Finding Me (The Spy Chronicles Book 1)

by Scarlett Haven

  The boy looks scared.

  “Torture training?” I ask

  “Not for you,” Nolan says.

  “Of course not,” Sebastian says. “Wouldn’t want Princess Sinclair to ever feel pain.”

  I roll my eyes.

  This boy isn’t very nice.

  “Bass, shut it,” Mrs. Gunther says.

  Sebastian listens to the teacher and takes his seat. Nolan puts my desk in the back of the class.

  “Miss Sinclair,” the teacher says, “I’d like to see if you’re as good in my class as your mom was.”

  I sit up straighter.

  My mom took her class?

  I mean, I knew she came here. But the fact that we both have the same teacher excites me. She sat in this very classroom.

  But then I remember my dad telling me that she was a genius.

  I think Mrs. Gunter is going to be disappointed with me. Because math and I do not get along.

  Trying new things.

  When I walk into the cafeteria, everybody is staring at Nolan and me.

  Well, let’s be honest, the girls are looking at Nolan. I can’t blame them.

  I look around, trying to find a place to sit. I do contemplate sitting on the floor for half a second, but I don’t think Nolan will be okay with that.

  “Are you going to sit?” Nolan asks me.

  “Where do I sit?” I ask.

  “At a table,” he says. “Pick one.”

  Everybody is still watching us.

  Nolan garbs my hand and pulls me toward a table. There are people there, and they all turn to look at us.

  Maybe I can’t make friends.

  “You okay?” Nolan asks me.

  I shrug and then nod.

  “Karlie,” he says.

  I look up at him.

  “You need to eat. Trust me, you’ll need the strength,” he says. “Your afternoon lineup of classes is a lot different than your morning lineup.”

  I take a bite, but I don’t even taste it and swallow.

  My morning lineup of classes was pretty ordinary—math, English, science and history. I wonder what will be next. This is spy school. Maybe I will get to learn some cool spy stuff. Stuff like Nolan and the guys know.

  “Really. You keep taking my seat.”

  I hear a familiar voice behind me, and without looking, I know it’s Sebastian.

  He’s in all my classes so far.

  Actually, everybody is. All the kids in my homeroom class are in all my classes, which doesn’t seem normal, but then again, this isn’t a normal school. It’s spy school. I kind of wish it weren’t this way, because this Sebastian kid hates me.

  “Sit somewhere else,” Nolan tells Sebastian.

  “These are my friends. My table,” Sebastian says. “I’m not sitting somewhere else. Besides, I’m pretty sure everybody else in this entire cafeteria would love to sit by Princess Sinclair.”

  I scoot over one spot. “You can sit by me, but I’m not leaving.”

  Whoa. Where did that confidence come from? I’m going to roll with it.

  He sighs, but takes a seat. Nolan does not look happy.

  “The guys have been texting all day asking about you,” Nolan tells me, ignoring the boy who is now sitting right beside me. “They’re pretty much jealous that I get to spend the day with you.”

  “They’re jealous that you have to babysit me while I’m in class?” I ask. “Which is stupid. Does my dad really think somebody is going to try and blow me up in class? The security at this school is very serious.”

  “Better safe than sorry,” he says. “By now, whoever was at that coffee shop has figured out that you’re here. And we still aren’t sure why they didn’t pursue us. Maybe they wanted you to be here.”

  “Maybe,” I say.

  I hadn’t thought about that. But then again, I’m not a spy like him. We think differently.

  “Do you think my teachers are disappointed that I’m not a genius like my mom was?” I ask Nolan. “Dad told me she could speak five languages and do math formulas in her sleep. Math is, like, my enemy. And I don’t know if you noticed, but I only speak English.”

  He laughs. “Karlie, you’re awesome.”

  “Karlie?” Sebastian asks. “Your name is Serenity, so why does he call you Karlie?”

  “It’s a long story,” I answer.

  “One that is none of your business,” Nolan says.

