Ghost Bird: The Academy Omnibus Part 1: Books One - Four

by C. L. Stone

  “That’s Sang,” Nathan said. “She’s with the family that moved into the new house.”

  “Yeah,” Derrick said, his dark eyes lighting up. “Are we allowed to come over and play basketball yet?”

  I blushed. I glanced at the others. Little did he know he couldn’t ever come over.

  “We’re working on it,” Nathan said, his hand finding mine and squeezing gently. “Her mom’s a little shy.”

  Relief washed over me. At least they weren’t going to tell everyone about what happened.

  “I know. Her sister mentioned it,” he said. He pointed toward where we had come from. “You all heading this way?”

  “We were thinking of seeing where this main path ends,” Nathan said, nodding his head in the opposite direction.

  “There’s nothing out there,” Derrick said. “It goes on for about two miles and then cuts off against a line of trees.”

  Nathan looked disappointed. “Why build this thing in the middle of nowhere?”

  “Why clear out the trees and leave that sawdust hazard?” Derrick asked and shrugged. “Who knows? They probably meant to make more developments but ran out of money.”

  We started heading back the way we came. I wondered why Derrick wasn’t part of their circle. They seemed friendly enough with each other and he was our age.

  The younger boys were talking to each other in hushed voices.

  “Who are the other two,” I asked Jessica quietly.

  “The blond is Micah and the dark-haired guy is Tom,” she said. “They live in the houses across the highway.”

  “Do they go to your school?”

  “No, they go to the public school.” Her eyes kept drifting to them. “They don’t really like me, though.”

  “Why not?”

  “I’m a girl.”

  I laughed. “I’m a girl, too.”

  “They might not like you either, then.”

  We followed the guys to the trail with the higher grass. We stood together in a big circle. I felt the eyes of the new guys on me as if trying to weigh out who I was and if they could trust me.

  “How old are you?” Derrick asked me.

  I blushed, looking at Nathan. Nathan shrugged, his face suggesting it was okay to talk. Why was I turning to him as if he was going to answer for me?

  “We’re in the same grade,” I replied. Maybe it wasn’t a direct answer, but I thought it should be obvious.

  “I know,” he said. “I wasn’t sure. You look younger. I thought maybe you skipped a grade.”

  “It’s those clothes,” Micah said. “You look like you belong in third grade.”

  “Hey,” Gabriel said loudly. He hooked an arm around my neck and half leaned against me. “What’s wrong with her clothes?”

  “They’re all...” Micah started, but he fumbled his words and pointed his hand toward me as if just looking at them was enough to explain it.

  “Like girl clothes?” Gabriel snapped at him. “Sue her. She is a girl.”

  “Stop it, Micah,” Derrick said. Micah shot him a look but Derrick had turned to Nathan. “Did you show her the barn yet?”

  “I wanted to make sure there weren’t any wasps,” Nathan said. “I haven’t been back there in a while.”

  “We were just there,” piped in Tom. He seemed happier than his friend. He smiled at us. “There weren’t any.”

  “Let’s go through the woods instead of taking the long way,” Derrick said. “We’ve been trying to see if there’s anything else through this mess here. Like any more secret barns in the middle of nowhere.”

  Micah grunted and started walking toward the trees. “Let’s get this over with.”

  Micah led the way. I looked at Nathan, awaiting confirmation that this was a good idea. He shrugged, hesitating, but Gabriel and Luke were already following Derrick and Tom into the woods. I did a short sprint to catch up with Gabriel. Nathan fell in behind me, Jessica behind him.

  We walked in a line because it was really the only way to make it through. The woods were thick and there wasn’t a specific trail. The underbrush swiped at my legs. The heat and humidity seemed to intensify as the trees enclosed around us.

  The sunlight filtered down to us thinly through the crest of leaves overhead. The area took on a heavy haze of green.

  Micah wound his way through the trees with Derrick occasionally pointing a direction out to him.

  “Why do you keep telling me where to go?” Micah asked. “If we take a straight line we’ll get there faster.”

