Push and Shove

by C. L. Stone

  “I’ll go get her,” Kota said.

  “Oh, I meant you could stay here with Sang and I could...”

  “It’s okay,” he said. “I should get Sang home anyway. Her parents might be asking about her.”

  I stiffened. He didn’t tell his mom about my parents? She didn’t know they were gone? I wish he’d told me sooner. What if I’d accidentally said something?

  And why was he trying to dump me back home? My heart thundered, unable to slow from Kota’s kisses and from the sudden change of plans. What was going on?

  MR. GRIFFIN

  Ten minutes later, Kota walked with me toward Nathan’s front door. Kota’s car was parked in Nathan’s drive so Nathan and Gabriel must have returned from the store.

  I gripped the book bag straps, staring off at the red and brown bricks of Nathan’s house. We had left quickly. I didn’t ask, but sensed Kota’s urgency.

  And then there was the way his eyes avoided looking at Mr. Morris parked not too far from his house. Did this sudden change have to do with him?

  Kota knocked at the door and before he could bring his keys out to unlock it, Nathan answered.

  Nathan’s eyebrows shot up. “Something wrong?” he asked, he stepped aside, allowing us room to enter the foyer.

  “Need to go pick up Jessica,” Kota said. He walked only a few feet into the entrance space and stopped. “Mr. Morris is watching, so I wanted to do it instead of sending my mom. Just walking her over.”

  “Oh,” Nathan said, his face lighting up. “So I do get Sang tonight? Not just for dinner?”

  Kota did an eye roll. “Just for right now.”

  “Don’t let me rush you. She’s good here with me.”

  My heart fluttered. Kota was coming back? Maybe I just didn’t understand. Or he didn’t want Mr. Morris following both of us, just him. But this was probably part of Mr. Blackbourne’s orders not to involve me in anything relating to the Academy, even if it was just a decoy ride to get Jessica. I dropped my bag to the floor, feeling a bit better about the situation. It really wasn’t under Kota’s control, so it couldn’t be helped.

  Kota started for the door. His sneaker skidded on the floor when he stopped short. He turned back and reached for me. His fingers threaded through my hair as he held my head still. He dropped a kiss on my brow quickly. “I’ll be back,” he said. He released me, and was out the door before I could say goodbye.

  I hovered in the hallway, looking after him through the slats of the blinds. Nathan stepped up behind me, an arm encircling my waist as he watched out the window over my head. Kota started his car, pulling out of the drive.

  When he was out of view, Mr. Morris’s brown sedan remained behind. I counted off the seconds, waiting for him to start up his car and follow along. Was he trying to make sure Kota was out of sight before he started up? Why be sly about following him now when he made it very obvious?

  But even after a few minutes, when I was sure Kota was further down the road, Mr. Morris remained.

  Nathan squinted out the slats next to me. “Did he fall asleep?”

  I studied the windshield. I thought for a moment he was right, but then I spotted slight movement. Mr. Morris shifted like he was reaching for the radio.

  “He’s awake,” I said.

  Nathan frowned. “He’s not following Kota.”

  “Who is he watching, then?”

  “I don’t know,” he said. He pulled his phone out, dialing. “Kota,” he said. “Mr. Morris is still here.” Nathan angled his head around, looking up and down the road. “Don’t worry. We’ll be boring.” He hung up.

  “He’s watching us?

  “Maybe. Or he’s pretending to do his job when he isn’t really. Mr. Morris should take a hint, following us is pointless.” He sighed and tugged me. “Come on.”

  I trailed behind Nathan further into the house, finally noticing how tight his red T-shirt was around his shoulders. He’d worn that same shirt a couple of weeks ago. Was it shrinking? Or was his frame getting bulkier? Standing behind him, I felt immensely smaller than before.

  “Oy,” called Gabriel from within the house. “Is that her?”

  “Yeah,” Nathan said as he rounded the corner. I followed him into the kitchen.

  Gabriel was behind the island. His blond locks looked freshly parted and combed, styled against the russet. His school blazer, shirt and tie were gone, and he wore only the white ribbed undershirt and the slacks. The cotton clung to his lean, muscular form, and while I meant to look up at his face, I couldn’t stop gazing at his body.

