The Academy - Friends vs. Family (16 page)

“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 leaves above
us appeared thicker and blocked out the light. It was almost like a dome over
our heads. Two huge live 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 sashayed easily against a 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 spotting it, 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 smashed against my rib cage. I wrapped my arms around his
neck. He scooped up my legs under the knees and hauled me up. His 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 ordered.

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 pressed against Nathan’s chest.

Nathan didn’t seem to notice me wriggling. His hands gripped at 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 strong.

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. It was the first I
noticed where he hadn’t shaved for a few days. With his tan skin and his
reddish hair, it was nearly undetectable. 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. Micah crashed 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 back yard. Max, Kota’s
golden retriever, was tethered in the back yard. He barked when we approached,
and sniffed at our legs.

Nathan was still carrying me through the back yard and onto the
driveway when a familiar green sedan pulled into the drive. Erica took one look
at our faces and at Nathan carrying me through her windshield 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 kitchen 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 bend
over and inspect my leg.

There were tiny blotches covering my skin from the top of my feet
to my knees. His warm breath fell over my calf. I twitched, the intense itching
resurfacing. 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 into 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
dark circles underneath to contrast. I didn’t realize 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 my other leg. 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.