(Lea's P.O.V)
I felt tingles travel down my spine as his breath hit my neck.
"What's wrong with you?" I hissed numbly.
"Nothing. I'm too perfect." His words felt a mix of ice and heat and I felt his presence recline into his own seat.
I exhaled my breath which I didn't even know I was holding.
The geography class continued without interruptions for the rest of the population but me. Luke occasionally kept doing things like those to get on my nerves and made my heartbeat speed up.
The process would've remained uninterrupted if not for the sudden call.
The classroom door opened as a blonde woman walked in and called out:
"Luke Collins? Kindly come with me."
The teacher and woman exchanged a few words as murmurs erupted among everyone in the class regarding this sudden act but all Luke did was calmly stand up and go up to the teachers.
The blonde woman stopped talking to the teacher and they turned to look at him. Well, everyone did.
"May we go, Miss Leros?" He asked politely and she nodded immediately.
"Yes, yes."
And off they went!
.........Wow, that sounds like a line from one of Enid Blyton's kids books where the kids go off on an adventure.............
But I bet it is nothing like that.
I followed their figure and stared into empty space after they were gone. Our teacher brought the attention of the class back towards her (although no one ACTUALLY listened).
I won't lie. The teacher was boring. No doubt she is very knowledgeable about her subject but like most people, is unable to convey it.
The bell marking the end of the period came to the rescue of not only me but at least a 100 thousand kids. I didn't immediately get up and in the crowd to leave because I figured that leaving later and unnoticed involves much less physical contact and injuries since the dust has already settled.
As usual I did that today as well only with a slight additional interruption from the teacher.
I locked the stall door in the girls washroom with a heart beating at the speed of 100 miles per hour and sat down with the bag. Shuffling through it, I came across the hard, thin, long and cold thing I was looking for. I thanked my stars silently for having mercy on my for once.
A phone.
I hurriedly took out Luke's phone from his bag and switched it on as a new hopeful feeling arose within me.
Now let's go back 15 minutes and see what had happened actually.
The teacher (I didn't bother to remember her name) had stopped me and told me to also take Luke's bag and drop it off at the reception since he hadn't returned and she didn't want to run the risk of the bag being stolen or any of its contents by other students. Since I was one of the last to leave and according to her she trusted me (which is a good thing that I've made a good impression on the teachers and it will prove beneficial for me in the midterms next week).
On my way, a brainwave hit me and to try my luck I went into the washroom, locking myself and the bag for an experimental phase.
There was no guarantee whether I'd find anything useful or not but it was worth a shot. And I didn't know what I'd do if Luke's timing of returning coincided before I could drop the bag off and it'd prove a fatal move for me but I was compelled to do it.
I had no other choice and my time was running out. Next week would be midterms meaning no distractions and according to my deal with the CIA, they couldn't force me to do anything during exams and this would leave me with even less time.
So this mission has succeeded in making me a dishonest and disloyal and untrustworthy person.
Great. (Note the sarcasm please)
I concentrated on the phone and as it came back to life, of course I found it locked. That too, fingerprint touch. But I was expecting that so I came prepared. Well, I technically always am.
I turned the hologram of my bracelet on and after a few taps here and there, synced both devices and my bracelet's advanced hacking techniques soon got me access to the phone.
The second step, I took out a pen drive from my bracelet which was actually shaped as a rectangular charm and embedded it into the phone and within minutes the whole infrastructure and data got copied into the hardware.
Done, now I could analyze the contents later.
Hopefully, I'd find something useful or something that would give me a slight clue at least.
I switched his phone back off and cut off the sync between the 2 devices quickly. Put the phone back in with the few books and inhaled a deep breath.
I turned the lock on the stall door and walked out into the lobby casually where girls were busy applying makeup and checking out their appearances in the full body mirrors that the school provided. And the irony was, the girls and I used the same 15 minutes. Just so differently.
Thankfully, Victoria wasn't in that population and I made it out safely into the hallway outside where the crowd was decreasing by the minute.
Bag in my hand, I quickly turned the corner towards the reception and slammed into someone.
"Oww...." I mumbled as I stumbled back from the impact.
"Is that my bag, little Miss Thief?"
Shit. I cursed the stars above. Get me out of this fix and I'll thank you again. Which is quite unlikely, right?
"Uh...yeah" I quickly gathered my bearings and nodded. "Here." I handed him his bag as if it was a terrible thing I needed to get rid of. (Partly true)
His eyes moved towards his bag and he raised his eyebrows. He locked his eyes with me and took his bag. The silence was very unbearable.
I instantly turned on my heel and walked away. Thankfully he didn't call out to me either; which really was a good sign. I didn't look back but just sighed in relief.