  “Just cut through here,” Derrick said. He pointed to where there was a break in the trees. “There’s a big open space there. I want to check it out.”

  We spilled out into a natural circular clearing. The canopy of leaves above us appeared thicker and blocked out the light. It was almost like a dome over our heads. Two huge oaks sat in the middle, gnarled into each other as if in an ongoing battle for dominance of the space. The roots twisted above the ground surrounding them.

  We moved forward as a group. The trees were really beautiful, with thick branches dripping with moss. The air was thick with the smell of green and pollen and I let it fill my lungs.

  My legs itched and I lifted one high for a moment to scratch. I wondered if I was getting bit by mosquitos.

  “You okay?” Nathan asked, his eyes on my fingers scratching.

  “Just a bug bite,” I said. I continued to try to scratch at it. I felt one on my other calf, too but I ignored it while he was watching so he wouldn’t worry. “Remind me to spray for bugs before we do this again.”

  “Welcome to the south,” he said. “The bugs will eat you alive.”

  We were halfway toward the two trees when Jessica shouted behind us.

  “Stop!” she said. I turned around to see her waving her hands in the air. “Don’t move!”

  “What?” I asked.

  “She’s just going to tell us there’s some rare bug or some crazy wild flower,” Micah complained. “Who cares?”

  “No,” she cried out. “There’s stinging nettle here.”

  We all froze, eyes surveying the ground around us.

  “What’s stinging nettle?” I asked. In my mind flashed images of tiny wasps. More southern bugs?

  “It’s the plants,” she said. She carefully stood on one leg, bringing her other foot up high so she could unfold the hem of her khaki pants over her shoes to make sure her socks at her ankles were covered. “If you touch it, it’ll sting your skin.”

  I looked down. In the underbrush were some prickly looking plants about up to our knees.

  The whole area around the two oak trees was covered in the same sticky little plants. The leaves swayed in the breeze that picked up around us.

  “It’s all over,” I said.

  “If you have pants, you should be okay,” Jessica said. “Sang’s already been stung.”

  She was right. The outside of my legs were red and splotchy. I could have mistaken them for a hundred tiny mosquito bites. I hadn’t really looked at them before, but now that I knew, my legs itched like crazy.

  “What do we do?” I asked, squeezing my legs together in an effort to subdue the itching and become as thin as possible to get away from the plants around us.

  Nathan stepped forward as if testing out the area. When it seemed like he wasn’t getting stung, he marched toward me. He turned around and crouched. “Get on my back,” he said.

  My heart pounded against my rib cage. I wrapped my arms around his neck. He scooped up my legs under the knees and hauled me up. His back muscles flexed against my chest and stomach as he stood.

  Once I was safe in the air, Nathan turned to talk to Derrick and the others. “Micah, take your shirt off and give it to Derrick. You, too, Gabriel. Luke, grab Micah. Gabe, get Tom. Let’s go back.”

  “I’m not getting carried out,” Micah said. He backed up but I could see from my position that his legs were already red.

  “Derrick, tie the shirts to your legs,” Nathan o
rdered.

  Derrick caught the shirts in the air that were tossed to him and bent over to tie them at his knees. When he was finished, he grabbed Micah by his belly and hoisted him over his shoulder.

  “Put me down,” Micah said, squirming. Since he had his shirt off and was sweating, Derrick nearly slipped trying to hang on to him.

  “If you don’t stop wiggling, I’m going to drop you into the nettles,” Derrick hoisted him again.

  “Fine. Just don’t drop me.”

  Tom hopped on Luke’s back without question.

  “Jessica,” Nathan turned around to face her. She was standing by, watching us. Her face flushed. “Take us out of here. Shortest path.”

  Jessica nodded, took one look around and then started heading toward the tree line again. Nathan followed close behind her. I did my best to try to hold on by my legs on to his back. I shifted my arms so I wasn’t strangling his neck, my palms pressing against his chest.

  Nathan didn’t seem to notice me wriggling. His hands gripped my thighs to the point where I thought it would cause bruising, but I didn’t want to tell him it might be a little too tight.

