Flynn rushed out of the pool and changed as quickly as he could, choosing to shower when he got home. As long as he could avoid Aniyah, it was fine. Flynn didn't need to talk to her, she seemed perfectly fine and Damon was worried about nothing, even if he was lying to him earlier but he's sure he just wanted her number or something.

Someone like him wouldn't have been able to get someone like Aniyah's number even if he wanted to. He just wasn't in her league. He didn't want Aniyah to think that he was trying to put one on her, he didn't have the guts to make a move even if he wanted to.

Aniyah was in the same year as him but he didn't know when Aniyah joined the swim team. He'd been transferred here two years ago after his old school had burned to the ground after some boys decided to break into the chemical cupboard and start an explosion which resulted in the school having to be shut down. He joined this school's swim team the first chance he got.

That was the first time he ever saw Aniyah. Being the only year 9 in Lane 2, he was fascinated when he saw the girl in Lane 1, accompanied by 3 year 11s.

Flynn had tried to speak to her before but he got blanked the first time; whether it was intentional or not, he did not know. Her face carried a look that wasn't happy but wasn't sad, more like something inbetween, like something bad had happened to her but it lead her to a good place in the end.

He was about to close his locker and leave but from the edge of his maths book, he saw a piece of paper, his name printed in black felt tip on the corner of it, a number printed on the back.

Flynn, I forgot to give you my number earlier, hold onto it in case I need to tell you anything or vice-versa.
Damon

Flynn released a breath he didn't even realise he was holding. What did he think, that after exchanging pleasantries with the girl that he was going to be in danger?

A huff left his lips as he put Damon's contact details into his phone, deciding to tell him to lay off tomorrow when Flynn will probably see him again.

---

Aniyah watched how Flynn quickly jumped out the pool, not waiting for Coach to dismiss us and running into the changing rooms.

She pegged it to social anxiety, he'd hardly even said two words to her and he was off and running. Usually he'd take his time, maybe drink a swig of his water before stretching off the days exercise.

The only difference today was the fact that he had spoken to her.

She thought back to how she'd seen Damon in the hallway outside the locker rooms. One look into his eyes and she could tell that even after all these years that Damon still didn't remember her.

She could still see the blood on her hands from that day, the blood that didn't belong to her but to her boyfriend of the time. At 14, she'd seen and been through more than nearly any adult ever had.

The group lost 4 men that day, three of which Aniyah had met and spoken to before. It could have been five if the Captain wasn't on stand-by with an escape route and for that, she was eternally thankful.

The half an hour walk home from Ripleys to her current house on the other side of Ripley City was serene, the playful screams from the children in the park echoing around the whole neighborhood.

One thing Aniyah could never understand was why the group's HQ was just outside the city. Wouldn't it be easier to look out for everyone if the group was situated in the city itself?

She wondered how the group was doing now, whether or not the Eagle had lived up to the Captain's expectations. Either way, she was now out for good and didn't regret it. Looking up to the sky, she thanked whoever was up there for getting her out of that for good. Even if it was meant to help others, she went through stuff no teenager should have ever even laid eyes on.

The one bus stop on the way up still adorned the same advertisement from two weeks ago, one all the girls of Ripley fawned over. It belonged to Harris&Ashley, the fancy high-class modelling agency with British origins, a nationality all Ripley girls had a soft spot for. On the advert was their most prized model: the model without a face. Aniyah could never understand how the girls could be so obsessed over a man they had no facial recognition of other than the slight, dark stubble the man sported.

About 20 minutes down the walk, the hairs on the back of her neck stood on end. She snapped her head to the side, knowing that ignoring her gut feeling was never a good idea.

Gut feelings were one of the most important unconscious reactions we as humans had, she said to herself as she reminded herself of one of the first lessons she had ever learnt in the group.

As inconspicuously as she could, she looked around, trying to place anything out of the ordinary but every flower was in it's rightful place. She looked up into the sky again, placing her sights on the high buildings of the town but still, she saw nothing.

In a last attempt, she turned around and saw a man with his hood pulling over his eyes. A small familiar stubble ran across his jaw but before she could place exactly who it was, the man turned into an alleyway, seeing that she had caught him on her tail.

Anna-Mai's number got pulled up onto her phone screen as she understood that she was now no longer safe.

That was another one of the downsides of having once been part of the group, anything that wasn't part of the norm was to be reported right away. Personally, Aniyah thought that this was completely unnecessary, what was life without a few hairs out of place?

Two rings later, the phone was picked up as Anna-Mai's light voice came through on the call.

"What's wrong, Aniyah?"

"There was a hooded man following me just now. He went once he realised that I caught him following me but it's probably better for me if you pick me up now. I'll be in Casto's."

