TBD

Chapter Twenty-Two - School Dances and Closets

Natalie

Sweat is dripping down my back. I keep having to swipe my arm over my forehead because the sweat keeps falling into my eyes. I kick Atticus's side, but he doesn't falter, punching me just as hard in the arm. I grit my teeth to not cry out.

He winds up to punch and I dodge just in time to feel air whizz past me as his fist meets air. He's light on his feet, bouncing on his toes. He maneuvers away from my kick, grabbing my ankle and pulling it towards him. My feet are swept out from under me, and he drops, taking my breath away as his weight lands on me.

He pins me to the floor and pushes as much weight on me as he can to immobilize me. I kick and punch, but he doesn't budge. I refuse to tap out.

I don't hear the door open, but I do hear the exaggerated gasp. I lift my head as much as I can, looking towards the now open door. Chloe, Jayden, Felix, and William are standing, watching me struggle. I feel my face redden with embarrassment at them seeing me losing.

Atticus immediately let's go of me, standing up. I heave a breath and push myself to my feet, walking over to where my water sits.

I look over to see Jayden eyeing me and looking back at Atticus, a question in her gaze. I walk over to her and stand beside her as Chloe immediately clings to me, holding my arm tightly in her grip.

Atticus crosses his arms. "None of you are anywhere near ready to get out on the field, but Lionel said that we've been gone too long. He decided it best to let you guys come along with us. On our mission." He doesn't sound happy about that.

"A mission?" Jayden asks.

He nods, "It won't be for another week, so we'll be pushing you to get better."

"What even is it?" Chloe inquires on my right.

Atticus is starting to look annoyed from the questions.

"We'll be undercover at a formal high school dance. We're looking for information about one of the teachers chaperoning there. His name is Josef Prior. He's a history teacher. I'll send all the necessary information to your phones later. For now, we need to train." He finishes off, no room for any more questions.

A week of extensive training that has my knees feeling like Jell-o and tireless nights of researching and learning information for the mission later, the girls and I enter our dorm to see a dress laid out on each of our beds.

    My dress is a form fitting matt sea green, just long enough to cover my butt.

I hear Chloe fawn over her dress, turning the fabric around to look at it more thoroughly. I walk over to see it for myself. She quickly tugs it on. It's a silky red dress that has a flowy skirt that cinches at the waist. "Look, when I turn around it flows out." she giggles, "And it has pockets!" she yells giddily.

The boys had taken us to a room where different agents came in and styled our hair. What kind of agency has that?

Her hair is done in two braids around her head like a crown with half of it flowing down her back. She runs and I catch her as she hugs me tightly, obviously excited.

I let her down and pull on my own emerald green satin-like dress. It has an asymmetric styled bodice with a slit down the right leg. After feeling how much movement the dress allows, I notice it also has pockets which I am incredibly honestly thankful for. I decided to leave my hair loosely braided into a  simple half up half down with some smaller braids embedded a few times. 

I turn to see Jayden picking at her black dress. It flows down to her feet and slightly drags on the floor. It fits snuggly to her body and her thigh shows from a slit on the side. "I don't like straps," Jayden complains, picking at them.