FictionPress.com - let the words flow
| FictionPress.com - let the words flow |
|
| Home Just In Communities Forums Beta Readers Dictionary Search | Login Register Extras |
-
.the ass in assassination.
-
-
-
.chapter 1.
.let the games begin.
“How the hell do you make friends with guys like him?” I said frantically.
This was not looking the least bit pleasant. Class was scheduled to begin in a few minutes, and I hadn’t even perked up the courage to begin the first order of business: chat him up. I mentally cursed myself. Even though I was in a rather sticky situation, I had the time to invoke some self-pity. To state bluntly, this was an all-time low for me. The word ‘flustered’ was hardly in my vocabulary, and it certainly didn’t present itself during an errand. Unfortunately for me, I was on the brink of easing into the ‘flustered’ territory, and it was less than pleasing.
Me, the quirkiest assassinator alive, was trapped on simple introductions. Back at the Academy, I was officially known as The Quirk. The name had been branded on me at the tender age of twelve, and it had stuck ever since.
It was a frustrating matter for me to admit that I couldn’t present myself to a high school boy of mere seventeen who had an IQ lower than room temperature.
I squinted up at the sky, hoping, praying, that it would rain answers down upon me. It was gray, and the wind had picked up faintly. I rubbed my arms. It was rather chilly for a November day, and I faintly wondered if God was mocking my failure.
I peeked out from behind the bush again. He was surrounded by a clan of students. The aura of dominance was even detected from where I crouched, and the ripple in the crowd only accentuated the idea. I bit my lower lip lightly. How the hell was it possible to make friends with an arrogant jock who had a governor for a dad? I had to admit, it wasn’t everyday that I ran this type of errand. I mostly stole hidden information, hacked computers, and went on killing sprees. I didn’t waste my time in an insignificant high school trying to befriend a lousy rich boy so I could lure him to his doom.
Liana had claimed that I had the capability, the skill, and most of all, The Quirk. I clearly hadn’t used my head when I accepted the errand, which meant severe regret now. It was a fluke. Perhaps I possessed skill, but not in this arena. And now I was royally befuddled. It really wasn’t candy for my ego.
“Well, how did you make friends with me?”
I glanced at him and frowned in thought. “Well, I think it was when I shot you because I thought you were an intruder,” I grinned sheepishly, “and you threw a knife at me because you thought I was set out to kill you.”
Aven grimaced at the memory. “Ah yes, the good old memories.” He scratched his head. “I don’t think that would work here very well, huh?”
“Oh of course it would,” I said as sincerely as possible, “If worst comes to worst, I’ll sell you out and we can both go to jail.”
His mouth turned up wryly. “Partners to the end, right?”
I smiled brightly. “Now that’s the spirit.”
Aven tilted his head thoughtfully. I looked at him, waiting hopelessly for him to sprout some intelligence out of his mouth.
His eyes suddenly brightened, and I could practically see the light bulb that went off in his head. “But even so, you’re welcome to give it a shot.” I raised my eyebrows incredulously. “I’m sure it would catch his attention. And as for the jail factor, I’ll just scoot my ass out of here before anything else happens.”
I stared at him for a long while, before I finally pulled myself together enough to roll my eyes. “Very funny Aven. You’re just the natural born comedian, aren’t you?”
“Naturally.” He said cheerfully.
I dropped our cheeky banter and scowled. “Quit the happy-go-lucky personality and help me think. If I’m not mistaken, you’re the one granted with the XY chromosomes.”
“Glad to see you learned something in Biology. But you’re the slut here.” He pointed out. “I always thought sluts knew how to hit on the lover boy of their dreams.”
My mouth fell agape. “Excuse me?” I said, a tad bit shrilly. “I am not a slut! I’m posing as one!”
“Big deal. You’re a slut and I’m a jock. Now let’s get this over with before we find ourselves short on time.” He checked his fancy multi-usage watch as if to make a point. “Remember Tess, three months is all we have. We have to make friends, stay friends, upgrade to best friends, and kidnap. Three months.”
