House of Korba

by C. L. Stone

  In the moment, it escaped me why my phone was now different. Did Luke steal it from me somehow and give my cover back? But if so, why wasn’t the phone working?

  Silas darted around the other boys and then scooped me up, clutching under my butt and across my back to hold me to him. “Aggele,” he said in my ear. He walked around a little bit. “You okay?”

  I sunk into him, but found the hard material of his football pads difficult to hold onto. I settled for pressing my cheek next to him just to feel the real Silas. My fingers swam into his hair, holding carefully. “Did you see the screen?”

  “What screen?”

  Karen stepped up next to us. “After the last tackle, the screen was showing an exploding box.”

  “That’s not what it says now,” Silas said.

  Karen redirected her attention, and I pulled away from Silas to see what was going on.

  The screen had changed, showing only one word.

  Boom.

  How The Greeks Invented Kissing

  After the fog settled, it was discovered by security the fog machines that had been used earlier had been refilled to bursting with dry ice, and the piping was really the hollow part of the stand’s structure and the smoke was directed to come out of every hole in those bars along the bleachers.

  Duct tape did the rest. It was the only thing holding it all together. The men in the Security uniforms marched around, asking questions.

  That was all I learned about it before I was rushed out into the parking lot, so we could avoid the police who had shown up to take statements. There were some minor injuries with ankles twisted and some scrapes, but for the most part, there wasn’t any damage.

  I gave my phone to North, pointing out how it was different. He took it, said he’d ask Luke. Maybe it was a mix up and he put the wrong case with the phone back with me without me noticing. Luke was busy, so we couldn’t ask.

  After the he and North changed out of their uniforms, I was to stay with Silas. We’d get a report later as the others were going to stick around to figure out what happened.

  The moment I was inside his car, Silas took off down the road. It was dark and my lungs still felt funny from the fog I’d breathed in. He was pretty quiet for the whole ride but I snuck a look every once in a while.

  His dour expression changed over time. At the start, I was afraid to say anything. Later, as we neared his home, he seemed to relax.

  “That was all,” Silas said. He turned his head to look at me as he pulled into the apartment complex’s parking lot. “You know? A prank.”

  “Was it all a build up to this? The bomb threats?”

  “Maybe,” he said. “But do you see? No bomb. The guy wanted attention. There were too many people to be able to focus on who it could have been. We’re close with this one, Aggele. Tomorrow at the dance, we’ll have so many more Academy people there. No one will get in or out without us knowing. We’ll catch him for sure.”

  He seemed so confident, and then his smile broadened. To him, it was like we’d already won. We just needed to go through with the plan.

  I wasn’t so sure, but for the moment, I trusted him. I’d been scared. I had moments where I thought there really was a bomb. With no one having been severely injured, the whole scene now felt like an elaborate prank instead of something dangerous.

  As soon as we parked, Silas leapt out. He ran around to my side, opening the door. He was in jeans and a big blue T-shirt and his hair combed back. His breath drifted like smoke from his lips. I hopped out, still unused to the guys wanting to open my door all the time, but they seemed eager to do so.

  As soon as I stepped out, he closed the door and took my hand. He didn’t say a word. He just moved, and I followed.

  Everything he needed to say was between our palms, and how strongly he held on to my hand. I didn’t understand the meaning of it, but I knew he wanted to keep me close. It’d been a crazy night, but we survived, and it proved to be not as bad as had expected. Well it wasn’t perfect, but it wasn’t a bomb and it was over. Maybe something good would come out of it.

  He had to release me to unlock the door. When I stepped inside, waiting for him to lock up behind us, I remained quiet, listening. Since it was evening, I expected perhaps his father to be home, and maybe his brother.

  Again the different scents caught my attention. Some I now understood. The light smoke. The different colognes. The exotic spices. I breathed it in slowly, Silas’s world in a scent. Past and present, this was who Silas was.

