Hang Ten - 9 Guys and a Girl

Chapter One - New Assignment

Nathan

        We are getting a new assignment. The timing couldn't be worse. We are still committed to the Ashley Waters job and the school year has just started. We have agreed to this job for a minimum of one school year or until we complete the assignment, whichever comes first. So far, we are not having much luck.

        The school is one giant mess of drug dealers, petty criminals in the making (the students) and larger criminals on the verge of closing down this school and displacing hundreds of students. The problem is that those "larger" criminals are on the staff of the school. Another problem is that we haven't been able to identify the Who, or the How just yet. We have been setting up security cameras and breaking up fights, while trying to keep a low profile so that we can remain effective. If the bastards find out who we are, they may ramp up the activity or hide the proof and we will lose the advantage. The administration knows who we are, but the general population of the building does not. 

       Who are we, you may ask? We are Academy. The Academy is an organization that has been around for a long time. We are everywhere and yet, you would not know who we were if you ran across us on the street. We are doctors, lawyers, bakers, restaurant owners, mechanics and school teachers. We maintain everyday jobs, yet that is not all that we do. While we are here to help, that is not our main goal. No, our main goal is to provide for our family. To us, family is a very valuable thing. Family is a choice. Family comes first. When your family cannot be there for you, the Academy always will be. Sounds great doesn't it? Yeah, there is nothing we wouldn't do for the Academy.

       So again, who are we? We are brothers. No, we are not biological brothers (even though North and Luke are close), we chose each other, which makes us family. There are nine of us in all. We have been together for the past seven years. Many of us have known each other for longer, but the nine of us have been brothers for the past seven years, since we were ten. Well, all except for the Doc and Mr. Blackbourne. Dr. Green (aka Sean Green, the youngest doctor in Academy history) and Owen Blackbourne, were thirteen when they were given permission to start their own Academy team. They were the youngest Academy team to graduate (pay off their monetary and favor debt with the Academy) and were promised the ability to create their own team. Once they graduated they found the rest of us and created one of the largest all dog (male) teams in Academy History. It is amazing what those two have been able to do, but that is what makes them so right for the Academy.

        Anyway, at this time we are still committed to the Ashley Waters job. However, we have been asked to add an additional job to our already heavy load. We were approached because we are a large team and known to have a very diverse skill set. It is often remarked that our team is generally known to need little sleep (maybe Doc and his endless hours at the Hospital are the cause of that rumor). There may be some truth to this statement. Some of my brothers and I have been known to stay up late at night playing newly released video games and then creeping out at dawn to tackle various assignments that our Team Lead, Kota, has accepted on our behalf. I am sure that Mr. B would not be considering taking on another assignment at this point if he did not feel that it were important. Therefore, we will be having a family meeting tonight to go over the new job specifications and vote as a group on whether or not we want to take on this new assignment. Even though Mr. B is our Team liaison and Kota Lee is our Team Lead , we must all agree on any assignments that we take on. The voting process is in place to keep our family dynamic healthy.

         There is only one more hour and the school day will be over. Mr. B has taken on an administrative role at Ashley Waters and Dr. Green is teaching a Japanese Class and helping out in the Nurses office. The rest of us have been enrolled as students in the Junior class (even though in reality, all of us have actually graduated from school, our ages correlate to being in the Junior class of High School) and have full academic schedules.

           When the bell rings at the end of the day, we all pile into the various vehicles (generally North, Victor and Kota drive with the rest of us carpooling with one of them) and head over to Kota's house on Sunnyvale Court, for our family meeting. We will probably work on homework - our least favorite part of this assignment - until Mr. B and Doc arrive.

          Once we arrive at Kota's, we all begin speculating on what this assignment could entail. Luke's theory is that we are all being asked to become taste testers at a new bakery opening up in town, to which North chops him over the head and tells him that sugar WILL eventually rot his teeth out. Gabriel speculates that we are being asked to help at a local homeless shelter. While this is something we have done in the past, Gabe goes on to stress that THIS assignment will be providing make-overs to the homeless women and men (men need to feel pampered to you know).

        The look on Victor's face is priceless, still we probably wouldn't have laughed if Silas's eyes hadn't gone the size of saucers and says: " Do you really think they would do that?"

       A few minutes later we all stopped laughing and settled down enough for Kota to get up and prepare some snacks for us. We are gathered in his living room and he comes in with some juice boxes and bags of pretzels and apples.

         Luke whines that there is no chocolate in our snack choices. His argument is that any GOOD family meeting should always have plenty of chocolate available. North gives him a sideways glare and mumbles, "Since when is there ever any chocolate at family meetings?"

        Luke looks nonplussed and replies "Well never, but I think that this should be made a new rule."

        Before any voting can be done on whether or not chocolate should be made the official snack of all Blackbourne Team family meetings, the doorbell rings announcing the arrival of Mr. B and Doc. Saved by the bell!