caught out of the corner of my
eye the other boys looking directly at him and looking panicked. “Oh, sorry.
Here, let me see that.”

He took the phone from me and pushed buttons until it was
deleted.

“Sorry,” he said. “Just an old teacher. I don’t know how I
transferred that one.”

He seemed to play it off, but I caught the look Nathan and
the others exchanged. It was very slight but it was obvious this was more
information I wasn’t really supposed to see.

What was going on with these guys?

When I left Kota’s house that afternoon, I walked around
the street and then took a path through the woods to find myself in the back
yard. It was a long route but I really didn’t want anyone to see me leaving
from Kota’s house.

Before I left, Kota had me send a text to everyone so they
could add me to their phones, including North and Luke. Silas and Luke didn’t
reply. North was the only one who sent a message back.

North
: “Ok.”

I had the phone tucked into the cup of my bra. It was the best
way to hide it for now. If I just tried to keep it in my pocket, I was afraid
it would slip or my mom would notice the bulge.

I had to pull my hair back, too. Gabriel was disappointed
but I told him if I came home with it down, it’d draw unneeded attention.
Unusual for me would be attention and at that point, my mother would already be
angry over Marie with the boy from up the road. As it was, I’d have to convince
her I was only walking in the woods today if she asked.

When I got into the house, I made a dash up the stairwell.
The rear stairwell was a lifesaver to my many attempts to leave the house. It
came out by the laundry room which had the side door to the garage. Upstairs, I
knocked on Marie’s door to check on her.

Marie answered, her long brown hair hanging behind her
shoulders. Her nose and chin were sharp, her brown eyes smaller than mine. She
was taller, too, by at least a foot. Her hips were wider. For sisters, we
didn’t look a lot alike. “What?” she whined.

“What happened earlier?” I croaked. Marie didn’t look upset
and she could talk so it must not have been too bad this time.

“Mom was looking for you,” she said, stepping out of the
way. Her room had various piles of clothes on the floor and notebooks across
her bed.

“I know,” I said, even though I didn’t. “I’m going to take
my shoes off and then I’ll go get yelled at.”

I didn’t have to explain it. She knew exactly what I meant.
Seeing our mother usually involved yelling and often a punishment. It was
painful to kneel on the floor for hours with shoes on.

I crossed the hallway and used a push pin tucked into the
wall to unlock my door and get in to my room. Marie knew how to unlock my door
and knew where I hid the pushpin. For me, it was just a small deterrent. It
allowed me time to hear someone coming if I was inside. No one would bother
knocking and I couldn’t enforce them to stay out.

When I was inside, I relocked the door before pulling the
cell phone out of my bra. I was tempted to play with it but instead I went for
the attic space door. I reached in and found an opening between the wood of the
wall and the insulation. I tucked the phone between them. I had the cord in my
front pocket and I put that in the attic with it. On a final thought, I turned
up the stereo music a little to detract from any noise the phone could make. I
had been careful to turn that off when I got it but I still worried it would
vibrate or beep or something.

“Sang!” I heard my mother calling. She must have heard when
I turned up the volume on the radio. “Come down here!”

I sighed, wishing I was still back at Kota’s.

Downstairs, I entered my mother’s bedroom. Her inner
sanctum. Her wiry hair looked strewn out. She sat with her back against the
headboard. She frowned at me. “Where have you been?”

“In the shed.”

“All day?”

I nodded. “I was looking to see if I had any more clothes
for school in the boxes we haven't unpacked yet,” I strained to be heard from
across the room so I wouldn’t have to come closer. I knew what was coming and
was ready.

“You shouldn’t do that,” she said. “I will go through it
when I'm ready to. I don't want you going through it.”

“Oh,” I said, pretending to not understand. A little
trouble would stop her from prodding further, I hoped. “Sorry,” I added.

“Some... man,” she spat out the word, “came here today to
play basketball with Marie.”

Derrick, I thought. For some reason I thought he was my age
and didn’t appear to be someone to be worried about. I tried to look confused.
“Who was it?”

“I don’t remember his name. He said he went to your school.”

I nodded, pretending to think. “Well, there’s bound to be a
kid or two around the block.”

“How would you know?” she asked, digging at my story. “How
did he know there were kids here? I don’t think you should be walking around in
the yard anymore. They might come over again.”

“But I haven’t run into anyone.”

She mumbled something to herself, licking at her cracked
lips. “I don’t want you hanging around with men.”

“I haven’t met anyone,” I repeated.

She pressed her lips together tightly. She had no proof
otherwise, I knew. Depending on her mood, it could be bad or good. “Is your
room clean?” she asked. A sharp odor hit my nose from the room, like rubbing
alcohol.

“Almost,” I said. It was like playing a game. If I gave the
right answer, I got the answer I wanted. Right now, if she stuck me in my room
it didn’t matter. It was where I wanted to be right now.

“Well go to your room. Don’t come out until it’s spotless.”

“Okay,” I said and I tried to go to the door.

“I mean it,” she said, her voice commanding that I stay and
hear her out on her instructions. “I want the trash put into a trash bag.”

“Okay.”