The Academy

  The Ghost Bird Series

  Meeting Sang: North

  ♥

  Book One – Alternate Opening

  The Boys’ Version

  ♥

  Written by C. L. Stone

  Published by

  Arcato Publishing

  Published by Arcato Publishing

  Copyright © 2021 C. L. Stone

  All rights reserved.

  This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events or locales is purely coincidental. The characters are productions of the author’s imagination and used fictitiously.

  Table of Contents

  Copyright Page

  NORTH | 1

  2

  3

  4

  5

  6

  7

  8

  Also By C. L. Stone

  NORTH

  1

  “Cheer up,” Luke said, grimacing. “You want someone who understands you. Like I do. But maybe...try being a little nicer? You know, like you are when you’re not grumpy?”

  North Taylor refused to say anything after hearing this. It wasn’t what he wanted to hear from his brother. Suggesting he could be better, if only he were different.

  Instead of talking to him anything further, North turned away.

  There was no need to focus on the past. No need to think about old dates or lost relationships.

  Focus on what needed to be done; making a decision about this diner. If their Uncle really wanted this old church as an ideal spot for his new business venture, it should be sound.

  The old church wouldn’t have been North’s first choice. The structure wasn’t built to be a church, and he didn't think structurally, it’d be a great place for a diner either.

  But maybe a diner would be better than a church, at least.

  Built more like a warehouse, the structure was basic and utility only. No insulation. This place likely was its own oven during the summer. It’d be stifling now if it wasn’t so early in the morning.

  Perhaps the only indication from the outside it had been a church was the large brown wooden cross that hung over the front door, and a sign out front with the name.

  At least it didn't have a graveyard.

  Likely the church had to move on because of the electric bill for the air conditioning. It must have been a few hundred a month to keep it tolerable, at minimum. What they’d saved in structure costs, they used up in the long term with utility bills.

  Thinking about the building kept North from thinking too hard about what Luke had said. He wanted to process it and not be angry.

  Out of sight from his brother, North stopped in the hall of the old church and quieted his mind. His admission of his failed date, that had happened what seemed like weeks ago, felt like a sorry excuse for how North had been behaving.

  “If you don't start trusting people, opening up to them, you'll be as isolated as you feel,” Mr. Blackbourne had once told him.

  And he had been trying. What he didn't understand was when the others claimed he was grumpy, usually at times when he was just trying to protect them.

  Anger was fuel. It was a warning. There was a danger or things needed to be checked out.

  He touched briefly at the newly installed gold hoop in his ear. A reminder to himself of this failed date and how it all happened. A reminder to slow down and think about what he was saying. It wasn’t what he was feeling, it was how he was saying it.

  Footsteps further down the hallway broke his thoughts and suddenly the wave of awareness flowed over him. The noise had come from the direction he had been heading.

  Shuffling. A slight crack of wood. A shifting of material.

  North hurried along, mentally readying himself.

  Someone else was here besides Luke.

  The kitchen was predominantly dark, with thin beams of light filtering through cracks at the single window on the other side of the room.

  There, on the counter, someone in the shadows was tugging at a curtain, trying to pull it away from the window.

  He stepped closer, quieter. Were they trying to break out? They were small. Some kid who’d gotten in maybe. Micah or one of the others from up the road? “What the hell are you doing in here?” he snapped at them.

  Suddenly the curtain gave way. The person twisted, falling backward off the counter.

  North lurched forward. He reached out, grasped quickly at whatever he could get a hold of, and managed to just reach their hips. Precariously balanced, in the position they were in together, if he didn't help them to the ground, they'd likely both fall.

  His heart beat in his chest heavily in the rush, as he figured out the safest way to shift them off the counter. He repositioned.

  They staggered on their feet and he reacted quickly again, holding steady. He refocused on their face.

  Only to be face to face with an angel.

  2

  With the sun beaming into her face from the now-open window, it left an illuminated light over her, over her skin and hair that seemed to shimmer. She was small, with light green eyes and golden hair under the sun. If innocent awe was ever a description for someone, it was in her face, her parted lips.

  North had seen paintings of angels and it was the first thing he thought of.

  Her eyes widened when she focused on him.

  “Are you hurt?” North asked.

  She shook her head quickly and said nothing.

  He shifted both of them until they were standing and he was sure she was stable on her feet next to him. The sunlight continued to pour brightly through the windows over her, leaving her in a wash of light, until she appeared to be glowing.

  It was the way she looked at him at first, and he was about to snap at her, to ask her what she was staring at, and he stopped himself.

  There was something wrong here. With her. He sensed it. He'd always felt he had an instinct about people, and with her, there was something in her that was timid. Like a frightened, but innocent little bird.

  Afraid? Maybe Luke was right. He tried to imagine a girl like her and a rough face like his own and in a place like this, especially if she knew she didn’t belong here and he just caught her. What would be the point in yelling?