  Gabriel looked at Nathan, cocking an eyebrow. “Are these mashed potatoes supposed to look so ... wet?”

  Nathan hurried to the stovetop. “I thought you could read directions.”

  Gabriel picked up the box of instant mashed potato mix and scanned. “It said add all this milk. I don’t think the measurements are right. I added the flakes and now it’s almost soup.”

  I stepped up next to Gabriel, glancing into the pot. “It just needs a few more flakes.”

  “Are you sure?” Nathan asked.

  “You should listen to her,” Gabriel said. “She can cook.”

  I stirred the pot. “The flakes will poof out after a minute.” I measured another half cup of flakes, and dropped them into the pot. “It’s not really an exact science. If this makes it too thick, you just add a little more milk until you get it right.”

  Gabriel dropped the box of flakes onto the counter. “We should have just eaten out tonight. But anyway, come check it out.” He took my hand, leading me to the fridge, opening it to show me the stocked shelves. “Coffee, bananas, strawberries,” he said. It wasn’t everything they had in the fridge, just what he pointed out. “And we got one of those new fancy blenders. We’re going to make smoothies in the morning.”

  “With coffee?” I asked with a smile. It was the way he said it that was funny.

  His eyes widened “Aw shit. I didn’t even think about that.”

  “You can’t make coffee smoothies,” Nathan said.

  “Sure you can,” Gabriel said. “It’s just adding like a banana and maybe some ice to those Frappuccinos.” He shut the fridge and turned to the counter, snapping up a bottle of pills. He pushed on the cap to open it, and shook out one. “Here,” he said, holding it up to me. “Take one.”

  “Vitamins?” I asked, taking it from his hand. I knew Dr. Green wanted me to take these, but I’d never had them before. The pill looked huge, like it was meant for a horse rather than a person. Nathan filled a glass of water for me. I swallowed the pill down. Barely.

  Gabriel shook the bottle in his hand, making the pills rattle. “It’s supposed to be a good brand. And it’s marked for women so I guess that’s even better. I should probably make you take two.”

  “She needs to eat real food,” Nathan said. He bent over, examining the contents inside the oven. “This chicken should be done in a bit.”

  “Come on, Trouble,” Gabriel tugged me by the hand again. Nathan shot me a look like I didn’t have to let him pull me around like that if I didn’t want. I didn’t mind. Gabriel didn’t get a chance to see me as much as Nathan or the others, so any chance we had to be together, I wanted to make sure to take full advantage of it.

  Gabriel guided me to Nathan’s bedroom and started sifting through the closet, organizing my clothes and some of Nathan’s too. I stood beside him, simply watching as he worked. I admired the red crystal studs in his ears. His hair was growing out a little. Brown hair was emerging at his scalp, replacing his blond locks. I wondered if he was going to grow it long like Luke’s hair, down to the shoulders.

  “We might have to redo this closet sometime,” Gabriel said. “I want to stick some extra clothes over here for everyone. Since the diner’s open, we’re going to need to keep more things here. Kota’s closet is getting full.”

  “How much stuff do you keep in his closet?”

  “Right now, there’s spares of these ridiculous school uniforms. Ac
tually I need to go through his closet, too. There’s old things he wears that are faded or worn. He’ll hang onto clothes for forever.”

  “If you need to store more things, we could use my house,” I said. “At least the attic.”

  “Sweetie, we’re trying to get you out, not move everyone in.” Gabriel picked up a skirt and held it up to my body. “Where did this come from? Try this on.”

  I took the skirt from him. It was a short pencil-line skirt. It was more formal than I remember Gabriel buying for me, but then, that day was a blur of clothes. “Didn’t I try this on the day we went shopping? I mean, it’s new.”

  “You haven’t worn it yet?”

  “The price tags are on all the ones I haven’t worn.”

  He checked, and a price tag was hanging off the back. “Christ, I buy you clothes and you wear the same things all the time. Wear this tomorrow.”

  “It’s cold out.”

  “The school’s warm inside.” He tossed the skirt at me. “Try it on.”

