The Academy - First Days (10 page)

I walked alongside Silas through the quiet hallways. It was
starting to feel like a rush to get everything done today. I felt flustered
trying to come up with something to talk about but he seemed content to walk
quietly beside me.

“You’re going to join the baseball team here, right?” I asked,
finally settling for sports. I knew he liked baseball.

“I’m considering changing my mind,” he said. “I checked out the
field and it looks pretty bad. Besides, the football coach was bugging me this
morning about try outs.”

I looked up at him but he stared at the ground, his face unreadable.
“Football isn’t your favorite?”

“Not really.”

“So why settle for football? Why not go with something you love?”

He shrugged. “Not everything works out the way you want it to.”

“It should,” I said. I felt it was true. There was so much fun
stuff to do out there and it seemed silly to waste time with doing something
you didn’t want. I spent a lot of time at my parents’ house when other kids
were in dancing school or summer camps or going to the park to play. Even now
my mind was turning as to what I could do, what my parents would allow for me
to do, that involved more time away from the house. “Maybe the baseball team
could use a player like you. Someone with talent and passion for the game. It
might inspire others to play.”

His lips curled up. “Perhaps. I might do both. Football for the
fall, baseball in the spring. Mr. Blackbourne might want me to do it, anyway. I
may try to convince North to go with me.”

“Does North like sports?”

“Watching them,” he said. “He hates playing. He doesn’t really
like being told what to do.”

Silas lead the way to the offices downstairs and near the front of
the building. We followed a small corridor near the nurses’ office. A round
wood table had been set up with a computer hooked to a camera and a printing
station. A teacher sat by a machine. She asked my name, typed it in a computer
and had me stand in front of a blue sheet of paper that had been taped to the
wall.

I was waiting for the photo to flash when Silas got into my line
of sight. “Smile,” he said.

I blushed. “It’s just a school photo.”

He shrugged. “Do it anyway. Say cheese or fiddlesticks or San
Francisco or whatever.”

I felt my lips moving into a grin hearing him say fiddlesticks and
the camera light flashed. Red and green colors washed over my eyes.

In five minutes, I had a photo ID where my cheeks were pink and I
had a crazy smile. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d had my picture taken,
so my face looked strange to me.

“I look terrible,” I said, holding my ID up and analyzing how my
hair looked mangled on one side.

“Let me see,” Silas said, reaching for the card. He tilted it
toward his face, angling it away from a gleam of light reflected in it. “It’s
not bad. You’re cute.”

I rubbed my hands over my cheeks as they felt hot. “I only have to
use it if they ask for it, right? And for the library?”

“I think they use it as your yearbook picture, too.”

My eyes widened. He broke into a grin and started laughing.

“That’s not funny,” I said, reaching for the ID.

He held it up over my head. “I might keep this. I don’t have a
picture of you.”

I leapt into almost an en pointe on my toes for it but with Silas
being so tall, he held it outside of my reach easily. I stumbled forward, and
through instinct put out a hand to stop myself and ended up pushing into him. I
let go quickly after I was stable. He jerked his chest forward, bending over a
little, feigning being hurt. I stepped away from him, walking backward and
laughing at the crazy face he was making. I backed up into something solid.

I turned and my heart dropped into my shoes in horror as I faced a
bristled Mr. McCoy, the vice principal.

“You have a nasty habit of running into people, Miss Sorenson,” he
said. He brushed at his brown suit coat as if I had soiled it. “You should
watch where you’re going.” His chubby cheeks protruded and his watery eyes
squinted at me.

My finger fluttered up to my lower lip. I receded. Silas came up
behind me and I stopped so I wouldn’t bump into him, too. “I’m so sorry, Mr.
McCoy.”

His small eyes slid down to my skirt. I snapped to attention,
putting my hands to my thighs to show him my skirt was well within regulation.
He scowled, looking back up at me. “Goofing off in the hallways is not
permitted.”

“We were getting our IDs,” Silas said. “And now we’re heading to
our next class.”

The bell rang and the hallway moved into action with students
shuffling off in different directions.

Mr. McCoy cleared his throat. “Follow me, Miss Sorenson. I believe
there’s a detention slip with your name on it in my office.”

“I don’t believe an accident is a cause for a detention, sir,”
Silas replied.

I bit my lip, reaching back to touch Silas’s arm, silently
pleading with him to not press the issue. I didn’t want him to get a detention,
too.

Mr. McCoy turned to him, squinting into Silas’s face. “You’re one
of Mr. Blackbourne’s kids, aren’t you?”

Silas glared back at him. “I’m from the Academy.”

“Not now you aren’t,” he said, his lips curling into a sneer.
“Don’t think for one minute I won’t give you detention, too. Or worse.” He
jerked is head back to me. “I’m going to let you go this time. The next time I
see you, you better keep your head down. I’ll be watching.” He glanced once
more at Silas and stalked down the hallway.

I let go of the breath I’d been holding. “Silas...”

He shook his head and grabbed my hand. “Come on,” he said. “We’re
going to be late.”

We slid into class at the last minute and took two seats near the
back. I collapsed into the chair, panting. Mr. McCoy was going to be a problem.

“That was the vice principal, right?” Silas asked, tilting over
the top of his desk to talk to me.

“Yeah,” I said. “I can’t believe I ran into him twice.”

“I don’t think this was your fault. He was watching us from down
the hall and when we got close, he leaned into you. He was waiting for this.”

My mouth fell open. “He was looking to give me detention?”

Silas’s lips pursed and he shook his head but didn’t say anything.
Whatever it was, I was sure I wanted to keep clear of Mr. McCoy. What stopped
him this time? Was it Silas or the lingering name of the Academy that made Mr.
McCoy recant his promise of a detention? Was he afraid of the Academy?

