The Academy - First Days (33 page)

No one seemed to notice the difference in where I was sitting in
class. I thought that was a good sign. Maybe they thought the boys and I were
casual friends, but we weren’t joined at the hip. Maybe this plan would work
out after all.

I did catch a whisper from two girls nearby.

“Watch out. It’s Friday Fall.”

A warning? Were the boys hearing this same thing? What was going
on?

When the bell rang after class, I crossed the room. North was
stretching in his seat and when I got close, he flipped a note in my direction.
I caught it, holding it in my hand. Nathan had one too, and he quietly held it
out for me. I smiled, pushing both of the notes into my palm as I walked out
and headed to music class.

I read the notes on the way, knowing I wouldn’t get a chance to
read them with Mr. Blackbourne.

Nathan’s note was complaining how bored he was in geometry and
that I should come over that weekend. He wanted a promise that I would call him
later.

North’s had just one word:

Yes.

T
rouble

M
r. Blackbourne was standing near the piano again when I entered. I
stood quietly on the other side of the room, holding the violin case in my
hands.

“Miss Sorenson.”

“Mr. Blackbourne.”

He nodded at me. “I trust everything is working out?”

“It’s been a mostly quiet morning.” I stepped forward, putting my
things down in a chair nearby.

The slight lift in the corner of his mouth softened his stern
face. “Maybe for once we can actually have a normal violin lesson.”

I bent over to the violin case. I’d barely touched the thing since
I’d gotten it. I’d looked at it, appreciative of the beauty and thinking of
Victor having bought it for me. I barely knew how to hold it and didn’t know
what to do with it. It’d been a trinket I’d carried around.

A knock sounded at the door before I could lift the straps holding
the violin in place. I paused, turning toward the entryway.

Principal Hendricks stuck his head in and looked at us. “Mr.
Blackbourne,” he called. “Could I borrow Sang Sorenson for a moment, please?”

The air seemed to shift as the steel glare of Mr. Blackbourne
landed on Mr. Hendricks. “Is this important?”

“I’ve got a reporter here who wants to talk to one of our special
students,” he said. His gaze slipped to me and he frowned. “Why isn’t she in a
uniform like the others?”

Mr. Blackbourne shook his head. He stepped forward, standing as a
barrier between me and Mr. Hendricks. “This is inappropriate. Miss Sorenson
declines being interviewed.”

From around Mr. Blackbourne’s shoulder, I could see Mr. Hendricks
stepping further into the room and frowning. His bald head shimmered under the
lights. His eyes narrowed at us. “We made an agreement.”

“I agreed that the boys will do many things for this school,” Mr.
Blackbourne said sharply. “The boys only. Not her.”

Mr. Hendricks jerked his head back, as if struck in the face.
“You’ve slipped in one of your little minions into my school without my
approval and now when I’ve been gracious enough not to call it out, you’re
denying my request for something as insignificant as an interview?”

“You might isolate the boys by pointing them out as part of your
special program,” Mr. Blackbourne fired back. “You can ask them to wear
uniforms even at the risk of their safety. Miss Sorenson will not be part of
it.”

My heart thundered in my chest. Mr. Blackbourne’s words were
awkward. He wasn’t flat out denying that I was one of his students. The way he
was wording it made it sound like I was of the Academy but just under different
circumstances. Why would he let Mr. Hendricks continue to assume I was a part
of their team? I thought the whole point of separating myself was so someone
like Mr. Hendricks would know I wasn’t part of them. There must be something to
this. Maybe they didn’t really want to qualify their assumptions, but they
didn’t want to stop them entirely. What was the point?

Mr. Hendricks squared off his shoulders. “Should I call the school
board?”

“You should,” Mr. Blackbourne barked back. “And it won’t change
the situation. Miss Sorenson will not be giving interviews.” He took in a deep
breath and then spoke in a cold tone. “You might consider one of the others for
this interview. Dakota Lee, perhaps. He should be in his physics class. Room
245.”

