Obsidian Hearts (The Academy)

Chapter 1: What the...

Above is is a picture of Emery. This is kind of what Emery looks like except she is tanner, has Jade eyes, and a more squarish face. None of the character pictures will be perfect, but I thought it's nice to give a visual.

Whack! I feel some of the sweat glide of my arms as I watch the ball sail over the net and bounce up for my victory. My opponent's long, blonde, braided hair whips around as she desperately turns away from the net and tries to get to the ball in time, but it's too late. The ball zips to the ground within the court, and the next bounce lands the ball outside of the lines before she can get to it.

"Game, set, match! Emery Bennton is the winner," the umpire announces.

A smile graces my lips, and I shake hands with my opponent before walking off the court toward my bag. I stash my racket away and grab my water bottle, chugging half of it. As I reach for my towel, my cellphone buzzes. I pick up the phone and read the text message. It only has one word, but I recognize the importance of the message.

Unknown: Igloo

Me: Fruit

Unknown: Today is a fine day to head toward a new habitat.

Me: I see. I guess I could always go check out my old one before I check out a new one.

I keep my phone in my hand, and with the other hand, I wipe off some sweat from my face and arms. I sigh and shrug my tennis bag over my shoulder feeling the straps dig into it. Father is using an unknown number. If he is being this cautious, whatever the news is will be rather important. I sneak away from my coach and teammates and head toward my car, a blue Honda CR-V. I place my tennis bag in the trunk and then start up the car. My house isn't very far from my school, but I always take my car in case I need to leave or go somewhere quickly. I pull out of the school on the left side exit and continue straight into the neighborhood. At the end of the Starfire Street block, I see my house, a gray building with three decent sized windows. I pull up and park my car in the driveway.

I grab my bag from the trunk and pull out my key. Once I've opened the door I spot father on the red, cozy couch in the living room. However, he isn't alone. There are five other guys around my age in the room.

"What the hell dad?" I say staring at all of the boys.

Do they all have to be so hot? I felt overwhelmed but quickly mask it by casually leaning my bag against the wall and striding over to father. Cold air brushes my arms and legs causing me to shiver despite it being summer here in Idaho. Great, I'm still wearing my tennis uniform, and it shows off a lot of my legs. I press my hands to the forest green skirt in an attempt to flatten it; hoping that it will cover a bit more of my tan legs.

"Emery, do you remember when I told you that I am from the Academy?" My father asks.

"Yes," I frown.

He never told me very much about the Academy other than the fact that he was from it, that I am well suited to join it, and that I could pursue any of my interests. However, I've never been introduced to any Academy members. Heck, I don't even know how the Academy works if my 40 year old, adopted father is still a part of the school. Is he a teacher? Just as I'm about to ask him what kind of school the Academy is, a voice interrupts.

"I thought you said she was already an Academy member, Mr. Bennton."

I turned toward the direction of the stern comment and spotted a man that couldn't be much older than I, and exudes more power than I could ever hope to have. This is a guy who is sure of himself and has no lingering doubts. His dark golden blonde hair is styled into a Fohawk and he is dressed in a grey business suit with a dark blue tie. I focus back on my father once he starts to respond because I'm interested in his response.

"Call me Jerry, Erin. Emery is a member. She has met all of the requirements and has been approved as a trainee within the Academy. However, there aren't any girl teams in Idaho so she hasn't joined a team."

Erin's dark brown eyes look black and as firm as steel when he turns to stares into mine. I can tell he is trying to asses me and see if I am indeed qualified. I stare back refusing to look away, flinch, or avert my eyes. I hate it when people stare at me so blatantly and felt the instinct to growl and puff out my chest. I refrain from giving into old habits.

"Interesting, so she knows the rules of the Academy," a sultry voice asks.

My eyes move toward the left, and I spot the guy who spoke. He has wispy, chestnut brown hair; most of his hair is parted to the left with only a small section of hair remaining on the right side.

Father turns toward me and smiles, "Do you doubt me Brio? Emery, what are the rules I set up in this household?"

"You mean those are Academy rules?" I ask with wide eyes.

When he nods his head, I continued and state the rules.

"Number 1: Family first. Number 2: Family is a choice. Number 3: Family first, business second."

"Change the third rule to family first, Academy second, and she knows the most important rules," a voice chuckled.

It takes me a moment to find him as he is leaning his back against the wall in a dark corner of the room. His hair is as black as obsidian and is styled in a Pompadour. His brown, warm eyes are lit up with amusement at the scene everyone is making.

A guy with dark brown, short, curly wavy hair walks over to me and doesn't stop until I could feel his breath on my forehead. His face is triangle shaped. He is much too close, and I get a good look at his cobalt blue eyes as he peers down at me. I want to take a step back to create some space, but I don't want to look like I am scared so I keep my feet rooted to the ground.

"Do you have the skills necessary to defend yourself," he asks me moving even closer.

His hands grip my neck, and I quickly shove my hands up between his arms and grab his ears twisting his head to the side, while bringing my knee up to his groin. He manages to protect his groin, but his ears are in pain. I back away toward my dad.

"You're lucky I didn't aim for your eyes," I say angrily.

I am getting tired of all of them talking about me as if I am not in the room or teasing me when they do acknowledge me.

"Looks like she can defend herself, Cameron." The guy in the dark corner grins.

"You knew all along didn't you, Barret." Cameron frowns.

The last guy finally speaks. He has sandy blonde, wild, long, curly hair that resembles a mane and stays out of his face. He has amber colored eyes and thick lips on his triangle shaped face.

"Of course he knew," he turns toward me with a charming smile. "Hello beautiful, my name is Finlay Vega. You must look like your mother since you look nothing like Jerry."

My shoulders tense up at his comment. He's right though. I look nothing like Jerry. Jerry has very sharp, angular features to his face that I lack; plus his hair is brown and his eyes are hazel. I have short, black hair with layers and light stylish curls, a square face, jade downturned eyes, and a nose that slightly turns up. I don't feel all that beautiful, but the girls at school say they would die to have jade eyes like mine.

Finlay grabs my hand and plants a kiss on it. I twist my wrist to the side and pull down hard where his thumb is on my wrist. I break free and glare at his advances. He was a charmer with overly smooth compliments. I'm always weary around those kinds of guys.

"Now that everyone has been introduced; let's get to the main reason why we are here," Barret says as he steps away from the corner. "Emery we need you to help us complete a job."