First Kiss: The Ghost Bird Series: #10 (The Academy Ghost Bird Series)

by C. L. Stone

  THE SOUND OF SNOWFALL

  School whirled by in the couple weeks that were left. No Volto. No Mr. Hendricks. I saw the inside of Music Room B and we cleaned the room and worked on homework as a group. We did homework that would last us several months through the next year, so when we returned, we could focus fully on the task at hand there. Everyone was busy with mid-terms and closing up school for the holidays anyway, so nothing eventful happened.

  I was grateful for that.

  ♥♥♥

  Early morning light woke me first. It was the gray glare of winter, with the sun starting to rise, and the surrounding trees and neighborhoods hiding its arrival. The day promised to be cold, and sections of my body was chill, even with the blanket around me.

  Without opening my eyes, I sensed Kota in the bed next to me. I knew that Nathan slept on the roll-out cot next to us. North, Gabriel, Silas, Luke and Victor were nearby in sleeping bags spread out along Kota's bedroom floor. I smelled them in the air: Kota’s spice, North’s musk, Luke’s vanilla, Silas’s ocean, Victor’s moss, Nathan’s leather, and Gabriel’s new blend, which I thought to be cranberry.

  To me, that was what smelled the best. I didn’t have to look to sense they were there, and they smelled wonderful. My heart fluttered, even while I was still partially asleep, warmed simply by the different scents blending together.

  It was winter vacation. We had two weeks to ourselves. Two weeks without a crazy principal and vice-principal looking over me, or sneering students trying to look into my life. It would be the longest amount of time I’d spent with all of them for any length outside of school, without having to work at the diner, deal with school work, or do anything for the Academy.

  “Everyone needs a break,” Dr. Green had said. I could almost envision him trying to lecture me like he did in class at school, but failing to hide the grin on his lips. “That includes you. We work hard, but we take holiday breaks very seriously.”

  My skin tingled with chill, waking me further. I hadn’t realized while sleeping that parts of me were almost numb. Despite the sheet and blanket, I was still freezing. It was usually moderately warm in Kota’s room; why was it so cold now? Perhaps the weather had changed quickly, and the heater wasn’t able to keep up.

  It felt odd to be upstairs, with Erica, Kota’s mother, and Jessica, his sister, sleeping downstairs and knowing I was up here with the boys. Maybe they didn’t know that I shared the bed with Kota, but Erica trusted the boys to not do anything “unbecoming of a gentleman” as she called it, with a laugh and a teasing wink at Kota. Kota blushed when she said that.

  I turned in the bed slightly, drawn to Kota’s warmth and peeked at him, trying not to get caught looking.

  His handsome face was still. His chest was bare, which surprised me because I thought I remembered him wearing a T-shirt the night before. The glasses were gone, although there was a spot on his nose, close to his eyes, where his glasses normally rested on his face. He didn’t open his eyes, but he must have sensed I was awake anyway because he started to move. He threaded his arm around my shoulders, inviting me in.

  I rolled into him and snuggled up against a firm chest and my legs folded near his, drawn to body heat. When I was pressed up against him, he tucked the blanket around my body. How the boys managed to keep their bodies warm when I ended up cold was beyond me.

  He didn’t say anything and I didn’t either. I thought I should be shy about snuggling with Kota when the others could wake up and see us, but if Kota didn’t have a problem with it, I wasn’t going to object. I was too cold to move away. The boys were still sleeping, too. It was probably the quietest I’d ever heard them when they were together.

  I settled and stilled. I thought maybe I’d fallen asleep again, but was listening to their breathing.

  As I was listening, something caught my attention. My eyes opened a little, staring at Kota’s chest, unsure of what I was hearing though I’d heard the sound before. My half-asleep state wasn’t putting to words what it was. It was a very delicate sound, soft, crackling like a fire hissing...but softer.

  There was also a familiar taste in the air.

  I knew it. I knew it in my bones.

  Excitement surged through me. I forced myself to still, grinning against Kota’s chest. “Guys,” I called, nearly cooing, the sound muffled against Kota.

  Someone grumbled, though not Kota.

  “Guys,” I said louder, pulling my head away so I could be heard.

