The Academy - Friends vs. Family (8 page)

“What’s that?” Mr. Blackbourne asked, walking in. His eyebrows
furrowed and he was frowning.

Kota trailed behind him, his eyes sought out mine. His skin
bunched around his eyes, a painful stare. His fingers curled into fists.

I dragged myself to my knees, sitting back on my heels. Something
was wrong. I sensed it from him. I stared after him with unspoken questions,
asking in silence what was wrong. His eyes darted away toward the wall.
Whatever it was, he couldn’t tell me.

“Notes from stupid kids from school,” Gabriel said. “A few that
Sang’s mom missed I guess.”

Mr. Blackbourne collected the notes from Gabriel’s hand. He selected
one, flipping it around and read through it. He frowned. “Can’t take her
anywhere.”

“What does it say?” I asked.

Mr. Blackbourne scrunched his eyebrows at me. “You don’t know?”

“She doesn’t read them,” Gabriel said. “North told her not to.”

“North is right,” Mr. Blackbourne said. He folded the note and put
it in his blazer pocket. “Gabriel, Luke and Kota, go hunt the house for any
more notes that she might have found. I want every last one of them. If she
gets any more, take them from her and hand them to me or to North. We can’t
risk her mother seeing them and setting her off in a frenzy again. Go and find
them now.” He wasn’t just asking them to find notes. He was ordering them to
leave the room.

Kota shot a glare to Mr. Blackbourne that made me shiver. I never
saw Kota so cold before. Luke rose from the floor and put a hand on Kota’s arm,
tugging him along. Kota gazed quietly at me once and stalked out after the
others, closing the door behind him.

S
ecret
P
lans

I was alone with Mr. Blackbourne. I’d been alone with him before,
but not in my own bedroom, and not under such strange circumstances. It felt
worse than the first time I’d been alone with him. I felt naked, vulnerable. He
knew so much about me now. Did he regret drawing me further into their circle?

“Would you sit down?” He stretched his hand toward the bed.

I rose from the floor, finding the dull pain in my tailbone
strengthening. I’d been ignoring it before now, crawling around in the attic
and playing with the boys, but it was starting to get to me. I sat delicately
on the edge of bed.

Mr. Blackbourne planted himself next to me, his feet flat on the
floor. He propped himself up with his elbows on his knees, his face buried in
his hands. He rubbed at his tired cheeks. Was this the same strong and
confident Mr. Blackbourne that I’d come to know at school? He felt so out of
place here with me, younger and looking for answers like I was. “Miss
Sorenson,” he said. “Did you know your mother has cancer?”

My heart dropped. My mind solidified into a blank, shapeless mass.
I shook my head. Cancer? What was that? I knew what it was, but in my mind, it
was like I forgot what it meant for a moment. I was dull. I was hopeless. “I
knew she was really ill,” I whispered. “My dad never told us the details.”

“It’s why she’s on so many medications,” he said. “When they did
the biopsy, she almost died. They’re not sure if they want to do surgery
because they think it might kill her.” He sat up again, twisting his body to
put his palm on the bed, leaning against it to nearly hover over me. “If they
don’t, it’ll spread and it might get worse. It might become untreatable.”

My eyes dropped to his hand, noting the smooth skin, and the trace
of a scar across a knuckle. My mind, however, was a million miles away. How
long had my parents known and never told me? Was this what Kota didn’t want me
to know about?

“I hate to ask you this now,” he said softly. “Do you know
anything about your mom’s past? About her parents?”

I shook my head. “I’ve never met them. They’re still alive, I
think. She mentioned them a couple of times before she got sick. She never
talks to them and they never call.”

His hand moved from the bed to my face. He dropped a forefinger
against the tip of my chin, catching it and tilting it up. His fingertip was
smooth and warm. He lifted until I was caught up in his soft gray eyes, leaving
me breathless. “Have either of your parents ever touched you in a way that
wasn’t appropriate?”

My cheeks enflamed. “No,” I insisted, as loud as I could with what
little voice I had. “They’ve never beat me. I mean they never...”

“I don’t mean in that way,” he said.

“Mr. Blackbourne,” I said, my eyes narrowing on his. I thought my
heart was thumping so loud that he could hear it. “The most she’s ever done was
to pull me by the arm to get me to sit or stand somewhere. I can’t remember the
last time my father touched me at all. He’s never here.” I swallowed. “We’re
not the closest family. We don’t touch.” How did he do that? All he had to do
was get me to look into his eyes, and I was pouring my heart out, sharing
secrets with him about things I never imagined I would tell anyone, not even to
Kota.

