In the morning, an agent came knocking on the door, ready to get them ready for the first day of this new mission and escort them to Whitewall Academy. He had nice clothes for them to wear on their first day.

“You can’t let anyone know that you three live together. You also can’t let them know how close you are. On the outside, be nothing more than three kids who had to transfer from their old school to a new school. Make sure to stay in contact with us!” the agent said. All three teens nodded in response. They knew that, how much they might detest this mission, it was important. If people knew that the government used children to fix problems and help keep order, they would revolt, and it would be bad. The whole system of the United States could be riding on this mission.

As they rode up to the big school, a sudden thought struck Rai.

“Wait a sec, Mr. Agent. This isn’t a normal school!”

“You’re right, it’s a college prep academy.”

Rai almost swore, but then stopped herself. Everybody in the car knew that Rai, though smart and able in what she was doing, was no more than an average student. College prep academies, in fact, were above every single one of their levels except Jaff, who had still had bad experiences at college prep academies- when his foster parents had still been alive, they had sent him to a college prep academy. They had expected him to be perfect, but he was far from it. They kicked him out, saying that he was a disappointment. The next day, they got t-boned in an intersection by a semi and both died immediately. Jaff, pushing aside the sad memories, got out of the car with both of his friends. No, he corrected himself, my best friends.

Lee didn’t know what to expect when they walked in, but he did not expect every student to be waiting to meet them when they walked in. As was the threesome’s customary way to walk into a mission, they linked arms, Rai in the middle. With big, slightly fake smiles, they waded into the crowd.

“I’m sorry,” Rai said into the mass of kids, “but we need to get to the office to get our schedules!” She adjusted the backpack on her shoulders. “Please?” The crowd slowly parted and Lee, Jaff, and Rai hurried to the school’s office.

Entering the quiet atmosphere, all three felt their muscles relax. A kind receptionist led them to the principal, a middle-aged man with graying hair. He sat at a large desk covered with students’ forms and bills to be paid. They sat down in three stiff-backed chairs, and the principal presented them with their schedule.

“I only had time to make one, so you’ll all be in your classes together except for math; Rai is in Algebra II and the boys are in Geometry. Here it is. Every day is the same.” He handed them a slip of paper that had a chart filled with writing on it.

“Thank you, sir,” replied Lee as he took the sheet of paper. Rai smiled at her math listing, a level above the boys; math was the only subject she truly excelled at.

“You’re welcome. Now, why don’t you three go to History? I’m sure you’ll like Mr. Morrow. He’s very sweet.”

The principal was right. They did like Mr. Morrow. They also liked Mrs. Porter and Ms. Holland. They hadn’t even seen Aydeen yet! But when they got to Chemistry, their rising hopes started to sink. Mr. Wessex looked mean. He had what looked like a permanent scowl on his face. He didn’t even talk to them, just pointed towards three empty desks in the very back of the classroom. They sat down, and Mr. Wessex started teaching. The problem was that he was obviously in the middle of the lesson, and everything he said flew over the teens’ heads. Rai sighed, thinking that this day was getting as bad as it could, but then the classroom door flung open, banging against the wall. The boy that strode in matched the pictures Rai had. Aydeen had arrived.

Rai had to admit, Aydeen was cute. He was even more handsome than the pictures. His messy hair was brownish black, and as she watched him, he raked his hand through it, making it even messier. He was wearing a plain white shirt and jeans, and he strutted into class like a prince, even though he was half an hour late.

“Mr. McLaughlin! What excuse do you have for getting here at this time?” Mr. Wessex stared down his nose at Aydeen. Rai actually felt sorry for Aydeen, thinking that maybe he wouldn’t be as bad as he had seemed, until he answered the teacher’s question with a smarmy, oily attitude.

“I’m so very sorry, sir. It won’t happen again, I promise.” Mr. Wessex grunted in reply, obviously letting Aydeen off because of his choice of words, but the minute his back was to the class, Aydeen turned around and winked at the class. Several of the guys snickered, and Rai again looked at Aydeen with disgust.

For the first time since coming into class, Aydeen had noticed that there were three new students in the class. Rai met his eyes, and he cocked his head in interest. She knew that the object of the outfit the agents had chosen was meant to woo Aydeen, but she had hoped that it wouldn’t work. Her hopes were in vain, however, and with a grin, Aydeen sat down at the desk next to hers. Mr. Wessex returned to teaching about the atom, and almost immediately, a note plopped onto Rai’s desk.

What’s your name? It read. Rai didn’t want to write back, but she knew she must help win this mission, and so she picked up her pen and wrote back,

I’m Shellie. I’m new to the Academy. So are the kids next to me. Their names are Karl and Jeff. What about you?

I’m Aydeen, Aydeen-Jay McLaughlin. It’s nice to meet you! Do you want me to show you around during lunch, introduce you to people?

Rai read the note. She didn’t want to wander around by herself with this guy, but she knew that the whole agency was on the line, and so she returned,

Sure! That would be fun! Just the two of us? She wanted to make sure that’s what he meant, so she could steel herself for the upcoming hour.

If that’s okay with you.

Yeah. Sounds like fun. After Aydeen read it, she turned to Lee and handed him the note from Aydeen. He glanced over it, let Jaff see it, and then wrote back.

Okay, just be careful. I don’t want my girl getting hurt. Think we should tail you guys?

No, he most likely won’t attempt anything the first time he’s with me. When the bell rang, Rai gathered up her stuff and followed Aydeen, not her friends, out the door. As they walked, Aydeen reached out a hand and ran it through Rai’s long hair.

“Your hair’s very pretty,” he commented. Rai smiled in return. For the rest of the lunch period, they walked around and talked, Rai filing information into her brain as he carelessly spilled out his personal information. They talked about their lives, though both had fake stories, and they talked about their opinions on certain things. Rai kept up the act of unsuspecting classmate the whole time.

“I have one sibling, an older brother named Wyatt. He goes to the regular old highschool in town,” she said.

“Cool! I have two little sisters. They’re twins, and half the time I don’t know which is which! They’re five, and their names are Heaven and Nevaeh. Don’t ask me why my parents named them that, because I have no idea.” Rai laughed at Aydeen’s expression. They turned a corner and bumped into a group of girls, all clustered together, obviously popular. One of them pushed her way to the front of the group to look at the Rai and Aydeen as they walked past.

“Jay!” she called as they walked past. “How could you? I thought we were a thing!”

“Shhhhh! Do you want to get expelled for PDA?” Aydeen glanced around, a worried expression on his face. The girl’s face adopted the same expression, but she then ripped a piece of paper and pen from the closest locker. Scribbling on it, she passed it to Aydeen. He glanced at it and then grabbed Rai by the arm and led her away. Once they were alone, he showed her the note. It had two sentences on it.

Dirty cheat! We’re over! Aydeen then crumpled the paper into a little ball and shot it at the nearest garbage can. It went in with a satisfying thud. Letting out a whoop, Aydeen raised his arms in victory.

“I was over Vanessa Higgins anyway,” he said to Rai. “Blond hair is OUT.” He winked at Rai, “black hair’s in.” Rai ran a hand through her own hair, feeling it’s silkiness against the back of her hand. She sighed,

“I should probably get ready for my next class.” She walked away, leaving Aydeen standing there, looking confused.

“Why did she leave so quickly?” she heard him say.