Push and Shove: The Ghost Bird Series: #6 (The Academy) Read Online Free Page B

really blame her wanting a break from it.”
    “How do you know she doesn’t have many friends?” I asked. I never saw my sister much during school and didn’t know who she hung out with except for Danielle, a neighbor. Usually our schedules were so different that I never saw her at all. Ever since our mother went into the hospital, it was like she avoided me even when I was home.
    Gabriel smirked at me. “Have you seen your sister? She sits at the band geek table.”
    “How do you know which table she sits at?”
    “I go through the cafeteria before I get to the courtyard,” Gabriel said. He hooked an arm around my neck and hugged me close. “She probably just had a rough day. Don’t worry about her. She probably didn’t want to ride the bus. Those busses are shit.”
    Maybe she was still adjusting. At least she had the boys and me looking out for her. Even if she couldn’t appreciate it right now, the boys bought groceries, and took care of a lot of things we couldn’t do for ourselves. I tried to believe Gabriel and the others, that she had a rough day.
    Kota collected his book bag and mine. “Okay, Mr. Blackbourne’s given us orders. Sang, do you want to come home with me?”
    I nodded. If Marie was feeling down, I thought it best to give her some space. If I went with Kota, she’d have the house to herself. I looked at the others, confused. “Are you all not coming with us?”
    “They’re going to go fetch vitamins and healthy food.” He turned to Nathan. “You want dinner shift?”
    “I’ll make dinner,” Nathan said. He turned to Gabriel. “You coming?”
    “I’ll go,” he said. He squeezed me around the shoulders again and then released me, heading for the car. “I don’t want you buying her just rabbit food and tofu.”
    “Hey, tofu tastes pretty good if you fry it right. And I don’t care what she eats. She could eat a whole damn cow if she wanted. I’m tired of her looking like a stick, and being about as lively as one lately.”
    Kota stood beside me as Nathan pulled the car out of the drive. Gabriel waved to me as they started down the road. I finger waved back and he smirked at me.
    When they were gone, Kota sighed and turned to me. “Do you need anything from your house?”
    I shook my head. I couldn’t think of anything I really needed. I had clothes at Nathan’s house, and I was pretty sure I had a few things at Kota’s house, too. “Think it’s okay to leave Marie alone?”
    “Danielle should be by after school. She’ll keep her company.” Kota turned to head down the drive.
    Danielle didn’t sound like the best sort of company, but it was all Marie had, so I didn’t want to say anything further about it. I’d never talked to Danielle, but the guys didn’t like her and at one point, she stole my clothes. I didn’t understand why Marie was friends with her but it wasn’t my choice. It was hers.
    As we started walking down the road, a brown, old car rolled up, and parked on the curb a few houses down from Kota’s house.
    Kota paused in the road. I glanced at the car, recognizing it as Mr. Morris’s. The principal, Mr. Hendricks, had Kota followed nearly everywhere. It was uncomfortable, but as long as we were watched, Kota couldn’t do much Academy work, and that made Mr. Hendricks happy. “Mr. Morris is taking a shift again,” I said.
    “I see him,” he said. Kota’s eyes darted from his house to the brown car, as if he was trying to figure something out.
    I tugged at his arm. “Is everything okay? Should I go tell him you plan on being home tonight? Maybe he’ll give us a break.”
    “No,” he said. He turned to me. “I don’t want you talking to him anymore, or to anyone else following us. Okay?”
    I shifted on my feet, unsure. He hadn’t said anything about the night I went with Luke and stopped Mr. Morris from following us. That time, I’d promised Mr. Morris I’d report information back to him about the guys. I thought it might be useful.