  A grunt. A rustle of a sleeping bag as someone flipped over.

  “Guys, wake up.”

  “Go back to sleep, Sang,” North said, his voice gruff and deep, sleepy. “It’s too early to get up.”

  That was a first. I was usually the last one in bed. The boys had a habit of waking me, urging me to get up and move quickly.

  I quieted and listened again for the sound, not wanting to be wrong, but it was so distinct, unmistakable. “We should get up,” I said.

  North cleared his throat. When I peeked over Kota, I caught North dragging his blanket over the top of his dark head of hair. His broad shoulders caused the blanket material to tent around him. “Baby, sleep.”

  Kota reached a hand up, rubbing my back. “Sang,” he said softly. “Let them sleep. It’s vacation.”

  “No,” I said, even as I closed my eyes. I would normally agree with them, but they wouldn’t want to miss this. “Get up. Guys, we have to go outside.”

  Gabriel gave off a loud groan. “Trouble, I love you and everything, but shut the fuck up and go back to sleep.”

  I dismissed the love comment, knowing it didn’t mean anything. It's what he said when he wanted any of us to shut up or do something he wanted. “Guys,” I said. “It’s snowing.”

  Kota’s hand at my back stilled. “Sweetie, you’re dreaming.”

  “No really. It’s snowing.”

  Kota chuckled. “You can’t even see the window.”

  “It’s snowing. I swear. I can hear it.”

  There was a dead silence and I knew the boys were listening.

  Someone snorted and then laughed. “You’re so full of shit, Trouble.”

  “Meanie?” I sing-songed his name.

  “Trouble,” he mumbled, his voice slurred.

  “Go look.”

  Gabriel groaned. “No. You’re tricking me.”

  “I swear,” I said. “It’s snowing.”

  “No, it isn’t.”

  I turned away from Kota, lying on my back. “I bet you a dollar.”

  “I’m not getting up for a dollar.”

  “I’ll bet you...what do you want?”

  “Gabe,” Luke said. “Don’t fall for it. She’ll get you to get up and then while you’re up, she’ll get you to get something for her. Like a cup of water or something. It’s an evil girl trick.”

  “Guys,” I said in a more urgent tone. Why did they never believe me? “I swear. I’d bet my soul...”

  “No betting your soul, Princess,” Victor mumbled.

  I grumbled, frustrated. “Gabriel,” I called. “Go look.”

  “No.”

  “Please?”

  “Fuck, no.”

  “God damn,” Nathan said. “Someone get up and tell her it’s not snowing so she’ll go back to sleep.”

  I shoved my hands into my face, yawning and stretching. I could have told them I heard gunfire and they’d still sleep. I turned enough so I could peek out at the boys, over Nathan bundled up on the cot nearby. He was on his back, but his eyes were closed with an arm draped over his face to ward off light. I spotted Gabriel on the floor nearby, his hair sticking out from just under his blanket. The blonde mixed into the russet and the locks were wild, twisted about and sticking up in places. “Gabriel, I’ll give you anything you want if I’m wrong. Cross my heart. It’s snowing outside right now.”

  Gabriel grunted into his pillow, arched his back and slowly drew himself up until he was sitting back on his heels. His shirt was off, his bare chest a rip
ple of lean muscles. He eyeballed me through narrowed, sleepy eyes, focusing on my face. “I swear, Trouble, there is no possible way it is snowing. This is South Carolina. South. It hasn’t snowed here in like a hundred years.”

  “And I’m telling you, I can hear it. It’s snowing. I’m from Illinois. It snows there. I know what it sounds like.”

  Gabriel shoved his blanket aside, crawled over Luke, and started to knee-walk over to Kota’s window. “Trouble, you asked for it. You can’t hear snow. It’s impossible. I’m going to want a massage. I’m going to want you to wash my hair for a month. I’m gonna get you to paint my nails a thousand times.” He got to the window, wrapping a fist around the strings to tear open the blinds. His head tilted toward the window. “I’m going to make you wear skirts for the rest of winter. I’m gonna...holy Jesus motherfucking Christ; it’s snowing.”

  “Now you’re full of shit,” North said.

