The Academy - Friends vs. Family (46 page)

“We have to find out the truth, first,” Mr. Blackbourne said. “I
won’t ask any of you to go into this blindly. Whether or not Mr. Sorenson raped
anyone, he still had a child with an underage girl. Who knows if there might be
more. We already know he’s not beyond trying to smother secrets.”

Dr. Green nodded. “And we need to keep her where she is for now
until we figure it out. We can’t let the police in on this. And if we want to
keep her with us when the Academy finds out, we’ll have to figure out how we
can get the Academy to let us keep her with our team.”

“I don’t want her in the Academy,” Kota said. “It’s too
dangerous.”

“We may not have that choice,” Dr. Green said. “They’ll find out
eventually and they’ll want her, and she’s already interested. You can tell
just by looking at her.”

“We need to get to work with her,” Mr. Blackbourne said. “Stay
near her, build her confidence. Trust building has to start now. We might be
able to circumvent any long term damage her mother has done to her. You also,
though, have to give her a little time alone. Filling her life up only
distracts her from processing what has happened to her and puts off the
inevitable. There’s a strong possibility she’ll want to fly solo. We want to
avoid that. She’s already shown signs of avoidant personality.”

“What does that mean?” Nathan asked.

“Emotional distancing,” Dr. Green said. “She shows some social
isolation. She thinks it’s her versus the world. If we want her to feel
connected to us, we’ll need to break through that. She might continue to keep
things to herself for a while.”

“What do we do?” North asked. He crossed his arms over his chest.
“We have three months to figure out what happened to Sang’s mom, try to
convince her dad to release her to us, do our Ashley Waters job, and somehow
convince the Academy and her that she should stay on our team, with or without
her officially becoming a member. They already don’t want birds on dog teams.”

 “We’re working on it,” Mr. Blackbourne said. “We don’t know what
will happen. Let’s focus on finding out the truth.”

Dr. Green cleared his throat. “At any rate, we’ve got a lot to do
with her right now. We’ll have to help her adjust to living alone in that
house.”

“She won’t be alone,” Silas said.

“No, she won’t,” Kota said. “If we back off now to give her space,
she might feel we’re abandoning her, too.”

“It’s too late to back down, and I doubt any of you would,
anyway,” Mr. Blackbourne said.

“This is what I thought we should talk about as well,” Dr. Green
stated. “I know you boys are trying your best to make her feel included.
Goodness knows, she needs it. You have to take it slow with her, though. She’s
already admitted that she’s never really been touched or hugged or anything
before.”

Mr. Blackbourne nodded. “I think it’s best we establish ground
rules now. The first one should probably be no intimate contact of any kind. No
dating. Nothing romantic.”

The surge of rejection toward this idea reverberated,
surprisingly, from the others in the group around Kota.

“I don’t approve,” Victor called out, using the more formal method
of rejection established by the Academy.

“I don’t approve,” echoed Gabriel, in a louder voice, as if trying
to establish he felt stronger about it than Victor. Their eyes locked on each
other, and Kota recognized the challenge in their faces.

“I more than disapprove, I reject it entirely,” North grumbled.

Mr. Blackbourne pushed a palm to his forehead. “Good god, don’t
tell me it’s already happened.”

Stares zoomed across the table, accusing and daring anyone to
speak up and say they’ve done anything to Sang. Kota, most of all, wanted to
know exactly what his friends had been up to. He’d dismissed the hand holding,
because he did it, too. He dismissed it when she sat in their laps, because he
felt a comfort in it. He’d done it with her, so he couldn’t blame the others
for doing it. His Academy brothers were friends, yes, and sometimes they shared
brotherly hugs. It was limited. Touching Sang was different. She wasn’t a
sister or someone out of reach. She was beautiful and sweet and willing to
please. When she was near, it was difficult not to reach for her and hang on to
her. He didn’t do it all the time just because he didn’t want to scare her.

It was also addicting. The more he touched her, the more he wanted
to touch.