Mr. Hendricks shot accusing glares at Mr. Blackbourne but pursed
his lips and walked out.

I let out the breath I had been holding. My palm fluttered up,
touching Mr. Blackbourne lightly on the shoulder. I don’t know what made me do
it. It was too much time with the other boys and I simply associated him as one
of them.

When my palm pressed to his shoulder, Mr. Blackbourne spun around
on me as if I had scaled him. His eyes were fierce, as steel and as sharp as a
knife.

I cringed, drawing my hand back to flutter my fingers at the base
of my throat. I’d gone too far.

When he saw my face, his eyes softened and he frowned. “I’m
sorry,” he whispered. He swallowed and his shoulders dropped a fraction. “I
didn’t mean to scare you.”

“If you need me to be interviewed,” I said softly, “I’ll do it. I
don’t want you to get into trouble with the school board.”

The corner of his mouth lifted a millimeter. “No, my dear Miss
Sorenson. Mr. Hendricks assumes I would be in trouble with the school board.
The only person he can damage here is himself. I have no problem with taking my
boys right out of this school if it comes down to it. He can fight us if he
wants, but we aren’t here for him.”

They’d leave any time they wanted? That alone put me on edge. What
would it take for them to leave? I knew they were only there for a year but I
didn’t realize it could be infinitely shorter. He could remove them now if he
wanted. Could one day Mr. Blackbourne change his mind? “Who are you here for?”

His steel eyes found mine, his gaze glistening. “For students like
you.”

To calm my nerves, Mr. Blackbourne played a melody on his violin
for the rest of class time. It was a Norwegian tune, he told me, and he
promised one day he’d teach me how to play it, too. He also made me promise to
use my phone in case Mr. Hendricks showed up in any other classes. I was to
deny any questions and any demands for an interview and to notify Mr.
Blackbourne at once if I were asked.

History class: Three unwanted notes from random students, one
shared smile with North, four times caught staring at Victor. He looked so
quiet and solemn from the other side of the room and his fire eyes lit up each
time I looked over.

One whisper overheard about Friday Fall.

“Upstairs. Sometime after lunch. Friday Fall. Stay out of the
hallways,” warned a girl to the boy in front of me.

Something was happening in the school. The rumors were crawling
with Friday Fall updates. I couldn’t get a clear picture of what anyone was
talking about. All I knew was the whispers were warnings. Whatever it was, it
was happening today, and it was going to happen in the upstairs hallway. Were
the boys hearing the same thing? I wondered how many students they wired and if
they were listening to them now. Or were they too busy watching over me?

Lunch was complicated. I brought nothing with me to eat as I knew
I would be too nervous to attempt it. I did one circle around campus, cutting
through the cafeteria alone and around through the main hallway before changing
direction into the courtyard. I knew North and Victor were tailing me since our
last class. I tried to make it quick so they could relax and eat without
worrying about me.

There was an empty bench across the courtyard. I wondered where
the little thin boy with the book had gone off to. I sat down on the edge of
the bench, hoping I wasn’t going to distance him if he wanted a quiet space to
read. I opened my book, intending to get through a couple of chapters.

About halfway through lunch time, a voice called out. “Hey there,
sexy.”

I couldn’t help but smile. Mike might have been a flirt, but he
seemed harmless.

I stood up as Mike came across the courtyard in my direction. I
was ready to get this part out of the way. This time he had three friends with
him tagging along. Mike waited until he was close to me before he got on his
knees. “Hi,” he said, a wide grin on his face.

“Hello Mike,” I said softly.

His eyebrows shot up. I supposed he didn’t think I knew his name.
“Hi,” he repeated. His freckled hands reached for mine and he held them
together, close to his lips. “Will you marry me?”

I smiled apologetically and shook my head. “I can’t marry someone
I don’t know.”

