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

Everyone is a Suspect

Did that really just happen?

The latin music blasting from the speaker's abruptly stopped. I clasped a hand to my mouth as my poor victim repelled away from me. After a few seconds of silence Rooney began to clap his hands together excitedly. Eventually everyone seemed to join in. My cheeks flamed a bright red and when I looked around at the faces of my classmates I saw that even Seth was laughing along. I ran straight for the locker rooms to save myself from this public shaming.

I pressed a chair against the door to the locker room to prevent anyone from coming in. The latin music had resumed playing outside as I leaned my body over the sinks and splashed water into my face and mouth. Am I going crazy? I let the sink run and slowly slid onto the floor. The trickling water from the faucet calmed me. I rolled up my long sleeve shirt to reveal the stitches on my arm. I lightly pressed against them with my fingertip my mind flashing back to Veronica prying her fingers into my skin. I should feel safe now that Carlos was behind bars. I shouldn't be throwing up in the middle of class because I hear voices in my head. And I definitely shouldn't be hiding away in the locker room bathroom. 

So I pulled myself off the floor and gave myself a good look over in the mirror. "You are Alexis Mankoff." I told myself. "You are a highly trained spy." I said, staring down my reflection. "You are going to go back out there and suck it up like a grown woman." I sighed, squeezing the edge of the sink with my hands. "No one is coming to get you." I swallowed, struggling to believe my own words. My eyes glanced back towards my stitches. If Perez had gone through so much trouble to plant a tracker into my arm he wasn't going to give up this easily. I had been spending this entire morning trying to convince myself to be happy that Carlos had been captured, when I should of been trusting my gut. This wasn't over. There's a storm brewing and I can feel it.

But who can I trust? And who would ever believe me?

A loud bang redirected my attention. "What the hell?" I heard Mackenzie mutter as she pushed open the locker room door. "Are you making a barricade or something?" She laughed, kicking the chair I had propped against the door.

I shrugged, crossing my arms over my chest. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm checking to see if my best friend is okay." She said plainly, as if it was obvious.

"Does it look like I'm okay?" I asked, a little too harshly. 

"No," She laughed. "it doesn't. But then again you did just throw up in the middle of class..."

"Mac if I told you something--no matter how crazy it sounds--you would still believe me, right?" I giddily grabbed her by the wrists and pulled her towards me.

"If this is about Clyde I already know about the creepy crush he has on me."

"First of all, this has nothing to do with Clyde. Second of all, he is a really sweet guy and his crush is totally adorable but that's not what I want to talk about!" I rambled. "Can I trust you?"

"What?" Her eyes widened in confusion. "What the hell is this about, Lex?"

"Can I trust you?" I repeated, looking straight into her eyes.

"I've always had your back since day one." She replied without hesitation. I didn't have any doubt that Mackenzie was being sincere. Without another word I dragged her into one of the toilet stalls, locking the door behind me. 

"You might want to take a seat." I suggested.

"On what? The toilet?" She chuckled.

"I really need you to be serious about this."