  “I don’t care anyway,” Sebastian says, turning back to his friends.

  “The guys want to hang out tonight,” Nolan tells me, looking at his phone.

  “Can we?” I ask. “I mean, aren’t you guys, like, always working? And will my dad let me?”

  “Your dad is coming around. He’s okay with you hanging out as long as there is more than one guy. Because one guy means it’s a date and two means it’s not,” he says. “But only a couple guys can come. Sander and Gage can hang out. Brett and Hunter might get to later.”

  “Okay,” I say. “I miss Sander’s snarky attitude.”

  Nolan laughs. “You’ve already got him figured out.”

  “The first day we met, he convinced me to ditch school. Him and I together are toxic,” I say. “I just know he’s going to get me into so much trouble.”

  “He said that was your fault. You told him you never had a cheeseburger before,” he says. “You can’t tell a guy like Sander something like that and not expect him to react. It’s who he is. He might be sarcastic, but he loves people. And you’re pretty much his favorite person.”

  “Me? I thought it was Gage,” I say.

  Nolan laughs. “They do have a bromance going on.”

  “What’s a bromance?” I ask.

  He looks at me, as if he’s trying to see if I’m serious.

  “Never mind,” he says.

  “What classes do I have after lunch?” I ask Nolan.

  “Language,” he answers. “I’m not sure which language class your dad chose.”

  “He chose for me?” I ask. “Ugh…”

  “Sorry,” Nolan says.

  “It’s not your fault that my dad is an overprotective control freak,” I say.

  “I’d be an overprotective control freak too if my daughter was kidn…”

  I cut him off, not wanting anybody to know that I was kidnapped. Everybody around us is listening. “So… what are Sander, Gage and I doing tonight?”

  “Sander says he wants to do something you’ve never done.”

  “Which means the possibilities are endless,” I say.

  “How are you doing today?” he asks me. “You know… with a new school and all?”

  I shrug. “It’s okay. I thought I would make friends, but I haven’t yet. Which I guess is okay. I already have six friends. But you guys already graduated.”

  “It’s probably my fault,” Nolan says. “Well, not my fault. Your dad is the one who gave me the assignment, and he is a hard guy to say no to.”

  “You’re good at telling him no,” I say. “Actually, so am I.”

  “You’re his daughter. It’s your job to put him in his place,” he says.

  “Why is everybody scared of him but you?” I ask.

  “It’s a long story. One that he would kill me if I told you.”

  I grin. “Which means you’re definitely going to tell me, because like I said, you’re not scared of him,” I say.

  He nods. “But not here.”

  “I’m so tired today,” I say.

  “Well, it’s six in the morning in Florida,” Nolan says. “That’s probably why. Do you want some coffee or a Red Bull?”

  “What’s Red Bull?” I ask.

  “Be right back,” he says, jumping off. He runs off, leaving me in the cafeteria alone.

  Well, not alone.

  I’m surrounded by lots of people. And they’re all looking at me. I’m not used to all this attention.

  A few seconds later, Nolan comes back into the cafeteria, holding a blue can in his hand. He puts it down
in front of me.

  “Drink this,” he says. “It’s blueberry flavored Red Bull. It’s awesome.”

  I open the can and smell it. Smells okay. I take a sip. The bubbles feel good. And it tastes… like blueberries. I like it.

  “Yum,” I say.

  I like trying new things.

  The list of things that I like are getting long, though most of the things I like are food related. Maybe tonight I will get a chance to figure out something that I like to do. I know that I don’t like watching TV.

  Torture.

  My language class is French. I’m not too terribly disappointed at this, but I also wanted to learn a cool language. Like Japanese, or something. Not that French isn’t cool, but I feel like the choice was taken away from me.

  Also, Sebastian is in this class.

  He gives me an angry look when he walks into the classroom. It’s pretty obvious that he’s just as unhappy about us sharing all the classes as I am.

