The Academy - First Days (23 page)

We fell into silence. Each movement, every creak of the house and
I was panicking that it was someone on the stairs or out in the hallway.
“Luke?” I whispered. I wanted to say something to remind him that Silas and his
brother were probably waiting on him, but I wasn’t sure how to put it.

He sighed and he got up, leaning his shoulder against mine. “Okay,
I would die if I had to sit in here all day long. How are you still sane?”

I smiled, shaking my head. “Your diagnosis is questionable.”

He laughed softly, reaching out to a stray lock of blond hair
hanging at his head and pushing it behind his ear. He stood up, hit the eject button
on my stereo and pulled the CD from the top. “I’m stealing this.”

I blinked at him and stood to reach for the disc. I tried to
remember if there was anything super girly or perhaps even embarrassing for
anyone else to listen to. Would he think I was a nerd for liking some of the
classical pieces or would he tease me about some of the lesser known bands I
had put on it? “You’re taking my stuff.”

He held the disc over his head and out of my reach. “I said I
was,” he said, grinning. “You can’t hold it against me if I tell you ahead of
time.”

“Sang!” my mother shouted from downstairs.

I gulped, blushing. Luke froze. I waved him toward the window.
Time for him to go.

He started toward the window. He slipped the CD between his lips, swung
his leg out and climbed onto the roof.

I stuck my head out. He knelt down until his face was close to
mine.

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” he whispered to me.

“See you,” I said.

He smiled to me, passed a finger across my cheek and stood up,
slinking back the way we had come over the roof.

I took one more look around my room as if to assure myself there
wasn’t another boy or something he left behind. I smoothed a palm over my hair
and went for my bedroom door, opening it and dashed down the stairs.

My mother’s bedroom was empty. I found her in the kitchen. She was
bent over in the fridge, pulling out a package of grapes and a bottle of water.
Her maroon robe was crumpled as if she’d been sleeping in it. I wondered where
my father had gone but a moment later I heard clacking at the keyboard at the
computer in the family room. He was working.

“Yes?” I asked softly.

She spun, holding her food and water to her chest. “Where have you
been?” Her lackluster blue gray eyes passed over me and she turned away to yank
a paper towel from the holder against the wall.

I blinked at her. She didn’t notice my shirt or the bruises on my
face. “Upstairs.”

“I called you for dinner. You were ignoring me.”

“Oh,” I said. “I had music on. I fell asleep for a while.”

Her eyes fixed on the ceiling. Her cracked lips pursed. “Do you
think I’m stupid? Why are you lying?”

I blinked at her. “I was just upstairs and came down.”

Her eyes narrowed at me. She marched over to the hall closet and
pulled out a wooden bar stool. She pulled it to the middle of the kitchen and
pointed to it. “Sit,” she commanded.

I swallowed. I hated the stool. I was sore already from the hours
of working, too. I said nothing, moving across the floor to perch on the stool.
The flat part bit into my butt as it was hard and uncomfortable. I put my feet
on the cross slats between the legs.

“Stay right here,” she said.

“It’s late. I’ve got school,” I said.

She ignored me and went back to her bedroom.

I sighed. It hurt but it wasn’t kneeling in rice.

A footstep sounded behind me and I twisted in my seat. Luke stood
in the living room archway. His head tilted, puzzled.

I gasped and covered my mouth with my fist. I silently yelled at
him with a glare.
Get out! Are you crazy? What are you doing here?

He put a fingertip to his lips, motioning to me to keep quiet.

Well no duh
. I couldn’t whisper. I couldn’t think
of how to tell him to get out of here. I tried spelling it with sign language,
“Go! You’ll get caught.” He was a smart Academy student, he’d figure it out.

His eyebrows raised and he grinned. He flashed some sign language
but I didn’t know any words.

I shook my head, spelling to him. “I only know the alphabet.”

He spelled out, “Where did you learn?”

This wasn’t the time to talk about it! I spelled, “You can’t stay.
She might come back.”

He smirked at me, a blond lock falling away from his ear and
hanging in his eyes. He stepped further into the kitchen. He was barefoot. He
did a circle around me, tiptoeing and testing the floor for creaks. He started
down the hallway toward my mom’s bedroom and the staircase. I gulped, pushing
my palms to my cheeks. He couldn’t  be serious thinking he was going to
poke around. I swallowed, my heart thundering in my throat, listening for what
I was sure was the inevitable discovery and the chaos that would happen when it
did.

Luke returned via the living room again after making a full
circle. He took a quick peek in at the family room. I waited for my father to
see him but Luke pulled back. He seemed at ease with sneaking around. He
tiptoed back into the kitchen and held out the pink cell phone to me. I blinked
at him, confused and checked the phone for messages.

Luke:
“How long do you have to sit there for?”

I sighed, pursing my lips and typing in a message for him.

Sang:
“Until she lets me go.”

He jumped up until he was sitting on top of the counter near the
sink. He held his cell phone in his hands and typed in a message.

Luke:
“Why not get up now? She’s not paying attention.”

Sang:
“She could come back. If I’m not here, it’ll be worse.”

Luke:
“Will she make you drink vinegar again?”

Sang:
“Maybe. I don’t know.”