  Gabriel spun around, staring at me. “How the hell did you do that?”

  “Do what?” I asked, my chest warming and happy I was right. While I had been arguing, part of me was worried I might have been wrong. Or maybe it would have stopped while Gabriel was delaying. I sat up, sucking in air and stretching again, suddenly wishing I’d worn more than a cami tank shirt and shorts to bed.

  “You must have looked,” he said. “You must have gotten up and saw it was snowing.”

  “She hasn’t moved,” Kota said, rolling onto his back. “Is it really snowing?”

  “Told you guys,” I said. I crawled off the bed, stepping, wobbly, over Nathan on the cot, and almost falling to land on Luke. Luke got up on his elbows, but I moved away quickly, weaving my way between Silas and North, and headed to the stairs.

  “Where are you going?” Gabriel asked.

  “Gonna go see the snow before it’s gone,” I said. Like I was going to wait for them when the first snow was outside. Sure, I’d seen it a million times, but there were palm trees here. I wanted to see a palm tree in the snow.

  “What? Wait.” It was Kota, who had sat up in bed, rubbing at his eyes. “You can’t go out wearing that.”

  I was already past Victor, who was at the end, closest to the stairs. I thumped my way down to the bottom, opening Kota’s bedroom door. I had been right. I could hear it snowing. I was going to go see it.

  I was opening the door to the garage when I heard the others moving and their footsteps down the steps behind me. I hurried out into the garage, met with an even stronger wall of cold the moment I stepped into the space.

  Max was in his crate wagging his tail and gave me one bark in greeting. I smacked the button to open the big garage door, urging it to hurry.

  Gabriel and Kota were the first ones to arrive behind me as the garage door finished opening. I smelled them coming before I even turned to look at them. Kota had shoved on a T-shirt, the one he’d worn last night. He’d also put on his glasses. His green eyes were wide awake now, looking beyond me. Gabriel was bare-chested, his crystal eyes wide, his lips pressed together. I stood just inside the garage, gazing out into the morning.

  A clean dusting of white covered the yard and the driveway. It was a wet snow, with big fat flakes that fell heavily against each other. It was just cold enough to keep it building for a while, but I knew once the sun came up over the trees, the snow was done for. My skin prickled with cold but I ignored the feeling. The twin palm trees in Kota’s back yard looked strange with a layer of snow trying to collect at the base. There were a few trails from car tires already in the street, where the snow melted quickly. The neighborhood, for the moment, was still.

  Kota and Gabriel fell in line next to me, staring out to the winter scene. I wondered if either of them had seen snow. They were from here, but I didn’t know if they’d been out of the state before. Kota kept his arms tucked into his body. Gabriel shifted up his black sleep pants, the edge of his boxers poking out around his waist.

  I didn’t want them to waste a moment. I snagged Gabriel’s hand, marching forward to drag him with me.

  “Sang,” Kota said. “Don’t walk barefoot in the snow.”

  “It’s not going to be snow much longer,” I said. I marched out, leaving the dry cold of the garage floor, and meeting the wet, freezing bite of snow against my feet. The instant my foot touched the snow on the drive, it melted, leaving my footprints to mess up the pure sheet of white along the driveway. “Come on, Gabriel.”

  Gabriel hesitated for only a moment, before he stepped out, letting the snow melt around his feet. “Shit,” he said. He clamped his arms over his bare chest. “It’s cold.”

  I marched ahead of him, making a path and heading toward the end of the drive. The snow swirled around my face. I breathed in the icy air. I thought I wouldn’t see snow this year, or within the next few years living in the south. I didn’t know where I was headed, after all. Since the boys came into my life, nothing was predictable anymore.

  But knowing it was snowing outside without looking was apparently one thing I could do that they couldn’t, and I was going to revel in this for as long as possible. I may not get another chance, if it truly didn’t snow in the area except maybe once every hundred years, like Gabriel had thought.

  I weaved my way across the driveway and back. It was cold, but knowing the house was right there and I could go warm up made it easier to enjoy being barefoot in the snow. I’d done it before up north, in Illinois, at my family’s old home. A few minutes in the snow wouldn’t cause frostbite. I’d return and warm my feet up inside quickly, maybe finding a pair of shoes before doing it again.

