Free Push and Shove: The Ghost Bird Series: #6 (The Academy) by C. L. Stone

flu.”
    Gabriel sucked in a breath, flopping onto his back on the bed. “All right, all right. Just had to check.” He let out a puff of air and then jumped up again like something caught his eye. He went right for the closet. He found a brown bottle on the shelf and then showed it to me. “You’re still wearing this?”
    It was the perfume he’d made me. I nodded.
    “You still like it?” he asked.
    “Yes,” I said. I did. It was a wonderful fruity musk. I put it on occasionally in the morning, but having just one bottle, and going back and forth from Nathan’s to my own house, I sometimes forgot where I left it.
    He opened the bottle, and waved it in front of his nose. “I was thinking of changing it.”
    “Why?”
    “Just for something different.” He walked over, wetting his fingers with the liquid. He reached down and touched at the dip in my neck, and then picked up one of my wrists. He bent over, inhaling against my arm. “Wait, no, never mind. It smells better when you’ve got it on.”
    I wasn’t sure if that was true. A scent changed depending on who wore it?
    I rubbed at my stomach, the pain resurfacing. It wasn’t horrible, but it made me want to move onto my side, and when I was on my side, it still hurt so I rolled onto my back again.
    Gabriel watched as I rolled around. “What’s wrong?”
    I wasn’t sure I wanted to mention it. I didn’t think there was anything that could be done about it. “Just my stomach,” I said casually, trying to not alarm him.
    He narrowed his eyes at me. “What do you mean? You’re hungry?”
    “No, it just hurts a little.”
    “Cramps?”
    I blew out a perplexed sigh. “No. I don’t know what it is. It just aches.”
    Gabriel dropped a palm against my thigh, but left it there as he looked down at me. “Did it just start?”
    “Yeah.”
    “Maybe you need to eat something when you take one of those vitamin pills. Hang on a second.” He jumped up, running into the kitchen. He came back with a banana. “Try this.”
    “What are you doing?” Nathan asked, poking his head out from the kitchen hallway. “We’re about to eat dinner.”
    “She said her stomach hurt. Hang on, she’s just eating a little.”
    “Her stomach hurts? Why?”
    I held back a sigh. Academy cavalry. I wondered how long it would take before North, or Silas, or someone else called and asked me why I didn’t tell them my stomach hurt or tried something else to help it. Did Mr. Blackbourne already tell them about being on orders to eat and rest? I guessed not, because if he did, I probably would have gotten several phone calls by now. “I’ll be okay, guys,” I said. “I’ll eat dinner. It’s not that bad. It’ll go away.”
    “Let’s sit at the table,” Nathan said. “We’ll get some good food in her.”
    I sat in the middle between Nathan and Gabriel. They piled chicken, salad and mashed potatoes onto my plate, much more than I could ever fit into my stomach.
    “If you clean your plate, I’ve got a strawberry cheesecake in the fridge,” Nathan said.
    “I don’t know if I’ll have room,” I said between bites of salad. “Mr. Blackbourne said eat, not overstuff myself.”
    “You have to make up for all the time you haven’t been eating,” Gabriel said. “Now hurry up. I want to figure out what still fits on you.”
    I did the best I could. Nathan only had to eat a fourth of what they’d piled my plate. I felt a little better after I did eat, but my stomach was still a little off. I skipped dessert; I didn’t want to be overstuffed on top of the pang in my stomach.
    I was helping clear the table when Gabriel’s phone started buzzing. “Yeah?” He said into it. “Aw. Really? Right now?” He grunted and smashed his thumb into the phone.
    “Academy?” I asked.
    “Luke,” he said. “He needs an extra hand at the diner.”
    I perked up. “Can I go?”
    “Nope,” he said, dropping the dish towel back onto the counter. “You have to stay with Nathan