The Academy - Friends vs. Family (28 page)

When the game started, I did nothing but play the game. Since I
knew more about how the controls worked this time, I wanted to try to win.
Unlike swimming where the boys were stronger and faster, video games kept us on
an even field.

For a while, I was in the lead. I took a lot of risks, cutting
corners with my car and driving on the wrong side of the road for extra speed
bonuses. No matter how fast I was going, though, Kota was always right behind
me. He was the hunter, I was the hunted.

I leaned into him, nudging my elbow into his ribs, hoping to gain
a stronger lead. It made me uncomfortable that he was so close.

“Stop it,” he growled at me. A smirk slipped from the side of his
mouth.

In the middle of the second lap, Kota’s car dashed around mine,
claiming first place. I thought I could retake the lead by nipping his bumper
and cutting around on the opposite side of the road and then take off. He
seemed to anticipate this and instead of simply trying to move faster or work
around me, he half slammed his car into mine, causing me to spin out of
control. My car crashed into a tree and he took off.

“Huh,” I groaned at him.

He grinned but kept his eyes on the screen.

I was already far enough behind now that I wasn’t going to catch
up. I poked Kota in the ribs, trying to tickle him.  

“Sang,” he said in a warning voice. No matter how lightly I traced
against his stomach, he wasn’t stopping. Just grinning.

“Do it,” Gabriel said. “Get him.”

I wasn’t sure exactly what I was supposed to do. Tickling wasn’t
working. Gabriel’s car was right behind Kota’s. Out of desperation, I yanked
the controller from Kota’s hands, tossing it behind me quickly so it rolled
across the carpet. I returned to the game, pretending to be totally focused on
it and innocent.

Silas and North hooted with laughter.

“Oh that’s it,” Kota said. He grabbed me around the waist and
pushed me to the ground until I was on my stomach. I squealed, laughing and
trying to wriggle free. He sat square on my butt, pressing my hips to the
floor. He snatched my controller and tossed it away. Silas caught it, and took
over my car, turning it the opposite way along the road, and purposefully
smashing it into trees.

North flung Kota’s controller back to him. Kota kept me pinned to
the ground as he resumed the race. I tried wriggling underneath him but as I
squirmed, he briefly sunk his full weight into me and it sparked a slight sting
to my still healing tailbone. I laughed, giving up and watching the rest of the
race with my head propped up in my hand.

“Ugh,” Gabriel shouted as Kota took the lead again.

“You have to get him now,” I said from the floor.

“Are you kidding? He’ll kick my ass.”

“I have to do everything,” I said, and I half twisted from the
floor, reaching back to poke Kota square in the stomach.

“You’re already in trouble, missy,” Kota said, wriggling on top of
me.

My poking seemed to be getting to him. I kept doing it, aiming for
different spots.  

He tried ignoring it but when the race was almost over, he let go
of the controller long enough to reach around and land a deafening slap on my
thigh.

I squealed, crying out. The guys laughed. Kota won the race.

“Alright, enough,” Victor said. He got up to stand by my side. He
nudged Kota with his leg. “Come on, you can’t sit on her like that.”

“She started it,” Kota said. He popped me on the leg again. I
squealed again, laughing. Kota hovered over me, standing.

Victor bent over to take my hands in his and assisted me up until
I was standing next to him. “Did he hurt you?”

I smiled, blushing. “No, I’m fine.” I squeezed his hand gently,
trying to show some assurance that I was being honest.

Victor dropped a hand on my hip and lured me around so he could
take a look at my leg. “She’s got a big red handprint on her now.”

“I didn’t get her that bad,” Kota insisted. “She’s not hurt. Look
at her, she’s laughing.”

Gabriel stretched from his chair and poked at Kota’s knee. “You
leave a bruise on my model, you’re gonna get it.”

“What’s wrong with you guys?” Kota said, losing his smile. “We’re
playing.”

“Well don’t play so rough,” Victor murmured.

The air stilled around us. I glanced between Victor and Kota, not
understanding the harsh stare falling between them.

“What the hell, guys?” Nathan stood up next to Kota. “We just
spent two hours flinging her across the pool and now you’re all worked up over
this? We’re just playing around. She’s having fun.”

“I’m fine guys,” I said softly. I wasn’t sure what was happening
but I maybe I’d taken cheating too far. “Really. Let’s just play another game.”

The silent communication zinged between all of them and I simply
couldn’t keep up. I had never seen them so worked up between each other. Was it
my fault? Why did I have to take things so far with Kota?

