Cross My Heart and Hope to Spy (Book 1 In Trinity Academy Trilogy)

The Things I Know Now

A/N Sorry it's short, this is mostly just a filler chapter but I will try to update soon!

For some reason I had published this on private so I'm re-publishing this again!

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I remember being shot in the chest. And I remember throwing a wrench. But I didn't have any recollection of how I ended up in a bed in the infirmary.

"I think she's waking up." Stella's voice sounded distorted, but I could still tell it was her. I blinked my eyes awake. She was sitting on the edge of the bed and Mackenzie was hovering besides me-a bandage wrapped around her stab wound. But the person I was most surprised to see there was Ben. "Take it easy." Stella warned. "You hit your head pretty badly."

"That explains the roaring headache." I shrugged. "How long have I been out?"

"The game ended two hours ago." Mac told me. "Your parents were going to stay until you woke up, but-"

"They had more important places to be." I finished for her.

"If it makes you feel any better, Veronica is lying in an identical bed in the next room." Stella tried to console me. "I can't believe you threw a wrench at her head." She laughed.

"Is she going to be okay?" I asked.

"She'll be fine." Ben answered. "But she'll definitely have a nasty bump."

"Do you guys mind if I have some alone time with Ben?" I asked my roommates. They both nodded understandingly.

"I'll be right out here if you need anything." Mac reminded me, although it acted as more of a threat towards Ben.

"Sorry about shooting you." I apologized to Ben once we were alone.

"It wasn't the first time." He shrugged, plopping down on a metal stool besides the bed. An awkward silence fell between us. I had so many things I wanted to say to Ben, but none of the words were forming in my mouth.

"What happened between us?" I asked. "Everything seemed fine...until it wasn't. You blindsided me, Ben, and I'm still not really sure what to think about all of this." He shifted uncomfortably in his seat as I waited for an answer. "But despite everything that has happened...I forgive you, and I hope you forgive me. Because I need you by my side, and it's been so hard not having you around. I might not be very good at showing my feelings, but I don't know what else you want me to do." I swallowed down the tears that were starting to build. "I...I...know things now and all I want is my best friend back." Ben's lips widened into a smile. He stepped off his stool and onto my bed. Pulling up the covers, he slipped underneath them and scooted besides me. I rested my head against his chest as he ran his fingers through my hair. "And while we're on this topic," I added, tilting my head up towards him. "when did you get contacts?"

He chuckled heartedly. "You'd be surprised how many people have asked who am I. It's like I'm an entirely new person without my glasses. I feel like superman." He grinned.

"Any girls asking for your number yet?" I smirked. "I'm going to have to approve, of course."

"Of course." He smiled.

"There's so many things I've been wanting to talk to you about. First one being, how you're Mom is going to have a literal heart attack when she finds out you switched into the field program."

"Yeah," He sighed, blowing out a breath of air. "I'm not really sure whether I'm going to regret my decision or not."

"Well, why'd you do it?"

"Do you really have to ask?" He scoffed. "Isn't it obvious?"

"Enlighten me." I smiled.

"It's not a secret that everyone in the field program is basically idolized by the entire school. In five years from now, you'll be off on some covert mission saving the world and I'll be staring at a computer screen. What's the point of going to a school for spies if you don't actually get to catch any bad guys?"

"You know that's not true. Everyone plays an important part. We'd be nothing without our communications."

"Hate to break it to you, but 'communications' doesn't exactly get you the girl."

"So this is about a girl! That explains the contacts and is that new cologne I smell?" I teased.

"Okay enough about me. Don't you want to talk about the fact that you were kidnapped by a notorious gang?"

"That's not exactly a conversation starter. What am I supposed to do? Walk into a room and say, 'hey guys I was kidnapped a couple days ago doesn't anyone want to ask me about it?'" I rolled my eyes. "I like to pretend it never happened. That's how I'm coping with it at least."

"What did those guys want with you anyways? It seemed to happen out of nowhere."

"If I tell you about this, you have to promise me that it'll stay between us." I lowered my voice.

In that small room in the infirmary, I released all my bottled up secrets that I had build up over the last week. Everything from waking up at midnight with, to the X Team. When I was finally done explaining it all, it felt like a huge weight had been lifted off my chest. I no longer had to keep all my secrets to myself, there was finally someone I could talk to about them. Our little fight now seemed insignificant, now that Ben understood all that I was going through. We were finally on the same page as each other.

"Sounds like your in some pretty deep shit." He sighed.

"Yeah." I echoed his sigh.

"I don't know how you and Veronica are going to fix things this time. You always seem to overcome any other thing that gets between you, but this is much bigger than any of that."

"The saddest thing is...I totally agree with Veronica. She has every right to be mad at me. She might be a horrible, vain, and obnoxious sister but she's never hurt me like this. I've turned into the evil twin."

"Winter break's coming up, are you guys going to head up to the lake house?" Ben asked, knowing that is where we spend our break every year.

"Veronica's been trying to convince our parents to let her stay at the Academy. but they're insisting that we spend as much time together as possible." I cringed. "All this talking, and I just realized that I never asked who won Battle Royale."

"I'm not really sure if I can answer that...considering that they're still trying to decide who the winner is."

I couldn't help but laugh at that. "Are you kidding?"

"I wish I was." He laughed. "Dean Figaro and the other administrators have been sitting in her office for two hours rewatching the tapes of the game to declare a victor. You see, the second Veronica shot you, she turned to shoot Seth. As she fired the gun, you threw a wrench at her head. The three of you were eliminated at practically the same time."

I rolled my eyes at the irony. Of course my "death" would leave to the death of Seth as well as my sister's. The three of us have always been a team, so if one of us goes down the rest go down with them. Even though we'd never admit it, we have an indescribable talent for working together. In a weird way, if I had need told Veronica about the affair then I would have probably lost any chance of being on the X Team. For the first time all week, things finally seemed to be falling into place.