The Academy

  I lost no time in complying. I made my way to his side as quickly as possible, being careful to stay out of the supine Broward’s reach as I did. “Thanks,” I said, under my breath.

  North only nodded. “Now we’ll take care of this.” The long silver knife appeared in his hand as if by magic. Turning, he threw it as hard as he could into the woods surrounding the security fence. I saw the sunlight flicker off its silver blade and then it was gone, probably lost forever in the thick underbrush.

  Broward cursed loudly. “You’ll pay for that! My father bought that knife for me.”

  “Oh?” North said coolly. “You think he meant for you to use it on little boys half your size?”

  Inwardly I bristled at being called a “little boy” but I wasn’t about to say anything about it to North right now.

  “It doesn’t matter.” Broward laughed nastily. “I can always get another. And when I do, you can bet little freshie there is going to be the first to see it.”

  “No.” North’s voice was harsh. “This ends here. If I catch you bothering my roommate again I’ll break your ribs, your nose, and both your arms. You won’t be able to jerk off for months—unless you can get one of these idiots to help you out. Do you hear what I’m saying, Broward?”

  Broward’s piggy little eyes narrowed sulkily. “I hear you,” he grumbled.

  “Good.” Finally North removed his foot and stepped back, allowing the bully to get up. “Don’t forget it.”

  “Oh, I’ll remember, all right.” Broward shook off Nodes, who had tried to help him to his feet, and dusted himself off slowly. “Believe me, North, I have a long memory for this kind of thing.”

  That didn’t sound very good to me but apparently it was the best we were going to get. I hoped North would let us leave now—I just wanted to get as far away from Broward as possible.

  To my great relief North nodded at me and said, “Let’s go.” Then he strode confidently off in the direction of our dorm, leaving me to stumble along after him. I stole one last look over my shoulder and saw Broward standing there, glaring at me, a look of pure malevolent hatred on his face. It sent a shiver down my spine and made my stomach knot itself into a fist. Hastily, I looked away but that look stayed with me.

  Something told me no matter what North said, my problems with Broward were far from over.

  Chapter Sixteen

  North rounded on me as soon as we got to our room. “What the hell were you doing, riling Broward up? You think I don’t have anything better to do than to run around campus saving your skinny ass?”

  “I didn’t do it on purpose!” I yelled back, balling my hands into fists. “He came at me first. Coach Janus was doing a lesson on fencing and Broward—”

  “Yeah, yeah, I heard all about it.” North waved me off with a frown. “Simpkins told Wilkenson who just happened to be in the infirmary at the time Simpkins went to get his cut treated. Wilkenson came and told me—and it’s a damn good thing he did too. If he hadn’t, you’d be picking your eyeballs up off the grass right now.”

  “I know.” I shivered and put my arms around myself, all my anger abruptly leaking away. “I know that.”

  “Hey…” He sat down beside me. “You’re shaking.” He put a hand on my arm but I brushed it off.

  “No, I’m not. I…I’m just fine.” I tried to make my voice strong but it wavered despite my best efforts. “I’m sorry you had to save me again. I’m sorry if it made you angry.”

  North sighed and ran a hand through his hair, rumpling it up into a dark gold halo around his head. “I’m not really angry with you, shorty. I was just worried. You could have been seriously hurt back there—Broward’s crazier than I thought.”

  “He certainly proved that.” I looked down at the bed. “Do you really think he’ll leave me alone from now on?”

  “No, I don’t.” North sounded grim. “Even though he knows I’ll follow through on my threat, I think he feels like messing you up would be worth it.”

  “I was afraid of that,” I said flatly. “What can I do? I don’t want to go to the headmaster.”

  “Wouldn’t do much good even if you did.” North frowned. “They expect you to fight your own battles at the Academy. And besides, Broward’s father’s position gives him an edge. What you need is some way to beat him, like you did in fitness class.” He grinned at me. “I heard all about that, you know. Simpkins told Wilkenson you were amazing. You must be pretty good with a sword, huh?”

  “Yes.” I nodded. “It’s too bad I can’t carry one with me everywhere I go.”

  North looked thoughtful. “You can’t carry a sword, and I can’t be with you every minute of the day, but there is a way you can protect yourself.”

  “How?” I looked at him hopefully. “I’ll do anything.”

  “I need to teach you some self defense moves.” He slapped the bed decisively. “That’s it. Starting tomorrow you and I are going to spend some serious time in the gym.”

  “Self defense?” I frowned. “Is that what you did to Broward?”

  “No, what I did to Broward was Judo—it’s a martial arts technique from Earth-that-was.”

  I shook my head. “I’ve never even heard of it. How do you know all that, anyway?”

  “I took lessons—the same way you took fencing lessons,” North said patiently. “I have a black belt, you know. I was going to compete in the Prometheus system championship finals until…”

  “Until what?” I asked, genuinely interested.

  But North only shook his head. “Never mind. It doesn’t matter.”