  The living room and hallways, at least, were empty. Theo was probably in his room. Charlie could also be behind closed doors. The day before, I felt calm because I thought no one was there with us. Now I was intimidated thinking someone could walk in on us at any minute.

  Silas stepped up next to me, stretched and then nudged me. “It’s just you and me, Aggele Mou,” he said. “Theo’s in his bedroom. The alarm on my phone is set for the doors and windows this time. Come on.”

  I wasn’t sure if he meant we were away from the chaos or we were finally away from the others. I wondered if the others would arrive soon, or if they would be up all night dealing with what had happened.

  I started to turn toward the hallway leading to the living room, but Silas redirected me.

  The next thing I knew, I was inside his bedroom, and he was closing the door behind us. He flicked on the overhead light.

  My heart went into a thunder. My eyes flitted to the television near his bed, the closed laptop, the sports equipment around his room. There was the brisk blow of cool air from the vent above, but otherwise the house was quiet.

  Silas immediately went to the bed. He sat down, and removed his shoes and socks. When he was barefoot, he tucked his shoes aside and then sat back. He looked at me, an eyebrow lifted.

  I looked back at him, my head tilting, expecting him to get up.

  He held out a hand, palm up. “Come here,” he said quietly.

  I tiptoed to him. He caught my hand before I could reach out to him. His hand was so big, it nearly engulfed mine as he curled his fingers around my palm.

  I stood in front of him, and this way we were almost face-to-face. “What would you like to do?” he asked.

  My tongue glued to the roof of my mouth. My heart wouldn’t stop pounding. It was just like the first time I’d been here. I cared about him, but I still felt terrified. I didn’t mean to be. I simply couldn’t think. My mind blanked having him so close. I felt him. I could smell his ocean scent stronger now. It made my heart flutter.

  His hands twisted, until he was rubbing one of mine between his palms. His eyes never left mine. “Maybe watch a movie?” he asked.

  I nodded.

  His smile elevated slightly. He tugged me, until I was sitting beside him.

  Without a word, he lifted one of my legs. He tucked fingers into the heel of my sandal and then slid it off, letting it fall to the floor. His palm cupped the bottom of my foot, warming. He kept the leg in his lap and brought the other one up, removing the shoe and putting my sandals near his shoes. This left me sitting back a little awkwardly but I kept myself upright.

  After, he slid his palms over my feet, rubbing warmly. He did it quietly at first, focusing.

  That’s when I knew it. He was searching for something to say to me. “Silas?” I asked.

  He looked at me, an eyebrow going up. His lips parted, he closed them again for a moment. There was a slight shake to his head. “What kind of movie would you like to see?” he asked.

  I wondered if this was what he was really thinking. “Something funny?” I didn’t have anything in mind to see. I’d watched a lot of zombie movies with Nathan lately. After tonight, I just wanted something light hearted.

  He patted my leg and urged me further onto the bed. I sat back against the headboard, pulling my knees up a little.

  He sat with his legs spread out, his thigh brushing mine, and propped himself up beside me against the headboard. Being beside him always made me fe
el smaller. My eyes stayed on our legs, on the feel of his jeans against my skin.

  He reached over for a remote, turning the television on and finding a list of movies. He scrolled through a bit and picked a light comedy.

  When a movie started playing, he stretched, and then put an arm around me. Putting my head back against the headboard became impossible, and the most comfortable thing to do was to rest my temple against his shoulder.

  When I did that, he pulled me closer. If I didn’t keep my hand on his chest, I might have fallen into his lap.

  Everything was quiet, and my heart raced. It was impossible to focus on the movie. I breathed in slowly. The strong muscles of his arm pressed up against me, reminding me how powerful he was.

  His hand rested against my bicep, and at one point, his fingertips started moving. Slowly, at first, just a graze against my skin.

  At a point in the movie, when a couple started to kiss, those fingers began to massage. Slow, deliberate.

  I focused on the screen, but I wasn’t watching. As difficult as it was to pay attention, I couldn’t bring myself to look at him. My heart raced. The whole night, I’d been on a roller-coaster of emotion.