Aven held up three fingers as if I couldn’t understand English.
“Yes, thank you Aven, but I think I’m perfectly capable of understanding English and telling the time.” I ran a hand through my hair. “Damn. I really wish that Liana would give us more time. Honestly? Three months?” I yanked on my hair.
His eyes widened, and he immediately grappled for my hands. “No, no, Tess. Do not panic. No pulling hair out at a time like this okay? Breathe in, breathe out. There, very, very good. Shall we try again? Breathe…”
I jerked my hands out of his grasp. “Oh just shut it. I’m getting a migraine.”
He reached into his pocket and gallantly whipped out a bottle of pills. “Tylenol?”
I stared at him incredulously. As spies and assassinators, we were required to prepare ourselves for anything that could possibly occur. It was part of the curriculum that we had taken, and while I understood the importance of doing so, I couldn’t help my gaping mouth. Who carried Tylenol pills in their pockets every day?
Aven clucked his tongue at my expression and wagged a finger in front of my face. “Don’t look at me like that, Tess. Tylenol is a necessity to daily life.”
I forced myself to nod in agreement.
Aven grinned at the fact that I had willingly acquiesced and checked the time again. I had a feeling that he was timing the exact minutes it would take for Cade and his group to make their way over to our secret hideout: the ominous bushes.
I smirked and flipped my hair back haughtily like a slut. I had done my homework. It was the official R & R of Harrington Academy: Research and Rehearse. They were the two key factors of spy work and assassination. It was paying off like usual, but I was excessively unsure of myself. I hated lacking control of a situation, and it was a stupid little boy who made me do so.
Okay, I had to make amends to that particular statement. I wouldn’t call him little, considering the fact that he’s four months older than I, but he certainly isn’t anywhere close to being moderately smart. If my records were accurate, Cade Lovaine is currently failing his classes, and the teachers are less than pleased with him and his attitude. I, of course, had to use this information to my advantage.
I sucked in a deep breath. “All right. Time to get the show on the road.”
Aven snickered and nodded, and then frowned at the brown bangs that had flopped into his eyes during the process. He glared and blew them away. I couldn’t help but laugh. Liana, our Headmistress of Harrington Academy, had forced Aven to cut his hair before we flew over here to attend this prim and proper Westminster Private School. So instead of the long-haired Middle Ages look that he had been going for, he now had the trendy and stylish cute-boy appearance. I had to say, he looked great, but apparently, Aven didn’t take a liking into the bangs that the barber had insisted on keeping to make him look dashing.
I patted his hair. “Leave it alone. You look so irresistibly dashing.” My emphasis on the word ‘irresistibly’ practically made him gag. I laughed again before straightening my expression out. If I was going to act like a slut, then I had better get to it.
“Up, boyfriend.”
He raised an eyebrow as he stood. “Boyfriend? Oh, so now I’m playing ‘The Boyfriend’?”
“Yep, and a damn right jealous one too.’
He frowned and shot me a contemptuous look. “Why the hell did I ever pick you for a girlfriend?”
I sighed overdramatically and patted his shoulder sympathetically. “You were drunk my friend.”
“Ah.” He said knowingly.
We shot each other smirks before I prepared to get myself mauled over. Aven frowned at his watch again, slowly bobbing his head while the seconds ticked by. I looked over and waited till he gave me the signal. I had to get this right to make sure I would crash right into Cade when I suddenly emerged. Six seconds later, Aven’s watch let off a faint ‘beep’. I raced out, and true to expectations, I collided right on with someone, and was sent tumbling to the ground.
If this were any normal circumstance, I wouldn’t have been the one slumped on the ground, nursing a painfully bruised butt. It had taken every ounce of my strength to make sure my reflexes didn’t kick into gear. Yes, the irony of it all. It wasn’t everyday that a girl like me was knocked down by a stupid, empty-headed jock like him. But I was in disguise mode, which accommodated for everything. Still, I really wish I had worn a butt cushion.
