Shattered (The Academy)

Chapter 11: The Trickster.

Twenty minutes after helping North with the salad, Silas and Nathan finally arrive and it starts. They smile and laugh. Even Kota does, who seems to be relaxed and... happier.
"Hi" I sit next to him, still cautious, because I know he doesn't quite like me. Not like the rest seem to. The more I think about it, the luckier I feel for them liking me. Lucky for having friends, and it is here when I realize how lonely I have been all these years.
Kota smiles. Not one of those almost forced smiles he gives me because his friends like me, but a real one.
"Hi" Sitting on the edge of the pool, he swings his legs in the water and I do the same. I try not to watch his naked chest like I've been trying not to watch the rest of the boys', but I think he notices or something, because he looks slighlty flushed "Enjoying yourself?"
"Yes! Everybody has been so kind"
It's true. Nathan and Luke dared me at racing in the pool, and I won... cheating. I held Luke back by pulling of his feet and then screamed while I swam/ran to the finish line. The boys laughed at my little act, and I felt like I had never been happier.
"Next time you could invite your friends. This was a little bit random, so..."
"I... I don't really have friends"
Maybe they were all listening to our conversation, because Luke shouts "What?" and then everybody is coming towards us. In front of us, Luke, North and Silas stand, while everybody who are not in the pool gets close around us.
"What do you mean you don't have friends, Aggelle Mou?" I'd like to ask Silas what does that really mean, but I feel like it might be inaproppiate, for some reason.
I shrug it off, looking at my feet because I can't look at them in the eyes. There is something embarrasing about my confession. I look up when Luke's hand grabs my foot and strokes lightly. Maybe I feel so embarrased by it for the way I'm dressed: As I thought, Elizabeth's bikini is a little bit revealing. So revealing that when they saw me with it, their jaws almost touched the ground. Except for Silas. Silas was grinning in every moment.
"I don't know. I think I just have been lonely".
They exchange looks. It's their own language, I think.
"What about boyfriends?" Asks Victor, who has choosen sitting next to me.
He blushes. I think I do too.
"Uhmm..."
"You've never had a boyfriend" Gabriel states, mouth wide open.
"No" I shake my head.
"No?" North asks, surprised.
"What about a kiss? I mean, you have kissed someone, right?" Nathan seems like he can't believe it.
After doubting, I shake my head no.
"You're tricking us" North says, and out of sudden, he gets nasty glances and Silas hits him in the back of his neck.
"I'm not a trickster, North" I tell him with a smile, only so he can know whatever I say it's the truth.
North looks... is that guilt what I see?
"I know" Answers back "It's just... why?"
And this is the hard part, but I feel like I want to tell them. At least, a little bit, so they can understand where I come from but not too much for them to think I'm a weirdo.
"Mother. She... She used to believe all people were awful. Me and Marie never had permission to go out without her, and since she never liked being outside... For her sickness, of course. So I stayed inside"
They frown.
"And that's why you never had friends?" Asks Kota.
"Mother didn't want us to be around other people. She got... mad"
For a moment, there is silence. Silence where I think I said too much, that they are gonna think I'm too much trouble, or that it's awkward. But they don't ask me to leave like I thought, but after looking at each other Silas touches my knees and talks to me with a soft voice.
"Aggelle, what happened you here?"
"What do you mean?"
When he strokes with his finger the rough places of skin on my knees, I know what they're talking about. I can't see how they noticed, though, because it's not as noticeable as before. You can only see the little marks if you pay enough attention. I have to admit that I hadn't think about them for a while.
"Here" Luke touches them too.
I can only stare at them. When did this become so serious?
"When I was little, a boy in elementary school wrote me a letter on San Valentine's Day. Mother found it in my room and... She made me kneel on rice".
It's a distant memorie now, but sometimes, just sometimes, I feel like I can feel the pain all over again. I feel the not knowing when it's gonna end.
"What do you mean she made you kneel on rice?" North explodes out of sudden in the silence. I jolt scared and Kota holds me.
"It's okay" I try to tell him, because he looks so angry. And looking around, he's not the only one. Their looks vary from anger to surprise to concern "It's forgotten now. She's gone".
"What happened to her?" Asks me Nathan.
"She died. Not long after, we moved here. But I don't know; Even when she's gone, old habits are hard to kill"
"I feel so pissed" Gabriel states.
"I feel you" Mutters Victor.
"Sang Baby, it's not okay" His voice is softer now, trading the anger for concern.
"What about this one?" Victor takes my arm and with his finger touches the fine line across my forearm.
"I didn't like punishments" I confess "So I tried to run, sometimes. I got that one while trying to get out of the basement"
"What were you doing in the basement?" Kota's voice is severe, like if it was me who had the blame.
I'm starting to dislike answering. "She locked me down there"
All of them explode as North did before, except for Kota, who seems surprised and terrified. He stares at me, stunned, while the others raise their voices, and after a couple seconds I can't hear what they say anymore even when they are screaming it. The only thing I can hear is angry shouting.
So I get scared.
Kota grabs my arm when I start to get up to leave.
"Guys, shut up!" I haven't noticed how he is the leader of the group here, so when he speaks, they listen "You're scaring her!"
They stare at me, their faces all painted with emotions.
"Oh, Sang Baby, I'm so sorry"
They all aplogize, and when Gabriel says we should race again, I can help but smile. The rest of the day, we smile and laugh like there's no tomorrow, with Silas and Luke making me blush all the way and Kota giving me warm smiles.
It's a perfect day.

Sean's Point Of View.

"Owen, I honestly think this is a bad idea" I tell him this morning when we are taking our morning coffee together.
He doesn't answer right away, but sighs. "If she is a liar, then we will be able to know this way"
"But if she's not..."
"Sean" He says my name in the way that says Please-stop-pushing. I decide to let it go and pray for the best.
"Okay, but what about what they texted?" I add, referring to the text of yesterdar saying she came from an abusive home and I quote: "Is crap".
"Changes nothing. Researches have found kids with troubled homes are unsteady and criminals"
"Watch out what you're saying, Owen" Do I need to remind him we are all from broken homes?
"I believe, Dr. Green, that if we had not come across The Academy, we would be all criminals. And I think you know it"
"Not the point!" I point a finger at him, but he just sips from his black americano while reading the paper "When is it happening?"
"Soon" He responds "We will call for a family meeting so they can know what will happen".
"Don't you think they'll try to stop it?"
"And that's why we are sharing the information when it's too late"
I love and would kill for Owen, for any of them, but I can't help but thinking that maybe, just maybe, she is not the trickster here.

Sang's Point Of View.

The house is silent this morning while I bake cookies. I usually cook when I'm stressed, but today I do it because I'm thinking too much. What if I shared a lot? What if they think I'm troubled and never want to talk to me again? What if for some reason I shouldn't have done it?
While I add the chocolate chips to the mix, my head fills with What Ifs. They're making me crazy. Good thing? At least Elizabeth hasn't showed up and that's a relief.
There is a knock on the door, and before I can take a step fordward, it doesn't matter because the door slams open.
"Don't move!"
Suddenly, men in black uniforms and guns get into my house and hold my by my wrists. I panic, trying to get off and while they try to get me kneeled, my forehead hits against the kitchen islan.
I can feel the hot blood running down my face.
"Sang Sorenson, don't move!"
I feel so dizzy. I can't seem to focus or move or anything. I can barely breathe, but I do feel the handcuffs closing around my wrists on my back, and the noises they do, the confusion.
"You are under arrest"