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Raven got inside, slamming the door. “Skatert'yu doroga.”
“Good riddance is right,” Marc said. He jammed the keys into the slot and started the truck.
I sat back against seat. My eyes were open and I was staring at the windshield, but I wasn’t really looking at anything. I was trying to contain the anger that now threatened to consume everything inside of me.
I’d been gripping Raven’s thigh after he got in. As he settled, he snatched up my hand and squeezed. Then he opened up his arm and pulled me into him until I was leaning against his chest. He gripped at my shoulder, clutching me.
I let him. And in a way, his strength allowed some of my anger to flow away. Marc drove and then glanced at us. His hand drifted out, and he gripped my knee.
None of us said anything. We didn’t need to. We all knew.
I’d never see Jack again.
But what about Wil?
The Academy
The Ghost Bird Series
Push and Shove
Book Six
Coming June 2014
Written by C. L. Stone
Published by
Arcato Publishing
FIGHT, FAINT, FIGHT
The fight started with a shout further down the hallway. The words were slurred and the dialect was too different for me to understand, since this was South Carolina, and I was from Illinois. The shout was angry and threatening, which was enough for me to understand something was terribly wrong.
Victor must have understood what was said, because instead of continuing to the staircase, he turned, scanning the crowd with his fire eyes lit up to a brilliant roar, aware and focused. I followed his gaze to a thicker part of the crowd that had stopped.
Two boys punched each other. One of them had very red skin, like he had a terrible sunburn. I didn’t know their names, but recognized both of them. They hung out together in the courtyard. I had thought they were close friends. Now the red kid swung a fist at his friend’s face, and the other retaliated by slamming his book bag at him, full force.
“Victor?” I asked, though my voice had disappeared amid the noise of the crowd.
Victor squeezed my hand. He had a lean figure, slim in the hips. His brown wavy hair was swept back in a stylish way that suited him: an almost-famous pianist and local celebrity. His arching eyebrows capped his brown eyes, lit up with a fire from within and warming when he gazed at me. “Go to gym class, Sang,” he said.
“Don’t get into a fight,” I said.
“I’m just going to watch unless someone gets too hurt.” He leaned in and kissed my cheek quickly before anyone noticed. My heart warmed a little. “Let me do my job. Don’t stop until you get to class.”
I nodded, wanting to stay with him, but knowing my interfering could make things worse. I distracted them enough from their Ashley Waters job, part of which meant school security. The fighting boys didn’t seem to be interested in anyone else, but I was glad Victor was going to watch over it. Victor was going to time to see when teachers and administrators reacted to this fight, monitor who started it, and turn in a report to Mr. Blackbourne.
I left Victor to the fight, knowing he had his cell phone and could call in assistance if he needed it. I crossed my fingers he didn’t need to.
Cell phones had become a problem for us lately. The boys had gotten a security update that they included me in on. We were to avoid using them if possible, and absolutely no Academy business, in code or otherwise, was to be conducted by phone. We had to appear as normal as possible. Normal was uninteresting to anyone who might be listening in.
I weaved my way around gawking students and headed down the stairs. I tried to move quickly and not be noticed. I was having a hard time being invisible and not getting noticed lately. I didn’t think I was anything out of the ordinary. My hair had a slight wave, was dirty blond, a color that Gabriel often said was chameleon-like, as it changed depending on the lighting. I was a little short, which made things easier dodging around students. I did my best not to attract attention.
My fingers hovered over the phone planted in my bra. Touching the cell phone made me feel like I wasn’t too far away from any of the boys. I waited for a chance to get through a narrow point in the hallway.
A bony shoulder jabbed hard against mine, striking with enough force to knock me back. Unbalanced, I fell, landing in an ungraceful mess on the tile. My book bag slid off my shoulders, and the skirt I was wearing skidded up high on my hips.
