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Kota nodded. “I still think we ought to try asking Danielle. If she will help, Sang could invite Danielle over. Her mother may have an easier time opening up with a girl rather than us.”
There was a collective groan.
“Is she that bad?” I asked.
“Yup,” North said, his voice deep. His fingers stopped the gentle motion at my shoulder and rested against me.
“She’s a typical girl,” Nathan said. “She thinks we’re all a bunch of nerds.”
Gabriel nudged my arm with his and leaned into me to stage whisper near my ear, “Nathan used to have a crush on her.”
“Fuck, no, I didn’t.”
“She used to go over to his house,” Gabriel continued. “One day she tried to get him to skinny dip in the pool. When he refused, she got pissed and told everyone he was gay for a while.”
“Like I give a shit what she thinks,” he said, but he frowned and rolled onto his side on the carpet, covering his eyes with an arm. “Can we not talk about this right now?”
Kota cleared his throat. “Well, maybe something else will come up.” He held up his school schedule. “Are we ready?”
It took a good hour between us to get organized. Most of that time was taken up by general talking among the guys and Kota had to remind them what they were trying to do. Kota kept notes on a sheet of paper. In the end, my own schedule was marked up with his writing.
Homeroom Room 135
Luke, North
AP English - Trailer 10 - Ms. Johnson
Kota, Gabriel, Luke
AP Geometry - Room 220 - Ms. Smith
Nathan, North
Violin - Music Room B - Mr. Blackbourne
None
AP World History - Trailer 32 - Mr. Morris
Victor, North
Lunch
AP Biology - Room 107B - Mr. Gerald
Silas
Japanese - Room 212 - Dr. Green
Victor
Gym - Gymnasium - Mrs. French
Gabriel, Nathan
It seemed everyone was in each other’s classes, except for their special electives and Kota’s advanced science and math classes. I considered it unreal but I wondered if part of the reason was because they were from the Academy. Did Mr. Blackbourne and Dr. Green fix their schedules, too?
By the time we had it sorted out, I was sitting on the floor, leaning against the couch. Gabriel moved across the room and was talking to Luke. North stretched out on the couch. I was quietly reviewing my schedule again when out of the corner of my eye, I caught Victor scooting over to sit next to me.
“I already know a little Japanese,” Victor said. He sat with his legs crossed and his knee grazed mine. The fire in his eyes flickered. “It’s actually pretty easy learning to speak it.”
I tilted my head at him. “How did you get in this class? I thought it was for upperclassmen? I had to get special permission from Dr. Green.”
“Who do you think let me into his class?” He smiled at me. “He’d let anyone in if they asked, actually.”
That confirmed things. If Victor’s schedule was altered, the others were most likely done as well. Did that mean Mr. Blackbourne and Dr. Green wanted me in the same classes as the boys? “Where did you learn Japanese?”
“My parents travel a lot. They like Japan.”
“I’m jealous,” I said. “Can you say something in Japanese?” It wasn’t a challenge, but genuine curiosity in his ability.
A smile touched his lips. “Kirei-na hitomidane.” The way he said it in his baritone voice made it almost sound like a song lyric.
“Kirei...” My lips moved to try to mimic what he said but I lost it half way through. “What does it mean?”
That fire lit up in his eyes and his cheeks tinged red. “I’ll tell you later.”
I smoothed my fingers over the lower hem of my shorts in a nervous reflex. Did I ask something embarrassing? Did it sound like I didn’t believe him? I went with changing the topic since I didn’t want to say anything else wrong. “At least we’ve all got classes together or similar classes. Studying should be easy. Except for Kota.”
“Are you going to be okay, Kota?” North asked behind me. He was on his side, a cushion pillow propped up under his head. He looked half asleep. “There are classes where we won’t see you for several hours.”
Kota shrugged and waved his hand in the air, dismissing his words. “Most of these classes are close together on the second floor. I won’t be in the hallways for very long.”
Silas had been completely quiet for a long time, concentrating on his schedule. The others started talking about how to get from one class to another, with the trailers being a problem. I crawled over to Silas. He caught my eye and he patted the spot next to him, indicating I could move in closer.
“We’ve only got one class together,” I said, sitting next to him, holding my paper near his.
He inched over, putting an arm behind me with his palm to the floor. He was close enough that his arm touched my back. “At least I get you to myself,” he said, the corner of his mouth lifted up.
My fingers shook because of his touch. I put my paper down so I could put my hands in my lap to hide them. “In a class full of people,” I said.
He put his paper in his lap and leaned back on his hands. “It won’t matter if they’re there. I don’t really talk much.”
“Why?”
“Not a lot to say.”
“You talk to me.”
His hand lifted and he caught a lock of my hair that had slipped away from my clip. He tucked it behind my ear. “You talk to me, too.”
My heart flipped in my chest.
There was a knock at Kota’s door. All of us looked up at the same time toward one another.
“It can’t be the mailman,” Kota said, his brows creasing. He got up off the floor. As he walked around me toward the door, he dropped a palm on top of my head, pushing slightly to make my head bob down. I looked up just in time to catch his grin before he left the living room. I grinned back. It was nice to feel wanted. I tried to tell myself again that touching was normal among friends. They might be friends with a lot of secrets, but they were normal in their behavior, right? Having missed out on this for so long, I was simply unused to the attention. Did anyone ever get over this feeling or was this fluttering nervousness something they felt all the time?
Kota returned a minute later. We all looked up at him expectantly. He looked pale.
“Kota?” Luke said. “What? Who was it?”
“It’s your sister,” Kota said and he turned to me. “Your older sister. She’s asking for you.”
My heart stopped. How did she find out? How did she know I was here? My hand fluttered to the base of my throat and I leapt up. I didn’t want her coming in. It would be bad enough she knew I was at Kota’s. It would be worse if she knew there were seven guys here.
Silas caught my other hand, looking up at me from the floor. “Are you going to be okay?” he asked, giving my hand a gentle squeeze.
I shrugged my shoulders and tried to keep my expression calm. I squeezed his hand back. “Don’t worry. It’ll be fine.” After the last time when my mother had reacted badly when Silas called, I didn’t want to scare him. I didn’t want to mention what was going through my mind then as to what she would do to me.