And then it suddenly clicked. My ingenious klutz attack had worked.
Cade had stopped walking. I expected him to apologize and reach down to help me up like any decent gentleman would, but he just stood there and made no move to offer a hand. I wasn’t sure if my plan still constituted as having ‘worked’, but if pride and arrogance was what I was given with, then I might as well work with it. Since His Holiness had decided that I wasn’t good enough for him to help up, I would just have to squash my dignity and regard him with puppy-dog eyes.
I sniffed for dramatic effect and slowly glanced at him. He seemed bored, or was his expression amused? An eyebrow was arched and his arms were crossed in front of his chest. He was wearing a white button-up shirt and slacks. I raised an eyebrow at his casualness. The top two buttons of his shirt were unbuttoned and his tie hung loose around his neck. He had rolled his sleeves up to his elbows to match the look he was going for. Needless to say, he had completely quirked the school uniform, but I had to say, he did it well. The boy wasn’t ugly, I gave him that, but I guaranteed silently that he wasn’t going to have long before we were through with him.
“Help?” I whimpered pitifully. It took me a while to acknowledge that the pathetic sound was my voice.
Cade quirked his other brow up and smirked, though he still made no efforts to help me. I resisted the urge to glare. If anything, the guy needed manners. How did he ever deal when important members of the state and country held meetings at his house? It was astounding to realize that the only son of the governor of state didn’t know when to help a girl in need.
Yet despite his arrogant pride and whack personality, he seemed to have gathered a throng of students willing to serve by his side and act as his slaves. I mentally scoffed. It all came in the package of being the state governor’s only son. Take a hint.
Seeing that I couldn’t remain in this position for much longer, I sucked in a breath and pleaded one last time, “I can’t seem to get up. My butt pains.”
He snickered softly and turned to the girl next to him. She smiled seductively and latched a hand onto his arm. “Let’s just ignore the bitch, shall we?”
I raised both eyebrows, forgetting for a second about my butt and the façade I was supposed to be putting on. The great Cade Lovaine consulted his girlfriend for an answer? How messed up was that?
I suddenly paused. Hold on a minute.
What did she just say?
My eyes widened and my mouth fell agape. Excuse me? Bitch? Did she just call me a bitch?
If I could’ve, I seriously wanted to murder Liana. I had sacrificed my dignity and pride, dressed like a slut, and been called a bitch. Why was I paying such a big price for this errand?
It’s okay Tess. Just breathe like Aven taught you to. Breathe.
I narrowed my eyes. I could kick her sorry ass any time I wanted to, but now I was forced to stay pitifully slumped onto the ground with a slut like her towering over me. I gritted my teeth and mentally cursed Liana again. She had better give me a decent amount for all the trouble I was going through. Things would’ve been so much easier if he were a nerd. Nerds were innocent and naive. Jocks, on the other hand, were anything but.
And before I knew what I was doing, I jerked up from the ground and towered above her, pinning her down with my stare.
“How dare you call me a bitch? You have absolutely no right, and I repeat, no right! I-” I was still in the middle of punctuating my words with my finger in the air when it occurred to me exactly what I had just said and done.
I had gone completely out of character.
Oh shit. This was definitely not something that even bordered ‘good’. I was supposed to be pitiful so Cade would take pity on me, but then I had just yelled my ass off at his girlfriend. I could’ve just imagined Aven hitting his head repeatedly on the wall, thinking, “Why, oh, why.”
“Oh uh…what I meant was…” I hastily added.
“Oh? What did you mean?” The girl got right into my face, now that she saw I was backing down. She was slightly short of my five foot seven, so if she wanted to do the I-tower-above-you thing, then I could only give her my utmost pity.
The girl just ranted on. “You dare defy me, bitch? Do you even know who I am?”
I blinked. “Err…no? Should I?”