“Hey,” North bellowed. He stood up, stepping between Victor and
Kota. “That’s it. Game over. Sang, in the kitchen with me. Everyone else
straighten up and pick out a DVD. We’re going to eat and we’re going to watch a
movie.” North snagged my hand. He guided me away from the others. I heard some
grunting but everyone broke away to rearrange things.

North just gave orders to Kota! How did that happen?

North held on to my hand until we were in the kitchen again. He
let go when we were within view of Erica, who was bent over the counter pouring
no-bake chocolate cookies out onto waxed paper. “How’s it going in there,
guys?”

“The boys are hungry,” he said. He crossed to the pot of cowboy
stew and gave it a stir. “Is this done?” he asked me.

I nodded, feeling shy again. I wasn’t sure where to move or what
to do. My mind was whirling as to what just happened. Were they still mad? And
why did North let go of my hand in front of Erica? Why did it feel like he was
hiding it? They didn’t do that at school.

Erica stopped her cookie making and put the pan in the sink. She
dug in a cupboard for some plastic spoons and bowls. She handed them to me.
“Here,” she said. “I let the boys eat in the living room when they’re all here.
Should we have anything else?”

“They might like some cheese or sour cream on top,” I offered. I
was grateful for a job to do. I slipped next to North, stacking the bowls on
the counter near him and putting the spoons nearby.

Erica bowed into the fridge to collect cheddar cheese and sour
cream to place on the counter.

North caught my eye and whispered low enough so only I could hear.
“Smile,” he said.

I grimaced.

He patted my arm. “They’ll be fine. Don’t look so scared. Go call
the guys in,” he said, nodding to the doorway to the living room. “We get them
fed, and they’ll be in a much better mood.”

I sucked in a breath and started back to the living room. Kota was
calling out DVD names and the others were yay-or-nay voting.

“Ready guys?” I said, trying to test the mood in the room.

Silas jumped up from the couch, stretching and smiling. “About
time,” he said.

The others got up as well, but quietly. I sensed an unspoken and
tender white flag hovered in the air between them.

“Where’s Victor?” I asked, noticing he was missing.

“He went outside,” Kota said. “Wanted some fresh air.” Something
in the way he said it made it sound like there was more to this than he ever
wanted to say.

“I’ll go get him,” I said.

“Not in those socks,” Gabriel said. He fell behind the others
heading to the kitchen and snapped at me. He bent over, stripping the socks
from my legs. He balled the socks up and shoved them into his pocket. He tucked
his head close to mine and whispered, “Be gentle with Victor.” He caught my eye
with his crystal blue gaze and headed toward the kitchen, leaving me puzzled as
to what he meant.

T
hE
C
razy
B
eautiful
G
irl

I tiptoed out into the garage, not wanting to spook Victor. He
stood alone in the driveway, half leaning on Kota’s car that was parked in the
corner. The sun had gone down and he stared after the sprinkle of stars just
over the crests of trees. His hands were stuffed into the pockets of his jeans.
He looked so quiet and lost. I almost hated the thought of interrupting him.
What happened when I left? Why was everyone being so weird?

I padded across the pavement in my bare feet, half wondering where
Max was and why he wasn’t barking. The concrete was still warm from the day of
sunlight. The air was muggy.

I closed the gap between us until I was a couple of feet away from
him. “Victor?” I called softly.

He flinched and made a slow turn to face me. His deep brown eyes
seem distant, but when his eyes met mine, a spark flickered. There was a tiny
curl to his lips but he lost it and instead stared at me, his face a blank
perfection.

What should I say? Could I pretend what happened never did? Should
I just insist he come inside and eat dinner like everyone else? I remembered
what Gabriel had whispered to me. “Are you okay?” I asked in a small voice.

He huffed. “I’m fine.”

Was that not the right thing to say? “Would you tell me if you
weren’t?”

That seemed to strike him. His eyes blazed again. “Only if you
promise to tell me.”

I pushed my forefingers and thumbs together in front of me as if I
was holding a tiny ball between them, twisting nervously. “I don’t know what to
say. I feel fine. I’m a little worried about you.”

He sighed. He turned away from me and looked back toward the sky.

What now? I wasn’t sure if I should leave him. I didn’t want to.
Instead, I moved up beside him, standing to his right. I glanced up at the twinkling,
trying to depict planets from stars.

“What are you thinking?” I asked.

“Mmm,” he mumbled.

To lighten the mood, I thought of something I didn’t really want
to know. Still, Victor needed cheering up. “Maybe about some crazy girl you met
at school?”

His eyebrows furrowed as he gazed down at me. “What?”

My lips trembled because I was unsure of how to approach the topic
but I forced a smile. “The one you told the lady at the jewelry counter about.”

The corner of his mouth lifted. “You heard that?”