The five minute drive from the house to the coffee shop she was sitting in was long enough for something bad to happen to her. She went to the front and ordered her favourite, an iced salted caramel coffee before seating herself at one of the tables. A few minutes later, a waitress came out and handed her the drink.

Muttering a thanks, Aniyah drank it down, not waiting for the brain-freeze to take over as she finished the coffee in less that a minute.

A horn sounded from outside. Aniyah peered over her table and out of the window to see Anna-Mai waving to her from the familiar red Ford Fiesta. She left a tip on the table before running out and getting in the car.

"What did he look like, Ani?"

"Most of his face was covered with a hood but from what I could see, he had a stubble, his skin was a light tan and he had quite a strong jawline but without his nose up, I don't think I'll be able to tell who it is."

"Ok, carry on walking to school. I trust that you'd know how to fight off a man like him, I know you've done it hundereds of times before."

Aniyah scoffed, thinking about how even though she wasn't ever really close with her real mother, she wouldn't have left Aniyah to still be walking to school alone even after she got told that she was being followed. Fight or no fight, Aniyah already knew how to beat up a man but she wished that the whole situation could have been prevented in the first place.

Even after 2 years of being excused, Aniyah and Anna-Mai still weren't very close. After the first year of failing to be her substitute mother, Anna-Mai decided just to play the role of guardian until Aniyah had come of age.

Aniyah was grateful that she wasn't stuck with abusive parents, not that she wouldn't know how to deal with them, but sometimes she did wish that Anna-Mai was a bit more mother-like. You could tell she was at least trying during the first year she looked after her, trying to get them to do mother-daughter activities like shopping and cooking but when she saw that her efforts were in vain, she didn't try any longer. She made sure Aniyah was fed and clothed and mostly let her get on with whatever but on rare occasions such as this, Anna-Mai would come out and directly interfere with her life.

It was better that the two stayed detached anyways, Aniyah didn't need a pestering mother who always tried to get her to make friends with the people at her school. They didn't need to know who she was.

The drive back was not as fast as she wanted it to be. Her bladder was quickly filling up from the coffee she had not even ten minutes ago. Once Anna-Mai had finally pulled into the driveway, Aniyah jumped out and unlocked the door, racing herself to get to the toilet.

She felt relief flood through her as she finally let herself relax from holding it in. One thing she had that she had never managed to fix was her small bladder. One water-bottle and she would be done. She tried to drink as little as possible but still drank enough to make sure she didn't shrivel to a prune.

Her bag slinked to the floor of her room as she closed her door shut, opening the window to let in some fresh air. The lack of homework from the day gave her an opening of free-time but instead of going to the small unused park across the road, she decided it was probably safer if she stayed in.

She loaded up her Netflix, How To Get Away With Murder gracing her laptop screen as the small theme song began to play. It always surprised her how close Anna-Mai's name was to that of Annalise Keating, the seemingly heartless law professor of the story.

Four episodes and about 3 hours later, darkness had came over the sky as the clock hit 10. With nothing else to do, Aniyah got changed into a vest top and some shorts, the heat still creeping in through her insulated walls.

She had missed her dinner hours ago but she wasn't too hungry. Pulling a crunchie bar out from her box of snacks under her bed, she demolished it before brushing her teeth and jumping into her bed.

Only just having managed to doze off, she heard a light patter from the other side of the room.

Bolting upright, she looked around the room, trying to find the culprit of the noise. The darkness of the room didn't help but in the second it took for her eyes to adapt to the darkness, they fell upon the grey hoodie again. Without a second thought, she pulled out the mini pistol from out of her pillow case, pointing it straight to her stalker from before.

Not giving the man a chance to lunge at her, she shot up and pinned him against the wall, her strength keeping him from moving at all. With one arm restraining the grunting man and another pointing the pistol at his head, Aniyah tried to figure out who it could be but with no hands to spare, she couldn't pull off the man's hoodie.

"Who are you and what do you want?" she asked in her icy voice she had been taught to speak in from her training.

The man raised his head and Aniyah cocked her gun.

That's when it clicked.

There was a reason that Aniyah knew this man's stubble so well. Whether he was a friend or a foe though, was still a question up for grabs.

---

a/n: chapter 2 of Frauds done and done :)

My luck wasn't all bad, this time the chapter didn't delete itself!

On the downside, while I was promoting this book, Wattpad decided that it thought I was spamming and shut me down for a while.

I guess with one thing out, another came in ha.

Who do you think the mystery man is, someone that you guys have been introduced to yet or someone new?

Anyways, leave a vote if you think this chapter deserves it and a comment if you liked it ;)

Have a good night my lovelies <3

Lolaalvilivi