He wasn’t so sure he wanted her to share more intimate touches
with the rest of his family. When he looked around the table, though, the rage
in the others’ eyes established more than enough proof of something Kota had
been worried about since they had brought her in.

Mr. Blackbourne nearly jumped to his feet from the stool, pushing
his palms to the table to lean on it. “I can’t believe this. This is exactly
why we never, ever bring a bird into a dog group. I’ve warned you. I’ve warned
all of you.” He lifted a finger into the air to take stabs in Kota’s direction.
“You. I’ve warned you about this.”

“I know,” Kota said, lowering his eyes at the table. “She needed
us, though.”

Mr. Blackbourne huffed. “Yes, she needed us.” The frown deepened
and his critical eyes bore down at the others. “None of you understand what
this means, now. You brought her in without thinking. You’ve moved too fast.
Now you all will have to focus. It’s bad enough that she’s at risk for hero
worship with any of us, or all of us. She could equate what she believes to be
real feelings of love for helping her. That would be dangerous enough for her at
her present emotional state. What we don’t need is countertransference on top
of it.”

“That’s not what... I mean that’s not how...” Victor said.

“Spit it out, Mr. Morgan,” Mr. Blackbourne said.

Victor frowned. “I’ve already asked her out,” he said flatly, his
chin lifting to the air. “She said yes.”

“Did she say yes or did she divert to figure out what answer you
wanted and did whatever would please you?”

“She said she wanted to,” Victor countered, but his voice wavered.
“She can tell me what she wants or doesn’t. She’s done it before with me.”

Mr. Blackbourne narrowed his eyes at him. “She’s hungry for
attention. A certain kind, at least. She doesn’t know what is too far because
she’s socially inept. I’ve seen what she does. She’s done it to me, too. She’ll
fix those eyes on you and lets you touch her, even if she’s uncomfortable or
unsure, because she doesn’t want to disappoint you. And from the looks from
your brothers here, I can tell she’s done that to everyone.”

Jaws became firm, more stares, mostly toward Victor, for daring to
cross a line they themselves had probably told themselves they wouldn’t. Not
yet. Not when she’s gone through so much. Kota felt the heat rising to his
face, knowing that while he pushed those same thoughts from his mind, he was
always thinking of it.

And he couldn’t blame them. She was beautiful, sweet, and they’d
all be idiots not to want to get closer.

Mr. Blackbourne didn’t have to say it. They could go on dates with
girls they met if they wanted to. The problem usually came from the girls they
asked out. Academy members often had to disappear because of Academy business,
sometimes for as long as a week, and had to lie to cover that up. Most girls
couldn’t understand and didn’t trust them. Often enough, the guys were flat out
too busy to date anyone.

They could date other Academy girls, as many Academy members
sometimes resorted to doing, but most of the local Academy girls weren’t to his
taste. He’d dated a couple, but it was short lived. He knew the others
sometimes had done so, on and off, but they mostly had the same reaction.

And there were so few Academy girls that they were often taken.

Now they had Sang. Sang was an exception. She knew about the
Academy, and she willingly accepted their absences and excuses. She was the
only one who had gotten so close. Part of it was because she needed it. And she
was so vulnerable. One look at her and you could tell what she wanted without
her saying so. Didn’t she say she was lonely the night before and stayed with
Nathan because of it? She preferred to be with them, even when given the choice
to be alone. That meant something, Kota knew. Kota wondered if she would have
gone to him if he had been around.

If she had an avoidant personality, like Mr. Blackbourne said, she
was breaking through it. She was starting to call them for what she needed. She
didn’t reach for his hand, he always had to reach for hers, however, she seemed
to be warming up to them. He thought showing up at Nathan’s house when she felt
lonely showed she wanted to break through that isolation.

“This is the problem,” Mr. Blackbourne said. He jabbed his finger
at the table to make his point. “Supply and demand. There’s nine of us and one
of her. What happens when more than one person develops feelings, and possibly
false feelings, towards her? I’ll say what. Anger and resentment and jealousy.”

