Perception

Part 86

Gabriel POV

"Now get to the showers, fuckers! You heard Trouble," I order my brothers wearing disguises.

North and Luke both head upstairs, and Doc and I stay below. I go first because I'm quicker and unhampered by a knife wound that needs protecting.

"Do you have any of those cleansing wipes?" North shouts down the stairs as I make my way out of the bathroom.

"Didn't Luke bring them up?" I respond, shaking my head.

"No, wait, yes. Asshole. Couldn't you have passed them over when I was looking for them?" North grumbles at both Luke and me.

Almost forgetting to take the contact lenses out, I head to the powder room that's just off the kitchen to pull them out and trash them. They're disposables anyway, and who would want to wear lenses that aren't new? We have more if we need them. Rummaging in my overnight bag, I spray on one of my favorite scents before pulling out a comb and get to work training my still-wet hair so it doesn't dry funny. Like fuck if I'm going to let Trouble see me with shit hair.

"... want to lure you to an all female team." Mr. B.'s voice becomes audible through the door. "I probably shouldn't use the term 'lure', although I am hard-pressed to think of a more appropriate word. They will try to coax you to join them, but I can't say exactly how though. They may promise favors or to wipe our family's favor debt clean if you are to join a different team. Anything to get you where they think you belong. However, this is all irrelevant if you choose not to join the Academy. It is truly your choice." I lean closer to the door curious to hear her response.

"I don't know if I want to join. There have been some situations that have made me very uncomfortable with other members," Trouble's voice returns shyly.

"In what way, Miss Sorenson?" Mr. Blackbourne asks curiously. I'm sure we can guess what is making her uncomfortable, but Mr. B is a smart fucker to get her to tell him.

"Well, those people trying to spy on us--on me. Harassing my father and causing trouble for me. Then there was the whole thing where those girls wouldn't leave North and Luke alone. I still can't believe they tried to sabotage your job at Ashley Waters like that. I just don't understand why would they bother trying to get back at North and Luke when there are any number of guys in the Academy to date or take on missions?" Sang asks with confusion evident in her voice.

"They did seem to be unreasonably fixated on the brothers, I'll grant you that. You must also understand that they were outliers, not the norm for members you will come in contact with," Mr. Blackbourne says.

"Buy why try to stick me with an all-girl team? What should it matter if I want to stay with our family?" Sang asks. Leaning against the door listening to her boldly question him, I realize that Trouble's really not as quiet around Mr. Blackbourne as I always thought she was.

"Trust. It always come back to trust. Remember when Mr. Lee told you that having a girl on a boy team makes dating difficult? Think of how you would feel if someone you cared for romantically had to spend long periods of time on assignment with another girl. The Academy has seen teams fall apart when jealousy or mistrust occur. Therefore, they strongly discourage a single girl on an all boy team, however, I assure you our familial situation is somewhat different," Mr. Blackbourne says.

Trouble is quiet now, and I can picture her pressing her fingers to her mouth like she does while deep in thought or feeling nervous. I step away from the door and do some thinking of my own.

With her getting introduced to the Academy so soon, Kota is going to have to step up his timeline on his talk with Mr. Blackbourne. Maybe Luke and I should be there for support when he does?