I'd been trained to break into a fully armed bank, steal my targeted money, and leave without being noticed.  I knew how to use any gun from the age of nine, when I was first recruited.  One of my training missions was finding a hostage, killing all unfriendlies, disarming a bomb, and making it out alive with the rescued prisoner.  How hard could a school be?

Apparently extremely hard. 

As soon as I stepped into building, every eye was on me.  I wanted to yell at them to stop staring.  The point of being a spy is to be completely unnoticed.  I was the exact opposite. Keeping my head down, I found my way to the front desk and requested my schedule. 

A few moments later I was trotting down the hall, searching for my homeroom.  This was so weird!  How did so many students from all different grades know where their room was located? Back at the Institute, different levels were on different stories of the building.  The higher your grade, the farther you went up.  I ducked into the room just as a bell rang. 

Again, there were stares and whispering.  A teacher seemed a bit startled, but she motioned for me to take a seat.  I slid into one in the back, away from everyone's eyes. 

"Welcome everyone! As most of you know, I'm Leah Cartonez, but you can just call me Mrs. C.  If you are new this year, please stand up!" she asked, and I groaned inwardly.  Sure enough, I was the only one who stood.  I refused to look at the faces of my fellow students, so I watched the teacher. 

"And what's your name dear?" Mrs. C questioned. 

"Eris," I replied flatly. 

"And what school were you at before you came here...?"

I panicked slightly before remembering my training.  If you don't know, lie.  "I lived in Wisconsin, and I was homeschooled."

"Why did you move?" Mrs. C asked.  Why did the teacher ask so many questions?

"My parents died," I snapped.  "My brother has guardianship, and we decided it would be better if we had a new start somewhere else."  At least I remembered my backstory.  Half the students gasped and pity filled their eyes.  One boy in a dark blue hoodie almost started crying.  Where am I?

"I'm sorry," the teacher sighed, shaking her head. 

"You didn't kill them," I pointed out.  "Why are you sorry?"  Stop talking! I had to stop.  Normal people don't act like me.  Mrs. C cocked her head slightly, completely confused.   I slipped back into my chair, staring at the wooden desk. 

"Alright...everyone, I'm going to pass out your books now.  I hope you all brought pencils from home!" 

I blew my bangs out of my eyes, completely irritated.  In my first ten minutes I almost managed to blow my cover.  I had to be more careful. 

"Pssst!" a girl sitting next to me hissed.  I blinked and glanced at her.  At first I thought she was wearing a wig, but nope, she had short, curly red hair that framed her face nicely.  "Psst! Eris!"

"What?" I whispered. 

"I'm Ryhan!" she announced softly.  Oh no no no no! This could not be my target.  My training was to wait until you found the person and watch them for a few days before introducing yourself.  I could not fail that simple task!

"Hi," I muttered, turning back to the teacher who was calling students up to her desk to find their school books. 

"Don't mind her, Eris, she's just...well, she's Ryhan.  I'm Aria." the girl in front of me twisted to shake my hand.  Oh man, this mission was just getting worse and worse.  Was Atticus suddenly going to show up too?

"Atticus!" Mrs. C called, and a boy silently rose from his seat.  Yup, I'm the worst recruiter ever.  How could all three of my targets be in the same classroom?

I watched Atticus as he trudged to the front of the room; memorizing his face.  Wasn't he the boy who sniffed when I told everyone my parents died? Didn't his mother die last year?  I couldn't remember anymore, I was so nervous. 

"That's Att," Ryhan explained.  "He doesn't talk anymore.  Sometimes I don't even think he listens, but then there's those rare moments when it actually seems like he's paying attention."

As if on cue, Atticus turned around with his arms full of textbooks and saw me watching him.  Half his mouth twitched upward in a smile, but the rest stayed at his depressing frown.  He slipped back into his seat before I could smile back. 

"Like that!  He didn't have that blank stare on again!" Ryhan pointed out. 

"You spend too much time stalking him," Aria laughed.

"I do not!"

"Girls!  Aria, would you please come get your books?"  Mrs. C asked.  Aria's face turned red and she nodded quickly. 

Ryhan leaned over and whispered, "Aria's a little Miss Perfect sometimes.  She absolutely hates when she gets in trouble."

I nodded, focusing on each of my targets.  Well, at least I knew who they were and I didn't have to spend my first days searching for them.  

The rest of my day passed mostly uneventful.  I just tried to stay low and avoid everyone.  So I probably looked like a creepy loner.  At lunch Aria and Ryhan invited me to sit with them, but I preferred to sit alone at a table. 

Everyone else was still whispering and eyeing me cautiously.  I'd been alone for so long it didn't bother me, except the small snickers that reminded me of my old Institute.  Was every school in the world so cruel? 

I glanced up suddenly when Atticus stood up sharply and made his way toward me, carrying a tray of food.  I watched him, a bit uneasily, I have to admit.  I could definitely take him down in a fight, but I didn't want to hurt the guy. 

He plunked his food down on the other side of the table and sat down, not even bothering to look at me.  More hushed voices filled the cafeteria, and I whispered to him, "You didn't have to do that.  But...thanks."

He nodded once and resumed eating.  I did the same. 

Hey guys, do you like it so far???  Because I'm kinda getting bored with it and it definitely isn't my best work.  Sooo just comment if you think I should keep going.  Thanks for reading!

(Picture is of Ryhan by the way.)