The Academy - First Days (30 page)

I started by getting on my knees and crawling to the foot of her
bed. It was a slow process as I didn’t know her floor well enough to know where
it creaked. I touched the surface of the beige carpet with my palm, putting
pressure on it. When it felt like it wouldn’t make a noise, I stretched a foot
out to place next to my palm, in a crab walk motion. At the foot of her bed, I
stretched out to see around the edge.

Her nightstand drawer was closed. The top of it was covered in
orange prescription bottles, a collection of bottled water, and random notes
she wrote to herself about doctor appointments. I swallowed and listened to her
breathing. I counted off to three in my head to pressure myself into moving. I
crawled closer, ducking my head low and pressing myself against the side of the
bed and out of view as much as possible.

When I was close enough, I situated myself on my back so I could
look at the underneath of the drawer. Drawer opening was complicated. There
were only rare occasions that I ever needed to sneak into my parents’ bedroom
for things while they were there. Usually it was any form of money my sister
and I could get our hands on that was meant for school and our parents had told
us no. Most of the time it was Marie that needed it and I went to fetch it. I
was punished often in the past because I got caught at something similar. I
knew if they found out I was collecting a house key, there wouldn’t be an
excuse I could make up. They would know for certain I would be using it to
sneak out of the house at late hours. It would be unacceptable.

On my back, I could look up at the drawer. I used my palms to
press gently on either side. I waited, listened for my mom’s breathing and
tried sliding it out.

The slip of wood against wood squeaked through the silence. I
froze, holding my breath.

When nothing happened, I tried again. It was a tricky balancing
act. I couldn’t let the wood rest on the rail of the drawer to pull it out and I
couldn’t lift too high to allow the wood to scrape against the top of the
table. This time I did it slowly, and while my hands shook, I managed to half
open the drawer without another sound.

I wanted to sigh, but held it in to keep the sound minimal. I slipped
out from under the drawer and got on my knees. My eyes fell on my mom’s face
and her closed eyes. I wished she was breathing louder or even snoring right
now. Snoring was good. It meant a deeper sleep.

The open drawer was in shadow, and at first there wasn’t a sign of
a key, only more orange prescription bottles and a packet of tissues and old
batteries. I cursed to myself, wondering if Marie might have been mistaken and
there might not have been a key here at all.

I started emptying the contents. It was always better to lift than
to move things over. If I had been looking for prescription pills, I would have
had an easier time. The empty ones I could easily place on the carpet. The ones
with pills still inside required slow movements and careful placement.

The process was tedious. After the sixteenth bottle, I was about
to give up and put it all back when I spotted the edge of teeth belonging to a
silver house key closer to the back. I would have to empty out her entire
drawer to get to it.  

Something creaked in the house and there was whoosh of the air
conditioner starting up. It spooked me so badly that I nearly dropped the half
full bottle of pills I was holding. I grasped the bottle in my hands, trying to
deaden the sound and held my breath.

My mother didn’t stir. With the noise from the air conditioner, I
couldn’t hear her breathing but I caught the way her chest moved, slight but
steady.

I knew the air conditioner ran for a couple of minutes before
shutting off again. I took advantage of the extra white noise and quickly
pulled out enough bottles that I could ease my hand in and pick up the key. I
slipped the key between my lips, tasting the sharp metal on my tongue. I
managed to get all the bottles in and get on my back again to close the drawer
before the air conditioner shut off.

I crawled back. In my hurry to escape, I accidentally stepped in a
spot that squeaked. I froze, bending down on the floor farther and out of sight
from the head of the bed.

My mother stirred. My heart thumped wildly and I held my breath
again, hoping she was just turning over.

“Sang,” my mother called out. “Sang!”

I paused, counting off the amount of seconds I suspected it would
take me to come down the stairs if she called for me. I blew out a slow breath,
forcing myself to calm and I stood up quickly, taking a large leap backward so
I was closer to the door.

My mother was on her back with her eyes closed. I pushed a palm to
my chest. I clasped the key in my other hand, tucking it behind my back. “Yes?”
I said softly. I was hoping she had fallen asleep again.

My mother’s eyelids dragged up. She eyes focused on me. “Is your
sister home?”

“Yes,” I said.

“Is your room clean?”

I tried to hide my smile. “Almost.”

“Don’t leave your room until it’s done.”

I ran from her bedroom, and up the front stairs. I dumped books
from my bag I didn’t need, recollected the ones I had homework for and replaced
my bag on my shoulders. I was shaking but my mother didn’t call out again for
Marie or for anything else.

I slipped out the back door and sprinted for Kota’s.

I hit the doorbell at the door inside Kota’s garage. I stood back
to wait and was surprised to see Silas answer. His broad smile lit up as he saw
me.

“Hey,” he said. “You made it.”

I nodded, smiling back to suppress my nervousness. I was so happy
to see him, even though I’d seen him less than an hour ago. After sneaking
around my mother’s room and almost getting caught, I was on edge.

He stepped out of the way so I could get in. He closed the door
and nudged me toward Kota’s bedroom. I thudded my way up the stairs and he
followed, closing Kota’s door behind us and hitting the lock.

At the top of the stairs, Kota looked over from his desk. He
flashed a smile at me. North appeared half asleep on Kota’s bed, the pillow
stuffed between his arm and his forehead. I felt a wash of comfort being in the
cozy security of this bedroom. The grave difference between my parents’ house,
where I walked on egg shells and kept secret diaries in code and didn’t see my
family for long periods of time, compared to Kota, North and the others made my
heart trip. Why couldn’t I feel this safe and wanted all the time?

“I was worried something happened,” Kota said. He pushed his
glasses up his nose.