  When I turned at the end of the drive, North emerged from the garage. His wore his black t-shirt and, his black pajama pants stuffed into boots he had shoved on. He held out a pair of Kota’s green rain boots and a leather coat. When he was close, he dropped the boots at my feet. “Baby,” he said, “don’t walk around barefoot in the cold. You’ll get sick again.”

  I mumbled a thank you in response and stuffed my feet into the rain boots. I let North slip the coat over my shoulders. He zipped up the front, then leaned down and planted a kiss on my cheek. His lips warmed my chilled skin.

  “Told you it was snowing,” I said, grinning.

  “I still think you cheated,” he said. “You saw it somehow.”

  I stuck my tongue out at him, marching away to go back toward the garage.

  Kota and Gabriel both had boots on now. Gabriel had a jacket on, too. Kota had pulled on his coat. The others emerged in various stages of dress, with shoes stuffed on and jackets in place. They all stepped out, glancing around the yard and neighborhood.

  Nathan was out front, making a trail with his boots on the pavement. He went to Kota’s car parked on the far side. He touched the snow there, picking some up and shifting it through his fingers. His red hair was starting to catch some of the flakes, making his hair look frosted.

  Silas stretched his arms over his head, twisting his neck until it cracked. He scratched at the hair on the back of his head. “Aggele,” he called to me. “Get the snow to come later in the day next time.”

  I rolled my eyes, bent over and scooped up a handful of snow. I had to gather a lot as it was starting to melt in my hand the moment I picked it up. I tossed it at Luke, who had turned, staring off at the back yard.

  It hit him square in the neck and he cringed, his shoulders hunching. He looked back at me, making a face and moving stiffly, like moving made the snow colder.

  Revenge lit up the brown eyes and I knew I was in trouble.

  I turned and started hauling myself away across the yard. I’d only plotted my assault; I didn’t have an escape plan. Dive in head first. That’s how I worked.

  The splat of wet snow hitting my thigh told me Luke was right behind me. I made a wide turn around the house, sailing toward the back yard. It was hard to run in Kota’s boots, as they were too big. It was more like a quick, stomping march, and I was leaping more than running.

  I ran smack into Gabriel coming around t
o catch me. He caught me by the waist, and we both went tumbling to the ground, sliding against the grass.

  “Ow,” I said, rubbing my hip that had crashed into his. I was still wearing the shorts, despite the coat, so I got my butt and lower back wet with snow, and my legs were freezing.

  Gabriel had his hand pressed against his chest, laughing. “Oh my god, it’s too cold for this.”

  “Sang,” Luke said, standing above us. As I looked up at him, he dropped a handful of snow onto my face. Cold, soaking wetness smeared down my cheek, circling my body against my jaw and neck and dripping away.

  I wiped furiously at it. I leaned over Gabriel, grabbing more snow and tossing it at Luke, but he dodged it and started running back around the house. He called out to me and then made a taunting, sing-song tone as he ran.

  I jumped up, ready to run, when Gabriel caught me by the ankle. He did it so quickly, I nearly fell on top of him again. “No, wait,” he said. He picked up a handful and got up. “You wait here. I’ll chase him back around.”

  This led to each of us scooping up handfuls of snow, making slushy snowballs and flinging them at each other. Nathan joined the game. He caught me and held me up, allowing Luke to toss one at me. I struggled against him, but when Luke misfired and caught Nathan in the face, he released me and started running.

  I circled around and managed to get up on the porch, where I discovered a fresh bundle of snow collecting in a drift in the corner. I gathered what I could, making a huge ball, and when Nathan was chasing Luke in loop number three around the house, I threw and then ducked.

  “Ugh!” Nathan cried out. “Peanut! That was my eye. And my mouth.”

  I grinned, knowing if I stayed where I was, I’d be cornered. I flew over the other side of the porch and started to run, collecting a snowball as I went.

  Luke and Gabriel continued to chase. I was just aiming a snowball at Nathan’s head when I caught one in the ear.

  I turned, finding Kota grinning guiltily, pointing a finger at Silas. Silas was smirking as he pointed a finger back at Kota.