  North did say I should encourage Silas to stay with us.

  From my peripheral vision, I sensed him looming, close, watching me instead of the movie.

  I breathed in slowly, deep. The overwhelming sense of an imminent kiss was thick between us. I felt it from it from him, stronger than ever.

  Mr. Blackbourne had said to do what I felt comfortable with. I felt this was what North wanted me to do. It was what I wanted to do, but it was easier said than done. I didn’t want to escape and not kiss him, but I was terrified to move forward as well. There was no reason for it. This was Silas. I knew him. I cared about him. I wanted to kiss him. Despite knowing they couldn’t kiss until I did it first, I couldn’t bring myself to even start. I was listening to movie sounds, listening out for his family, listening to him breathing.

  The touch of his cheek met with my forehead. “Aggele Mou,” he said quietly, the rumbling of his deep voice surging through me.

  “Silas,” I said, softly, my voice catching at the end.

  There it was, a soft nudge from his hand against my arm, urging me to turn slightly.

  I did. A lock of my hair fell away from my ear, brushing against my cheek.

  I met his dark eyes, so close to mine that he was a little out of focus. I sometimes forgot how soulful his eyes were. They were so dark, almost black at times. It was striking with his dark hair and olive skin.

  He leaned in, and stopped, just short of my lips.

  I waited for him to move. I tried to get myself to move but I couldn’t. Despite the others telling me I should, despite knowing what I knew, that they had promised not to until I did it first, it still didn’t stop my nervousness. What did I know about kissing?

  He never moved. He hovered, a breath away from me. He stayed, waiting.

  I couldn’t. Every time I thought to, I couldn’t. I couldn’t muster the courage. As much as I wanted it, the first move was harder than I thought it would be.

  And then there was a growl, low, rumbling, from his stomach.

  “Your stomach is growling,” I said.

  “I don’t care,” he said quietly.

  “I do,” I said. “You should eat if you’re hungry.”

  “I’m not in the mood right now,” he said.

  “Your stomach says you are.”

  He groaned and shifted, pulling back to rock his head back until it rested on the headboard. He pushed a palm over his face, rubbing at his cheek. “Okay,” he said. “Let’s go find something.”

  My heart dipped. I knew it wasn’t what he wanted, but I couldn’t help it. Maybe I needed the distraction. Maybe I needed a moment to collect my bravery. Dr. Green had simply kissed me before, so I didn’t have a chance to think about it. Nathan did it quickly, too.

  Maybe that was my problem. The more I thought on it, the harder it became to make that move.

  Silas moved to the edge of the bed, I started to scoot over to follow when he turned, grabbed me by the waist and hauled me up. My legs wrapped around his waist and his arms were under my butt.

  I thought it was a hug, so I held on, wrapping my arms around his neck. He turned to the door, carrying me like that out of his bedroom.

  My skin electrified and I curled into him tighter, shy to think his brother or his father would see us like this. I was wondering if the back of my jeans were hanging low and someone could see my underwear.

  Silas carried me to the kitchen. He put me down on the countertop. The cool of the marble bit through the material of the jeans, and I released him. I closed my legs at the knee and scooted back a touch.

  When he pulled back a little, he paused, hovering over me. His face was almost level with mine now. My heart raced, feeling him. He stopped an inch away, almost too close to look at him in his eyes.

  He watched me. His hands moved until they were on the outside of my thighs, touching softly. “Like my pictures?” he asked.

  Did he mean the ones of his stomach and face from before? I nodded.

  “Did the boys give you any trouble today?” he asked.

  I blushed, unable to lie. Trouble wasn’t how I would put it. “They teased a little.”

  “Did you tell them? About us? Or have you mentioned it?”

  “Mr. Blackbourne knows.”

  His lips lifted then, like he approved. “Went right to the source, huh?”