“Got caught up,” I said. I dropped my bag and pulled the key from
its side pocket. “Do you know where I can get a key made?”

North half yawned and turned, holding out a hand out for it.
“What’s it for?”

I crossed the room and placed it in his palm. “It’s the house
key.” I pulled out the ten that Marie gave me and held it to him. “Marie wants
a copy. I should get one, too. I didn’t want to tell her about the roof thing.”

Silas chucked behind me. “She’s getting as bad as you.”

I held out the ten for North but he waved me off, shoving the key
into his pocket. “When do you need it back?” he asked.

“It can wait overnight,” I said. I crumpled the ten dollars at him
and tossed it at his chest. “And you’re not making keys out of thin air so I
know it’ll cost something to make.”

He caught the bill and then tossed it back at my head. “Hang on to
it. You might need it later. I can get you some damn keys.”

I mustered up a glare for him and North glowered right back. My
blood pumped in my veins. They had no idea what I had to go through to get that
key and I was feeling clever and alive and in no need for charity. North was
unrelenting

Silas grabbed my shoulders, pulling me back into him. “Easy,
aggele
mou
,” he said.

I sighed, stuffing the money into my palm.

“Was this part of the negotiations?” Kota asked me.

I nodded, pulling away from Silas to kneel on the floor. “As long
as she doesn’t slip up and get into trouble, it should be fine. Today wasn’t a
problem unless the school ends up calling.”

“I think Mr. Blackbourne took care of that,” Kota said.

Could Mr. Blackbourne do that for me without getting attention
from Mr. Hendricks or Mr. McCoy?

Silas sat cross legged on the floor next to me and leaned back on
his hands. “What now?”

Kota touched a finger to the bridge of his glasses. “Unless we
hear from Victor or the others, we get ready for Friday.”

Silas nudged my arm. “Are you going to make something for tomorrow
for lunch?”

I sucked in a breath, realizing they didn’t know Dr. Green’s plan yet.
“I can make something,” I said. “But I won’t be around at lunch time. Dr. Green
wants me to back off from hanging around you guys on campus.”

North’s eyes popped open. “What?”

I swallowed, glancing at Kota’s curious face and over at Silas’s.
“Dr. Green wants to see if Mr. McCoy is going to come after me if I’m alone.”

“No fucking way,” North said. He glared at Kota. “He can’t ask her
that.”

Kota frowned. He drew away from his computer desk to come sit on
the floor across from me. “What did he say exactly?”

Silas’s hand traced my back, warming me and supportive. “He had to
have a reason,” he said.

I nodded. “A few things. He wants to draw out McCoy and see if
he’s interested in just trying to one up me because of what happened at
registration or if this was a thing against you guys because he doesn’t like
you being there or something else. If I’m not hanging out with you guys, maybe
McCoy might back off if he thinks I’m not as close to you all as he thought.”

North’s dark eyes flared but pressed his lips together.

Kota nodded to me. “What else?” he asked.

“There’s the thing about the uniforms,” I said. “He wants an
adjustment period. If I’m walking next to you all the time, other students are
going to assume I’m part of the same thing and I’ll be another target. He wants
me to back off until things settle down and the students get used to them.”

“He wants her out of the way so we can do our job,” North
grumbled. He fell back onto the bed and rubbed a palm against his eye. “Christ,
she’s been the target all week and he wants us to back off.”

“I don’t think that’s what he meant,” Kota said.

“Fuck that shit,” North barked at him. He sat up, swinging his
legs over to put his feet on the carpet. “He’s fucking using her as bait.”

My heart thudded. This wasn’t the reaction I was expecting. Victor
and the others seemed better able to handle it. Maybe I should have made Dr.
Green explain it to them.

Silas kept a quiet hand on my back, rubbing gently between my
shoulder blades. I sensed he was waiting for North and Kota to make a decision.
 

“She’s not bait,” Kota said. “We’ll be there. She can be nearby
without it looking like she’s right next to us. We’re supposed to be the
targets, not her, remember?”

“You’ve seen those monsters,” North said. “She can’t walk a few dozen
feet away from us before they’re on her. It’s either Mike proposing to her, or
that vice principal, or fucking Greg feeling her up in the hallway.”

Kota’s eyes bulged open. “Greg?” He fired off a look at me. “Mall
Greg? He goes to this school?”

I pushed a finger to my lower lip and nodded.

Silas grunted.

Kota fell back onto his butt. He put his knees up, pressing his
elbows against his knees. He took his glasses off, placing them up on his head
and pressed both palms to his eyes. “Why didn’t anyone tell us?”

“There’s a lot going on,” North said, seeming calmer now that
everyone else was realizing the full impact he was trying to stress. He pulled
from his pocket folded notes and tossed them at us on the floor. “I don’t know
what it is, but they’re all crazy for her. You’d think she was the only girl at
this school. I think the only thing holding them back from Sang is us. If we
back off, there’s no telling what they’ll do.”

“Maybe Dr. Green is right though,” I said. “Maybe it’s like
Hendricks thinking I’m with your group. The others are only interested in me
because of you all. Dr. Green wanted to set my phone up so I could reach you
quickly if I need, and it won’t be for forever. It’s just until they check out
McCoy and make sure you guys aren’t getting into fights over uniforms.”

“She might be right,” Silas said. “McCoy’s hot for her right now
but it might be because he thinks she’s the one that Blackbourne let slip in
with us. If she can separate herself from us, they might turn their attention
directly on us instead of her.”

“I’m not leaving her alone,” North said.

“I didn’t say leave her alone,” Silas replied. “We’re still all in
the same classes. I can keep an eye on her from across the classroom and walk
behind her for a few weeks. We’re still right there if something happens.”