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North grumbled and hooked his arm around my shoulders, his fingers threaded through my hair to rub at my scalp.
“I don’t get it, North,” I said as we walked together to the main building. “Why are they getting detentions for me?”
“You’re part of us now,” he said. “Haven’t you noticed?”
I pushed a palm to my forehead. “I don’t know what that means. Please don’t tell me that you’re going to try to get detention, too. I don’t know if I can take this. You should tell Kota and the others to stop. I think the teacher would understand if they gave the detention slips back. They don’t need to get into trouble with me.”
He laughed softly, his deep voice seemed to reverberate in my bones. He pulled me closer and pushed his nose to my hair as he said, “Sang baby, you’re beautiful.”
His compliment had me floating all the way to our next class.
Nathan was slumped over in his chair in geometry class when we walked in. I fell into the chair in front of him and North sat in front of me.
Nathan popped his head up. “Okay, what’s going on?” He tugged a lock of my hair.
“Sang’s got detention,” North said.
“Fuck,” Nathan said.
“So does Gabriel and Luke and Kota,” I said. It felt good to tattle on them, even if it was only to Nathan.
“They’re not the only ones,” North said. He searched his pocket, pulling out a detention slip with his name scrawled on it.
My mouth popped open. “North!”
“Hey,” he said. “I didn’t think Kota and the others were going to do it. Besides, someone has to drive you home.”
“What did you do?” I asked.
“I slept during class,” North said. “I made sure to snore.”
“Hell, I’ll do that,” Nathan said. He put his head to the desk.
I turned around in my chair to poke at his arm. “Nathan, don’t you dare.”
“You’re not my boss,” he said without lifting his head. “Kota is.”
“Kota would tell you no,” I said as the bell rang.
“No, he wouldn’t,” North said. He slapped me with a palm on my thigh. “Shush and get your homework out before the teacher gives you another one.”
Despite his best effort to sleep the entire time, Nathan didn’t get a detention in geometry class. The geometry teacher seemed to have some sympathy since he did look tired and he’d been out ‘sick’ the day before.
Nathan walked beside me to my violin class.
“Don’t get detention,” I warned him as we got to the music room. “I’m telling you not to.”
He waved me off dismissively as he held open the door. I groaned and stalked into class.
I swallowed hard as I spotted Mr. Blackbourne across the room. I wasn’t sure what to say. Should I warn him what the others were doing? Would I have the nerve to tell him why this all started? So far every time I’ve bumped into him, there’s something new going on. He was going to think I was the troublemaker Gabriel claimed I was.
Mr. Blackbourne wore a dark gray suit, his red tie snug against his neck. Perfect. His steel eyes caught mine. “Miss Sorenson?” It wasn’t the usual greeting, but a question inviting me to spill it.
“I got detention,” I said. I thought it was best to get it out of the way. “And the boys are all now trying to get detention, too, so I won’t have to do it alone.” There. Maybe he’ll give an order for them all to stop. I could spare Silas and Victor and maybe even catch Nathan before he got written up. If anyone could override the crazy hierarchy of these Academy students that I didn’t understand, I was pretty sure Mr. Blackbourne could.
Mr. Blackbourne raised a dark eyebrow coolly, staring at me as if I were about to tell him I was just kidding. When I didn’t, he sighed out loud. He held a hand out toward the bench of the piano, inviting me to sit. When I had crossed the room, he took my violin case and my book bag from my hands to put them in a chair nearby.
Mr. Blackbourne sat next to me on the bench, slightly turned so he could look down at me. I felt weak next to his powerful stature and the steely gaze as he seemed to know everything before I even said it.
“Start at the beginning,” he said softly.
My composure melted. My mouth opened and I told him everything, doing my best to explain sitting in Kota’s lap, getting caught by Mr. McCoy.
When I finished, I was shaking. “And I can’t let my mother find out,” I slipped. It was what I was thinking but hadn’t meant to relay this to him.
“Why not?” he asked. He hadn’t questioned the boys’ participation or my own recklessness with Kota. Was he not angry that we were being so ridiculous? I was embarrassed for my own actions and for not putting more pressure on Kota and the others to stop.
