The Academy - First Days (11 page)

“What do you know about Japan?” I asked Victor, turning in the
seat to face him.

He shook his head, a slight smile on his face. “They grow rice.”

I reached for a notebook and a pen in my bag. “Do you want to
write it down?”

“You write,” he said. “Your handwriting is nicer.”

“How would you know?”

“Girls always have nice handwriting.”

I smirked at him, plopping the notebook on his desk. “I want to
see yours.”

He took the pen from my hand and wrote something in the notebook.
He flipped over the notebook so I could read it.

Japan grows rice.

“It’s not bad,” I said, being honest. I’d read worse. His was
legible.

“But you probably write all swirly and with hearts and stuff,” he
said, fiddling with the medallion at his neck.

“I don’t use hearts,” I said. “Unless you want me to.” I took the
notebook and wrote our names at the top of the page. I used my plainest writing
for my own name and wrote his in a girly script, using a heart over the “i”.

“He’s going to know you did that,” he said. “He knows my
handwriting.”

“Yeah but no one else will,” I said. “And we have to pass it up at
the end of class, right?”

His eyes went wide. “You wouldn’t.”

“I already did.”

He rolled his eyes, reaching for the pen in my hands but I put it
behind my back.

“What’s wrong? I like your name in hearts.” I was feeling good. I
thought I would like this class and I was happy Victor was there with me to
share it. It was the first time I wasn’t feeling so nervous that day.

He smiled but his cheeks tinted red. He shook his head and crossed
his arms over his chest. “Stop being so damn cute.”

“Victor?” Dr. Green said.

Dr. Green approached my desk. I spun around to sit properly.

“Dr. Green.” Victor sat up, pulling his shoulders back to face
him.

“If you’re going to flirt with Miss Sang in my class, it must be
done in Japanese.” Dr. Green brushed a lock of his sandy-colored hair from his
forehead. “I believe you were saying she is cute? In Japanese, you say
kawa
...”

“I’m not doing that,” Victor said, interrupting him, blushing
again and turning his head away.

Other students listening in started to giggle.

“No?” Dr. Green looked at me. “Well in that case...” He picked up
my hand. His warm fingers wrapped around mine delicately. “
Kimi ga ite shiawase. Koi ni ochite shimatta.
” He bowed his head, puckered his lips and hovered at
the crest of my knuckles as if he were about to kiss my hand.

The whole class around us started to gasp.

He stopped a millimeter away and his breath
teased the back of my hand. He gazed up, smiled at me and winked. “That is how
you talk to a lady.”

I felt my cheeks and ears getting hot. “What does it mean?” I
asked, my voice catching.

“When you figure it out, I’ll give you a free A on your next
test.” He let go of my hand. He stood fully, putting his hands behind his back
again and headed to the front of the room. “Are we finished? I don’t see pens
and pencils moving. Please don’t turn in a paper with just two or three things.
I am hoping my class is brighter than the average student population.”

Whispers filled the room. Eyes focused on me and I slid further
into my seat, unsure how to respond. So many questions popped into my mind.

Academy teachers were very different.

Victor escorted me to the gym for my next class. He was quiet,
gazing at the floor and he bumped into other students as he walked.

“Victor?”

“Hm?”

“Is Dr. Green normally like that?”

His fire eyes met mine. He considered me, an eyebrow raised. “You
mean kissing girls in the middle of the classroom?”

My cheeks warmed again. “He never did kiss my hand.”

“He would have,” Victor said, gazing down at his toes again. “And
yes, he’s like that.”

“Do you know what he said to me? The kimi ga--”

“No,” he said, his tone rising. His cheeks turned red. “I have no
idea what he said.”

Was he being honest or did he not want to tell me? And why was he
snappy with me? I stopped walking, rewrapping my fingers around the straps of
my bag. “Hey,” I said. “I was just asking.”

“Well stop asking me about him. Who the hell cares what he said?”
he scoffed. His face changed and he reached into his pocket, pulling out his
cell phone. He glanced at the messages and frowned. “I’ve got to go.”

“Victor?” I asked but he was already walking away. He wandered off
into the crowd and I lost sight of him.

I couldn’t understand him. Why would he be so angry with me? Was
it because I basically started it and embarrassed us both in class? I sighed.
Sometime later I needed to remind myself to apologize to him for it.

And where was he going?

Since it was the first day of gym class, all of the students for
that period collected in the large gymnasium. The bleachers were closed and
there was a wide area of the floor in front of the basketball court. The girls
were directed to one half of the area and the guys to the other. We were told
to sit on the ground. I knelt in my skirt, the wood felt rough against my
already bruised knees. I slid onto my butt quickly for relief. It was awkward
but my knees didn’t hurt.

I found Gabriel right away across the room. I waved to him to
catch his eye. His eyes brightened when he noticed and he waved back. I moved
so I was sitting close to the outside of the group of girls and he did the same
on his side, sitting on the edge of the boy’s group. The gym teachers were
clustered together under one of the basketball goals. They talked to
themselves, hovering over their clipboards.

“Where’s Nathan?” I asked him.

“I don’t know,” he said. He tucked fingers through his hair,
combing the locks of blonde behind his ear to blend in with the brown. “I
thought he would be here.”

I twisted my lips. “You know, Victor got a message on his phone
and ran off. Would they be together? Did something happen?”

Gabriel’s eyebrows arched and his mouth opened in surprised. He
fixed himself quickly, shrugged and shook his head. “It’s probably nothing to
worry about.”

I couldn’t be sure but it seemed like Gabriel knew more than he
was letting on. What were the boys doing that was so important that they would
miss a class on the first day of school? Kota would be furious. So would Mr.
Blackbourne and Dr. Green. I hoped whatever was going on, they wouldn’t find
themselves in trouble.

