“I’m just so nervous,” I said. “I don’t know where to start with this. And it feels selfish to consider it. I don’t know what I’m doing.”
He held me tighter, the muscles in his arms firm around my shoulders. “No one does, Sang. No one. Relationships are always hard.”
I sniffed, getting a lungful of his musk. I breathed it in again, finding comfort in his arms. “Even families,” I said, repeating something Mr. Blackbourne had told me. “Even friends.”
“Even families and friends,” he echoed. He dipped his head down, until his nose buried into my hair and he kissed my scalp. “The really good relationships are extra hard. You have to put a lot of effort into it.” He lifted his head and pulled back enough that he could look at me. “I don’t mean to sound down. I’m just realistic. All of this really relies on you.”
The Academy
The Ghost Bird Series
The Healing Power
of Sugar
♥
Book Nine
♥
Written by C. L. Stone
Published by
Arcato Publishing
Copyright © 2015 C. L. STONE
http://clstonebooks.com
Published by Arcato Publishing
http://www.arcatopublishing.com
All rights reserved.
ISBN-13: 978-1519213747
ISBN-10: 1519213743
This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events or locales is purely coincidental. The characters are productions of the author’s imagination and used fictitiously.
From The Academy Series
The Ghost Bird Series
Introductions
First Days
Friends vs. Family
Forgiveness and Permission
Drop of Doubt
Push and Shove
House of Korba
The Other Side of Envy
The Healing Power of Sugar
First Kiss (Coming 2016)
The Scarab Beetle Series
Thief
Liar
Fake
Accessory
Hoax (Coming 2016)
Other Books By C. L. Stone
Smoking Gun
Spice God
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PERMANENT MARKER
North was snoring like a buzz saw.
I’d learned that expression from books I’d read. I didn’t know what a buzz saw was, or how it differed from other saws, and I’d never personally heard one in action, but I thought if anything fit the sound of what I imagined a buzz saw sounded like, North’s exhausted snoring seemed to be the perfect match.
He didn’t normally snore, only when he was really beat. The few times I’d heard it this bad, it was usually like now: middle of the afternoon and he’d managed to pass out.
He had every reason to be super tired. We all did. We’d been on the run from McCoy but had finally returned back to almost normal a couple of days ago when he had started chasing a fake Sang around town, thanks to the Academy. I didn’t know who the girl was; I wasn’t sure it was even the same girl each time.
I thought it was a bad idea to use another girl as a decoy. It was too dangerous for me to be followed, but someone else could be bait? Someone we didn’t know?
It was a couple of days before the Thanksgiving holidays, so nearly all teachers were trying to fit in last-minute, very important tests. With all the running around, none of us had studied. A couple of the boys were dismissive of the tests. But I was paranoid of getting bad marks. Old habits; if my grades stayed normal, no one at my old house would have anything to say to me.
My main concern was going back to school while Mr. McCoy was following a fake Sang. We couldn’t skip this week, because it was some part of their plan. I was nervous. Mr. Hendricks would inform Mr. McCoy that I was in school. That meant he’d know he’d been following a false lead. They’re hoping for explosions.
At least we had the day off today to prepare.
We were at Kota’s house. I was parked on the floor, going over last minute studying. North had been up most of the night, doing some work for the Academy.
Kota had left to walk Max. I was babysitting the house. And North.
I closed my textbook, ready to give myself a break and maybe even have a nap, too.
I heard the side door open. I dismissed it, assuming it was Kota returning.
I felt a tug at one of the locks of my hair. I turned, ready with a quip, but spotted no one.
My heart raced. Now I wasn’t just paranoid. I was imagining things.
I spun around to check the other side of the room. Luke’s face hovered within an inch of mine.
Startled, I fell back a little, grinning. Didn’t he know better than to tease right now? We were all too stressed and jumpy for surprises like that.
Luke beamed, his brown eyes happy. His long blond hair was tied back into a sloppy ponytail, with a few locks hanging around his face. His baby blue button up shirt hung mostly open, only two buttons closed. He cupped my cheek and leaned in close, kissing the opposite side of my face. He drew back and released me, using sign language to talk to me. “Morning, sweetie.”
I blushed. I glanced at North—still snoring--understanding why his brother wanted to be quiet. It still felt a little strange that he’d kissed me in front of him, even if North was asleep. I signed back, “Aren’t you supposed to be working at the diner?”
“Taking a break. Actually came to see if you wanted to come back with me.”
I perked up, nodding. Last week had been so chaotic, with running around like chickens with our heads cut off; I hadn’t been back to the diner much. “Can I work with you?”
He smiled and nodded. He plopped himself down on the carpet, sprawling out on his back. He lifted a hand, signing in the air by spelling out the letters. “Give me a minute.”
With his arm hanging in the air, I noticed Sharpie marks. I snagged his wrist, drawing his arm closer so I could inspect it.