I pushed a finger to my lower lip. “My mom is strict,” I said. “If she hears I got detention because I was sitting in Kota’s lap...” I didn’t really know what would happen. What could she do? Maybe it would be enough reason for her to convince my father to pull me out of school. I shivered at the thought. It was the one place where I could get away from her without the overhanging guilt I got when I ran away to be at Kota’s or somewhere else. “But besides that, I thought maybe you could stop them. Silas and Victor might not know yet. Nathan’s been trying to get detention by sleeping in class.”
Mr. Blackbourne frowned. He took his glasses off and brought his fingers to his forehead, rubbing his eyebrows. “I’ve been working with the guys for six years and in less than a month you’ve got them wrapped around your finger.”
My mouth fell open. “Mr. Blackbourne...”
He sighed, putting his glasses back on. “This is what you’re going to do,” he said. “Let the guys continue to get detentions if they want. More than likely they’ll all have one by lunch time. Behave and avoid McCoy, if you can.”
I blushed, feeling the strength in his gaze on me. “I’m trying.”
“I know. Unfortunately it’s our fault that you’re getting into this,” he said. “Meanwhile, don’t tell the others you’ve talked to me yet.”
I sucked in a deep breath. “I’m sorry for this. Did I mess everything up?”
His eyes softened. “No, Miss Sorenson. In reality, I think you’ve done us a huge favor.”
After class, I waited outside the door until Victor turned the corner. He slipped beside me quietly, reaching for my hand. He held it tightly as we walked to class. It was the way that his thumb slipped over my skin between my thumb and forefinger that told me he knew what was going on. The fire blazing in his eyes told me he was doing the same thing as the others. I wouldn’t dare tell him no.
In history, Victor answered a phone call in the middle of class to get detention. He even said thank you to Mr. Morris afterward.
North and Victor and I arrived at our spot in the courtyard for lunch. Silas was there, and he held up his own detention slip to me.
I smirked at him. “Silas,” I said in a warning tone, though I couldn’t help my smile. Since Mr. Blackbourne didn’t flip out about the boys, I felt a little better about the situation. I was overwhelmed by how the guys were reacting to this. I think it was the first time that I felt we really were all in this together.
“What was I going to do? Walk home?” He grinned, reaching around my shoulders to give me a strong hug. I gasped, laughing a little and hugging him back.
“Watch out,” Kota said, coming up behind us. “You’ll both get another detention. I really don’t want to have to ask Ms. Johnson for another.”
Nathan walked past us, sinking to the ground on his knees and falling back on the grass. “I haven’t been able to get detention yet,” he complained. “I’ve been sleeping through all my classes. No one cares.”
“A
ll the kids sleep in class. You should curse,” Gabriel said. “Just start cussing. They have to give you detention for that.”
“You have to be careful with that,” Kota said. “You might end up with in-school suspension instead.”
We were sharing packages of chips and sandwiches we had made at home. I was picking pieces away from my sandwich to eat it a little at a time. They were talking about what detention might be like. I had to bite my tongue at thinking of Mr. Blackbourne and I was wondering if he was going to be able to get them all off the hook.
I also worried about what my mother would think when she found out. Could I get away with it not being mentioned to her at all? Would the school say why? Would they even call her? I wondered if Marie would notice. She hadn’t said much to me since school started. I could only hope she wouldn’t care today.
I sensed eyes on me and I caught Marie across the courtyard. She was walking alongside Danielle. Their eyes flicked my way. Marie said something to Danielle and Danielle laughed, looking at me again.
“Your sister is kind of stuck up,” Gabriel said next to me on the bench.
“That’s funny. She said the same thing about you guys.”
Gabriel laughed. “I can see why she thinks so but doesn’t she know pointing and laughing at people is really rude?”
I shrugged. “All the other students do it.”
“You don’t do it.”
I blushed, being caught at being told I was different. “Should I start?”
“I’ll shoot you if you do.” He grinned at me. He took my hand that was holding my sandwich and brought it to his mouth so he could take a bite.
I laughed, rolled my eyes and handed him the rest of it. He took the sandwich from me and ate it. I stood up to brush crumbs from my skirt.
“Hey, sexy lady,” called a voice behind me. I spun around as Mike, the red haired kid from the day before, crossed the courtyard. He was trailed by a couple of friends, shaking their heads. Mike stopped a few feet from me, and got on his knees. He knee walked until he could grasp my hand between his. His eyes settled on my face. “Hey there sexy. Will you marry me?”