"That was a close one...." I murmured to myself and took a seat in my next class that I'd automatically reached.
I hurriedly closed my door and threw my bag on my table. Gotta be quick.
I took out my shoes and rummaged around for my laptop. Once I found it, I quickly bounced down on my bed with it and the pen drive of my charm bracelet embedded in it.
I was having a mixed feeling of anxiety, excitement and fear at what sight was to behold me.
The screen showed
"Loading......."
And I waited then suddenly.......................
The danger sign flashed on my screen and the laptop went black. I stared at it in bewilderment but then the screen turned black and a message flashed on-
'Cannot open this file. For further tries to open it, it will be dangerous for your laptop. If you still want to proceed press enter.'
Stupid me but I pressed enter and the screen turned black and the laptop shut down. I waited for 5 seconds and then it came back to life. Another message flashed.
'Sorry, this file is well encrypted.' Then it changed to another white message on the black background.
'It won't be this easy. Still one step ahead of you.
I felt my heartbeat quicken and I closed my eyes. Great. My last option also failed me. I felt so dejected and frustrated. I rubbed the back of my neck and bit my lip when my phone suddenly went off.
I picked it up to see the caller ID as 'Sam'. A subconscious smile crept up my lips.
"Hey." I spoke into the phone, immediately picturing Sam's sea blue eyes.
"Hey, Lee. Wassup?"
"I'm good."
"Liar."
Yeah that's true but I think I should consider going with the flow so I replied casually.
"Nah, not really."
"Okay whatever, anyways you still up for tomorrow right?"
"Uh....." What?! I have no idea what he is talking about!
"You forgot, didn't you?" He slightly chuckled and it sent a wave of a strange fuzzy feeling in me that I sorta liked. Also, I could almost see him shaking his head.
"We're supposed to go trekking tomorrow. Remember?"
"Oh, yeah! Totally! I'm not bailing." I quickly chimed in. I was genuinely looking forward to it but with all the stuff happening, I'd forgotten.
"Kay then. Cool, um, I'll pick you up by......8:30?"
"Yeah that'd be....no wait wait, I have something to do so....um, how bout sharp at 9?"
"Sure. Then I'll see you at 9."
"Yeah."
This was sort of like our cue to end the conversation but I guess neither of us could bring ourselves to do that.
"So....." He started.
"So.......?"
"You know we all miss you..."
"Same..." A beat passed.
"Hey, Lea?"
"Hmm?"
"I have no one to torture here......"
I laughed. Just when it seemed to turn serious.
I couldn't help it. "Well, you don't know the value of something until you lose it!"
"You sounded like a preacher."
"Ignore it, will ya?"
"Alright, alright....." He chuckled as well. "Do you know Allison is dating Tyson?"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa! What?!" I literally screamed into the phone in surprise. Those two? In a......relation....relationship?! Unbelievable.
"Ow....you know I have sensitive ears..." Sam cringed and complained.
I chuckled sheepishly, "Sorry...."
"Nah, it's fine."
"But wow, I'd...never imagine that." I could still not comprehend this news. Damn, I should call the girls more frequently. That reminds me, I need to call them as well.
"Yeah, no one did imagine it. But apparently they are the perfect couple."
I snickered. His sarcasm was unmistakable.
"Yeah, right."
"Anyways, sorry I gotta go......it's Hannah she just....you know what? I'll talk to you tomorrow properly. Sorry, Lea."
"Dude, it's fine. Don't worry. I've got stuff to do as well." I looked at the cursed computer and sighed.
"Awesome."
I rose a brow even though I knew he couldn't see it. I mean, he did not know what the 'stuff' I had to do was. It was torture. But I ignored it.
"Yeah, okay, see you tomorrow. Bye!"
"Bye!"
The line went dead.
But something in me started buzzing. I felt extremely excited for tomorrow. Maybe it was because I just missed him, maybe because it would be like old days when we were best friends or maybe because I just simply needed a break from my terrifying and complicated life before normal high school mid-terms. I felt a wee bit better but one look at the screen and my short lived peace was disrupted.
Still, I had at least something to look forward to and get myself a short vacation. I didn't know what was happening between me and Sam. Were we beginning to reform the friendship that we had? Or was it becoming something more.........?
What was it that made my heart beat quicker every time I looked at Luke? I could answer neither questions but I had a feeling tomorrow would be an important day. Which is why I really deserved to get a good night's sleep.
I only hope that whatever destiny has in store for me, it'll be good. All my thoughts regarding feelings, suspects, relationships, exams, my mission and individual rivalries were enough to make my eyelids heavy so that I could slip into a heavy sleep.