There were numbers marked into his tan skin. It wasn’t his handwriting. It looked like a girl’s. I sent him a quiet, puzzled look.
Luke’s face jerked into a grin. “Don’t be jealous,” he signed.
At first, I didn’t realize why he would think I was jealous. Maybe it was because I was reading his arm sideways, but when I looked at it again, I realized it was a phone number. I gaped at him.
He laughed, covering his mouth with his hand, shaking his head. He sat up, leaned in and whispered, “Some crazy girl walked in, didn’t say a single word to me, grabbed my arm and wrote her phone number on me and left. I didn’t realize until after what she’d done. I think I was just surprised. I’d give her an A for effort, but it was kind of creepy.”
I knew my mouth was hanging open, but I didn’t know how to respond. I was nowhere in the ballpark of being prepared to handle this situation. How should I? Luke kissed my cheek, called me at night just to talk about school and other things, wanted to go out on dates, slept in my bed...but so did the other guys, including his brother.
He knew about the secret idea of how to keep the team together. It was a goal for some of the boys, and others, like myself, liked the idea in theory, but were unsure if it would make everyone happy. Luke ha
dn’t talked about it much. I imagined he was still trying to process it.
I didn’t want to think of other girls gaining their attention. As much as I told myself I shouldn’t, I wanted to be selfish and keep Luke to myself. Luke and North and Victor and everyone else, too. Maybe I shouldn’t. I hadn’t asked for a commitment and neither had they. Was I to expect Luke to only date me when I dated others?
Why did my heart hurt so much thinking about Luke letting a strange girl write on his arm?
In response to my stunned silence, Luke drew his palms over my cheeks again. His brown eyes, usually so happy, drew dark and serious. “Sang,” he whispered. “I’m not interested in her, okay?”
My cheeks heated. “It’s... fine.” I wanted to sound casual about it, but my voice cracked, betraying my uneasy feelings. It surprised me. I was interested in the idea, but I knew I should let them all make their own decisions. Why did this thought of another girl simply writing her number on him hurt so much?
Luke’s eyes widened. He reached into his back pocket, pulling out a black Sharpie. He opened it, and swiped the number at his arm, coloring it in. “Look,” he said. “I don’t want it. I was never going to call her. I’m not interested in anyone else.”
My heart lifted. Why it made me feel better, I wasn’t sure. Maybe it was all the questions in my head. Maybe part of it was because my parents, people who were supposed to always be there for me, didn’t want me. And really, over the years when I’d grown distant from my family, I only had a shaky idea of what commitment and loyalty really was. I didn’t feel I’d earned it—not with the guys. Like anyone could walk in and shake them out of this and convince them to move on.
I was afraid to lose them.
But Luke’s eyes begged me to understand and forgive him for something I shouldn’t have to forgive him for. I forced my jealous and conflicted thoughts to the back of my head and put on a brave smile. “You’re making a big black mark on your arm,” I said.
His face lifted. He pointed the Sharpie at my arm, and drew a happy face. “There,” he said. “Now we’ll match.”
I grinned at him, taking the marker from his hand. I drew a happy face on his arm, followed by a few random spirals and something that looked like a daisy. Since we were already marked up, it seemed okay to at least doodle a bit.
Luke chuckled, but cut it short when North interrupted with a loud snore. Then he twisted onto his side facing us, but his eyes were closed and his snoring stopped. He was still dead asleep, though.
Luke’s eyebrows rose, and his gaze swept between his brother’s face and the marker in my hand.
“Luke,” I whispered in a lower tone, sensing his thoughts even before he made a move. “Don’t…”
Luke pushed a fingertip to his lips, indicating to be quiet. He took the marker from me, and got up. He knee walked close to the couch. He zeroed in on North’s sleeping face.
I held my breath, sure that North would wake up the moment Luke touched the marker to his skin. North would probably punch Luke before asking questions. Luke was insane.
Luke’s marker touched down on North’s forehead. In an agonizing couple of seconds, Luke managed to trace in a squiggly line to give North a unibrow. Somehow, that single bit of ink made North much more scary than he’d been before, even while he slept.
Luke turned to me, wiggling his eyebrows.
I covered part of my eyes from this. I shook my head at him, waving my arm quietly, trying to tell him to stop. My whole body stiffened, tense. All I could think about was he was going to die when North woke up.
Luke returned to North’s face, drawing devil horns above his eyebrows and a smilie face on his cheek. After he was done, he glanced again at me, holding out the marker.
I shook my head.
Luke hand-signed to me. “Do it or I’ll tell him you did this.”
My eyes popped out of my head. He was blackmailing me? “I don’t want to die,” I signed back.
Luke’s eyes lit up. “You’re already dead. You just let me mark his face.”
I did stand by and let him. I could have yelled or something and woken North up.
And some evil part in my brain reveled in the idea of doing something to North that would almost be like revenge for all the times he nagged at me about eating healthier and to do my homework. It seemed harmless. He’d yell at me, but he did that already. So what was different now?