  “It does to me,” I said softly. “I can tell you have a secret, North. I don’t press it because, well, I know about secrets. But if you ever want to talk…”

  “Thanks, shrimp.” He gave me a half smile and ruffled my hair affectionately. “Maybe someday I’ll take you up on that. Right now it’s almost time for dinner.”

  I sighed. “Yes, it is. And I’ll be cowering in your shadow as usual.” A sudden surge of anger made me grit my teeth. “I just wish…I wish I was big enough to take Broward on myself!”

  “Hey, you’re not a coward and you can’t help being small.” North took me by the shoulder and looked intently into my eyes. “Don’t worry, Jameson, I don’t really mind you tagging along.”

  “Well, I mind,” I said stiffly. “I mean, I don’t mind going places with you—I…I like that. But I do mind feeling like I’m not safe if you’re not around.”

  “That bothers me too—a lot.” North sighed and got a troubled look on his face. “I wish I knew why…”

  “Why what?” I prompted when he trailed off.

  North frowned. “Why I feel so…so protective of you. Maybe it’s because of Jamie…” he muttered, half to himself.

  “Who?” I asked.

  “No one.” North shook his head. “It’s just…That’s uh…not the way you usually feel about your friends. Guy friends, anyway.”

  My heart was banging against my ribs again. Was he close to discovering my secret? “Maybe because I’m such a ‘little boy'?” I said mockingly, trying to defuse the situation.

  “What?” North laughed. “Oh that. Look, shrimp, you can’t take anything I say to Broward personally. I was just trying to get him off your back.”

  “Well if you can teach me how to flip him onto his back the way you did, it might help,” I suggested. “How did you do that, anyway?”

  “I’ll show you in the gym tomorrow,” North promised. “I’ll leave Applied Chem a little early and come meet you right after your fitness class. We can practice on the mats—and maybe you can show me some of your fancy sword work too.”

  “Fencing lessons for Judo lessons sounds like a fair trade to me.”

  “I’m not really going to be teaching you Judo—I’m not qualified to do that. But I can show you how to defend yourself better—if you happen to find yourself without a sword.” He smiled.

  “All right.” I nodded. Then, unable to help myself, I re
ached out and touched his sleeve. “Thank you, North,” I said, looking into his eyes. “For everything you’ve done for me. I…I wouldn’t be able to make it here without you.”

  To my surprise his cheeks actually turned pink. “Don’t mention it,” he said gruffly. “Come on, it’s dinner time.”

  I hopped off the bed and followed him out of the room. There was something else I had wanted to ask him—something about what he’d said to Broward before he rescued me. But his other words had driven the thought straight out of my mind. “I wish I knew why I felt so protective of you…” What had he meant by that? Did he sense somehow that I was a girl? Was my secret still safe? And shouldn’t I be feeling more worried right now?

  But giddiness kept overcoming my darker emotions. He likes me, he wants to protect me! I couldn’t help thinking. And though I had vowed to myself to put my emotions for North aside, I felt them welling up inside me again, as light and airy as the bubbles in a carbo drink and just as impossible to contain.

  Chapter Seventeen

  “Judo literally translates as “the gentle way,” North lectured me as we faced each other across the mats Coach Janus had allowed us to drag to one corner of the gym. I had talked my roommate into showing me some of the techniques he’d used on Broward the day before even though he insisted we concentrate on self defense.

  “The gentle way?” I asked, adjusting my gi. The back of the gymnasium was a storehouse of unused equipment and North had been able to find the correct costume in my size. It consisted of a loose, long-sleeved white jacket and pants tied with a thick cloth belt. Under it I wore a dark cotton t-shirt, the better to disguise my breast bindings. North’s own gi was black with a black belt to match. Both of us had removed our boots and socks, to avoid injuries and get better leverage on the mat.

  “Ju means gentle or tender and Do means road or way,” he continued.

  “I didn’t see anything gentle about the way you flipped Broward yesterday,” I pointed out.

  “It was, though,” North said earnestly. “Using the same techniques I could have broken his bones or dislocated his joints. Instead I simply put him out of commission.”

  Wow. I remembered his warning to Broward about breaking his ribs, nose, and arms but suddenly it came home to me that North really could follow through on that threat—and pretty easily too. No wonder the entire school kept a respectful distance from him.

  I nodded. “Okay, I believe you. Go on.”

  “In Judo you never resist—you yield and then use your opponent’s strength against them,” North continued. “So technically, the stronger your opponent, the more you have to work with.”

  “I have plenty to work with where Broward is concerned,” I said grimly.

  North grinned. “Exactly. The bigger they are, the harder they fall. Now—Judo is actually divided into several sections including throws, pins, and choke holds or locks. I’m going to demonstrate each of them to you but I think we should concentrate on throws and self defense for right now. You don’t want to try pinning someone like Broward to the ground unless you know what to do with him afterward.”

