First Kiss: The Ghost Bird Series: #10 (The Academy Ghost Bird Series) (50 page)

I walked, slowly, steadily, toward the cabin area. No matter how much I took my time, I was there all too soon. My thoughts were filled with Kota, worried about his feelings and what I’d done. If I said I wanted to join the Academy now, Kota might never approve.

Why would he want a girl who kissed someone else on his team? He must hate me.

The cabin area seemed so quiet like it had been during the night. The cabins had metal siding and shingled roofs, and were painted yellow with white trim. They sat on concrete slabs with concrete steps in front of each.

A group of people sat in chairs in front of one of the cabins. I didn’t recognize most of the faces, but as I got closer, I spotted Marc, the guy from the team of older boys who’d been with the vocal girl from the first day—the one who wanted to join them. She wasn’t sitting in the chairs; I wondered what had happened to her.

Marc was staring intently at the cabin they were closest to, lost in thought.

I wasn’t sure why, but since the seat next to him was empty, and I didn’t know the others sitting nearby, I sat next to him. “Is this where we’re supposed to wait to talk to the Academy council?” I asked him.

He blinked repeatedly, his eyes coming into focus as he turned to me. His lips picked up in a small, tight smile. “Hi,” he said. “If it isn’t the little doctor, Sang.”

I nodded, leaning back in the chair. I checked the others sitting beside us; a couple of older teenagers, some kids, a few adults. Some of them talked to each other, others waited quietly.

I wondered what I was doing here. Joining the Academy would be pointless without Kota.

“Are you in trouble, too?” I asked him, trying to distract myself and hopefully gain some answers as what was happening inside the cabin. “This sort of reminds me of waiting for the principal.”

Marc laughed. A lock of long hair fell in front of his green eye. The blue one winked at me. “You don’t seem like the type of girl who would be familiar with that.”

“You’d be surprised,” I said. I studied the cabin, wondering how long this would take. “Who’s inside?”

“One of mine,” he said. “New recruit. I’m waiting to go in and vouch for her.”

I turned my attention back to him. “The girl?”

He nodded. “She wants to be on our team, or she’s not interested. I told her she needed to actually...you know...get to know other people. Participate. Like you did.” He snorted and shook his head. “She’s so fucking stubborn, though. She won’t listen to me. I don’t think she’ll make it.”

“How...how are you going to convince them that she could go on your guy team?”

He shrugged. “I’ve heard rumors of other teams. We’re good together. I thought they’d at least let us try it out.” He looked at me and smiled. “They’re letting you, right?”

I shrugged. “I don’t know if I’ll get in.”

“Sure you will. You’re a doctor.” He winked playfully at me.

I understood he might have been joking but I wanted to be clear now. I wasn’t in the mood for a game. “I’m not a doctor,” I said. “I’m not even out of high school.”

“Sorry. I was kidding. I knew before. Not that you couldn’t be a young doctor in training, especially around the Academy,” he said and paused. “Doesn’t Dr. Green have a team?”

I nodded again. “Yeah.”

He stared at me, shifting the hair away from his green eye now. He leaned in, talking quietly. “Another guy?”

I looked him in his eyes. “There’s eight others besides Dr. Green.”

His mouth opened. He coughed once. “Oh. So you and he are going to...like the couple teams?”

“No, I’m joining their whole team, if I can.” I looked down and focused on my lap, sliding my hand down the jean material. “Or...or I might not join at all.”

“You can’t not join,” he said. “Not if you’re qualified. It’s too good a thing to pass up.”

“I don’t want to pass it up,” I said, and then lowered my voice to not be overheard by the others. “But I can’t lose the team. And if I try to join without them, it means my team might split apart. It’s too important to them. They are too important to each other. I can’t do that to them.” I ducked my head down. “Besides, I’m pretty expensive...”

“Huh?” he asked.

“I’ve caused them to use up a lot of favors,” I said, looking up again. He was leaning close, his elbows on his knees as he leaned in toward me, focused. “And money apparently. They spent it trying to keep me with them and out of trouble.”

He smirked. “So you’re just going to walk away?”

I shrugged. “It would be less trouble.”

His eyes sparked with amusement. “You’re going to walk away after they spent all those favors and money?”