  Jessica was a pro. She threaded her way through the trees and picked the easiest paths that would allow those carrying people to get through without too much trouble.

  “Still think it was a bad idea to bring Jessica?” I whispered to Nathan as he marched forward.

  He glanced back at me over his shoulder. I noticed where he hadn’t shaved for a few days. With his tan skin and his reddish hair, it was nearly undetectable until I got so close. It was unbelievably appealing.

  “Don’t you ever tell her I said that,” he said.

  Soon Jessica had us back to the long grass path that was behind Kota’s house.

  “Put me down,” Micah said. “I can walk from here.”

  Derrick dropped Micah into the grass on his back. He grumbled but stood up. Tom jumped off of Luke’s back, giving an appreciative nod. At least one of them was polite.

  “We made it,” Tom said. “I thought for sure we’d gotten turned around and we were lost again.”

  “Want to put me down?” I asked Nathan.

  He retucked his arms under my thighs and hoisted me higher on his back. “I’ve got you. Let’s get home.”

  We made it to the two palm trees in Kota’s backyard. Max, Kota’s golden retriever, was tethered but barked when we approached, sniffing at our legs when we got close.

  Nathan was still carrying me through the backyard and onto the driveway when a familiar green sedan pulled into the drive. Through her windshield, Erica took one look at our faces and at Nathan carrying me and parked her car in front of the garage doors. She jumped out, her mouth open in surprise. “What happened to you all?”

  “Stinging nettle,” Jessica said. “Sang’s legs were stung. And so were the boys’.”

  “I’m okay,” Derrick said. “They didn’t get me that bad.” He stood on the concrete and untied the makeshift pants made from shirts, handing them back to Gabriel and Micah.

  “I’m out of here,” Micah said. He sprinted off toward the road.

  Tom shrugged, waved goodbye and followed along, nearly sprinting on his way.

  “I’m going to make sure they cross the road without getting run over,” Derrick said. “See you guys later.”

  “Bye,” Luke said.

  “Well, get Sang inside,” Erica said, a sympathetic smile on her face. She unclipped her nametags off of her nurse’s uniform and tucked them into the purse on her arm. “We’ll put some lotion on her.”

  Nathan carried me into the house. Jessica headed into her bedroom to change. Erica dropped her purse on the dining table and disappeared to the downstairs bathroom to grab the first aid kit. Gabriel pulled out a seat at the table and Nathan knelt so I could slide off his back.

  After I sat in the chair, Nathan took the seat next to me, scooting his chair over. He lifted my foot up into his lap so he could inspect my leg.

  There were tiny blotches covering my skin from the tops of my feet to my knees. His warm breath fell over my calf. I twitched, the intense itching returning. I reached down to rub at them but Nathan smacked my hand when I tried. “You scratch at it now, you’ll just keep scratching until it bleeds.”

  Erica reappeared with the kit. “Luke,” she said. “Could you get Sang a glass of water?”

  It made me smile. She was taking charge a lot like how Kota did.

  Luke disappeared into the kitchen. Erica checked the kit and selected a pink bottle of lotion. “This should work.” She twisted open the plastic top and handed the bottle to Nathan.

  Nathan spilled the calamine lotion into his palm and started rubbing it onto my legs. He focused intently on the task. From the serious look on his face, I wanted to tell him it was okay, but I was embarrassed as it was. Erica was witnessing this and I couldn’t imagine what she was thinking. I knew my own mom would have plenty to say about something like this.

  Only she didn’t seem fazed by this, either. Maybe their touches with me were normal and I was still super sensitive. My mother’s constant fear had me still paranoid and unsure.

  Gabriel slumped into a chair behind me. His bright blue eyes had contrasting dark circles underneath. I hadn’t realized he looked so tired before. Was it the sun and heat that got to him or was staying up at night with me earlier that week getting to him? Or was it the Academy? “Kota’s going to kill us,” he said.

  “Kota won’t kill anyone,” Erica said. “It was an accident. I’m just glad you boys got her out safely. You should be more careful when you go into those woods.” Luke came back with the glass of water and Erica held out a couple of pills to me. “You’re not allergic to anything, are you?” she asked.