  I grunted, going to Nathan’s bathroom. I shut the door and quickly put the skirt on. I stomped back out again, holding my arms out, waiting for him to give a thumbs up or down.

  Gabriel looked up from shuffling through Nathan’s dresser. He tilted his head. “I bought that for you?”

  “Wasn’t it with the others? It’s not one of my old ones and I don’t think this belongs to Marie.”

  “It’s not Danielle’s, is it? From when she stole your clothes?”

  “I don’t think so. Those were all jeans and T-shirts.”

  He jumped up. He hooked his fingers at the waist and jerked. Part of the edge was so loose, it could have slid off my hips if he tugged the other way. “Sweetie, you’re a stick. No wonder you fainted. You need to go eat.”

  “We’re about to,” I said.

  “I’m not shopping for a new set of clothes for your ass because you’re not eating.” He slapped me on the thigh. “No wonder everything’s looking like shit on you lately. They don’t fit right.”

  I made a small noise, backing away from him to fall into Nathan’s bed. I stretched out. For some reason, my stomach was hurting a little. I wasn’t hungry, but there was a pang. I tried to ignore it, thinking perhaps it was just nerves.

  Gabriel flopped onto the bed next to me, holding his head up in his hand. “Sang, look at me. Tell me why you aren’t eating.”

  My eyes went wide. “Because I forget! I’ve told you.”

  “Are you sure that’s the reason?”

  My mouth fell open, but Gabriel caught my chin, forcing my mouth closed. “Let me finish. If you’ve turned anorexic or some shit, so help me god, I’ll beat that pretty ass of yours. But if you were anorexic, you wouldn’t admit it and say you’re fine and all that. So I’m asking you flat out because if you’re not honest with me, I have to get all Mr. Blackbourne on you. And if I didn’t ask, I’d be an ass. So you see? I have to make sure.”

  “I wasn’t trying to not eat,” I said. “I thought I was eating. We had cupcakes and pizza at the party. I split lunch with you at school. If I was trying to not eat, I wouldn’t be eating cupcakes.”

  “Unless you’re throwing them up. You’re not puking are you?”

  “Ew, no. “I can’t stand doing that when I’ve got the flu.”

  Gabriel sucked in a breath, flopping onto his back on the bed. “All right, all right. Just had to check.” He let out a puff of air and then jumped up again like something caught his eye. He went right for the closet. He found a brown bottle on the shelf and then showed it to me. “You’re still wearing this?”

  It was the perfume he’d made me. I nodded.

  “You still like it?” he asked.

  “Yes,” I said. I did. It was a wonderful fruity musk. I put it on occasionally in the morning, but having just one bottle, and going back and forth from Nathan’s to my own house, I sometimes forgot where I left it.

  He opened the bottle, and waved it in front of his nose. “I was thinking of changing it.”

  “Why?”

  “Just for something different.” He walked over, wetting his fingers with the liquid. He reached down and touched at the dip in my neck, and then picked up one of my wrists. He bent over, inhaling against my arm. “Wait, no, never mind. It smells better when you’ve got it on.”

  I wasn’t sure if that was true. A scent changed depending on who wore it?

  I rubbed at my stomach, the pain resurfacing. It wasn’t horrible, but it made me want to move onto my side, and when I was on my side, it still hurt so I rolled onto my back again.

  Gabriel watched as I rolled around. “What’s wrong?”

  I wasn’t sure I wanted to mention it. I didn’t think there was anything that could be done about it. “Just my stomach,” I said casually, trying to not alarm him.

  He narrowed his eyes at me. “What do you mean? You’re hungry?”

  “No, it just hurts a little.”

  “Cramps?”

  I blew out a perplexed sigh. “No. I don’t know what it is. It just aches.”

  Gabriel dropped a palm against my thigh, but left it there as he looked down at me. “Did it just start?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Maybe you need to eat something when you take one of those vitamin pills. Hang on a second.” He jumped up, running into the kitchen. He came back with a banana. “Try this.”

  “What are you doing?” Nathan asked, poking his head out from the kitchen hallway. “We’re about to eat dinner.”

  “She said her stomach hurt. Hang on, she’s just eating a little.”

  “Her stomach hurts? Why?”