I was still now, looking at him, unsure. “It might cost so much more if I...”

“It’s always a lot of favors when you take in a new recruit. If you walk away, though, it will all have been for nothing.” He leaned in closer, and his voice lowered. “They’ve gotten you this far, haven’t they?”

I nodded again.

“Well? If they’ve done this for you, then they must care a lot about you. Besides, you’ll get favors when you join, right?”

“Right...”

“Think, dummy?” he said, reaching to poke me in the forehead with a long finger. “Wouldn’t you spend the money and favors on them?”

I nodded, seeing his point.

He beamed and retracted his hand. “Same thing. You’d do it for them. Let them do it for you. Besides, if you’re a girl, you’ve got a bargaining chip.”

“What do you mean?”

“Girls are worth more,” he said. “You can negotiate jobs pretty quickly, even before you’re official.” He blew a breath upward toward his hair that was falling in his eyes again. He brushed the strands further back with his hand and nodded toward the cabin. “I was hoping she’d go through with something like that, but I can’t even get her to take camp seriously. They won’t give her a job if they can’t trust her. You might have a chance, though.”

I considered what he’d said. “What can I say?” I said. “How do I ask for a job?”

“You just say you’re willing to do anything at all to ensure the cost of putting you on your team is covered by you alone, and not your team. Or something like that. My buddy Raven had to do that before they let him in. We were too low on cash to bring him over.” Marc put a palm over his heart. “God, he was easy street compared to trying to get Kayli in.”

“Maybe she doesn’t want in,” I said. “You’re not pushing her, are you?”

He sat back now, shrugging. “I don’t know. She says she wants in, but I don’t think she’s the team player type.”

I looked at the cabin. It seemed so quiet—I couldn’t imagine what was going on in there. “You’ll go in to vouch for her? Is that normal?”

“Yeah,” he said. “Family lead does that. They’re supposed to go in after the council’s had a chance to talk to them.”

I gulped. It was why Kota had come for me. He knew he’d have to be here.

I sunk in my seat, sure that Kota wouldn’t be able to say the words now. Not after what he saw. He probably didn’t think I was Academy material now.

“Hey,” Marc said. He reached back and pulled out his phone. “Can you...would you mind giving me your phone number?”

I blinked at him. “Why?”

He laughed lightly. “Not for what you’re thinking. I just want to see how you’re doing down the road. Maybe compare notes? Seems like we’re in the same situation.”

I wanted to tell him about Lily, although she might not want to be contacted. Maybe I could find a way to ask her if it was okay to give him her contact information so he could talk to her about her team. “If you’d like.”

He nodded. “Sure.” He paused and put his phone down in his lap. “Oh wait, maybe I should ask your doc. I don’t want him thinking I’m flirting with his girlfriend.”

I winced. In a few minutes, it might not even matter, in which case I wouldn’t have any insight for him, except not to kiss Kayli unless he’s sure his other team members were on board.

Still, I told him my number. “You can still ask him, if you want. I don’t have my phone on me right now, so I can’t take your number.”

“It’s okay,” he said and typed out a message. “I’m just going to send you a quick message so you know it’s me.”

That sounded reasonable.

He finished his message and sent it, but before I had a chance to say anything, the door to the cabin burst open, slamming against the side of the cabin with a bang.

Out walked Kayli, clenched fists at her thighs, stomping down the steps, glaring around until her narrowed eyes settled on Marc.

Marc whistled low. “This isn’t good.”

“Good luck,” I said.

“I’ll need it.” He stood up and walked toward Kayli. He said a few things, pointed my way as I hunched down in my chair. Kayli glared at me and said something to him. He said something back, patted her on the shoulder, and headed toward the steps.

Kayli headed in my direction.

I tried not to cower. She was in properly-fitted jeans, a white T-shirt, black leather jacket and black boots. Her hair was straight, brown.

She was North as a girl: beautiful but angry, more terrifying.

I held tightly to the chair, swallowing. She stood over me, peering down. “He told me you have a guy team.”

I looked down and nodded.

“You’re with North, aren’t you?”

This caused me to look up, blinking at her. “Yes?”

