Push and Shove: The Ghost Bird Series: #6 (The Academy)

by C. L. Stone

  I scanned faces but didn’t see Luke or Gabriel.

  Maybe Kota had been wrong. Did they just tell me they were going to the diner? Were they all out with Academy business?

  “Hi,” a woman with blond hair waved to me from behind the counter. She curled her fingers to motion for me to come forward. “You can have a seat anywhere if you’d like.”

  “I was looking for Luke.” I was grateful she hadn’t noticed I’d walked in without shoes on.

  The woman smiled. She was older, at least thirty, with a trim waist and wearing jeans and a polo that said “Bob’s Diner” in embroidery on the pocket. “Luke? He’s in the back. Do you want me to go get him?”

  I hesitated, and simply nodded. She didn’t know me, so it felt intrusive somehow to suggest I could go find him, but I hoped she’d hurry

  The lady disappeared behind the swinging doors that led to the hallway where the kitchen was. While I was standing by, a couple more people arrived. I stepped closer to the counter and tried to get out of the way. I stared off at the wall.

  “How’s it going?” asked a voice.

  A wave of heat trailed through my cheeks and I turned slowly. A tall guy with sun-kissed hair sat by the counter. He leaned back on his elbows. His head was tilted at me with a pleasant smile on his face.

  “You get a takeout order, too?” he asked in a friendly tone.

  I didn’t want to lie to him, but I didn’t know what else to say. “Yes,” I said in a quiet voice. I tried to smile but I couldn’t make my lips move up. I wanted to be nice, but I was strained as it was because of Nathan. I didn’t have time for this. My heart was thundering so loud, I wondered if he could hear it.

  “I love this place,” he said. “Hard to believe it used to be a church. I haven’t stopped by much since I don’t live on this side of town.” His gaze slid down until he reached my feet. “You live nearby? Did you walk here like that?”

  My fingers flew up, hovering over my lip. I wasn’t exactly sure if I was supposed to respond to this, and when the words wouldn’t come to me, I didn’t say anything. I didn’t know how to explain myself.

  “I’m Corey, by the way.” His smile broadened and he held out his hand in offering for me to shake it. “What’s your name?”

  My hand twitched as I looked down at his, wanting to respond but trying to figure a way out of this conversation. He seemed very nice, and I was ashamed to feel the way I did, but I didn’t need him right now. I needed an Academy guy – someone I knew.

  “Sang?” Luke’s familiar voice was like a saving grace, freeing me from an obligation to touch someone else. He wore a white collared shirt, the first two buttons undone to reveal a bit of his chest underneath. He wore a black apron on top, tied off in the back and pockets for a notebook. Pens stuck out of the back pocket of his dark blue Levi jeans. He had a few rubber bands around his slim wrists.

  I didn’t want to look so happy to weasel my way out of an awkward conversation, but I was smiling a lot when I turned around.

  Only Luke wasn’t smiling. His lips were taut, like he was barely tolerating something. I wondered if I’d made a mistake. Was it not okay to be here?

  “Hey Luke,” Corey said. “So you know her?”

  Luke turned to him and his eyebrows arched. “Huh?”

  The young man nodded toward me. “I was just checking to see if she needed a ride home after she picked up her food. I mean... not in a creepy way. She doesn’t have any shoes on.” He smiled. “How’s it going back there? I’ve been waiting.”

  “Ah. Yeah, sorry.” While his tone had lightened, there was still a dullness to his eyes that made me feel like he was trying to mask something. “It’s been a busy day.”

  Was that true? It didn’t look busy. He didn’t look tired, and I’d seen him tired before. My finger fluttered back up to pinch my lip to my teeth. Did he know about Nathan already? I was so anxious to talk to him in private, but couldn’t figure out how to bring it up.

  Corey pointed at me. “So I was saying, if you need a ride, I’d be happy to drop you off. It’s dark and you shouldn’t walk like that alone.” He said it so smoothly, and I was pretty sure he meant it in a completely let-me-help-you manner. It made it hard to say no.

  “I...” I started to say.

  “No, she’s here with me,” Luke said. He tugged my hand away from my mouth and brought it down until he was holding it between us.