The gym instructors started to talk to all of us as a group,
informing us about where to pay for gym uniforms, giving us sheets of paper as
an insurance waiver for our parents to sign and a gym locker number with a lock
combo. We would be given five minutes to be dressed and in the gym every day.
Our grade depended on us being there on time and daily participation.

Coach French, the girl’s instructor, barked at us. “We will also
be requiring everyone to pass the physical exam. We’re going to do that soon to
get it out of the way. This includes the mile run, sit ups, push-ups...
everything.”

I made a face, squirming to find a comfortable way to sit that was
modest in a skirt without sitting on my knees.

“Don’t like the sound of exercising?” Gabriel asked.

I swallowed, trying to find a good distraction so he wouldn’t
notice. “I hate running.”

He laughed. “You know what’s the best part about running?”

“What?”

“The stopping.”

I laughed with him. “Yes. I agree.”

After this, there was nothing for us to do but wait until the end
of class. They allowed us to talk together and the gym seemed to vibrate with
the voices of our chatter echoing in the room.

The door of the gym opened and from the hallway walked in Mr. McCoy
and Principal Hendricks. They crossed the basketball court together, talking to
each other. Principal Hendricks folded his arms over his chest, his gaze
searching the students. Mr. McCoy instantly spotted me, leaned in and whispered
something to the Principal. My heart thudded. Was he going to give me detention
for sitting incorrectly?

“Who are they?” Gabriel asked, catching where I was looking and my
expression.

“It’s the principal and the vice principal.”

“Why do you look like you’re about to run out the door?” He
smirked, poking at my arm. “Are you in trouble already?”

“I don’t know yet,” I said.

Gabriel’s face turned solemn and he twisted around to watch with
me. Mr. McCoy and Principal Hendricks crossed the gym toward us.

“Excuse me, kids. We’d hate to interrupt,” Hendricks spoke to both
of us. Gabriel and I stood up so we could address him. “You’re one of Mr.
Blackbourne’s kids? Mr. Coleman, right?” he asked Gabriel.

He nodded, his crystal blue eyes darkened. He kept his hands
behind his back. “Yes, sir. How can I help you?”

“Mr. Morgan didn’t show up for his last class today. Would you
have an idea as to why?”

Gabriel glanced at me quickly and shook his head. “I have no idea.
Perhaps he felt ill and went to see the nurse?”

Mr. McCoy’s eyes lingered on me for most of this conversation but
he turned to look at the other students. “Wasn’t there another one of you in
this class? A Mr. Griffin?”

Were they keeping tabs on the guys? “He’s not here,” I said
softly.

Principal Hendricks raised a bushy gray eyebrow. His bald head
gleamed under the bright lights in the gym. “Is he sick, too?”

“I’m sure if you ask Mr. Blackbourne,” Gabriel said, “he would
know. We are required to report to him.”

Principal Hendrick’s friendly face turned serious. “I understand
there might be some differences in how you handle things at your Academy. In
the future, though, please report to either myself or Mr. McCoy if there are
ever any more
incidences
.” His eyes fell on me and his smile returned,
but from the way his lips curled on his mouth, it was like staring into the
face of a crocodile. “Keep these boys in line, won’t you Miss Sorenson? Tell
that professor of yours to call me.”

I blushed, surprised he knew my name. He thought I was from the
Academy? “But I...”

“Don’t worry,” he said, patting my shoulder. “I’m helping our
newest students to adjust. I know it’s different than what you’re used to.”

He turned away. Mr. McCoy coughed shortly, shot a glare at me and
sauntered away with the principal, heading back out of the gym.

My fingers trembled and I pressed my hands to my thighs to still
them. I looked to Gabriel, who was shaking his head.

“Gabriel,” I said. “What was that?”

His crystal blue eyes met mine. That crazy smile returned to his
face, masking the worry he carried a moment ago. “Who knows? Those guys are
weird.”

The moment class was over, Gabriel strolled beside me toward the
busses. The mass of students around us made it hard to walk together. Gabriel
sought out my hand to keep me nearby. The suddenness and ease of him simply
holding my hand had me blushing. Not that it mattered as other students held
hands. It just mattered to me as my already overworked heart quivered at his
touch.

He pulled his cell phone out with his free hand and was typing
something in.

“If Victor’s gone, does that mean you’re stuck here?” I asked him,
knowing Victor had driven him there that morning.

Gabriel looked up for a moment and gave me another reassuring
smile. “Oh don’t worry. I’ll probably just catch the bus with you.”

“With me?”

“Yeah. I’ll hang out at Kota’s. It’s okay.”

I bit my lip. This felt like a pre-arranged plan. So Victor’s
sudden disappearance was expected to happen at some point. If that was the
case, then Gabriel knew more than he was telling me. I couldn’t think of the
questions to ask to figure out the truth.

Gabriel’s phone vibrated and beeped in his hand. He checked it.
“Victor and Nathan have training. They’re with Mr. Blackbourne now.” He put his
phone in his pocket. “See? They’re fine.”

“What kind of training?” I asked. “What does that mean? Is it for
the Academy?”

He shrugged, squeezing my hand. “Don’t worry about it, okay?”

How could he be so calm? They skipped a class on the first day and
the administration knew about it. “They can’t skip class like that,” I said.
“Why is the principal checking up on everyone? It’s the second time I saw him
today.”

Gabriel blinked at me. “What do you mean?”

I described to him what happened in homeroom with North and Luke
and how he had asked about uniforms.

Gabriel rubbed the back of his head. “Now that’s really weird.”