The Academy In My Head

Behold... the Power of Pie

Erica leaned against the counter and studied the boy at her kitchen table. "So..." She paused, taking a sip of her coffee and watching as his tousled sandy curls shook slightly when he raised his head. "Sean."

His green eyes widened and he looked at her for a long moment. "Yes, Mrs. Lee?"

"Oh, come now. Don't Mrs. Lee me. You know I have asked you and Owen to both call me Erica. How long have we known each other?" she raised an eyebrow at him.

"Um. Well, we met just about 2 years ago," He hedged, his fingers splayed nervously against the table.

"Yes." She nodded before eyeing him again and setting her cup down to retrieve a slice of pie from where she'd had it warming in the oven. "Ice cream?" she asked casually, setting down the pie in front of him.

His eyes widened again and she couldn't help but stifle a laugh. "Oh, no, just pie is fine." He murmured, already finding himself ready to drool over the plump slices of apple with plenty of cinnamon and an almost caramel sugary syrup dripping down the sides of the slice. "Apple." He breathed, lowering his head slightly and taking a deep breath. He inhaled the scent and closed his eyes for a moment.

Erica cleared her throat softly, smiling at him. Oh, it had been such a good thing almost 2 years ago, when she found out the boy would do almost anything for apple pie. Extra points for Dutch apple pie but as long as it was apple and full of cinnamon and apples that were not too mushy... well... she certainly wasn't going to tell Owen what Sean disclosed to her.

Those were pie moments.

Pie moments with Erica were sacred.

Besides, she'd discovered that peach pie tended to make Owen's heart beat a little faster and the information was a little more forthcoming and quicker in making an appearance when they spoke. Never hurt to have Jessica wander through the room either. His eyes would track her daughter whenever she was within sight. Erica treasured the fact that he looked out for her as well as all the boys that she considered sons.

"Sean." Her voice was a little firmer this time, as his first fork full of pie slid into his mouth and she again, stifled her amusement at how he groaned softly in appreciation. "Focus, please."

"Sure." He mumbled, already focused on getting the next perfect bite lined up while he chewed the first one. "What can I help you with?"

"Why am I just now finding out about this camping trip?" she asked. The boys were soon to be starting to turn 12 and she had not known that there was going to be a Christmas break camping trip somewhere... well... somewhere that she didn't know exactly the location yet.

"Oh, you didn't know?" He raised seemingly innocent eyes to meet her gaze as he popped the next bite into his mouth.

"No, I didn't know. Is there equipment that we need to be getting? Not all of the boys can afford these sorts of things." She reminded him.

He chewed thoughtfully. He ate a few more bites as he considered where she was coming from. He knew that was true. Probably most likely true for Gabriel, Nathan, Silas and Kota, if he thought about it. He swallowed the pie in his mouth and looked at her. "We know that. It's going to be taken care of." He reassured her. "We have a lot of gear ourselves and we are borrowing a few more things this year. As long as the boys have a sleeping bag, we'll be able to deal with getting the rest."

She reached for her coffee and drank deeply from the mug. "Okay, so sleeping bags are the barest essential that they should all have." She raised an eyebrow at him.

He drew a design in the cinnamon yumminess that was pooling on his plate as he looked back at her. "Yes."

"What about registration fees?"

He shrugged and put more pie in his mouth, out of a need for a reassurance rather than because he was ready for the next bite of pie. "It's covered by the Academy." He could see her shoulders relax at the answer. He could almost see her mind working. This was the school the boys went to so clearly, it's a school trip and he thought she was almost ready to fully give permission for the younger boys to go if it was okay with all the other parents or guardians.

"I see." She sat back and drank her coffee while he finished the slice of pie and tried to distract her with other conversations about Christmas planning for this year.

It only took her the rest of the pie to have all the details she really wanted. Which was a success for Erica. Sometime it took the better part of two pies to get Sean to fully spill everything.

She had the location, she had the reason for the camping trip – initiation and team building exercises. She knew that both he and Owen were concerned because North still wasn't speaking to all of them, all the time and they knew that he probably needed to adjust to the fact that none of them were going to walk away or mistreat him. She knew that he'd enrolled Owen in a chocolate of the month club, despite the fact that Owen barely tolerated candy. She almost wanted to see how the other boy would react when he found out about it.

She also knew why this was so much more than the simple initiation and team building exercise he'd led her to think it was with his 2nd slice of pie. She sincerely hoped that all would go as planned for them. She cared deeply for all her cubs and couldn't stand to think that they might not survive this camping trip as the good friends that they all were.

She studied him over her coffee mug. "Need milk or water?" she offered.

His face paled as he realized that he'd eaten an entire pie.

"And no worries, Sean." She got up, setting her mug down before going to get the offered drink. She ran her hand over his tousled curls. "This is just between us. I wouldn't tell Owen or any of the others, anything you shared with me." She paused.

His face turned even whiter. "I told you everything." He groaned, dropping his face into his hands and covering his eyes. "He's going to kill me. My best friend in the whole world and I just told you EVERYTHING for a pie." He sighed.

Erica rested a hand on his back. "Calm down." She soothed, her hand rubbing a small circle between his shoulder blades. "I'm not going to say anything." She reassured him. "I would never betray your trust like that."

He raised his head slightly. "You really do mean that." He observed.

"Of course, I do." She tapped him gently on the back of the head. "I do it for all of you. So, don't ever try to get me to divulge what the others talk to me about, okay?"

"Deal." Sean nodded. "Could you maybe help me with my restraint and stop next time at half a pie?" He asked.

Erica laughed softly. "Of course, Sean. Anything for you." She said, bending to kiss the top of his head. "Now. Tell me about what you and Owen are doing for living conditions? Neither of you are old enough to drive by yourselves. Just what exactly are two 15-year old's doing for a safe place to stay?"

~ Fade~