“I was talking to him yesterday,” she said. She shifted and sat down where Marc had been. She bent forward, with elbows on her knees, like boys sit, and looked at my face. “Marc said he got your number?”

I nodded again, uncomfortable with the way she was staring at me. “I’m not...I’m not...” I was going to say something but I didn’t want to say it wrong and make her angry.

“You’re not interested in him,” she said, an eyebrow going up. “Romantically? Is that what you’re trying to say?”

I nodded, feeling like my head was going to bob off my neck. “My team...I have enough…” I paused, feeling weird and not wanting to go into those details.

She backed off and sighed. “I’m not interested in North,” she said. “Believe me, I’ve got enough, too. And I don’t date kids.”

I pressed my lips together at her calling North a kid, but I didn’t say anything.

“Marc said I should talk to you, but I’d rather talk to North,” she said. “We kind of had a conversation last night and I’d like to continue. It’s about…it’s complicated. Do you mind? It’s just talking.”

“I don’t mind,” I said. This seemed like a fair compromise. I wasn’t interested in Marc, but it would be nice to talk to someone going through the same struggles. Liam and Lily and their team were so far ahead, so much older. It was helpful, but knowing another team made it feel less...not normal. “I wouldn’t mind talking to Marc.” He was nice. “Just to...compare notes.”

“On a girl joining a guy team,” she said, her eyes going dark. “I told them I wouldn’t even be interested in being on any other team. If it wasn’t for them, I wouldn’t even be here.”

“You don’t have to join,” I said quietly, unsure if she wanted to hear it.

She stared at me. “They make such a big deal about it.”

“But you knew about it before you came here? Maybe helped them a little?”

She stuffed her hands into her pockets and laughed, though I didn’t know why. “Yeah, you could say that.”

“Now that you can see a little of what the inside is like, could you live with going back to how it was? Knowing sometimes they won’t be able to tell you things, or running off into the night without you?”

She pressed her lips together, not answering.

Those were the questions I was facing as well. I’d learned a lot about the Academy, but I was lacking a lot of the details, and if I quit now, I may not ever be invited back.

But I faced a much worse dilemma than Kayli, or at least I thought I did.

I stole a look at her, and then simply knew we’d come to a delicate truth. We were aware of each other and were possibly following the same path.

We’d eliminated the potential for any future surprises and jealousy right away. I trusted North, and she trusted Marc, and we knew that line would never be crossed by either of us.

We were Academy. Maybe we’d even have to work together someday.

The door opened and out walked Marc, his hands in his pockets, gazing at his feet as he stepped down the stairs and headed our way.

Dr. Roberts was at the door. “It’s the only way,” he told Marc as he left.

Marc frowned but ignored him as he continued walking from the cabin.

Kayli stood up in a shot, fists clenched at her sides. “What?” she asked. “I’m out, aren’t I?”

“No,” he said, still frowning, as he continued, toward the path. “But you’re not going to like it.”

“Miss Sorenson!”

I turned, forced to pull my attention away from Marc and Kayli, wondering what was in store for them.

I glanced at the others, wondering why I was called in ahead of them. I moved toward Dr. Roberts, who held the door open for me.

I should have been happy to get this over with.

THE COUNCIL

I
wasn’t sure if it was the same cabin as last night. They all looked the same to me. Inside, it was the same setup, with the eight bunk beds, all in a row, some stripped down to the bare mattresses, some neatly made. The air was a mix of musty mattress and perfumes, their colognes. The mix was a little much for my nose at first, and I smothered a sneeze quickly.

In the middle of the cabin were five folding chairs, all in a circle. All but two were occupied, and Dr. Roberts made his way to one of the empty ones, holding the back for me, looking at me expectantly.

“Would you like to sit, sweetheart?” he asked, his tone much gentler than the one he’d used with Marc.

In the other chairs sat Mr. Duncan, and Mrs. Rose, wearing casual clothes. Mr. Buble wore a suit today, all black, with a black tie and a white shirt. This seemed to be his regular outfit and reminded me so much of Mr. Blackbourne. Always dressed more formally than everyone else.

They all had pleasant but tense smiles as they waited for me to sit.

I went around the chair and sat, my back to the door. Dr. Roberts waited until I was settled before he lowered himself to the last empty seat, the one next to mine.