Push and Shove: The Ghost Bird Series: #6 (The Academy)
slow.
    There was a knock at the door down the stairs. “Kota?” Erica called up.
    At the sound, Kota leapt up from the bean bag chair as if it were on fire. He sucked in a breath, adjusted a tie that wasn’t there at his neck. He turned and started down the steps.
    I gathered myself, curling up in the chair and held his glasses. I clutched them to my chest.
    The door opened downstairs. “Yeah?” Kota’s voice drifted up to me.
    “Oh,” she said. “Sorry. Didn’t mean to interrupt.”
    “What do you need?” he asked.
    “Jessica called wanting to be picked up, and I just started dinner. Did you want to...”
    “I’ll go get her,” Kota said.
    “Oh, I meant you could stay here with Sang and I could...”
    “It’s okay,” he said. “I should get Sang home anyway. Her parents might be asking about her.”
    I stiffened. He didn’t tell his mom about my parents? She didn’t know they were gone? I wish he’d told me sooner. What if I’d accidentally said something?
    And why was he trying to dump me back home? My heart thundered, unable to slow from Kota’s kisses and from the sudden change of plans. What was going on?

MR. GRIFFIN
    ––––––––
    T en minutes later, Kota walked with me toward Nathan’s front door. Kota’s car was parked in Nathan’s drive so Nathan and Gabriel must have returned from the store.
    I gripped the book bag straps, staring off at the red and brown bricks of Nathan’s house. We had left quickly. I didn’t ask, but sensed Kota’s urgency.
    And then there was the way his eyes avoided looking at Mr. Morris parked not too far from his house. Did this sudden change have to do with him?
    Kota knocked at the door and before he could bring his keys out to unlock it, Nathan answered.
    Nathan’s eyebrows shot up. “Something wrong?” he asked, he stepped aside, allowing us room to enter the foyer.
    “Need to go pick up Jessica,” Kota said. He walked only a few feet into the entrance space and stopped. “Mr. Morris is watching, so I wanted to do it instead of sending my mom. Just walking her over.”
    “Oh,” Nathan said, his face lighting up. “So I do get Sang tonight? Not just for dinner?”
    Kota did an eye roll. “Just for right now.”
    “Don’t let me rush you. She’s good here with me.”
    My heart fluttered. Kota was coming back? Maybe I just didn’t understand. Or he didn’t want Mr. Morris following both of us, just him. But this was probably part of Mr. Blackbourne’s orders not to involve me in anything relating to the Academy, even if it was just a decoy ride to get Jessica. I dropped my bag to the floor, feeling a bit better about the situation. It really wasn’t under Kota’s control, so it couldn’t be helped.
    Kota started for the door. His sneaker skidded on the floor when he stopped short. He turned back and reached for me. His fingers threaded through my hair as he held my head still. He dropped a kiss on my brow quickly. “I’ll be back,” he said. He released me, and was out the door before I could say goodbye.
    I hovered in the hallway, looking after him through the slats of the blinds. Nathan stepped up behind me, an arm encircling my waist as he watched out the window over my head. Kota started his car, pulling out of the drive.
    When he was out of view, Mr. Morris’s brown sedan remained behind. I counted off the seconds, waiting for him to start up his car and follow along. Was he trying to make sure Kota was out of sight before he started up? Why be sly about following him now when he made it very obvious?
    But even after a few minutes, when I was sure Kota was further down the road, Mr. Morris remained.
    Nathan squinted out the slats next to me. “Did he fall asleep?”
    I studied the windshield. I thought for a moment he was right, but then I spotted slight movement. Mr. Morris shifted like he was reaching for the radio.
    “He’s awake,” I said.
    Nathan frowned. “He’s not following Kota.”
    “Who is he watching,

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