Secret Agent Man

“ T his is the worst plan ever,” I mumble to myself as I walk to school. The answering thump in my messenger bag makes me wince and I chastise myself again for thinking I’m ever getting through the day without being caught. “That’s not helping, Dottie. It’s Friday, so I only have to make it through one day, but we’re not even there yet.”

A much smaller wiggle against my side is the answer, and I rub my hand over my face. If we make it through the whole day, I’m buying a fucking lottery ticket.

The noise gets louder as I walk up to the front lawn. It’s cold, but it’s still dotted with groups of students hanging out before they go inside. There’s a suspicious amount of smoke coming from behind the bank of parked buses and I know that’s the smokers doing their thing. The administration tries to stop it, but there are too many places to hide and they’re good at migrating from place to place like geese. On the opposite side of the grass is the area where the twins and their friends perch—I avoid even looking at it. I didn’t have to talk to them at all this morning because they left early for a run and I don’t want to ruin my almost two day twin-less streak.

Hustling up the walkway, I ignore the shouts that come from that area. It might be the twins’ friends saying something nasty, but I don’t have the will to engage today. I’ve got to figure out what’s going on with this damned college that is hiding from me, and now I have Dottie along for the ride. Bullshit like the popular kids’ taunts pale compared to the problems I’m trying to solve.

“Here we go,” I murmur as I open the heavy doors and walk inside the busy atrium of my school. “Let’s see if we can get through this with as little trouble as possible.”

My locker is at the very end of the main hallway—something I’ve both appreciated and cursed many times. It’s convenient, but it’s also far too close to where all the idiocy happens. I try to schedule my trips here so I can stay out of the inevitable fights and groups hanging out near the cafeteria. This morning I arrived early enough to scoot in and grab extra textbooks so I won’t have to come back here for the rest of the day. I figured the less I was around people, the more likely it’d be that my passenger will stay quiet so she isn’t discovered.

I don’t know why I’m risking this except I’ve always wanted a pet, but none of my fosters would let us have one.

Once I have the books, I head back to the center and down the hallway to the humanities section. I have AP English first and we’re working on term papers, so we’ll be in the library. I’m grateful for that; it will make it much easier to break off in a corner of the massive room and hide from the rest of the class. Woodlawn has an extremely nice library in the school because of wealthy donors and the space isn’t as welcoming as the town library, but it’s got plenty of nooks and crannies.

The only drawback to this class are Bryce and a few of his cronies. Eligibility for scholar athletes is no joke and though I’d bet a shiny nickel that he and Blake have more than a little help with their grades, they’re both in more of my classes than I’d prefer. At least this is one where it’s not both terrors at once, but I know I’ll be ducking him and the other sporty jerks. Some of their queen bee counterparts are in this section of AP, too, and I can typically stay off their radar. I hate to say it, but I’m not different enough to evoke their ire.

They save that for people who do not need their brand of attention, as most mean girls do.

When I walk in, I make a beeline for the back corner where a single desktop with internet access is tucked behind reference shelves. That spot is mostly ignored, and it’s where I want to be during this two-hour block. If I can work with my bag under the desk, Dottie can get some air and she won’t be seen. All I have to do is get there before a randy couple or a cheerleader with a cell phone plops down and we’re golden.

I slip between the shelves and walk down the deserted sections of the library with a cheerful smile until I reach my destination. Sitting in my favorite seat is my jackass foster brother, Bryce, and he’s smirking as if he’s been waiting for me. Adjusting the strap of the bag on my shoulder, I glare at him, waiting for his inevitable bullshit to spew.

“Hey, Kat. Whatcha doing back here?” Bryce leans back in the chair, his long legs splayed out in front of him.

Rolling my eyes, I kick at his fat sneakers. “I wanted to work in peace and quiet. Unlike some people, I have to earn all of my good grades. Now fuck off to your friends and leave me alone.”

His smile only grows. “But this is such a perfect spot. I’m sure I could get lots of work done if I stayed back here and didn’t go hang with my friends. Maybe you could help me study.”

My face has to reflect the confusion I feel at his words. Bryce doesn’t give two shits about studying unless he has to, and he does not care about using library time wisely. What is his game and why is he bugging me? I shake my head at him, gripping the strap of my bag. “I don’t believe that’s why you’re here for a second. Tell me what you want, Bryce, and then get lost.”

The nastier twin folds his hands over his lap and gives me the most fake smile I’ve seen in a long time. “Why do you assume I want something, Kat? Maybe I missed seeing you the past two days.”

What the fuck is going on here? The twins are dicks, but they rarely corner me like this.

“I’m not assuming, Bryce. You and Blake spend any spare time you have putting me in my place. Outside of football and banging cheerleaders, I’m sure it’s your only hobby.” I cross my arms over my chest and suck in a calming breath, hoping he doesn’t trigger my anxiety. He can’t know… right?