  I could see the sense in that. “Okay then, show me how you threw him yesterday.”

  “That was a one-arm shoulder throw—an Ippon Seoinage. I’ll show you how I did it to Broward, but first you have to learn how to fall.”

  “How to fall?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.

  “If you want me to teach you some Judo moves, yes.” North frowned. “I don’t want to hurt you, squirt.”

  “I’m not that delicate,” I protested. “Come on, North, treat me like a guy—uh, I mean, any other guy you were training with.”

  He shook his head. “I am treating you like any other sparring partner. The first thing everyone learns in Judo is how to fall without hurting themselves.” He proceeded to show me several 'breakfall' techniques. After about ten minutes when I seemed to be getting the hang of it, North declared that we were ready to continue.

  “Now in order to throw your opponent, you have to first force him off balance,” North said. Standing with his feet planted firmly, shoulder width apart, he beckoned to me. “Come at me.”

  I frowned. “What? Just attack you?”

  North nodded. “Do your worst. Come on.”

  I was more than pleased to do as he said. Here was a chance to get the hand-to-hand combat training I had longed to have for years. I had always felt jealous of Kristopher when he and his tutor sparred and wrestled together. Now I would learn to keep myself safe and put an attacker out of commission as well.

  But on my first try, the only thing out of commission was me. I ran at North as he had instructed, intending to attack with all my might. I had just time enough to see the small smile twitching at the corners of his mouth before I was suddenly airborne and heading for the mat.

  Luckily, I remembered the breakfall technique he’d taught me, slapping the mat hard with my free hand as I fell to absorb some of the shock of my abrupt landing.

  North looked pleased. “Not bad, shrimp. Not bad at all. Now let me show you how I did that.”

  He took me by the arm and pulled me close, explaining step-by-step exactly how he’d managed the throw. I knew I should be paying attention—and I was. But part of my brain kept wanting to think about how close he was, how blue his eyes were, and how good he smelled—like warm, masculine musk and clean sweat.

  North showed me several basic throws and even let me practice throwing him—not easy at first since he was so much bigger than me. I got the hang of it, however, enjoying the fact that I was able to shift an opponent more than twice as large as myself.

  “Of course, Broward isn’t going to stand there like a sack of flour and just let you throw him,” he pointed out, getting up and straightening his gi. “He’s going to be coming for you.”

  His words sent a shiver up my spine. He was right—Broward was merciless and obviously mentally unbalanced. I wondered if I would really be able to apply what North was telling me if the bully attacked me again. “Tell me more,” I said, trying to take my mind off it. “You promised to show me the other techniques too.”

  “I did, didn’t I?” He nodded. “Okay, what do you want to learn?”

  “Yesterday when you had Broward down on the ground and he tried to get up the second time, you told him, ‘don’t make me pin you.’ Could you really have kept him down against his will?”

  North shrugged. “Of course. Look, get down on the mat with me and I’ll show you.”

  “All right.” Obligingly, I crouched on the mat, waiting to see what he would do next.

  “Okay now, let’s say you’re Broward. Lie on your back just the way I had him yesterday.”

  It felt strange to lie down with him leaning over me but I reminded myself that he was simply treating me like any other male and tried to push the chaos his nearness stirred in me out of my mind.

  “So,” North continued. “You’re on your back. Now try to get up.”

  I started to get to my feet only to find myself pinned neatly beneath him on the mat with my arms locked over my head and my legs twisted in place beneath his.

  “You see?” North’s chest was pressed to mine and his face was close enough to my own that I could see the golden flecks in his pale blue eyes and feel his warm breath against my cheek. Suddenly my heart was pounding again and I couldn’t stop myself from looking at his lips. They were full and soft looking and the bottom lip had a sensuous curve that was almost lush. Yet somehow his mouth managed to look completely masculine. I wondered suddenly what it would be like to have those lips pressed to mine—what it would feel like to have him kiss me.

  “Jameson?” North’s soft murmur took me by surprise and I realized that he had stopped talking some moments before. Instead of instructing me, he too, was quiet. In fact, he seemed to be studying my face almost as intently as I was studying his. “What is it?” he asked softly, holding my eyes with his own. “Are you all right?”

  “F
ine. I’m…just fine.” But I couldn’t make the words come out above a whisper.

  “Fine, huh?” He frowned. “Then why did you get so quiet all of a sudden? And why are your cheeks so red?”

  “I…” I tried to look away but somehow I couldn’t. Of course I couldn’t explain the effect his nearness had on me. Back in Victoria I would never have been in such close and intimate contact with any male—it was unheard of. Yet here I was, lying on the floor and grappling with North, who was on top of me. It was utterly scandalous and shameful…and I never wanted it to end.

  “Are you blushing again? Is that why your cheeks are all red?” North brushed one fingertip over my hot cheek and I flinched and gave a little moan of mingled embarrassment and excitement. Why wouldn’t he leave me alone? And why didn’t I want him to leave me alone?