The Academy - Friends vs. Family (18 page)

“I really should. She deserves it.”

Was he asking or was he telling me he was going to and wanted me
to tell him I was okay with it? My mine flared for something to say to him,
anything to get him to change his mind. “I’ll... I’ll never talk to you again
if you try.” It was a weak threat and I would never mean it. How immature was
I? Only I didn’t have anything else. What could I really do if he did run off
and attempted to steal them back?

The moment the words slipped from my mouth, he stiffened against
me. His other hand clutched my back and he pulled me against him harder than
ever before. “Sang, don’t you dare.”

I realized my mistake. North didn’t talk to him when he arrived at
their doorstep years ago. I was threatening him with almost the same thing,
with not talking to him. He didn’t like it. He didn’t know I couldn’t really
stop. Could I ever really stop talking to someone so sweet? 

“I’m sorry,” I whispered. “No more trouble. Okay? I’ll wear what I
have. We’ll figure it out. Let’s get through Friday.”

He pushed his forehead to my shoulder, breathing in against me.
Locks of his hair tickled my neck. “If you don’t want me to, I won’t.”

“Don’t,” I said.

He nodded against shoulder, pulling back, frowning. “Maybe we
should call Gabriel,” he said.

“Let’s not worry about it tonight,” I said. I reflected on how
tired Gabriel looked. He was the one that really needed sleep. The last thing
he needed was to stress out about what I was wearing to school. “We’ll go to
school, we’ll tell them all about it and we’ll figure it out. Maybe we can talk
to Danielle. We’ll do it tomorrow when we’re calmer. Maybe she didn’t realize
the clothes she took were mine or the ones she gave me would be too big for
me.”

Luke’s eyes became lost in shadows. “I don’t think she was
thinking of you at all.”

I sighed, letting go of him to push the collection of clothes off
of my bed. I padded over to the light switch to turn the overhead lights off. I
didn’t want to think about it anymore.

He seemed to understand me. He fell into the bed on top of the
blanket, kicking his shoes off. I crawled in next to him. He wrapped his arms
around me, hugging me close and pressing his face to my hair, my silent
guardian for the night. I knew we weren’t supposed to. He was supposed to sleep
in the attic. That night, I didn’t care. I hid my face in his chest.

We dared anyone to walk in on us, discover us and cause a scene.
If my mother only knew, if she ever came after me when she learned the truth,
everything would change. Now my sister was on the verge and could easily tip
over this delicate cup to expose me and the boys. And Danielle, a girl that I’d
never once said a word to yet, was leading the way to our own destruction in a
silent war she would never understand.

Luke
knew. I knew. This was no longer us waiting things out until it calmed over.
This was us counting down the moments, waiting for the time bomb to go off.

H
ow
t
o
d
ress
a
G
irl

I dreamed of tiny green bugs
slipping into my window. Thousands of them crept into my bed, smothering me.

A buzzing shocked me out of the dream.
Luke grumbled next to me in the bed, his head stuffed against my shoulder. He
pulled his arm from around me, reached into his back pocket and put the phone
to his ear. “What?” he asked without looking at who it was calling. He was
quiet to listen. In a second, he yanked himself away from me, sitting up on the
bed and rubbing his face. “Sorry,” he said. “Sorry. We’ll be right there.” He
jabbed his thumb at the phone and turned to me. “Sang, we’re late.”

I jolted to a standing position. Late!
How late? What was late? My foggy brain mushed into my neck. I hovered on the
carpet, trying to pull myself together and figure out what I was supposed to do
next.

Luke was on top of it. He grabbed the
clothes I’d picked out and tossed them to me. “Wash up, but don’t take a full
shower,” he said. “Get dressed and meet me outside. Don’t worry about your
bags. I’ve got it.”

I dashed to the bathroom to wash,
especially my legs, and they looked better. I put on the newly made shorts.
They were beige jeans, and at least they were clean. The baggy t-shirt, covered
my butt, a faded blue color and advertised a band I didn’t know.

When I opened the bathroom door, my
sandals were in the hallway. I wanted to scold Luke later for risking sneaking
out to leave them there for me but I knew I would forget. I slipped them onto
my feet, taking the back stairs and dashing out into the garage.

Luke was waiting in the drive, a clean
white shirt in place and he was stuffing his blazer on. I took my violin case
and he grabbed our book bags and we ran for Kota’s.

I kept having to hike up the shorts as
they felt like they were about to fall off. I was hanging my head, watching my
feet. Luke jogged ahead of me. It was already warm and sticky. How did we sleep
in?

Nathan and Kota were already waiting out
in front of Kota’s drive. Derrick stood with them talking. I was just opening
my mouth to say hello when I noticed Marie and Danielle standing together and
my mouth dropped open. Luke slowed down to fall next to me, his eyes catching
where mine went.