Luke was his brother and knew him better than I did. If he was willing to…
I gingerly took the Sharpie from Luke’s hand, knee-walking to hover over North’s sleeping face.
Luke remained behind me, staring, waiting.
My hand shook. I tried to be as delicate as I could. I started with a simple swirl. The moment the marker met his skin, my heart nearly exploded as I was sure he would wake up.
He didn’t. He remained as still as ever.
I did another flower on his face, followed by a star and then I drew a seashell.
Luke chuckled softly behind me, his fingertips remained on my shoulder, as if encouraging me to continue.
As if to ask for forgiveness for my small part in painting his face, I drew a tiny heart on the crest of North’s cheek. I took my time with it, trying to make it pretty.
A big, terrifying hand snapped around my wrist, pulling my hand away from his face.
North’s intense brown eyes popped open, his brows furrowed in sudden anger despite how deeply asleep he’d been. The markings on his face made his frown look ten times scarier than usual. When his eyes focused and settled on my face, confusion set in, as if he had expected someone else.
I froze, terrified.
His eyes moved from my face to the marker in my captured hand, and then back to my face. “Sang,” North emitted a warning tone.
Holy crap, I’m a dead girl. In fear, I yanked my wrist away, dropping the marker. I scrambled, trying to back away to get up off the floor and make a run for it.
Luke was gone. The traitor! Whether he had dashed down the hallway or ducked into the kitchen, I wasn’t sure. And I didn’t know best which direction to run and where I could hide.
I didn’t have a chance. North pounced on me, knocking me to the carpet in a heap. He twisted me onto my back and settled down hard onto my hips, pinning me to the floor as he sat on me.
I struggled, shifting my body underneath his weight, nearly pulling myself apart as I clawed at the carpet as if that would help me get some traction and I could escape.
I squealed and giggled like the craziest person on the planet. I was about to die. At least I’d made a pretty heart on his cheek. That thought made me giggle more.
North smirked and then brushed a palm over his face. “What the hell did you do to me?” he growled.
“Nothing,” I squeaked out, too high pitched, the word cutting off at the end.
He sniffed loudly. “You did not just put permanent marker on my face.”
“Nope.” My voice cracked. Worst liar ever.
“She drew a heart,” Luke the coward shouted. My best guess was he was hiding in the kitchen. “And a swirly thing. And a smilie face. She did it. It’s all her fault. I tried to stop her.”
What?! “Traitor!” I called out.
Luke’s arm appeared from the doorway of the kitchen, displaying the stuff I’d drawn on his arm. “See? She did it to me, too.”
North grunted. He twisted on top of me, reaching for the marker I’d dropped. His dark eyebrows furrowed, making his now unibrow even more dangerously...hilarious.
Giggles erupted from my mouth like a bomb. I knew it was the worst reaction to have and I couldn’t help it. I’d basically admitted my guilt, even if Luke was pinning me for everything, including the stuff I hadn’t done.
North smirked. He bent over, hovering above me. He held the marker tip inches from my face. “Let’s see what Sang Sorenson looks like with a mustache.”
My mouth popped open. When he got close with the marker, I turned my head, batting at his arm
with my hands.
He grunted, snagged my wrists up in a quick motion, holding them over my head with one hand as he pinned me to the floor with his body. “Stop moving or it’s going to turn into a penis or something worse.”
I sucked in a breath, eyes wide with fear. I couldn’t imagine what would have been worse, and I didn’t want to find out.
The marker touched my skin. North took his time. I felt the swirl of a curly moustache, but after that point, he started drawing on my cheeks and forehead. I couldn’t picture what he was drawing.
I half whimpered, half giggled.
Luke appeared and peeked over North’s shoulder, checking out his work. “Not bad, but that curse word under her left eye...make the leg of the k a little longer, it looks weird.”
“No,” I squealed out, my voice cracking. I was giggling too hard.
North smirked over me. He nudged my head a little with his arm, turning it to the side. He drew something on my ear. “You are going to have to learn to say no to Luke’s stupid ideas.”
Luke’s eyes widened above him. “Hey, she did it.”
“You think I believe for one minute that little Sang here came up with the idea to draw on my face while I was sleeping? She wouldn’t dare.”
“But she...”
In one swift movement, North released my wrists and swung an arm around, punching Luke low in the gut.
Luke choked, clutched at the spot where he’d been struck, and fell sideways to the ground, gasping.
“That’s for lying to me,” North said.
Luke chuckled through his pained expression. “Still worth it. Did you see the look on her face when you woke up?”
“She probably would have gotten away with it if you hadn’t pulled on my foot and nudged me awake.”
My mouth dropped open, my eyes wild on Luke. “You! You woke him?”
“See?” North said. “You can’t trust him at things like this. There’s always a secret motive.”
I struggled underneath North. “Give me the marker. I want to get Luke.”