  After French, I have music. And I choose to learn the violin. I’ve always wanted to play the violin, and I’m excited. The music class here is way more advanced than the music classes at public school.

  After music, I have a gun training class.

  I’ve never held a gun. Ever. And it’s a little intimidating to hold such a dangerous weapon.

  “It’s only dangerous if you don’t learn how to use it properly,” Nolan tells me, easing my fear a little.

  He helps me catch up with the rest of the class. It’s obvious that they have been doing this for a long time. They all look very comfortable and not at all intimidated. Nolan informed me that the class only lasts two weeks, and then we will be doing something different, which makes me feel relieved.

  After gun training, I go to my last class of the day.

  Gym.

  And gym is a two hour long class.

  Physical education has always been my least favorite class at school. Mostly because the teacher would just have us run laps, or play dodgeball. But this class is different. We do run, but theres so much more to it than that. I get to learn how to fight, and I’m really excited.

  “I can catch her up on training,” Nolan tells the teacher.

  “No that’s okay,” the teacher tells him.

  My gym teacher is young. Probably in her very early twenties. Her light blonde hair is pulled up into a ponytail. She’s kind of pretty, but she’s not the kind of girl you’d ever want to get into a fight with. She looks tough, and could most definitely put me on the floor in two seconds flat. She’s also a good five inches taller than me. She scares me a little bit.

  “Bass!” she yells.

  Sebastian runs over to us. “Sup, teach?”

  “You’re going to help our girl here catch up,” she tells him.

  A look that I can only describe as pure dread comes over his face. He frowns, and his eyebrows scrunch up. He puts a hand on the back of his head. “You have got to be kidding me.”

  “You’re first in class,” she says.

  “Why can’t her boyfriend help her?” he asks.

  She raises an eyebrow as she looks at Nolan. “He’s her bodyguard.”

  “Whatever. He’s obsessed with her,” Sebastian says. “Why can’t he do it?”

  “Because he’s not my student. You are,” she says. “And so is Karlie… Serenity… whoever she is. Also, her dad said that Nolan doesn’t get to train her. He told me to pick the best student to train her, because Nolan would go easy on her. I know you won’t.”

  Nolan makes a noise from behind me. I look behind me to see that he’s looking at the screen on his phone. “Karlie, sorry, I have to go. You are on your own in this class.”

  “I…”

  He runs out of the class before I can even form a word.

  I look at Sebastian as the teachers walks away. He’s got a smile on his face, and I’m pretty sure that smile means that he is going to enjoy torturing me.

  “Why do you hate me?” I ask him.

  He grins. “Mostly, I just hate Nolan. And he’s with you. Or you’re with him.”

  “He’s my bodyguard. My dad is basically forcing him to spend the day with me,” I say.

  “Nobody forces Nolan to do anything, not even your dad,” Sebastian says. “Surely you know that by now.”

  “Nolan is a bit… unpredictable,” I say.

  “That he is,” Sebastian says.

  Wow.

  We agree on something.

  “Look, he’s my friend. I’m not even sure how. A few days ago, he drugged me. But he also rescued me. He and the rest of the guys have changed my life,” I say. “I’m not going to apologize for being his friend.”

  “Okay,” he says, then his eyes widen. “Wait a minute. Did you just say he drugged you?”

  “It’s a long story.”

  “Whatever,” he says. “Let’s just do this.”

  He shows me how to hold my hands. When he does, he sees the yellowish, purple bruise on the inside of my wrists. He grabs my hand to get a closer look.

  “Who did this to you?” he asks.

  I jerk my hand away. “Nobody.”

  “Was it Nolan? Or one of the guys?” he asks.

  “No. It was my stepbrother. Or sort of. It’s a long story,” I say.

  “Where is he? I will kill him,” Sebastian says.

  “Nolan took care of him,” I say. “I’m pretty sure he broke his nose. And his ribs.”

  “Good,” he says. “But I’m not going to go easy on you today.”

  “I don’t want you to go easy on me,” I say.