  “Who are you?” he asked her, although with more bark in his voice than he meant. He couldn't imagine she might have snuck in here. Leaving the keys for Luke was probably a bad idea. He might have left the door open; she came in...

  Her lips twitched as she responded. “I'm...” her voice squeaked. “I'm Sang.”

  Her voice was faint, but he heard her just fine.

  Sang. The new boy...no... he’d assumed that part. It was the way Sang had been presented to him. He should have known.

  The way they were so secretive about it. Even Kota delayed talking to him about this.

  Sang. Not only a girl, but a beautiful one.

  “How did you get in here?” He had his suspicions, but he wanted confirmation.

  “Luke let me in,” she said.

  Of course, he did. North pursed his lips. Luke failed to mention a lot of things, even at the best of times.

  Also, there was something off with her voice. A hoarseness or something that forced her tone to that of a harsh whisper. Was she sick? Or did her voice sound like that normally?

  Suddenly the overhead lights turned on. Luke must have found the breaker box. At least they didn't have to wander around in the dark now.

  The old fluorescent long bulb lights had yellowed and needed replacing. The effect of it and with the window uncovered was enough to shed light across most of the darker corners of the kitchen.

  North listed off the obvious in his head: Black and white checkerboard style tile flooring. Yellow Formica countertops. Single fridge, single electric stove, standard double basin sink.

  Aside from the exceptionally wide space in the center of the room, the kitchen could have been any ordinary house kitchen. It was only as problematic as the rest of the warehouse church; nearly everything needed work. Way more work than he wanted to deal with.

  Sang took a half step, looking around the room silently. He studied her as she seemed preoccupied in her own head as she examined the area. She held a concerning look, and he wasn't totally sure it was the room, or more that he was here. Was she still afraid of him?

  When she redirected her gaze back at him, he held steady, meeting her eyes, wanting to try to read her thoughts, if it were possible.

  And then realized she probably had no idea who he was and was likely wondering how much trouble she was in, a bit more concerning to her than what the room contained.

  “Sorry I scared you. I'm North.”

  “Luke's brother,” she said, with some slight surprise to her tone.

  How much did she know? Still, it was her tone, the surprise, that irked him. “We're stepbrothers,” he said in a defensive rush. “We're still family.”

  She nodded. “No, I get it. I just...” She hesitated and seemed to take a different direction. “He told me about the diner. I think it'll be great.”

  Since when were they going to tell anyone and everyone about the diner? “My brother has unrealistic ideas,” he said, turning around and walking toward the stove. He bent down to open the oven door, checking the inside. A layer of ashes nested at the bottom.

  He sensed her step up behind him, looking in from behind his shoulder.

  “It could be fixed up,” she said.

  This single oven wasn’t worth keeping, not for a restauran
t.

  A complete waste. “It’ll take a lot of work.”

  “But once it’s done...”

  He let go of the oven door and it closed with a sharp bang. The metal-on-metal scraping irritated his ears.

  She moved back, and when he turned around, she had a hand on her chest. She was like a timid bird, every little noise scared her.

  Besides, what did any of them know about running a diner? He didn’t want to get anyone’s hopes up. “It might not work. Most restaurants fail within a year.”

  “A good one can stay open for a long time,” she said softly, and her hand drifted up until it touched the base of her neck, like she expected to find a necklace that wasn't there. “I suppose it depends on how good the food is.”

  She was sounding more like Luke. Full of ideas but no reality.

  He considered her words. Did she mean to question their ability to cook? “My uncle’s the best.” And he was. He could do much more than basic diner food, but he liked American-style cooking.

  Her face changed suddenly, concerned and defensive all at once and her gentle but hoarse voice cracked a bit near the end. “Then what are you worried about? People will taste how good it is and they’ll love it. I mean, if you work hard and put your heart into it, who wouldn’t love it?”

  He tilted his head. It was like a sharp sting embedding right into his heart with the way she put it. She had more belief and passion for this project, and she was not involved in it and had no idea about their uncle or who would be here.

  What Luke had said to him earlier rang in his ears; try being a little nicer? You know, like you are when you’re not grumpy?

  He didn't consider himself to be grumpy now but Sang was countering every argument he put up about this place.

  She was a complete stranger, and she had more courage and passion for what they were doing than he did.

  So was he in the wrong? If his Uncle and Luke had high hopes about this place, and Sang, a complete stranger, did as well, then maybe he was missing something.

  Or maybe he should stop thinking so negatively. Could she understand, he only wanted to protect them, and their high expectations? He didn’t want them to be disappointed.

  There were footsteps in the hallway and North guessed who it was by the sound of his footsteps; jaunty, like he bounced when he walked.

  “Hey! You found her,” Luke said, coming in, smiling wide, clearly pleased with himself. He eyeballed the window. “What happened to the curtain?”

  “She broke it,” North said.

  “I’m sorry,” Sang said. “I didn’t mean to.”