He frowned. He typed something else into his phone and put it
aside.

I twisted my lips, confused, frustrated, scared to death. Since my
phone didn’t rattle, the message wasn’t for me. I typed into the phone.

Sang:
“Why aren’t you leaving?”

He checked the phone, smirked but put it down, not answering me.

I spelled with my fingers, “Stop sitting there. North is waiting for
you.”

Luke smirked at me, signing, “Not anymore.”

No matter what I said, Luke refused to leave. He would sign or
text me to say something or ask a question. He pawed through the cabinets for
food. He brought me water and crackers and found an apple to eat for himself.
On occasion, he’d slink away, as silent as a whisper, and trek into other parts
of the house.

He was there for at least two hours. No matter how many times I
begged, he refused to leave me behind.

Luke:
“You’re one of us.”

He repeated it often. It became too frustrating to try to convince
him to leave.

I got texts from some of the others, too.

North:
“I found your shirt. You left it in the kitchen.”

Sang:
“Hang on to it for me?”

North:
“Will do.”

Nathan:
“I’m bored and my body hurts and I can’t move and this sucks
and my back hurts and I’m hungry.”

Sang:
“Get better. We’ll hang out then.”

Nathan:
“I want taco soup. Come rub some of this lotion on my back
again. I can’t reach.”

Sang:
“Are you coming to school tomorrow?”

Nathan:
“No promises.”

Gabriel:
“You weren’t supposed to leave your house. I’ve been texting
you all afternoon. I thought you were in trouble.”

Sang:
“I was with North and the others. I’m sorry I forgot my
phone.”

Gabriel:
“How’s your face?”

Sang:
“Fine. How’s your nose? Are you hurting?”

Gabriel:
“I’m fucking peachy. Next time listen to me, will you?”

Sang:
“Sorry.”

Gabriel:
“Stop apologizing. It makes it harder to be mad at you.”

Sang:
“I don’t like it when you’re mad at me. So I’m sorry.”

Gabriel:
“You’re still grounded.”

Sang:
“Thanks again for the violin. It’s beautiful.”

Victor:
“Get good at it and we’ll play together sometime.”

Sang:
“I still haven’t heard you play.”

Victor:
“Soon.”

After a few hours, I was rocking on the stool, sore, uncomfortable
and embarrassed. I wanted to get my mother’s attention and get this over with.

Steps echoed in the house. Someone was coming. My eyes shot to
Luke, he nodded, slipped into the living room and disappeared.

My father came into the kitchen. His eyelids drooped. He’d
finished up work and was heading to bed. When he spotted me on the stool, his
head tilted at me in confusion. Did he get a haircut? I couldn’t tell. There
were more gray hairs at his temples, though. And what did I know? I never saw
him.

“What happened?” he asked me.

“I came down when she called me,” I said flatly. He’d been here
the whole time and he now just noticed?

He raised an eyebrow. “Is that it?”

“She thought I was lying to her when I said I came from my
bedroom.”

He shrugged. “Alright. Go to bed.”

I jumped from the stool, taking the side hallway to avoid walking
near him. I was too angry and didn’t want to be anywhere near my parents. I was
aching and exhausted. It was tempting to feign sick the next day and stay home.
Maybe I’d sneak over to Nathan’s house and spend the whole day with him.

Luke was sitting on the staircase when I approached. I reprimanded
him with a glare. He hopped to his feet, leaned down to grab at my arm and
pulled me up the stairs. He heaved me back into my bedroom, closing the door
behind us.

I hit the stereo’s volume up a little and stumbled over to the
bed. I plopped onto it on my side.

Luke collapsed next to me, facing me. “I can’t believe you stayed
there for so long,” he said.”

I pouted. “What else was I going to do?”

He brushed a finger across my cheek. “She forgot about you,” he
said quietly.

“If she doesn’t forget and comes back…” I pushed my hand over my
heart and sighed.

His features softened, those brown eyes fixing over my face. “It’s
been a long day,” he said.

I trembled, nodding, swallowing back my angry, tired tears. I
didn’t even care if he was there any more. I didn’t care that we could get
caught at any moment. Luke stayed with me the whole time. He didn’t forget
about me. He didn’t abandon me, despite my asking. It was overwhelming how kind
he was.

He leapt up, hitting the lights. In the dark, he pulled the
blanket on the bed and slipped in next to me before covering us up. My heart
thundered but as I continued to quake and with my will power depleted, I was
too weak to tell him to go home. I wasn’t sure if he would listen to me,
anyway.

His arms went around me and I sunk into his hug. His chin pressed
to my forehead. I inhaled the vanilla scent. His fingers rubbed at the muscles
in my back along my spine. I pressed my cheek to his chest, listening to his
breathing. My eyes fluttered shut, my lashes crossing against his skin.

I didn’t care what happened to me. If there was another fight with
Luke, or Gabriel, or any of the others, I would jump in. I knew it down to my
bones.

Because I knew they’d do the same for me.

T
HURSDAY

I
nappropriate

I dreamed of holding the hand of a little boy, who was exhausted
and wanted to stop running. We couldn’t stop, though. The ground was falling
out from under us. If we didn’t keep moving, we would fall into the abyss.