  The guy’s eyebrow shot up in a questioning expression. “Oh. She’s one of yours, huh?”

  One of his?

  “Don’t tease,” Luke said, smirking at him. “Come on back, Sang. Uncle’s been asking about you.” His eyes told me to hurry along.

  Corey’s gaze kept drifting back to me as we headed around the counter and through the swinging kitchen doors. Did he suspect something was wrong?

  The moment the doors were closed behind us, Luke towed me down the hall faster.

  My lips felt glued together. I wanted to mention Nathan but was thrown off by Luke moving so quickly. He guided me into the kitchen and stopped short of the freezer. He started opening the door.

  “Luke?” Uncle was behind the silver table, and looked up from the stove. His bald head was shining, but he wore a black bandana around his forehead. There was a thick overgrowth of unshaven white hair along his jaw. He spotted me behind Luke. “Where are you taking her?”

  “Just wanted to show her something.” Luke nudged me into the walk-in.

  “My fridge isn’t a museum,” Uncle said.

  “I know,” Luke said, sliding a box on the floor over to hold open the door so it wouldn’t shut in on us.

  Luke hooked an arm around my waist and pulled me into the freezer. The deeper we entered, the colder it got. I twisted my arms around my body to retain a little heat. Nerves in my feet prickled at the sudden temperature change.

  When we were away from the door, and between rows of shelving to mask us in case anyone entered, Luke moved me around until I was standing in front of him. His dark eyes lit up with questions. “What happened? Why are you here?”

  My lips started moving. “It’s Nathan. His dad...”

  Luke flinched, drawing his head back. “What’s wrong? His dad?”

  I swallowed hard to find my voice. “Nathan’s dad came back. He... Kota...” I shook my head, biting my lower lip. I hadn’t realized how scared I was until right then. I’d been keeping it together, distracted by Corey, but now suddenly I didn’t have to mask my emotions and all I could picture was Nathan getting struck in the head by his father.

  “Oh no. Sweetie.” Luke stepped forward, and wrapped his arms around me. His strong hands rubbed my back. “It’s okay. You’re okay. Kota’s with Nathan?”

  I tried to mumble yes, but all I managed was nodding into his chest.

  “I’ve got you.” Luke sucked in a heavy breath, releasing it against the top of my head. “Kota and Nathan will take care of things, okay? You don’t have to worry about them.”

  “They hit him,” I mumbled, my lips brushing against his blue button up shirt. I inhaled his sweet vanilla, mixed with frying oil and other diner smells. Somehow the scent made me feel a little better. “I mean, Mr. Griffin hit them and then they got him and tossed him into the pool.”

  Luke lowered his head until his cheek brushed against my forehead. “Sang, I’m sorry you had to see that.”

  “He might be hurt. He might call the police.”

  “That’s not going to happen,” Luke said. “We’ve been through this. He needs to sleep it off. Trust us, okay? They’ll take care of it.”

  “What should I do?”

  His palms smoothed over my arms, warming my skin against the cool air. His eyes traced over my face, as if thinking. “I should take you home with me.”

  “Why?”

  His cheeks tinted. I wasn’t sure if it was from the chill or the question. “Sang, you’re... I mean look at what happened out there with Corey. Did you know him?”

  I shook my head
quickly. “I’ve never seen him before. He kept asking me questions. I didn’t know what to tell him.”

  Luke shifted on his feet, with his hands on his hips. He looked down at his shoes. “Sang, I told you before that other people in the Academy might be interested in you.”

  My breath caught. Academy? Here? “Him? He didn’t say. He didn’t seem to know who I was.”

  “I’m not worried about him, specifically.” Luke gazed up at me. “It’s who he talks to. I mean, the Academy knows of you, but if enough of them start paying attention...” He sighed. “We just didn’t want you being noticed so soon. Not right now.”

  I almost agreed with him. I wanted to know more about the Academy before diving into it. From what I’d been told, the boys were waiting for something to happen before things went further. I only wished I could figure out what it was. “How many people belong to the Academy?”

