First Kiss: The Ghost Bird Series: #10 (The Academy Ghost Bird Series) (3 page)

I padded my way down the hall until I came to the next door down the hallway. I pushed my ear to the wood, listening for any sign of Dr. Green or Kota, just in case they had slipped in while I was in the bathroom. When I didn’t hear anything, I opened the door and peeked inside.

It was dark but light enough that I could see that it looked to be an office, with a desk and bookshelves. The room was on the small side, smaller than my bedroom back home, or even Gabriel’s tiny bedroom in his trailer.

Out of the corner of my eye, I caught a winged shadow flutter overhead.

My heart leaped into my throat and I froze.

Another shadow to the left shifted, flying toward me.

I took a step back and started to shut the door in a hurry, thinking there was a flying bug in the room and I was going to let it out. The door stopped against my shoe before shutting completely.

A flurry of activity within the room caused me to cringe, and then pause to listen. The sound was like the rustle of paper blowing in the wind, but it was coming from above my head. It wasn’t just a bug. It had to be dozens of them inside. Was the window open?

I closed the door until there was a crack left so I could peek in. The sound died quickly, and I waited. I knew I should find out what was inside, and then go back and tell Dr. Green right away if there were bugs in his office. He’d want to know. However, I wouldn’t want him to go charging in if the bugs were wasps and not beetles or something else.

I opened the door slowly, peering into the darkness. My heart flew into a frenzy when it looked like there were birds and butterflies flying overhead.

I jerked back in surprise until I realized they were motionless, only moving with the smallest bit of breeze that I had created by opening the door.

I breathed in slowly, smelling ginger and cedar, and…construction paper? There was a hint of glue as well, along with the unmistakable chemical tang from markers.

I found a light switch along the wall and flicked it on.

There were actual birds and butterflies floating above my head. They were so perfect, almost lifelike. My brain wanted to insist that they were real and hovering over me; I kept ducking, assuming one would finally flutter down toward me.

I eased in further, curious. There were more butterflies and birds hanging down the deeper I went in, but also fish and bugs. They were suspended by fishing wire, barely noticeable until I caught the light above reflecting across the string.

The animals all looked so real, swimming and flying above me. Vivid blues, reds, and greens: all sorts of colors mixed in together. The birds looked so soft and the fish appeared to wriggle with life at the most subtle of air movements.

I stepped closer, looking up at the display, until I bumped into the desk, forcing me to look down and check out the layout of the rest of the room.

I froze, finding myself in the middle of an entire display of delicate paper animals.

I’d found the door to Narnia.

Nearly every inch of space was covered in paper craftwork. Animals hung from above. Shelves held pedestals, and on top were homes and entire neighborhoods, both Japanese and American in style. Some looked familiar, and one looked so similar to Bob’s Diner, and another like the hospital he worked at. Some of the buildings were so small, they were the size of a small cell phone. Some were so detailed that they had tiny blades of grass around the edges and numbers above doors and on mailboxes. There were flowers in vases on his desk, and picture boxes along the walls depicting scenes of the ocean, of people sitting to eat at a meal.

I tiptoed further in, drawn to every surface, my eyes wide as I tried to take in everything. My breath caught at the sheer number of tiny items around, the paper animals above my head, the wall full of paper-crafted flowers and trees. While there were some origami pieces, many were cut paper, pieced together.

A gentle cough came from the doorway.

I spun, my palm planted hard against my chest to stop my wild heart, amazed at what I'd just seen, and terrified at being caught snooping.

"I was wondering what was taking you so long," Dr. Green said.

“I … I was looking for...,” I said.

“I figured you got lost,” he said with a teasing grin spread across his face. His eyes went to the walls and ceiling. “Not bad for a bit of paper and glue, huh?”

My eyes widened in surprise. “Did you make it all?”

“Paper craft is pretty popular in Japan,” he said. “Picked it up a while back. It’s one of those things I can do that doesn’t involve thinking too hard. Just creating.”

"It's…it's…." I didn't have a word. What he created was nothing short of magic. The doctor who could heal also had a talent for practically giving life to paper.

He curled his fingers at me, urging me to stand in front of his desk. "Come on. I'll show you," he said quietly.

"Show me what?"

He wriggled his eyebrows. "How I'm going to win your little heart."

I couldn’t hide my smile. Did he not know he was already winning it? He was very flirty, but I was still too in awe to say anything.

I stood, nearly holding my breath, as he pulled out a couple of sheets of paper in shades of green and red, a ruler, and a slim paper knife from a desk drawer. As he bent over the paper, I noticed his desk was padded, so he could cut at ease without hurting it.

Dr. Green focused on the paper, bending and folding. He worked so quickly, it was like when Victor’s fingers swept across the piano, or when Nathan lunged with a kick. It was the same precision and artistry that had to come from practice. Bending here. Cutting there. First one piece of paper, and then another.

Before I could ask him what he was making, he covered the papers with his hands. I got that he wanted it to be a surprise so I then looked at some of the creations that had only been partially completed.

He reached into the desk again, drawing out a pen. He marked on his hidden creation, in what looked like dot marks. It wasn’t writing, at least, it didn’t look like it from his movements.

As I waited, I noticed a panda sitting on top of a pile of paper. It had what looked like delicate fur and two green gemstone eyes.

At last, he sat back, still masking the craft he'd put together with his hands. "Ready?" he asked.

I pushed my heart back into my rib cage, willing it to stay calm no matter what it was. "Yes."

Dr. Green stood, coming around the desk. When he was beside me, he shifted so the light fell in front of him.

In his hands was a delicate rose, curled up like a new bud on a stem, the petals just beginning to open. It was so realistic and so beautiful; if I hadn’t seen him make it in front of me, I would have believed it to be a real flower.