“Yup,” I said, looking back up at the sky to avoid his stare. I
couldn’t stand to see them blaze now and I wasn’t sure why. “So is she nice?”

“The jewelry woman?”

“No,” I said, but laughed. “The girl you like at school.”

He chuckled. “She’s amazing.”

I reflexively looked at him and his eyes were intense on me. My
fingers started quaking so I put them behind my back. “Pretty?”

“Of course.”

“Have you talked to her? Did you tell her you like her?”

“I’ve been trying,” he said, shifting on his feet. The waves of his
soft brown hair drifted in the gentle breeze that swept around us. “Sometimes I
wonder if she notices. She gets a lot of attention from other people.”

“Well if she doesn’t, then she’s an idiot,” I said. Suddenly I was
very uncomfortable with this. What did I know about giving advice about boys
and girls? Anything I knew about was from books. Nothing like that could apply
to real life, I learned that much from being around them. “I mean if you have
to buy her stuff for her to realize how awesome you are, then she doesn’t
deserve it.”

Victor’s head tilted back in surprise. “You think I’m awesome?”

I laughed softly, bringing my fingers around to cover my mouth a
little. “Victor,” I said, perplexed that he didn’t know. “You’re generous and
strong and look out for me and fun and um...”

“Handsome?”

I giggled, nodding. “So if what's-her-name won’t talk to you, then
she doesn’t deserve you. So next time you see her, go talk to her.”

He backed his head up, eyebrows creasing in confusion again. “What
do you mean?”

I blushed. Helping out like this made my heart burn. But could I
deny him my honesty? How much did I owe him for all the kind things he had done
for me? “I said you should talk to her. What class is she in? She’s not in
Japanese or history, is she? She must not be, or at least I haven’t noticed…”

His lips parted and his cheeks tinted. He blew out a sigh, shaking
his head as he swept a fingertip across his eyebrow. “God, Sang. I’m such an
idiot.”

“What did I say wrong? I’m sorry. I was just trying to help.”

He laughed, shaking his head again. He dipped his hand into his
pocket and removed a square black jewelry box. He opened the lid and held the
box out to me.

Inside was a small gold bracelet with a tiny heart charm.

My heart fluttered. “It’s very pretty,” I whispered.

Victor removed the bracelet from the confines of the box, and
thrust the box back in his pocket. His eyes were a gentle rolling smolder. “I
wanted to give this to you later,” he said. He collected my wrist to hold it
up. With graceful fingers, he placed the bracelet on my arm. “I was never good
at hanging onto gifts until the appropriate time. Besides, you’ve got all those
new clothes. You need something nice to wear with them.”

My face flamed, my lips trembled. “Victor,” I whispered. I
understood what he was implying but the reality didn’t want to click in my
brain. He couldn’t be serious. “The girl--”

“Is beautiful, funny, and puts up with our wild, reckless group,”
he said. He finished locking the bracelet on and held my hand up to let it
glitter under the light from the garage. His thumb traced over the skin on the
back of my hand. “And she’s the most brilliant and the most naive girl I’ve
ever met. I’d give her anything she ever wanted to let me in. To trust me.”

A thousand words jumbled into my throat, catching just short of my
lips. What did this mean? I understood then that he had intended the bracelet
for me and he had meant me the whole time. My mind tried to replay the
conversation we just had. How could I have not realized who he was talking
about? I wasn’t at all ready for something like this. The bracelet felt like it
was burning against my skin at the same intensity as the fire in his eyes as he
begged quietly for answers. I didn’t know how to respond. I didn’t know the
questions.

“Hey,” a shout shattered through my awkward pause. Nathan hung
from the inside garage door. “We’re going to eat it all if you don’t get in
here.”

Victor grumbled. “We’re coming,” he called back.

Nathan disappeared back into the house.

I sighed. “We should eat,” I said. It wasn’t what I really wanted
to say. There was a lot I wanted to ask. Did this mean something? Was he still
my friend?

He smile softened and he took my hand, our fingers interlocking,
his thumb traced my skin. “Let’s go.”

As we walked back together, I fingered the bracelet on my wrist. I
pressed my cheek to his shoulder.

“You're welcome, Sang.”

After everyone had eaten, I wanted to change into something else
other than the skirt. It made it hard to sit in the bean bag chairs or on the
floor. I took clothes with me upstairs to Kota’s bathroom and changed into the black
shorts and a soft pink t-shirt I was going to sleep in.