  “Not as many as you’re thinking now, but when a place is... When there’s a lot of Academy people in a particular spot, Academy people tend to gravitate there.”

  “The diner belongs to the Academy?”

  “There’s a lot of Academy folks working here,” he said.

  How many? And how was I supposed to know? No wonder he’d been tense about me working here before. “What am I supposed to do? Avoid the diner? Avoid you?”

  Luke caught my hand, warming me. His eyes had softened. He hovered over me. “I didn’t mean to sound like I didn’t want you here. I’m sorry. I’m glad you came. I’m really happy to see you.”

  “I didn’t mean to surprise you.”

  “If a surprise means I get you hanging out with me, I want it.” He brought my palm to his lips, kissing it. “I was worried about you. I haven’t heard from anyone. I saw your face and knew something was wrong.”

  “Sorry.”

  Luke smiled, kissing my palm shortly again. “I can’t leave you with anyone apparently. You end up buried in a saw dust pile, or pretending to be a doctor, or forgetting to eat.”

  I blushed. I wanted to say something, but the cold was catching up to me. My lips started to tremble. I shifted in my bare feet to relieve the chill seeping up. “Luke...”

  Luke picked up my hand higher, slipping it around his neck. He released it until I was hugging him. His arms encircled my waist and he held me against his body. “Cold?”

  “Yeah.”

  “What am I going to do with you?” He rubbed his palms across my back, up and down to warm me.

  “I could help you.”

  Luke smiled. “You’re supposed to be taking it easy.”

  “Where’s Gabriel?”

  He shrugged. “Somewhere washing dishes or taking orders.”

  “Is anyone else busy?”

  His lips parted but he paused, smirking. “I kind of don’t want to tell you.”

  “Why?”

  “I’d have to call them and then they’ll take you off somewhere.” He ducked his head close to mine, his lips traced over my cheek, close to my ear. “Maybe I should let you stay with me. At least then I can keep an eye on you. Want to play here?”

  I was supposed to take it easy and go to bed early, but it was only seven. How late was he planning to stay? “If I did stay, I could help out. And I’m really close to home. Whenever I get tired, I’ll go there.” I didn’t want to tell him that I didn’t want to go home right now. I’d spend hours wondering how Nathan was. I’d rather stay busy.

  “I guess it isn’t breaking the rules if we aren’t doing Academy work.” He took my hand, guiding me back to the fridge door.

  Uncle was bent over the large flat grill, scraping away bits of leftover food and cleaning the area. He sensed us and looked up. He did a double take at Luke. “Was my fridge that interesting?”

  “Sang loves it.”

  Uncle blinked and glanced at me. “It’s not a make out room.”

  Heat returned to my cheeks. Is that what they all thought we were doing?

  “I just needed to talk to her,” Luke said.

  “There’s an office.” Uncle turned to me. “Haven’t seen you around, little bird. Thought maybe Luke lost you. Where have you been?”

  “She had school stuff last week,” Luke said. “Midterms.”

  “Ah.” Uncle’s voice was croaky, like he’d been shouting all day. “I like that. School’s important.”

  “Do you want her to make another pie?” Luke asked. “Or clean out the freezer? She wants to help out.”

  “I want her in the front,” Uncle said. “I told you, she should be working tables.”

  “She can’t carry food,” Luke said. “She’s clumsy.”

  I eyeballed him. I was clumsy? I wanted to contradict him but at the same time, I wasn’t sure I could handle delivering food or being a waitress. I didn’t know how. I didn’t want to be in the back alone with other people if Luke was going to be up front. I wanted to be near one of them. Besides, no one else seemed to have noticed I wasn’t wearing shoes. I tried to remember what else there was to do in a diner. “I could wash dishes or use the register.”

  Luke flashed me a look, but I widened my eyes, as if saying I didn’t know what he wanted from me. Did he want me to go sit in the office?

  Uncle snapped his fingers, pointing at me. “See? She’s a go-getter. And she’s cute. Put her to work out there by the counter.”

  “What’s she doing here?” Gabriel asked, materializing with a bucket of dirty dishes. He planted them on the counter and wiped his brow. “What? You called her in to work, too? Is she finally going to take a shift?”