He searched my eyes as if looking for answers to questions he
hadn’t asked out loud. His hand lifted from my chin and he traced a fingertip
over my cheek. My body released a shiver. Didn’t he understand? I didn’t get
touching at all. Up until a couple of weeks ago, no one ever did touch me and
suddenly there’s been an onslaught of boys all holding my hand, hugging me,
wrapping arms around me. I’ve never in my life had anyone do that. While I was
slowly not cowering at every little touch, deep inside I was craving more than
ever because it was everything I thought I was missing out on. Maybe it was
wrong of me to feel that way. I didn’t know what was normal any more.
Everything I’d read in books or saw on TV didn’t match up to what I felt with
them. All I knew was that every time one of the boys let go, I was desperate to
reach back, to pull them back to me. I just didn’t know how.

And I tried to tell him this, to say with my eyes everything I
wanted to tell them all but didn’t have the courage. My tongue danced behind my
teeth with the words that tasted almost right, but I knew I could never say it
out loud. They would think I was crazy. They wouldn’t understand.

Mr. Blackbourne released me. “Miss Sorenson,” he said softly. “I
promise you. If you give me a chance, if you’ll trust me, I’ll do everything I
can to make sure you make it out of this situation safely.”

“What do you mean?” I whispered, confused by his overwhelming
concern. He still hardly knew me. He and the others helped me set the stage to
face off with my mother when she woke up. What more could they do?

The air stilled around us. There were only his steel eyes that seemed
to swallow me up like a wave of water.

I forced my lips to part. “Mr. Blackbourne...”

He sighed, pulled back. “Until we get a better system together,
one of the boys will stay with you here in your house.”

My eyes widened. “How? They’ll get caught.”

“Your mother needs to be monitored,” he said. “I’ll need you to
talk to Dr. Green and have him tell you what you need to do. If she wakes up
within the next 24 hours, she can stay at home but if she doesn’t wake up, she
needs to be taken to the hospital. We’ve set up an IV for her. Whoever stays
with you will be able to replace it as needed but I want them to show you how
to do it, too. If she keeps it in while she’s awake, you should replace it.”

My mind was still whirling about what he said a moment ago. I
swallowed back questions. “I’ll do my best.”

“I know you will,” he said. He stood up. “North and Silas should
be about done. Victor will get you a new phone. The rest of us still have work
to do before Monday.”

“I’m sorry,” I said softly. My eyes closed to force back the
warmth of tears. I felt so badly about everything. Somehow I felt responsible
for dragging them into this. I was a distraction when they were all so busy
with trying to save the school and with whatever other Academy work they had to
do. It seemed more important than my problems. They didn’t ask to be in the
middle. “I’m sorry for all the trouble I’ve caused.”

I was going to say more but his fingers sought out my mouth,
closing my lips. “You were unexpected,” he said softly. “But you’re far from a
burden. North was right. What kind of group would we be if we couldn’t look
after one little girl?” His eyes told me more than he was saying. This wasn’t
something I could take back. They made a plan. This was what was going to
happen. I didn’t have a choice in the matter. They were determined to
intervene. He swallowed and stepped back, releasing my lips from his touch.
“Let’s call everyone in. We need to make final plans.”

He turned away from me and toward the door, his incapacitating
command returning as he squared off his shoulders.

I pushed a palm to my cheek, trying to calm myself from the
intensity of his words and touches.

Mr. Blackbourne twisted the handle and swung the door open. Kota
was leaning against the doorframe with his arms folded over his chest. His face
was grim. He wasn’t hiding that he had been trying to listen in the entire
time.

“Get the others,” Mr. Blackbourne ordered. “All of them.”

Kota glanced at me, silently asking me if I was okay. I nodded to
him, trying to reassure him I was fine. My mother was dying. I’d silently known
that for years, only I’ve never known why. Putting a name to what was killing
her didn’t change things. It only confirmed what I already knew. This wasn’t
something she was going to recover from and be better. She was never going to
go back to the mother that I had already mostly forgotten.

I may never again live in her house without the fear of what she
might do next.

Kota reluctantly moved away from the doorframe. Mr. Blackbourne
turned down the hallway to collect Silas and North. Within moments, they were
all in my bedroom. Silas sat on the bed next to me. His hand sought out mine,
covering my fingers with his against the bed. I wanted to pick my hand up to
let him hold it but my nerves were rattling. I wanted to crawl into his lap but
with everyone there, it felt like too much. I didn’t have the guts to do it
anyway.