“Oh,” a female voice said. I glanced up, spotting a familiar pair of disapproving eyes and dark hair. “It’s you.” Her tone implying that she had been fully aware who she’d bumped into.
“Jade.” Jay materialized next to her. He had a shaved head and a hulking figure. I remembered him being on the football team. He frowned at her. “Don’t be such an ass. It’s ugly.”
“Excuse me,” Jade snapped at him. She glared, nearly baring her teeth. “I was trying to get to class. She stepped in my way.”
“She’s Rocky’s girl.” Jay stooped, and without asking, he took my arm. His eyes were cold with distrust, but something lingered behind them. Respect? Loyalty? Responsibility?
I let him pull me to my feet. My cheeks were on fire. I wanted to correct him about being with Rocky. I hadn’t seen either of them in a while. Rocky was handsome, but he was assertive and, to me, too assuming. And the last time I’d seen him, he’d had Jade in his lap. I thought they were together.
Still, Jay was being nice, so I didn’t want to contradict him. “Thank you,” I said softly.
Jay’s head tilted, quietly studying my face as if trying to determine if I was being sincere or not.
“She’s not Rocky’s girl,” Jade uttered with a coolness. “She’s with Silas. Or that muscular guy with the red hair. Or that punk kid with the gay earrings.” She raked her fingernails through her hair, as if trying to make sure it wasn’t out of place. “Honestly, I can’t keep up with which one of those courtyard retards she’s dating.”
“Two of which are on the team,” Jay said. He turned to her. “You’re a cheerleader. So stop talking shit about the team.”
Jade’s eyes flashed at his face. If I ever thought someone could throw daggers with a look, she could do it. She squared her shoulders at me. “Just so you know, the football team’s Friday night party is at my house. I want to keep it a small party. Cheerleaders and football players only. No friends or girlfriends.” Her thick, ruby lips parted into a cold smile. “No offense.”
I blinked at her, unsure of what she expected me to say. “Okay,” I said softly again. I broke my gaze with her, trying to appear unconcerned about the obvious rejection to something I hadn’t even known about.
Only, I realized her decision meant North and Silas would be there alone. And North and Silas didn’t know my suspicions about Jade and how she might have spiked my water at the last party, the one North ended up drinking and had reacted so badly from.
“It’s my house, too,” Jay said.
“And it’s my party this weekend,” Jade snapped back. “My party, my rules. I only support the team, not their bitches.”
Jade and Jay moved on up the stairs. They were siblings? I didn’t catch the family resemblance. Jay wasn’t exactly the warmest person I’d ever met, but Jade was most certainly one of the coldest. I couldn’t believe they were related.
The bell rang, and I started jogging to get to the locker room. The lucky thing about having gym class was if I happened to be a few minutes late, no one noticed as long as I was dressed and ready when class started.
“There you are,” Karen said. She sat on a bench between the lockers and was tying on her tennis shoes. Her brown pixie hair was a little messed up in the front. Karen’s eyes swept over me once. “You okay? Your skirt’s all messed up. Or is it a new fashion I don’t know about?”
“There was...” I paused, still feeling rattled about Jade. I blushed. I didn’t often attract attention and I wasn’t sure what to do about
Jade. I never talked to her. I didn’t even try to. But she seemed determine to single me out. “Do you know a girl named Jade?” I asked.
Karen’s soft brown eyes widened. “Don’t tell me she’s trying to talk you into joining the squad.”
I shook my head. “No. She doesn’t really like me.”
“She doesn’t like anyone who isn’t a cheerleader. I don’t think she likes most of the cheerleaders, either. And the feeling is pretty much mutual for everyone.”
I took my gym clothes out, and out of a need to use the restroom and to get two things done at once, I dashed to the stalls on the other side of the locker room. When I was finished and returned to my locker to put my clothes away, Karen was still there, dressed and waiting.
“How come you always go into a stall?” Karen asked.
“I don’t always,” I said.
“You do it before and after gym.”