“I’m Mike,” he said, his chubby cheeks pushed out as he smiled. He
jumped up from the ground.

“I know,” I said.

The three friends behind him were giggling but came forward. One
of them, a tall boy with curly black hair and at least three days unshaven
spoke, “Mike, you’ve asked her already.”

“I know,” Mike said, waving a hand at him dismissively. “I keep
hoping.”

My eyes shot across the courtyard. Luke’s hand shot into the air,
holding up three fingers as he kept score. North popped him in the back of the
head, a sour frown on his face. Luke dismissed it, saying something to North.

“You don’t even know her name,” the dark haired guy said. He looked
at me and held out a hand. “I’m Jer,” he said.

I sucked in a breath, unsure of how to handle this. It wasn’t like
Greg, I told myself. They were trying to be nice. Maybe North was somewhat
correct. The other students might have been more intimidated to approach since
they hovered over me so much. I reached out to grasp Jer’s hand, shaking. “I’m
Sang.”

He lifted an eyebrow. “Sang?”

I nodded.

“I like her name,” Mike said. He held out a hand for me to shake.
“I’m Mike.”

I smiled, rolling my eyes. I reached out to shake his hand, too.
“I know.”

In a quick motion, Mike gripped my hand and tucked his shoulder
into my stomach. He lifted me off the ground and held me in the air, an arm
going around my waist to hold me in place.

I choked back a screech. “Hey,” I called out. “Mike, put me down.”
I wriggled, trying to get off of his shoulder. My heart leapt into my throat.

He popped me on the thigh with a palm. “Don’t wriggle or I’ll drop
you.” He turned slightly and started walking.

His friends were laughing. Jer chuckled. “Be careful.”

I was dizzy being upside down and disoriented. I clenched my hands
and started hitting him in the back. “Mike!” I lifted part of myself until I
could look up. I caught North and Silas heading over, I saw Kota standing and
walking this way, too. The others were standing, appearing unsure if they
should approach.

In a desperate attempt, I put a hand out in a stop motion toward
them. North and Silas halted, fists clenched and glaring but obeying. If they
came after me now, I knew they might end up in a fight with Mike. I had to
handle this alone.

“Mike,” I cried out, trying to sound playful even though I was
very embarrassed at hanging off of his shoulder. “I’m getting dizzy.”

Mike laughed. He was parading me around the courtyard with his
friends walking next to him. I wondered if Mr. McCoy was watching. Would he
stop and give me a detention this time? Wasn’t this inappropriate?

“Hey Mike,” someone called out. Mike turned and I was unable to
see who it was. “That’s enough, dude. Come on, you’ll hurt her.”

“Aw,” Mike said. He carefully grabbed me by the waist.

“Here,” said the voice. I felt another pair of hands going around
my legs and back and collecting me as Mike hefted me off of his shoulder. I
tumbled into a pair of arms. My hands moved to the guy’s shoulders to balance
myself. A wash of colors swept over my eyes as the blood drained from my head.
When it cleared, I was looking into a pair of blue-gray eyes.

“Hi,” the guy said. He had soft brown hair cut cleanly around his
ears. He was broad shouldered and had a handsome smile. While he was good
looking, the way he looked at me left my insides feeling like I was still
hanging upside down.

I swallowed, blushing. “Um... thank you,” I said.

He dropped the arm under my thighs, holding on to me with the
other until I was on my feet. He kept his hand on my back as he stepped toward
Mike. “You can’t pick up Rocky’s girl like that, okay Mike?”

“Oh I didn’t hurt her,” Mike said.

The guy -- Rocky? -- shot Mike a warning look. “Just don’t.” His
voice was deep but raspy, as if he had been talking a lot lately. I had the
feeling that was simply the way his voice sounded.

Mike frowned. He waved to me. “See you later, Sang.” He marched
off in the other direction, heading toward the cafeteria doors. Jer and his
friends followed.