  “Ah,” Uncle said. “That reminds me. I need your info, sweetie. Next time you come by, bring me your Social Security card and an ID.”

  The guys glanced at each other over my head. “Uh,” Luke said, “Uncle, Sang doesn’t have ... I mean she...”

  I glanced at the guys. “What do you mean?” I asked. “I’ve got those somewhere in the house.”

  Luke shook his head at me, but addressed his Uncle. “She doesn’t really...”

  “What?” Uncle asked. He pointed the end of a wide metal spatula at him. “You want me to pay her under the table? What is she? A refugee? Illegal immigrant?”

  “No, it’s complicated.” Luke cut his hand through the air. “I’ll tell you later. But yeah, can you pay her in cash?”

  Uncle shrugged, shoving a finger across the white of his eyebrow. “All the more reason for her work the front.”

  Luke sighed. “Okay, okay.”

  “Someone dismiss Megan. Little bird, go stand behind the register. Let them show you what to do.

  Gabriel deposited his dirty dishes on the counter near another guy washing at the sink. He gave me a questioning look, silently asking why I was there. I tried to make hand signals but Luke tugged my elbow. Gabriel started scraping and stacking as I was dragged out of the kitchen.

  “Luke,” I said softly. “Why can’t I just show him my ID?”

  Luke squeezed my hand, a light smile playing on his lips. “Don’t worry about it. It’s just easier, that’s all.”

  I felt there was more to this, but I didn’t know the questions to ask. How was this easier? Uncle made it sound like a complication. Although when I thought about it, I didn’t really know where my ID was. Didn’t I have one? Did he mean a birth certificate? It must have been at the house somewhere. I’d try to look for it later.

  The dining room was nearly empty. I scanned for the guy that had been there before, but didn’t see him.

  Luke guided me to the register by the counter. “Okay,” he said. “What you want to do is guard this thing with your life.”

  I glanced at the computerized register. “Guard it?”

  “You stand here,” he said, nudging me behind the register. “I pass out these tickets to customers.” He plucked one up from off of the counter nearby. He showed it to me. “There’s a bar code.” He pointed to a laser gun thing sitting on a pedestal by the register. “Scan the code.” He scanned it. The register b
eeped and displayed an amount, and asked about payment. “Cash or charge only, we don’t handle checks. If it’s a charge, take the card, run it through this.” He pointed to the edge of the register where there was a credit card machine. He showed me buttons to push and where to stack finished receipts.

  “Okay,” I said. It seemed simple enough, but I was still nervous. This wasn’t like making a pie. This was handling money. Other people’s money. What if I mixed up tickets and credit cards? What if someone couldn’t pay? What if I broke it?

  Luke wrapped an arm around my shoulders, squeezing me. “I’ll be right here,” he said.

  “Should I sit people?” I asked.

  “Not barefoot,” he said. “I’ll show you how to do that another day. Right now, it’s not busy so just babysit this thing.” He leaned in, kissed me on the forehead. A warm tremble started through my head as it was the first time his lips touched anything other than my hands. He’d done it so quickly, like he was trying to get away with it. “And no flirting with the guys.”

  “Does that include you?”

  He laughed and walked off.

  The good thing about guarding a register is that it doesn’t move anywhere. I thought if I had to work while I was supposed to be relaxing, this was the easiest job to have. It was another half hour of standing and staring at the walls before a customer arrived at the counter with a ticket. He’d been sitting at one of the booths reading a newspaper and sipping a coffee.

  I was smoothing out the ticket so I could scan it when the man opened his wallet, dropped a five dollar bill on the counter, and started for the door.

  My mouth fell open and my heart stopped. What just happened? I gazed at the five dollar bill on the counter and then checked the ticket price. A dollar ninety-five. All he had was one coffee. Did he mean to leave a whole five dollars?

  I lifted my head, checking the dining room but the man was out the door already.

  “Oy, Trouble,” Gabriel positioned his cleaning tray on the counter and stood next to me. “Why are you looking like a fish out of water?”

  “That guy left a five for a two dollar ticket.”