F
lirting

W
hile the teacher was going over the agenda, I shifted my feet
under my desk. I stopped short, hitting what I thought was my book bag. I
checked so I could move it. Silas snapped his feet from under my chair, his
knee knocking into his desk top. He covered his knee with his hands and he
sucked through his teeth once.

“Sorry,” I whispered to him. “I didn’t mean to scare you. I
thought I hit my book bag.”

“Don’t worry about it,” he said, and put his head to the desk. He
let go of his knee, but I could tell he was uncomfortable. He had to tuck his
legs in an odd angle. The desks weren’t made for someone so tall.

“Hey,” I said. “If you need to stretch your legs, go ahead and put
them under my desk.”

He sat up, his cheeks tinted red. With his black locks against his
face and his olive skin, it was really handsome. “I don’t want to be in your
way.”

“Don’t sweat it. Stretch your legs out.”

He did, leaning back in his seat until his feet were sticking out
from under my desk. I moved my feet until I had one on each side of his legs.

“There,” I said. “No big deal. I’ll just know it’s you down there.
If I kick you, I’m sorry.”

The corner of his mouth curled up. “Ditto.”

We sat like that through class. On occasion I would rock my ankle,
forgetting he was there. My heel would gently bump into his leg. He didn’t jump
like before. At some point I was unconsciously leaning my foot against him.
When I realized I was doing it, I froze, unsure if I should move it quickly. I
didn’t want to spook him again.

He never said a word about it.

When the bell rang, he walked with me through the hallway. “My
next class is near yours,” he said. “Victor’s on his way, right?”

I nodded. “He should be.”

We ended up pushed together on our way up the main stairs. Silas
moved me until I was standing in front of him. I didn’t understand why until I
noticed how squished we ended up being. I was standing so close to the girl in
front of me that I could smell the shampoo in her hair. Silas kept himself so
close, that when I had to stop suddenly, his chest bumped into my head.

The stairwell was going to be a problem. Too many students needed
to get around it and everyone was in a hurry. Silas kept a hand on my shoulder
the entire time and I was grateful for it as I felt unstable. I thought for
sure at some point I’d trip and get trampled.

When we were on the second floor and close to my next class, Dr.
Green appeared in the hallway right outside the door. “Oh!” he said, looking up
and smiling. I relaxed as his gentle gaze caught my eyes. Out of all the
teachers I had come across that day, I knew Dr. Green would be my favorite. I
remembered how kind he was with me at registration. It seemed strange he would
teach a class. He looked the same age as Mr. Blackbourne, nineteen at the most.
His soft green eyes lit up with recognition. “Hello, Miss Sorenson. And Silas,
you’re not in my class, are you?”

Silas shook his head. “Not this time, doc.”

“It’s a shame,” Dr. Green said. “Learning a third language would
look good on a resume.”

“What's the other language you know?” I asked Silas.

“Greek,” he said, his dark eyes sparking.

“You’ve not said one word to me in Greek,” I teased. I was
embarrassed that I didn’t know this. I knew he was from Europe but I never got
the chance to ask where he was from and while on occasion he did carry an
accent, his English was so fluent that I often forgot.

“
M'aresei o tropos pos gelas
,” he said, and he waved
goodbye as he walked on toward his class.

I looked to Dr. Green. “Do you know what he said?”

“I’m afraid I don’t know Greek,” he said, a slight smile on his lips.
“But it sounded romantic. Are you two dating?”

I flinched out of surprise. Are teachers supposed to take an
interest in students like that? I blushed but shook my head. “Oh no, we’re
friends,” I said.

He nodded and adjusted the green tie at his neck. “Ah well.” Was
he disappointed or pleased? It was difficult to tell.

I found a couple of desks near the back and took one, putting my
bag in the seat behind me for Victor. I was tempted to take the back but the
guys seemed to enjoy sitting behind me. I wasn’t sure why but I didn’t mind.

He slipped in at the last minute. “I hate the trailers,” he said,
moving my book bag out of the seat and to the floor for me.

“Me, too,” I whispered to him.

Dr. Green stood at the front of the class, writing his name in Japanese
on the board and wrote it in English below that. “Good afternoon, class,” he
said.

I said a soft good afternoon, but no one else in the class joined
me.

Dr. Green laughed. “I think my class is missing. Did no one show
up today? I’ll have to mark everyone as absent. I believe I said good
afternoon.”

The room chorused a low murmuring ‘good afternoon’ in reply.

“This won’t do,” Dr. Green said. “I’m here to teach you Japanese.
I can’t very well teach you English, too.” He folded his arms behind his back
and walked up through an aisle between two rows of desks. “We’ll be taking a
lot of time to discuss Japan and the culture and of course, the language.
You’ll be practicing with your classmates.” He made a loop around behind the
back row of desks and strolled toward the front of the class. “As such, I think
right now is the time to select a partner. I want you to work on a project for
me.”

There was a collective groan. I glanced back at Victor, his fire
eyes flickered at me. We already had our partners.

“Groaning is not a word,” Dr. Green said. “In this class, we use
our words to express ourselves. And get ready for it. A month from now, we
won’t be using English at all. If you can’t say it in formal Japanese, you
won’t be able to do anything. That includes permission to leave my classroom.”
Dr. Green rocked on his feet in front of the room, a soft smile on his face.
“Let’s hope I remember to tell you what the phrase is first...” He shook his
head. “But for now, pick a partner. I want you to prepare a list of things you
both already know about Japan. I want to see how much my students know about
the place we will be studying.”