  I shook my head, taking the glass of water from Luke. “Not that I know of.”

  “Those antihistamine pills should take care of the inflammation. If it gets worse or if you start running a fever, we’ll take you to the doctor.”

  I swallowed some water and took the pills. Nathan gently dropped one of my legs from his lap, reaching to pick up the other. My heart was racing at how sweet Erica was and how nice the boys were. This was normal. I was sure of it. People took care of one another. I should do this for them. I couldn’t help but think of how lucky I had been to run into them. Erica, Jessica and everyone seemed worried about me. Kota’s mom barely knew me and she was doing more, hovering over me more than my own mother did when I was sick or hurt.

  Jessica returned wearing shorts and a loose t-shirt. Her face was washed and looking refreshed.

  “We’re lucky we had Jessica,” I said, wanting to be as kind as they had been. The best I could do was offer a compliment.

  “Yeah,” Nathan said, seeming to understand my thoughts. He beamed at Jessica, nodding to her. “She picked up that we were in nettle. Otherwise I think we would have gotten it worse.”

  Jessica’s cheeks turned as pink as the primrose still in her hair. “It wasn’t a big deal.”

  Erica shared a pleased smile and pulled in her daughter by the shoulders for a hug. “I’m glad you were with them.”

  My heart swelled. Was that good? I was envious of how easily Erica hugged her daughter. I wanted a hug, too, but I quelled my desires by focusing on Nathan’s touch on my leg.

  Luke fell into another chair, wiping his brow. “Let’s not let Micah lead the way next time. I bet those nettles grew around our ankles just to bite him.”

  Erica popped him on the hand with her palm. “Don’t say things like that. You all should get along.”

  “It’d be easier if he was trying,” Luke complained. “You should have heard the fuss he made about Sang.”

  Nathan finished up my legs, but kept my foot in his lap as he sat back and replaced the lid on the lotion bottle. “Well, he can complain all he wants. Sang lives on this street now, too. If he doesn’t want to hang out, he can go home.”

  “He’ll miss out,” Gabriel said, scratching at his ear behind
the black rings, “When we play basketball at Sang’s.”

  Like that was a possibility. Why did he even suggest it?

  Erica smiled. “That sounds like fun. What are you all doing tonight? Are you guys staying for dinner?”

  “No,” Nathan said. I was grateful he answered because I wasn’t sure how to say no to her after being so nice. I didn’t want to bother her any more, either. He patted my foot. I dropped it to the floor and he stood up. “We should get home. Homework.”

  Erica laughed. “I love you guys. I never have to remind you.” She hugged Nathan, wrapping her arms around his neck and dropping a kiss on his cheek. Nathan’s cheeks tinted red but he seemed used to this attention, patting at her arm in an awkward way to hug her back. “Make sure Sang gets home safe.” She turned to me. “You should come over this weekend. We’ll have a fun night together.”

  I felt my heart racing with happiness. “Really?” I asked. I wondered what exactly she meant. She wanted me over for dinner?

  She smiled and nodded. “And we may let the boys come, too,” she said, glancing at the others. “If you will all behave and keep her out of trouble.”

  “We’ll see if Trouble can keep herself out of trouble,” Gabriel said, hooking an arm around my neck.

  I pulled a face at him. How much worse trouble could I get into now?

  Naked

  That evening, I got back later than I normally did since my dad was gone. Luke followed me home and climbed up the back wall to the roof to get to my window and wait.

  I walked in and paused when I spotted Marie in the kitchen. She was huddled over a pot of macaroni, stirring in cheese mix and milk. She looked different with the makeup she was wearing. Wasn’t she worried about wearing makeup in the house? Our mother would see it and she’d be on her knees for sure. I wasn’t sure if the guys would pull her out, too.

  There was something else off about Marie, but I couldn’t put my finger on it. She ignored me as she stirred, so I didn’t stop to ask. I wasn’t sure what to say, anyway.

  I padded my way up the stairs and pushed the door open. The door caught on something behind it and stopped short. I had to shove to squeeze myself inside.