Roses and Revenge

Chapter Three: A bad night and a good morning

I crouch lower, concealing myself behind the car. There he is. My target, Aaron Lewis.

 In the distance I see his silhouette emerging from the cool night haze. A gust of wind carries his voice, a snippet of conversation. The next shipment. A replenished stock of people. My mind wanders, trying to fit the pieces of the puzzle together; is he a trafficker? I shake my head. It's not my place to question why, only how to get the job done. The metal of the pistol cools my clammy hand as I focus my eyes again on tracking his movements. If he is on the phone this will make the job more difficult. More difficult but for sure doable, it's not like this is my first gig. 

I breathe in deeply and step out into the middle of the alleyway, snapping the pistol out in front of me. "Aaron" my voice rings out, oozing confidence. I see his eyes widen in the gloom. "Don't be scared just kindly hang up the phone", I cock my gun as I talk, making sure he knows I mean business. His eyes dart, searching for any exit points. There are none. I made sure of that. He loosens his grip and drops the phone, kicking it to slide it across the concrete to me. I smirk "ever so kind", keeping the gun pointed at him as I bend over to end the call before crushing the phone screen with my foot. He stands there, hands above his head. Pathetic, not even trying to put up a fight. I narrow my eyes and clasp the trigger. Bang. 

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My eyes snap open and I'm doused in sweat, breathing heavily. My shaking hands instinctively wipe my face for any splashes of blood. Its clean. I exhale deeply. Just a dream. Just a dream of a distant memory. I turn my head and check my alarm: 5.30 am. Shit, I need to leave soon if i am going to make early morning training. I leap out of bed and pull on my leggings, t-shirt and trainers, stuffing my uniform into my duffel bag. I'll run to school, too much adrenaline is coursing through my veins to sit on the bus. I creep along the hallway and softly open the front door, I don't want to wake up anyone else in the flat - especially my stepdad. 

As soon as I am out on the street I break into a fast run, my feet pounding faster and faster on the concrete. The tower blocks of the estate blur as I push myself to up the speed. It's a race between me and my thoughts. That dream has brought up emotions I haven't felt for three years. Emotions I buried for a good reason. My breath is turning ragged but I keep pushing, I am now out of my neighborhood and nearing the fancy area Summer Hills. The large glazed windows reflect the soft morning light, set back from the road behind luscious green lawns and gleaming white fences. Yep, definitely not my neighborhood. I make a swing to the right, heading down the road leading to the school. 

Suddenly I hear an engine rev right next to me. I glance to the side and see a shiny red Land rover trailing along next to me, with the window rolled down. The sandy blonde haired, blue eyed boy from math lent out of the window, his tanned skin glowing in the golden sunrise. 

"Hey Maya! Remember me? It's Jason from Math"

Jason. I stop and turn to smile, suddenly aware of my flaming red cheeks. "Hi, yeah of course how could I forget my math problem hero" I laugh. 

He grins "Wanna hop in? I know the training session today is going to be pretty tough, you don't want to burn yourself out before you've even got there."

I hesitate, looking down at my sweaty sports gear. "Um... yeah that would be great. If its not too much trouble." 

He lets out a chuckle "Trust me, I want to give you a lift" he waggles his eyebrows "I want to get to know the mysterious new girl". He opens the door and I hop in grinning. "So, running at this hour? Must be pretty committed to the sport" he laughs.

"Ha yeah I guess, that and being really late" I joke.

"Well coach would be proud, running from this neighborhood is quite a trek" he glances over "so which house do you live in?"

I gulp. He thinks I live in Summer Hills. I become acutely aware that I am not correcting him. "Er sort of a couple of streets down" I mumble. Why am I lying?

"Sweet" he clears his throat and I breathe a sigh of relief that he is not pressing the topic. "So there's this party i'm having on Friday, its not far from you're house actually, and I was wondering if you might want to go?". He pulls into the school parking lot "would give me a chance to get to know you a bit better" he winks. My stomach flips and fills with butterflies. 

"Yes!" I compose myself, cant seem too keen "I mean yeah, sounds good. I get the feeling we aren't going to get much of a chance to chat in training."

Both of our gazes turn towards the sports building where the squad is assembling. I hear coach shouting out the drill. Jason groans "Definitely. Come on, we better get over there". 

I smile. Templeton High isn't so bad after all.