Danielle was wearing one of my own dark
skirts and Luke’s blue button up shirt on top. Since she was long legged and
her hips were wider than mine, the skirt looked more like a mini-skirt, barely
covering her hips. The shirt was unbuttoned at her stomach, so on occasion it
flew open to reveal her pale stomach. She had the buttons at her chest undone
until her cleavage was exposed. She was smirking as she chatted with Marie,
wearing large sunglasses that covered half of her face.

Marie was in jeans again, but she was
wearing Nathan’s shirt.

Kota’s eyes fell on me. “What’s wrong,
Sang?” he asked.

“What are you wearing?” Nathan asked,
his head tilting. “What’s with the t-shirt?”

Derrick gazed at my shirt, looking
puzzled. “I think I have a shirt like that.”

“I think it is your shirt,” I said,
closing the gap between us to stand closer so I wouldn’t be overheard by
Danielle or Marie. “My sister traded clothes with Danielle last night.”

Derrick’s tan cheeks tinted. “I was
wondering where she got the skirt. I told her it’s too small.”

“Danielle’s going to get into trouble at
school,” Kota said, touching the bridge of his glasses with his finger. A
displeased frown formed on his face. “There’s no way the teachers will let her
stay. She’s way out of regulation.”

“She took all of her clothes,” Luke
said. “All those blouses and skirts, and left Sang with barely anything. She
tried on all of it. What’s she’s wearing now was the closest in size and it
barely fits.”

“Hey,” Nathan said, his blue eyes fixed
on Marie. “Isn’t that my...” He turned, squaring off his shoulders.

I grabbed Nathan by his arm. The girls
had started to notice we were looking at them. “Yes,” I said through my teeth.
“And that blue shirt Danielle’s wearing is Luke’s. Don’t say anything. If we
make a big deal about it...”

“I don’t give a fuck,” Nathan said. “I
didn’t give that to her.” His fists clenched and he started across the drive.

“I’ll get it back,” I said, stepping in
front of him. Out of desperation, I pressed a hand to his chest. This seemed to
distract him and he looked down at me. “Give me time. If we tell her it’s
yours, or if we try to force this, Marie could tell my mother things we don’t
want her to know.”

He narrowed his eyes at the two of them
but they seemed disinterested. His jaw set, his glare crushing. He grabbed my
hand from his chest, holding on to it as he turned away. It felt like his
squeezing my hand held back the fury bubbling under the surface. Did he feel so
strongly about that shirt? I didn’t realize. I vowed to steal it back and hide
it the first chance I had. If he liked it, I’d give it back. I wouldn’t want it
ruined or held over our heads by Marie.

Kota stepped up next to us. “They didn’t
leave you anything?”

“Just a bunch of jeans and t-shirts,” I
said.

Luke followed, dropping our things at
his feet and straightening out his hurriedly put together clothes. Derrick
stepped up next to him, looking uncomfortable and out of place.

“I’ll try to bring them back so you can
go through them,” I told Derrick. “I’m sorry about this.”

He shrugged. “That shirt was old anyway.
I don’t think it fits any more.”

“Can’t you do something about her?”
Nathan asked. “She’s your sister.”

“I don’t know. I’ll try talking to her.”
He kept looking over at his sister, maybe wishing he had stuck with talking to
them. He seemed nonplussed about it.

I hooked fingers into the jean shorts
and readjusted them on my hips. “We’ll get through today and figure it out
later.”

“Do we have time to change?” Nathan
asked. He looked to Kota. “Can’t we get something for her? Does Jessica
have...?”

The school bus turned the corner,
heading in our direction.

“No time,” Kota said. He fished his cell
phone out of his pocket. “Maybe if we catch the guys before they leave.”

When the bus got there, I fell into the
seat next to Kota and Nathan slid in next to me. Luke fell into the seat next
to us. Derrick trailed to the back, not sitting near his sister and not sitting
close enough to us to be considered ‘with’ us. I found it strange. The guys may
not have been openly popular, but they were good looking and nice and dressed
well. They seemed to get along well with one another. Why did it feel like
Derrick didn’t really want to be associated with them in public?

At the school, Kota, Nathan, Luke and I
were the last to get off the bus. We trailed Marie and Danielle out of
curiosity. Boys hooted the moment Danielle walked into the crowded cafeteria.
She stared ahead with a scowling smirk and swinging her hips a little more.
Marie crushed her books to her chest, looking out of place next to Danielle in
her t-shirt and jeans.

“Oh yeah,” Nathan mumbled next to me.
“Holler at the girl who doesn’t know what dress size she is.”

Kota checked his phone again. “Let’s get
out to the parking lot,” he said. “Gabriel says to meet them at Victor’s car.”