  I held back a sigh. Academy cavalry. I wondered how long it would take before North, or Silas, or someone else called and asked me why I didn’t tell them my stomach hurt or tried something else to help it. Did Mr. Blackbourne already tell them about being on orders to eat and rest? I guessed not, because if he did, I probably would have gotten several phone calls by now. “I’ll be okay, guys,” I said. “I’ll eat dinner. It’s not that bad. It’ll go away.”

  “Let’s sit at the table,” Nathan said. “We’ll get some good food in her.”

  I sat in the middle between Nathan and Gabriel. They piled chicken, salad and mashed potatoes onto my plate, much more than I could ever fit into my stomach.

  “If you clean your plate, I’ve got a strawberry cheesecake in the fridge,” Nathan said.

  “I don’t know if I’ll have room,” I said between bites of salad. “Mr. Blackbourne said eat, not overstuff myself.”

  “You have to make up for all the time you haven’t been eating,” Gabriel said. “Now hurry up. I want to figure out what still fits on you.”

  I did the best I could. Nathan only had to eat a fourth of what they’d piled my plate. I felt a little better after I did eat, but my stomach was still a little off. I skipped dessert; I didn’t want to be overstuffed on top of the pang in my stomach.

  I was helping clear the table when Gabriel’s phone started buzzing. “Yeah?” He said into it. “Aw. Really? Right now?” He grunted and smashed his thumb into the phone.

  “Academy?” I asked.

  “Luke,” he said. “He needs an extra hand at the diner.”

  I perked up. “Can I go?”

  “Nope,” he said, dropping the dish towel back onto the counter. “You have to stay with Nathan and be a lazy ass with him.” He pulled back a kitchen chair that had his backpack on it. He fished out a T-shirt and put it on over his tank.

  Nathan smirked. “Ha ha. He called you and not me.”

  “Shut up,” Gabriel said. “I’ll be back.” He approached me and wrapped his arms around my shoulders. He lifted me like that until my toes grazed the tile. He started dragging me to the door. “Just going to take this with me.”

  I patted at Gabriel’s sides, what little I could reach since he’d trapped my arms.

  He laughed, dropping me by the door. He squeezed me once in a hug and headed out toward the back do
or. I followed him. He slid open the glass slider and walked out into the back porch. I closed the door behind him and watched as Gabriel took off jogging around the pool, across the yard and opened the back gate.

  When he disappeared, I sighed heavily and stared off at the last spot I’d seen him. I hoped he didn’t have to work too long. I hoped Luke didn’t have to work late, either. I even missed Kota, Silas, North and Victor. It seemed the more time I spent with them, the more I felt their absence when they were gone.

  Nathan settled onto the couch. “Let’s watch a movie.”

  I let Nathan pick out what he wanted and went to change out of the skirt Gabriel had put me in. I found a pair of shorts and a tank top and then added the angel wing hoodie since that was comfortable.

  When I returned to the living room, Nathan was lying down on the couch on his side with a pillow tucked under his head. His arm was tucked under the pillow, helping to prop it up.

  I walked around, ready to sit at his feet when he snagged my hand. I paused, looking down at him.

  “Lay down here,” he said. He tugged at my hand, drawing me down until I was sitting in front of him.

  My heart started to thunder, but I went where he wanted me, feeling a little awkward. We slept pretty close when we spent the night together. I was always nervous then, too, but at least we were in the dark.

  When I slid in next to him, pressing my back to his chest, the edge of my shirt and hoodie rolled up my sides. I felt a slight chill as my exposed skin touched the leather of the couch.

  Nathan curled his arm around me, tucking his hand between the couch cushion and my hip. He propped himself up on a pillow with his other hand. “You’ll like this one,” he said.

  “Oh?” I floundered for a place to put my hands and settled for wedging them between my cheek and the pillow.

  “It’s a comedy. There’s a little romance in it. Thought you might like something better than another zombie movie. You’ll see.”

  I wasn’t sure if I could handle a whole movie with him behind me like this. The width of his chest brushed up against my back, warming my skin through our clothes. One of his ankles covered mine. The edge of his thumb traced softly over my side.