She shrieked and whirled to Cade, who definitely looked amused by now. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say the guy was a sadist. Maybe he was even hoping for a catfight to break out. Sadly for him, I didn’t cat fight. I used guns, tranquilizer darts, and knives.
“Cade,” she whined, “she’s doesn’t know who I am!”
Cade smirked and turned his attention to me. It gave me a good chance to examine him closely. Dark hair, gray eyes, raised eyebrow, cocky expression. He looked exactly akin to his photograph that Liana had given us.
“Are you new?” he asked.
State the obvious, boy, why don’t you?
“Yeah, actually, I am. Just moved here.”
He nodded. “Makes sense.”
“Oh?” I inquired.
He just eyed me, his gray eyes glinting with unspoken amusement.
I flashed on a charming smile and grinned sweetly, before slowly strutting over to him. Cade stood still, his arms crossed, his head tilted as if trying to decipher my moves. I could tell that I turned him on, but the guy had self-restraint. I gave him points for that as well. Not many hormonal driven seventeen-year-old guys could resist the seductive movements of a girl.
“My name’s Tess. Tess Tyler.” I batted my eyelashes. “What’s yours?”
The corner of his lips slowly turned up. I supposed my little act worked. But then again, I would’ve been surprised if he didn’t fall for it. I wasn’t a drama queen, but I certainly knew how to act when the occasion called for it. On the other hand, the guy wasn’t much smarter than an ostrich.
“Cade.” He said simply.
I smiled. “Oh? And does Cade have a last name?”
I couldn’t even begin to name how messed up this entire process was.
He flashed me a brilliant golden boy smile. “Are you sure you want to know my surname?”
I had to say, that was one dazzling smile.
I twirled a strand of blonde hair around my fingers. “Of course. You’re so irresistibly hot.” I shot him a wink.
I could practically imagine Aven raising an eyebrow at the statement. He was probably still behind the bush, laughing maniacally to himself. I resisted the urge to look. I was supposed to be greatly enticed by this Cade guy, so I had to stay focused.
“Lovaine, then,” he said, and then added, “don’t faint.”
Even though this wasn’t a time for me to look skeptical, I couldn’t resist arching my brow slightly. Who did the boy think he was? If he were the President’s son, then perhaps he had something to boast about, but Dominic Lovaine was only a state governor, and not a very good one at that. Did he honestly expect me to faint after hearing his last name?
But since I had to give the acting a little dramatic kick, I promptly placed a palm to my forehead and let out a small cry before fainting. Or rather, mock fainting.
Apparently, it was a daily occurrence for Cade Lovaine. He was ready when my knees gave away, and he circled an arm around my waist to steady me. I took this opportunity to coil my arms around his neck and insert a tracking device on the chain necklace that he wore. From what I had seen, there was a silver symbol as a small pendant, though I couldn’t exactly make out what it was. All this occurred in the span of a few brief seconds. I slowly pulled away from him, but not before I landed a brief kiss on his cheek.
“You’re Dominic Lovaine’s son?” I gasped dramatically.
He smiled faintly. “Yes.”
I noted the faint twist of his mouth and the flicker in his eyes. I had no idea what the brief happenings meant, but it was clear that Cade Lovaine had something against his dad. Was it displeasure or annoyance?
I would’ve investigated further if I could, but by now, I realized that it had been a few long seconds after he had uttered the syllable, so we were now lapsed in complete silence. I hastily hugged him again and whispered, “You’re so sweet.”
Cade chuckled. “Sure.”
I was faintly amused. Either Cade had no idea what modesty was, or he chose to ignore it, but whatever the case, his arrogance was getting to me. It wasn’t a sin to be proud of oneself, but it wasn’t a loveable trait either. I mentally shrugged. Aven and I would be able to get rid of him in three months. The thought consoled me.
And speaking of Aven, he had taken that as his cue. He suddenly pelted himself out from behind a wall that he had moved behind and jerked me out of Cade’s hold. I verbally gasped as I saw his anger-contorted face, but I mentally cheered. Good Lord, he really did look like a jealous boyfriend. This was one thing I liked about Aven – the two of us understood each other without resorting to verbal communication.