I leaned against the counter in Kota’s bathroom, tracing the
bracelet at my wrist and thinking about Victor and worrying about my mother and
the thousand other fears I’d pushed to the back of my mind all day. What
happens on Monday when my sister and Danielle noticed the new clothes? How
would I stop Danielle from taking everything if Marie let her? What would the
other students think of my new clothes, mismatched on such a plain girl? What
would my mother do to me if she ever learned the truth? And why was Victor so
confusing?

Everything was so far out of my control now, on the shoulders of
guys from the Academy. That alone was the biggest cause for my fear. Before
they invaded my life, I may not have been so free, but my life was predictable.
Now I was a shattered mess, and the boys were blowing my tender shards across
the floor, toward a destination I wasn’t privileged to know. Academy secrets.

Maybe I would have been dead by now if they never intervened. I
wasn’t ungrateful. I really liked them and hoped this family thing was true. I
didn’t understand how it worked. Would I ever?

I folded the clothes I had taken off and ran back downstairs to
evade collapsing in on myself from all the overhanging fear and worry.

Downstairs, the guys were waiting with a comedy paused on the
title screen.

“Hurry up, Sang,” Gabriel said.

I ran over to where our book bags were and put the new clothes on
top of mine. Kota, Silas and North were sitting together on the couch so there
wasn’t any more room there. I scrambled over until I was in front of the bean
bag chairs. A couple of them patted the empty seats next to them.

I was about to plop down next to Gabriel since he was the closest
when Luke bellowed. “No,” he said. “Over here.”

I popped up and slid on my feet on the carpet over to Luke’s seat.

“Sang Baby,” North said. “Will you sit that beautiful ass down,
please?”

“I’m trying,” I said, ignoring the compliment, assuming he was
teasing me. They all laughed at me.

I was lowering myself next to Luke when I felt a pinch on my butt.
I yelped and jumped up, rubbing at the spot.

Luke laughed, his hand on his chest. There was a roar of chuckling
from everyone.

“That’s it,” North said. He snapped his fingers at me. “Get over
here.”

“Uh oh,” Nathan said. “You’re in trouble now.”

“Trouble is who she is,” Gabriel smirked at him. “That’s what I’ve
been telling you.”

I pushed my finger to my lip and crept over. I couldn’t believe
Luke did that and now I was getting reprimanded. I glanced quickly at Victor,
who seemed strangely at ease at the moment. He jerked his head toward North, as
if to tell me to go.

North leaned forward on the couch, curling his fingers at me. When
I was close enough, he grabbed my hips and dragged me down until I was on his
lap. I gasped in surprise, my face heating.

“Looks like the only way we’ll get through this movie is to make
you sit where I can reach you,” he said. He turned me until my back was against
the side of the couch. He brought my legs up until my feet were tucked between
his legs and Silas’.

Silas shifted, picking my feet up and moving them until my knees
were over his lap, his palm rested against my knee. My feet ended up in Kota’s
lap.

“We want her down here,” complained Gabriel. “Let her come back.”

“No,” North said. “You guys had her all day. It’s our turn now.”

“Let her come sit by me,” Luke said.

“You lost that privilege when you pinched her,” he barked at him.
“Now shut up and watch the damn movie.”

My mind was whirling so much that I missed a good portion of the
first part of the movie. All I could feel was North’s body against mine, with
the fingers from one hand wrapped around my side and almost tickling my
stomach. His other hand dropped onto my thigh. Silas had a hand on my knee.
Kota’s fingers wrapped around my feet, warming my toes.

It was like sitting in all of their laps at once. My heart
thundered. My mind whirled. My body stiffened because I wasn’t sure if I should
enjoy it. I wanted to but it was overwhelming. Again, I glanced at the other
boys, especially at Victor. But no one seemed surprised. Victor shared a
sympathetic smile with Luke. Nathan and Gabriel turned back toward the movie.

North adjusted underneath me. He tucked his head until his lips
traced my ear. “Relax, Sang baby.” He sucked in a deep breath, inhaling my new
fragrance before he put his head up again to watch the movie.

I tried to. I leaned against him more, resting my head against his
chest as I tried to focus on the movie. I was breathing in the musk of his
cologne, catching how it mixed with mine in such a pleasant way. I snuggled
into him and stilled. He seemed happy with this, as his palm massaged at the
small of my back.

Halfway through the movie my butt was asleep. I adjusted so his
thigh wasn’t pressed up against my butt bone. My shifting woke Kota up. I
couldn’t see him behind Silas’ frame but his fingers started working over my
feet. He started massaging my toes with an exquisite precision. I wriggled,
forgetting the movie and feeling lost in touches and closeness and aromas.

“Keep still,” North whispered to me.

I tried to, snuggling into him. I moved my hands from my stomach
and slipped a palm against his chest. My fingers trailed over his shirt against
his heart.