Gabriel, Luke, Nathan and the other boys collected on the floor.
Dr. Green and Mr. Blackbourne stood and addressed us.

“Here’s what’s going to happen,” Mr. Blackbourne said in his stern
voice. “Gabriel and Luke are staying here tonight.”

There was a commotion of protest. None of the boys wanted to
leave.

“I’m not going to argue about this,” Mr. Blackbourne commanded.
“We’ve all got things that we need to do, and they don’t all involve Miss
Sorenson. We’ve got to prepare for school on Monday. Victor, get Miss Sorenson
a new phone, but bring it to me first. Kota, you’ve already got a job to do.
Silas, North, I need you on Academy business. Nathan, you’re going with Dr.
Green to the hospital for information.” He pointed to Gabriel and Luke. “You
two will wait here until Kota comes for her tomorrow. I don’t care if you have
to sleep in the attic, but don’t leave this room unless Miss Sorenson thinks it’s
okay and don’t leave this place at all until Kota comes back. Call if anything
happens. Call if nothing happens. I want updates.”

I pulled my knees up until they were pressing to my chest,
wrapping my arms around my knees. When I did it, everyone stopped to watch me.
I had no idea why and I felt my cheeks starting to heat up, unsure of if I was
looking stupid or what. I slid a glance to Silas next to me, questioning with
my eyes what they were looking at. He gave me a soft smirk, shaking his head
and rolling his eyes. Somehow I sensed that it was just that I moved at all and
they were super sensitive to what I was doing in the moment. I could only guess
that they expected me to say something about all this. I couldn’t think of
anything to add.

Mr. Blackbourne cleared his throat and continued. “We’ll have to
tighten the schedule. I’ll work one out and will send it to everyone’s phones.
Luke, I still want that map of this house so make one tonight. Someone will
bring you a laptop.” He pointed at me. “Miss Sorenson, I want you to stay out
of the attic tonight and rest your voice. We’ve got school ahead and we can’t
have you squeaking like a mouse. If anything else happens, you call me
directly.”

I nodded to him, clamping my lips shut. His eyes left unspoken
orders; stay out of trouble.

“Let’s go,” he said.

With that, everyone moved at once. I stood up with Silas. Mr.
Blackbourne left the room. His footsteps echoed in the hallway as he marched
down the stairs.

When he was gone, Silas turned to me, wrapping his arms loosely
around my shoulders for a quick hug. “Call me when you get the new phone,” he
said.

I hugged him back, smiling. I loved his hugs.

He let me go and turned away. Victor materialized in his place and
gave me a hug. His fingertips traced my back, smoothing over a couple of ribs.
“I’ll be back soon,” he whispered in my ear.

I hugged him, too. When he pulled back, Nathan replaced him, and
gave me a tight hug without saying anything at all.

When Nathan left, North came forward. He reached around, holding
me tight and nearly lifting me off of the ground, hugging. His fingers threaded
through my hair. “I don’t care that your mother is sick,” he said. “If she
touches you again, I’m coming back for you.”

“North,” I whispered. I wanted to say more but I was stunned and
breathless.

He placed me carefully on the ground and stormed out.

Kota stumbled toward me. His arms encircled my waist and his face
buried into my shoulder. I hugged him in return.

“I’ll be back tomorrow morning,” he whispered in my ear. “Listen
to Gabe and Luke. Stay out of trouble. Call me when you want.” He pulled back
and put his forehead against mine. “You’re with us now.”

I felt my heart breaking. As much as I loved that Gabriel and Luke
would be staying with me, Kota looked so determined and yet so lost at the same
time. I wasn’t sure how to answer him. I wanted to tell him I’d be okay. He’d
be back tomorrow. Right now it seemed like forever. I wanted them all to come
back. I changed my mind. I didn’t want to stay. I wanted to run away with them,
even if it meant hiding with the Academy. Despite what we’d been through, and
how they’d come to save me, I didn’t feel like one of them at all. I
desperately needed to be. I wanted that confidence, knowing I belonged. Would I
ever feel as strongly as he did, so assured of my place among them?

“Miss Sang,” Dr. Green said behind Kota. Kota moved away from me.
Dr. Green held out a hand to me. “Let me show you how to take care of that
mother of yours,” he said. “Then we should go. I don’t want to have to give her
something else to make her sleep and I don’t want all of us here if she comes
out of this quickly.”