  North realized it probably sound accusatory. He only meant to say what happened exactly. On top of it, he remembered that Sang...Kota meant to explain something about her and never got back to him. He’d have to tread carefully until he knew what was going on. He didn’t want to alienate her right off the bat. “It’s no big deal,” he said in a quieter tone. “Just be more careful next time.”

  “I like it like that,” Luke said. “I wouldn’t want anything blocking the natural light.”

  North struggled to not suggest the shade kept the heat out of what would be an already hot room in the large metal building in South Carolina. It was getting stuffy already and would only get worse. He couldn’t imagine running several ranges it would take to run a diner.

  Sang suddenly stiffened and pulled a phone from her pocket of the little hoodie she was wearing.

  “Who is it?” Luke asked.

  She glanced at it. “It’s Kota. He’s wondering if I can come over.”

  “We should go talk to him,” Luke said to North. “There’s not much else to do here. We’ll have to start with cleaning it up.”

  Luke was right. North really wanted to get to the bottom of what Kota was doing with Sang and why she was around. And the diner needed much more than just to be cleaned. “We need to take a few walls down,” North said. “We probably should gut the place before we spend too much time sweeping the floor.” He started listing off in his head the things he needed to focus on. Insulation. Increasing the AC size most likely. Ventilation.

  Convincing Uncle this building likely would be too much money and work. Couldn’t he have picked an old restaurant? Something nearly ready to go?

  “Yeah,” Luke said, sounding excited. He pumped a fist in the air. “Let’s break some walls.” He started out of the kitchen.

  North rolled his eyes and followed.

  Sang slipped in behind them, tapping slowly at the phone. A little too slowly, making a few mistakes and correcting it.

  Odd. She never sent text messages before?

  3

  Outside of the old church, the sun was starting to peek out from above the tree line more. It was going to get much warmer today.

  There wasn't much more to see of the building. It wasn't the worst choice to convert into a diner. But it’d be a lot of work and so many things that would work against making it successful. There was zoning to consider, too. It was really close to the neighborhood. They might need special permission to run a diner that would be open at all hours.

  It didn’t matter that it technically wouldn’t be for actual income, at least at the beginning, but it needed to make sense.

  The Academy would use it for whatever they liked, but that didn’t mean it should be a drain on finances.

  Standing outside beside the boys, Sang looked onward toward the motorcycle parked near the jungle gym. North had moved it there after coming back out mid-inspection to see if Luke had come yet.

  “Is that yours?” she asked him.

  He lifted an eyebrow. “Uh huh.”

  “Take her for a ride,” Luke said. “I’ll walk.”

  “What?” She visibly blushed, all the way down her neck and seemed embarrassed. “You mean, you’d let me?”

  North internally groaned, unsure. She hardly knew him. His hand lifted to the back of his neck, and he rubbed at a spot, trying to pick his words carefully. “If you want...”

  She smiled, nodding.

  For some reason, he pictured she'd be uninterested in something like a motorcycle ride. While she still seemed like a frightened little bird, she also had an eager glint in her eyes as she gazed at the motorcycle.

  North cracked a small smile. She wasn’t as timid as she looked.

  Luke combed his hair away from his face and shoved a lock of it behind his ear. “I’ll turn the lights out and lock up.” He turned back to the church, disappearing behind the door.

  He was purposefully pushing them together? North didn’t understand why. It wasn’t like him.

  North had just told Luke about his disastrous date. Was he...was he saying to try again?

  On Sang?

  No way to know. And no point in sitting here trying to figure it out.

  North headed toward his bike. Sang followed behind him, showing no concern that she was wearing a skirt and was going to attempt to do this. He stopped short and turned to her. He wanted her to be fully aware of how to ride on a bike with someone. “You’ll have to hang on to me,” he said. Technically this was a lie, she could hang on to the seat, but she was so slight, and if she had never ridden a motorcycle before, he didn't want her to just fall off and him not sense she did because she wasn't physically touching him. His mind raced with the scenarios. They were only going around the block but still.

  “Is that bad?” she asked.

  The way she said it made him wary of what to say next. His lips twisted as he thought to tell her she didn’t have to and could hold on to the bike instead and then at the last minute, he changed his mind and shook his head. “I was just warning you.”

  “Why?”

  He didn’t understand her question. And in the way she said it, he felt like he was the one being too sensitive and timid about her when she didn’t think he needed to be.

  He said nothing in answer and moved to the motorcycle and then got on it, kicking back the stand and balancing the bike between his legs. “Come on,” he said, holding his hand out. “Put your right foot on this and swing your leg over.” He indicated with his foot while still holding his hand out to help her on.

  She placed her hand into his, at first too gently and then with pressure as she lifted herself up and into the seat behind him.

  “Wrap your arms around my waist,” he said. He couldn't stop himself from picturing her flying off the back at the start. Luke had the first time.