  Okay, maybe a little easy.

  And the torture begins.

  You’re such a downer.

  My body hurts in places that I didn’t know it was possible to hurt in. Like, even my big toe is throbbing.

  Sebastian did not go easy on me. Like, at all. And my tail bone hurts so bad that I can’t sit down. Probably because I landed on my behind so many times.

  “What’s wrong with you?” Gage asks, when he and Sander come over that night to pick me up.

  “I hurt. Everywhere,” I say.

  They both bust out laughing.

  “It’s not funny,” I say. “Sebastian is brutal.”

  “Bass… you were training with Bass?” Sander asks.

  I nod, remembering that the teachers called him that.

  “Bass is… intense,” Gage says. “And he hates Nolan and our entire team.”

  “He hates me too,” I say.

  “No wonder you are so sore,” Sander says. “If he is too mean to you, let me know. I’ll take care of him.”

  “No,” I say. “You guys can’t take care of all my problems. Besides, I’ve always wondered what it’s like to not be ignored at school. I have my first enemy. It’s kind of awesome. I can’t wait to see who else hates me and who likes me.”

  “I like you,” Sander says, putting an arm around me.

  “Everybody likes her.” Gage pushes Sander’s arm off me. “Except Bass. And he doesn’t like anybody. We should get going.”

  Sander pulls out his phone. He starts walking towards the door. “Change of plans. I’ve got to go. Will you two be okay on your own? Later!” He waves and disappears out the door before either of us can say a word.

  “I guess it’s just you and me,” Gage says.

  “My dad won’t let me go if it’s just us,” I say, falling backwards onto the couch. “Ugh.”

  “Why not? He doesn’t trust me?” he asks.

  “Let me see if I can quote it,” I say, clearing my throat. “‘Serenity, you’re a teenager. Teenage boys only want one thing. I don’t care how nice they are to you or how high ranked they are, nobody is good enough for you.’”

  “Sounds like him,” Gage says.

  There is a knock on the door, and I’m about to get up and open it when Nolan walks inside.

  “I thought you were busy tonight,” I say.

  “The guy I was suppose to get information from committed suici
de,” Nolan says. “Which isn’t good, because I really needed to know what he knew. But I’m also relieved, because now I get to watch Karlie. I don’t know what is up with the guards tonight, but they are on high alert. I don’t think it’s a good idea to leave the house.”

  “Come on,” I say, poking out my lower lip. “I went from being locked in a closet to being locked in a house. What’s the difference?”

  “We feed you,” Nolan says.

  “I want to do something fun,” I say. “We are in a walled city. There is nowhere in the whole world that is more safe than where we are.”

  “You’re wrong,” he says, stepping close to me. “It’s dangerous. You are surrounded by some of the most dangerous people in the world right now. Any one of them could turn on you at any second. And people out there, the people behind those walls, if they want in bad enough, they can get in. You are never safe. We are never safe. You need to get that through your head right now, because if you don’t, you will die.”

  I grab my hoodie off the back of the couch and slip it over my head. “If I’m dying anyway, I might as well have fun beforehand.”

  “I got to say, I’m with her,” Gage says.

  “Fine. But don’t blame me if something bad happens,” Nolan says.

  “You’re such a downer,” I tell him.

  Gage walks out the front door, and I follow him.

  I hear Nolan let out a frustrated sigh, but he has no choice. He has to follow us.

  Definitely going to hurt.

  Ten minutes later, we are at a bowling alley. They have black lights on, and all the balls are bright, neon colors. I grab the pink one. There is an orange one, but it’s heavy. Like, twenty pounds. I couldn’t even lift it. The pink one is eight pounds.

  “Do you know what to do?” Gage asks me, as I step up to the lane.

  “Try to knock those things down,” I say, pointing to the end of the lane.

  He laughs. “Yeah. Go for it.”

  I do.

  And it goes about three feet before it goes right into the gutter.

  “That was bad. Really bad,” Gage says.