“Oh, fine. But you’re no fun at all. I want you to remember that,” he says as he shrugs. His expression grows serious as he gives up the ghost. “I know you’ve been holding back your college shit on purpose. If you show up Blake and I with some fancy Ivy League announcement, I’ll make sure you suffer. Brett and Allison need to focus on us and what we need for ‘Bama, not run around waving a flag for you. Keep your shit buttoned up, pip squeak, or we’ll make sure you regret it.”

Like, what? Are they really that insecure and selfish?

One look at the hulking lineman says he is, and I’d bet Blake feels the same. Shaking my head at the gall of these two boys, I try to find the words to answer him. I don’t know what he means by making me regret it, but I don’t doubt their ability to make me even more miserable without laying a finger on me. They hold a great deal of sway over our parents and much of the student body. It wouldn’t take much for my life to go from lonely and annoying to completely awful if they set their minds to it. That’s just how it works around here and with four months left, he knows I won’t make a stink to my caseworker—it’d be madness.

“Bryce, I’m not hiding some big acceptance to spite you guys. All their attention is already on you and I’m still waiting to hear from my applications. You don’t have to worry.” I feel movement in the bag and everything in my body tightens, making my heart rate kick up as I worry about the kinkajou popping out.

Rolling to his feet, he walks closer, looking down at me with a hard glint in his eyes. “That better be true. We won’t stand for you trying to take our spotlight or our financial support. Just keep your head down and pray for scholarships, runt.”

I’m not small; he’s just huge. What a douchebag.

“I’m not lying.”

“Who was that dude Brett and Allison seemed scared of, then? The one who came the other night?” Bryce cracks his knuckles and studies me carefully, like a predator waiting for its prey to come out of hiding. “That seemed important.”

I shrug. “I have no idea. There was no one there when I went into the living room. The whole thing made me think it was some kind of prank that went too far.”

Humming, he bends and picks up his nearly empty backpack. “Fine. As long as it isn’t something that affects us, I don’t care if people are pulling stupid jokes on you. But if I hear even a whisper about this shit, we’re both coming.”

“Got it.” I stand as still as possible as he brushes past me imperiously, heading to the main part of the library where his cohorts are waiting. I wait to hear his heavy footsteps move as far away from my location as I can, then scamper over to the desk.

The bag rustles a bit as I sit it down gently and peek at Dottie. “You’re doing well so far. I got the feeling you wanted to come out and bite him, but with those two, it’s always better not to engage.”

She just looks at me curiously, and I sigh. It’s only been forty-five minutes, and this day is exhausting. If I have to have the same fucking confrontation with Blake in AP Bio, I’m going to scream.

“We’re going to huddle back here while I work, but if you stay under the desk, you can get some air. Understand?”

Dottie claps her hands, and I rub my hand over my face. The damn animal is cute as hell and I know part of what I need to do is figure out where she’s gone missing from. But it makes me sad even though I’ve only had her around for less than a day. Talking to her instead of myself has been quite satisfying and I’m going to hate losing that.

I’m losing my fucking mind.

Once I have her settled under my legs, I log into the computer. I’m not worried about my paper; I finished it two weeks ago. But I want to find this Discordia place again and I need to see if I can find anything on local websites that tells me where my furry friend escaped from. I figure a zoo break anywhere in the surrounding areas will be on the news channel sites and if anyone lost a pet, they’ll hit neighborhood boards. It’s as good a place to start as any.

Time passes quickly as I scroll through tab after tab and screen after screen of information. I’m not finding anyone screaming that they lost their pet and no zoos are missing an exotic cousin of the raccoon, so I have no idea where Dottie came from. My luck with Discordia is no better—I can’t even find a measly mention of them in any articles, blogs, or official college sites. The only thing I can find that references anything from the damn letter is Dante’s Inferno and I’m pretty sure some rich dude thought naming buildings after rings of the inferno was cheeky.

Obviously, this damned place isn’t sitting in Hell.

Huffing under my breath, I look down to see my stowaway curled in a ball, snoozing in my bag. I have no idea what I’m going to do if I can’t figure out where she belongs. I won’t be able to hide her for four more months of school and I know my parents won’t let me keep her.

The bell for the next block sounds like a klaxon, scaring me to death and bringing me out of my worried thoughts. I log out of everything on my workstation with a sigh, and bend down to whisper to the animal I’m disturbing.

“Time to head to the next class, dude. We’re going to the lab, so you have to stay out of sight. Shit could get messy if you get out in AP Bio. Blake’s a loudmouth and there’s dangerous shit everywhere. Just be cool like you were this time and we’ll be fine.”

I mean, it has to be true or we’re going to have major problems.