"Wow," I said, unable to control my heart anymore. My fingers trembled and I reached to touch the delicate petals.

"Not yet," he said softly.

I didn't know if I could handle much more of this surprise but he shifted his hands to begin a twisting motion from the stem.

As he moved, the rose opened, slowly unfolding into a full bloom. It was like watching a time-lapse camera, with petals unfolding one layer at a time.

Across the petals, there were ink markings. Together, they spelled out a line of Japanese hiragana:

I didn’t know the Japanese, but I was struck with the beauty of the rose and how he’d made it bloom. Dr. Green had a skill; his work could be displayed in museums.

“What does it mean?” I asked.

He offered me the rose. I was hesitant, afraid to break it, but took it, pinching the little stem he’d made for it.

“Let me know when you figure it out,” he said with a soft smile. “I’ll give you bonus points.”

My heart fluttered like one of his paper birds above my head. I guessed they meant something sweet, but not knowing exactly left me excited and happy to find out.

It was amazing how he could do that. With just one little smile and joke, he made me feel so much lighter. He made it easy to feel comfortable with him.

“I guess this isn’t the spare room,” I said. “I didn’t mean to intrude.”

“Darling, my house is yours. Go wherever you want. Just not into the bedroom right now because your presents are in there.”

He moved to the door. “But we’ve got a gigantic pile of presents to wrap. Kota’s measuring presents to figure out what sizes of boxes we’ll need. Little does he know I just eyeball and if it’s too big a box, I just throw in more tissue paper.”

I held onto the flower, unsure where to place it while we’d be working. I looked for a spot to put it down in his office.

Dr. Green moved back to me and caught my wrist gently.

I froze, mostly affected at his holding my arm when I was already feeling excited. His touch was soothing.

He took the rose and lifted his arms. I felt him adjusting the hair clip at the back of my head. When his hands returned empty, I assumed he’d managed to put the rose in the clip. I was tempted to reach around to touch it but didn’t want to damage the delicate paper.

“I don’t want to lose it,” I said.

“I’ll keep an eye on you...it...No... I meant you.” He winked at me and then urged me to the door. “Go back to Kota. I’ll get the boxes.”

PREPARATION

T
he rest of the morning consisted of endless wrapping paper cutting, tape dispenser refilling, and bow selection. I learned a lot under Dr. Green’s tutelage as he gave me some boxes to work on. Still, I wrapped simple, small boxes, while Dr. Green focused on the more complicated items. Each one of his carefully-wrapped gifts ended up as a beautiful paper creation like I’d only seen on television or in magazines.

Kota kept a list of who got what and who was left to shop for. He also put tags on gifts and marked which items were to go to which homes. Some were to go to a particular family’s homes, like the Korba’s or the Morgan’s. Some were for people I didn’t even know: Dr. Green’s colleagues at work, Academy members they were friends with, and family of the boys’ I hadn’t met yet: cousins and aunts and uncles. Most of them got small gifts, candy or other food items unique to Charleston.

The rest were put aside to take to Kota’s house.

“We’ll have our family Christmas there,” Kota said. “It’s tradition.”

Saying it was tradition made me feel special for being included, but also slightly alienated as well since it was my first, and I was unsure of what to expect. Wouldn’t Kota’s mother wonder why I was there with them for Christmas and not with my own family? The Thanksgiving traditions I’d experienced with them had been so surprising and exhausting, too.

Since they’d kept their Christmas plans a surprise, I was prepping myself for another unexpected and crazy day.

By the time we were close to finished wrapping gifts, I’d probably only wrapped a few dozen boxes. Dr. Green had not only wrapped faster, he’d created fancier ribbons. He’d made store-bought bows look like sparkling flowers once he was done with them. Mine paled in comparison, and you could see the drastic differences once they were together.

No wonder everyone sent their gifts to Dr. Green’s to be wrapped. I was embarrassed by the state of mine. I encouraged Dr. Green to make bows for me, to at least cover up the boxes I’d wrapped.

Before we were done, the front door opened and closed, drawing our attention to the still-unwrapped presents. We shifted in front of them, waiting for whoever it was to make an appearance from the foyer.

Mr. Blackbourne turned the bend, followed closely by Victor. Mr. Blackbourne was pristine in his usual crisp gray suit, white shirt, and maroon tie. His steel eyes were shining and vibrant.

Victor seemed a little more relaxed, more curious about what was going on. He wore his regular white Armani shirt and black slacks, the silver medallion—a heart and shield symbol—around his neck. His fire eyes were not quite a blaze, but a simmering fire. With his head high and his unyielding stance, he looked incredibly handsome.

Mr. Blackbourne, however, looked almost as intimidating as when I had first met him, his expression serious and ready to take the lead.

“I was hoping you would still be here,” Mr. Blackbourne said, looking at Dr. Green. He then turned his gaze to Kota and me. “I hope you’re finished.”

“Finished enough,” Dr. Green said. He sat on an empty space on the couch, pushing over a few empty store bags to make room. “I think the rest is mostly up to me.”

Kota had been sitting cross-legged on the carpet in front of the coffee table, using a Sharpie to mark names on tags. He finished what he was writing as he spoke. “I didn’t know you were going to come here. Should we go?”

“We all need to talk for a minute, but we’ll need to decide who should take Miss Sorenson back home,” Mr. Blackbourne said.

“I’ll do it,” both Kota and Victor said at the same time. They looked at each other with sheepish grins.

I shifted to stand front of the television so I could see all of them at once.

“You might want to hear this,” Victor said to Kota. He put his hands in his pockets, his lean arms pressing against his torso, outlining his chest and stomach. “You might even want to stay after.”