Joining the Academy

Shopping Fiasco

A/N: This was previously posted on the Academy forum and is a collaboration with another author. I do not own or have any rights to the characters created by CL Stone and have no intention on profiting from this story. I write for my readers and myself. CL Stone is the master of the Academy; I only attempt to do her characters justice.

Part One

*Sang*

I lounge in a lawn chair on my balcony enjoying the warm summer sun reflecting on the past year. Has it really been a year since nine Academy boys swept me off my feet and out of my entirely sheltered life?

One morning I woke up to find Marie had cleaned out her closet and left without so much as a note goodbye. I begged Danielle to give up her whereabouts just for the peace of mind, she was alright. She laughed in my face and slammed the door screaming Marie didn't want to be found. The boys offered to use favors from the Academy to track her down, but I refused. I always knew one day Marie might decide to leave without a trace and attempting to find her would be a pointless mission. Within a month, the house was sold and Victor purchased a four bedroom apartment in an upscale area of Charleston with a balcony, on site pool and fitness center despite my protests for a more modest living space. His rationale was there would be more room for all of us. I wasn't happy about moving farther away from Kota and Nathan, but with a brand new silver Audi (I love pink, but a pink car was just ridiculous) I could go back and forth to all of their houses as much as I wanted.

Luke, North, Meanie and Silas are working at the diner. Nathan, Kota and Owen are out doing Academy business. Victor's at brunch with his parents and Sean's working at the hospital (of course). I always miss them, regardless of how short a time they were gone, but I am enjoying "Sang time". I'm sitting in a sports bra and shorts with my hair twisted in a clip reading "Love & Decay" taking in the occasional breeze when my phone blasts "Run the World (Girls)" by Beyonc'e. I jump up excitedly seeing my new best girlfriend was calling.

"Kayli! How are you?" I asked, still bopping my head to "Run the World".\par

"Bored out of my mind. Did they all just decide let's leave the birds alone all day with absolutely nothing to do?" she groaned, irritably.

I giggled, "I don't think that was the idea. You know they don't want to leave us."

"Of course not, we keep them from staying horny 24/7," she said devilishly. I turned red at the implication. Kayli and her boys had begun experimenting before I had with my guys so she was much more\'85open with her illicit thoughts than me.

"Okay! I am bored too. What can we really do though? You know the moment we step a toe out of range of a camera they call a search party," I replied, turning off my iPad. I had a feeling Kayli was planning an outing that would surely end in disaster, but when did I actually do something fun without an escort? "You have something in mind, what is it?"

"Let's go to the mall. We can eat cheap Chinese food, shop at Forever 21 and pick out our own sexy lingerie," said Kayli, waiting for my response expectantly.

I bite my lip hesitant to agree to a girl's day out without any form of supervision. The guys would be out until later this evening and we didn't plan on being out all day, what could it hurt? They were still extremely overprotective even after a year of bliss. "Alright, who's driving?"\par

Four hours later, Kayli and I sit in the food court sharing a huge plate of Sesame chicken, rice and broccoli surrounded by numerous shopping bags. Our phones are in the glove compartment of my Audi and we sit giggling over the latest episode of Supernatural.

We both purchased new sundresses, sandals, bathing suits and work out gear. North and Raven were insistent Kayli and I start an exercise regimen to increase our stamina for future Academy work. I personally suspect they want us to buy more yoga pants and sports bras, but working out was an activity I had grown to enjoy.\par