Nathan took the violin case from me. I
followed after Kota, putting my hand on my hip so I wouldn’t lose the shorts on
the way out. When I was falling behind them because of how I had to walk to
keep the shorts up, Kota came back for me. With his cheeks tinted, he wrapped
an arm around my waist, hooking his thumb into the belt loop and hanging his
hand on my hip. We walked together like this, trying to look casual together. I
think I was blushing more at feeling his hand on my waist than I was about the
clothes I was wearing. Still, I felt so out of place next to them in their nice
slacks and shirts with ties.

Cars were still pulling into the lot and
we had to make a slow crawl toward the back where Victor had parked his BMW.
Victor and Gabriel were leaning against the car’s trunk waiting for us as we
approached. Gabriel looked intense but the shadows under his eyes were gone. I
was happy Luke and I didn’t bug him last night. At least he got some sleep.

“Oh my god,” Gabriel said, his bright
blue eyes sliding down my clothes. “You weren’t kidding.”

“Can you help?” Kota asked.

He nodded. He curled his fingers at me
and then had me spin a little in front of him. “Motherfucker. Alright, hang
on.”

He opened the passenger side door and
took a seat with his legs stretched out. He pulled me by the hips until my
waist was eye level with him. “Okay, you guys make a barrier. I don’t want
anyone thinking I’m molesting her.”

I blushed and watched the guys crowd
themselves together to make a wall. With the car door open, I was blocked on
the other side, too. Gabriel reached for his book bag and pulled out a pair of
scissors. He started cutting at the shorts, hooking his fingers up into them,
pulling at the crotch a little to straighten it out.

A wave of heat washed over me.
“Gabriel...”

“Just give me a minute,” he said. “I’m
going to make this into a skirt. It’ll still look like shit but it’ll be less
shit. And why the hell did Danielle steal your clothes?”

“Attention,” Kota said. “And she got
it.”

“Fucking ugly,” Nathan said.

Luke’s lips twisted, frowning and
staring out into the parking lot.

Victor stood sentinel with his arms
crossed over his chest. His fire eyes blazed. “Why don’t I just go get her
something?”

“We don’t have time,” Kota said. “The
closest store is a Wal-Mart and you won’t make it back by the first bell.”

“That’s what we’re doing this weekend,”
Victor said. “I’m taking her for clothes.”

The definitive way he said it made it
sound like they were planning something to do with me that weekend and this was
the confirmation. “No, guys,” I said softly. “Don’t...”

“You need clothes, Sang,” Victor said in
a sharp tone. “You’re going.”

I was turning a little to say something
to Victor but Gabriel slapped me on the thigh. “Stop wriggling,” he said. “I’m
going to cut you on accident if you do that.”

I stood still, blushing and hoping
anyone passing by wouldn’t notice. Gabriel worked at cutting out the shorts. He
folded them to make a hem and he used some tape inside his makeshift cuff. He
also managed to tape up the inside of the skirt at the waist so it hung
tighter. “Nothing a little duct tape can’t solve,” he said. “Now we need a
shirt.”

Victor went to the trunk of his car,
pulling out a clean white shirt. “Always carry a spare.”

“I can go put it on in the restroom,” I
said.

“Put it on here,” Gabriel said. “No
one’s watching.”

“I can’t...”

“Just do it quickly.”

My cheeks lit on fire. I accepted the
shirt. Victor stepped back into place, his back turned to me. Gabriel hung his
arms over the open door, blocking the window with his frame. The boys focused
on cars around us, distracted.

I ripped the big t-shirt off. The warm,
moist air of the south touched bare skin that I was sure had never before been
exposed. I slipped my hands through the sleeves of the shirt, catching the
Armani label. I was pretty sure that was an expensive brand. The shirt was
probably more expensive than all of my old clothes combined.

While it was still big, it was far nicer
than the t-shirt. I buttoned it up to my neck. “Okay,” I said.

The guys all turned around, checking out
the finished product. The hem of the shirt stretched over the top of the
shorts-turned-skirt. It was enough and hid the wrinkle where Gabriel had used
duct tape to correct the size.

Victor’s fire eyes lit up to a smolder.
“It’s not bad. You look pretty good in my clothes.”

“It’ll do for now,” Gabriel said. He
picked up my wrist, unbuttoning the sleeve and rolling it up my arm to make a
cuff above my wrist. “At least you won’t be tripping over your shorts today.”

Relief washed over me. Gabriel approved
for now. The guys had come to the rescue again. “Thank you. Really, I mean...
thank you,” I said, my words fumbling. There was no way to express the feelings
I had for them at that moment. How many times have they gone out of their way
to help me? I was starting to lose count. It made me wonder why they bothered
to be around me when I really was so much trouble.

Gabriel’s eyes fell on my face. He
stared at me for a moment, his lips moving but nothing was coming out.

Nathan collected my wrist. “Let’s get
out of here before anyone thinks we’re taking turns.”