Switched Up

Chapter 20

Sang's P.O.V.
I woke up early this morning, although that's nothing new. Most nights my sleep is plagued by nightmares.

I lay around until I decide to get ready for "school".

      I dress as I normally do and I grab my book bag. When Axel texts me, I'm out the door to go meet him at our regular spot.

     I'm slightly nervous about Axel's text from last night. I just have no clue what to expect.

     I make my way to the familiar car and get in. Axel greets me and I do the same and we spend most of the short drive in a comfortable silence.

Axel seems to be concentrating hard on something, and he seems almost nervous.

We get to Sergeant Jasper and we make our way to Axel's apartment.

The boys are all there to enthusiastically greet me.

    They all give me a hug and when we all go to sit down to talk, Raven pulls me into his lap.

    I look around expectantly at the boys as I wait for them to begin.

     Axel starts, "We have a lot to share with you. It's a lot to explain, but we will answer everything you want to know."

      I nod and Axel continues, "You've heard us mention that family is a choice. Well, there's a reason we believe in that. We each have our own baggage with our families, similar to yours. We each were taken in by an organization called the Academy. The Academy takes in people like us with family situations and people they believe can benefit the Academy and benefit from the Academy. Obviously, they aren't going to make people join if they don't want to, there are alternate options. They train people from whatever age they join and then when you graduate, you are then able to join a team if you wish. Girls in the Academy are referred to as Birds and Dogs are the boys, and usually there are all Bird and all Dog teams. Sometimes you can go solo or have a couple team, although not many choose to do that. That's how we all met and we made our team, our family."

      I take a moment to process this information. I was not expecting that.

     "So, after you make your team, then what?"

      Axel answers, "After you graduate, you are in debt to the Academy. You work this off by completing missions. Completing these missions gives you favors. Missions can range from many different things and it depends on your teams skill set. My job is Liaison between the Academy and my team, and I help decide what missions I offer to the team. Marc is our family lead, who basically balances everything, such as whether he believes the team can handle a certain mission or not. We all contribute to missions, depending on what the mission calls for. You can also get offered solo missions, which contributes to your own favors, while a lot of team missions contribute to mostly the team's favors. Once you're out of debt, you build up on your favors, both the teams and your own. You can use these for basically anything and the Academy will help based off these favors. "

     I nod, looking at each boy as they gauge my reaction.

     Marc adds, "The Academy isn't something the general population knows about. We tend to avoid talking about it unless it's with members or potential members. But members are everywhere. Dr. Phil is part of the Academy."

       That makes my eyebrows raise in surprise. I wouldn't have guessed that.

      But does this mean that they think I'd a make a good potential member?

    Axel interjects once again, "We are talking about this with you because we think you would be a perfect match for the Academy. Obviously, there are other options. But, before we even discuss that, we have another topic to discuss with you."