“That’s not what’s going to happen,” Gabriel grumbled.

“It’s already happening,” Mr. Blackbourne snapped, striking his
finger in the air at Gabriel. “You’re already fighting over who gets to spend
the night with her. You’re breaking cover while on missions to text her or
respond to her calls. That girl has the power to bring us all to a crashing
burn. Everything we’ve established, all the things we’ve done, and it can be
over in a moment because of her.”

“We don’t have to let it happen,” Dr. Green interjected.

“No, we don’t have to let it,” Mr. Blackbourne’s voice rose.
“Because it’s stopping right now.”

“We’re not getting rid of her,” Kota said.

“That’s not
what I mean,” Mr. Blackbourne flashed those silver eyes at Kota’s face. “I mean
everyone being mature about this and not taking things too far with her.”

“If we stop
some things, she’s going to notice,” North said. “We’ve been holding her hand.
I know the rest of you do it. If we back off of that, she might not understand.”

“This is
what’s going to happen,” Mr. Blackbourne barked, his order-giving voice
dominating over the others. It was the voice Kota often tried to replicate.
“You follow the rules, or you bow out of anything to do with her on a group
level. It’s the only way this can work out. As I see it, there’s only one
option. Stop where you are, and don’t go any further with her.”

“How the hell do you come up with this shit?” Gabriel called out.
“What do you mean?”

“It’s real simple, Mr. Coleman. No one is allowed to become
romantically involved at all. Unless you want to risk scaring her, you’ll stop
at whatever place you are with her. And you’ll have to deal with the others
still holding her hand and going from whatever level they’ve already
established.”

“You mean sharing her?” North said, his head reeling back as he
glanced around. “With all of us?”

“That’s exactly what I mean,” Mr. Blackbourne said. “If you can
all agree to share her attention, it might be the only way for her to trust us.
You also can’t date anyone else right now. She’s too susceptible. It’s a
complicated situation now and bringing another bird into the picture could make
her back off permanently.”

To Kota, that wasn’t a problem. Ever since he’d met Sang in person
and gotten to know her, she was all he’d thought about. He’d taken fewer side
assignments just to be around her. He wasn’t interested in anyone else.

Dr. Green stood next to Mr. Blackbourne. “It’s too early to try to
date her now, anyway. Feelings are running wild because she’s new, she’s
vulnerable and everyone wants to try to protect her and include her. She may
discover she doesn’t want to be with us later. That’s her choice. If she
chooses to stay with us, you’d want to make sure it is her true desire to stay
with us and not because she feels it’s her only option.”

Mr. Blackbourne nodded. “Unless we’re willing to approach the
Academy and they want to draw her into another group. If they were going to do
it, they’d need to do so right now to start establishing trust. I’m not totally
opposed to it if it means her safety is assured, but I have a feeling I’d be
outvoted in this.”

Kota sighed, running his fingers through his hair. This wasn’t at
all what he pictured this meeting to be about.

Part of him was tempted to go back and talk to her. Maybe he could
run off with her. That didn’t seem right, either. For one, he wasn’t sure she
would. The other thing was, he couldn’t abandon his family. He cared about her,
but he loved his brothers, too. He’d sworn his life to them.

Maybe he should have kept her to himself. It was too late now.

“So it comes down to this,” Mr. Blackbourne said. “You can share
her or not, that’s up to you. You’ll have to come to terms with what that means
on your own. Until a time when she’s less vulnerable and we’ve got her in a
safe position, we have to establish some ground rules.

 As far as holding her hand and touching, you can take her as far
as she’s allowed you so far, but every next step she has to initiate herself.
Has she kissed anyone yet?”

“No,” a few of them said at the same time. Eyes darted across the
table for someone to disagree with this statement, but it was pretty obvious.
They’d had this argument already. Sang’s revelation at the sleepover made it
clear no one had tried and in the last couple of days, no one would have
attempted it.