  Source? “I think he suspected.” Was I supposed to tell Silas about the others? About what I was supposed to do? Mr. Blackbourne had said to tell him everything, but I wasn’t clear on being able to tell the others all that was going on. According to Mr. Blackbourne, I just needed to come to him and keep him informed, but he had been preoccupied after the game. Unless it really was an emergency, I didn’t want to bother him with this.

  His eyebrows popped up. “Didn’t think I made it so obvious. To be honest, I wasn’t sure you’d be that interested in me.”

  “Why would you think that?” I asked.

  “Because you turn away when I try to kiss you.”

  I felt my lower lip with my teeth, giving it a soft bite, unable to think up a response.

  He smirked, then his big brown eyes lowered, focusing on my lips.

  Silas moved forward. It was a fraction of an inch, the slight tilt of his head. He was hovering.

  His stomach started to growl again.

  A small giggle escaped me. I couldn’t help it. It was an odd moment. Silas was overwhelming and the giggling relieved a lot of that tension. I did feel bad, I just couldn’t stop myself.

  He rolled his eyes, and the curve of his lips lifted more into an amused smile. He stepped away from me, going to the fridge. “What are you in the mood for?” he asked.

  He was staring at a pile of takeout containers. I did wonder what was in the other packages but I didn’t want him to go shuffling through them to show me. “I liked the...shawarma, and the, um...”

  “The gyro, right?” he asked.

  “Yes,” I said.

  He started pulling out containers and shuffling them around. He opened them, checking the contents. He found what he wanted, took out a plate and start piling on shawarma, gyro, kibbi, and a few other items from the boxes. “These will reheat better in the oven,” he said.

  “Can you wait?”

  “I was willing to wait before,” he said. He found a dish, lined it with aluminum foil, and tossed the food onto it. He set the oven and then put the dish in. He checked his phone during this, and then set it down on the counter as he worked. No news meant good news in the Academy world.

  When he was done, he turned toward me. He folded his arms over his chest, leaning his hip against the counter. He looked across at me with a curious expression.

  My eyebrows went up, looking back at him. Again I sensed he wanted something, but this time, I waited, hoping he’d bring up w
hatever he was trying to say.

  His lips tightened, and the corner of his mouth lifted. “So you’re kissing everyone else except me?”

  My mouth dropped open and my hand fluttered up until I was pressing my fingertips to my cheek. “What?” I said, sputtering. “I don’t... you...who said...”

  He shrugged. “Gabriel might have mentioned it.” He unfolded his arms and counted off on his fingers. “Him, Kota, Victor... I think North, too. He wouldn’t confirm but he didn’t deny kissing you either.”

  My lips trembled and blood surged through me. The boys talked about it with each other? Is that how Mr. Blackbourne said it might be okay to just go with whatever I was comfortable with doing? “Not all of them kissed me,” I said quickly.

  His head titled, his eyes widening. “They haven’t?”

  “Not on the mouth. On the cheek, yes. Except for Dr. Green and Nathan and—”

  “Hang on,” he said, holding up his palm in a stop gesture. “The doc kissed you?”

  My lips pursed, and I was unsure if admitting it was a good thing. Since I’d already done as much, I couldn’t lie. “Yes,” I said, meaning to say something more, to try to perhaps explain it, but I couldn’t find the words. Would he even want to hear about it?

  Silas stared at me, mouth partially opened, his white teeth a contrast to his olive complexion and the dark eyes. He combed his fingers through his hair. “You’ve kissed them but you pull back when I try to kiss you?”

  “I don’t pull back!”

  “You do it every time,” he said.

  “You don’t move,” I said. I held up two fingers close together. “You get this close and then...”

  “I’m not allowed,” he said quietly.

  “I know,” I said. “The others just did it. I didn’t have time to think. When you get that close, I can’t think at all.”

  He straightened then, focusing on me. “They did it first?”

  I nodded.

  “How?”

  I shrugged, shook my head, my lips moving but unable to come up with an answer. “Dr. Green said I’m not the type to move first.”

  Silas stared at me, unmoving, his face hard to read. I wasn’t sure if he was calculating or was just stunned.