“Get your filthy hands off my girlfriend!” he snarled.
Cade raised an eyebrow coolly. “Wasn’t aware of it.” He drawled.
Aven glared and spat, “If I see you touching her one more-”
I pushed myself away from Aven’s grasp and moved towards Cade, before wrapping my arms around him again. He didn’t resist, only pulled me closer. Typical jock behavior, I reckoned. Either that or Cade really wasn’t afraid of Aven’s menacing glare. He had guts, but he was definitely a two-timing jerk. It made me wonder how anyone could possibly stay within his proximity for longer than half an hour. I had only associated with him for ten minutes, and I was already feeling disgusted.
I heard Aven sputtering behind me. “Tess…what…what are you doing? Are you blind?” he waved his arms around frantically. “I’m right here!”
Cade laughed softly. I smirked and pulled closer to him. I had no idea what I was doing, but I supposed the closer I got, the better. Intimacy always worked, but too bad I wasn’t into the prostitute idea. If he offered me a one-night stand, well, he would have to say goodbye to his reproductive organ.
“Hands off, bitch!”
I blinked. Oh right, there was The Girlfriend factor as well. I decided to make the best of it. I whirled around and smirked smugly at her red face. “Please, girl, why would Cade want someone like you when he has me?”
She glared. “Well I’ll have you know that Cade was with me before he even met you! He would never like you! You’ve only known him for ten minutes!”
I sneered and waved her off dismissively. “Ten minutes is good enough to push away the ten years you had with him. Clearly it shows that you aren’t appreciated. Go crawl back to where you came from.”
“Thanks for talking about me in third person when I’m right here.” Cade said wryly.
“Oh?” I feigned shock. “Was I supposed to impersonate you?” I cleared my throat and directed my cool-eyed stare towards The Girlfriend. “Well, since I’m Cade, I’ll have you know that I am completely disgusted with your snobbish behavior and your good-for-nothing…”
Cade grabbed my wrist and whirled me around so that I was very close to him. His lips hovered an inch above mine. “Hey, cool it, all right?”
I nodded mutely, keenly aware of how we were pressed rather closely together.
“Tess!”
I mock groaned. “Damn him. Why can’t he just shut up for three seconds?”
“Hey! I heard that!” Aven shouted indignantly. “Get your ass back here!”
Things were getting toasty.
“Cade!”
That was The Girlfriend screaming her ass off. This was certainly a funny spectacle. I would’ve enjoyed this moment more if Cade hadn’t intervened and stepped away from me. Since I now had nothing to do with my arms, I crossed them in front of me.
“Now, now, Brae. Chill girl.” he said smoothly.
“Chill?” Brae screeched. “I can’t chill! She kissed you, Cade!”
“It was only a ‘hello’,” he said calmly, “I give you more than kisses. It’s nothing to be jealous about.”
I raised an eyebrow. Sluts and jocks said hello through…kisses? I thought only French people communicated through pecks on the cheeks or the exchange of saliva. This clearly wasn’t a French private school, but I assumed that they did things a bit different in this region. I had survived Harrington Academy facing the dangers of guns and knives, and now I would have to survive Westminster Private School facing the danger of mononucleosis.
Good Lord. I seriously needed to adapt, if that were the case.
“Yeah, Brae,” I said snidely, figuring that I had remained silent long enough. “It was only a hello.” I leaned forward and pecked him on the lips. “Now that was a ‘how do you do’.”
Cade laughed. “You’re cheeky.”
Brae looked like she wanted to punch me in the eye. “It’s Braelin to you, bitch.”
I waved my hand dismissively. “Do I look like I give a damn?”
She fumed. I smirked and turned back to Cade, who was watching our little exchange with a raised eyebrow. I smiled innocently at him. “Would you like a ‘I’m doing great’ greeting as well?”
He grinned and shook his head. “As much as I’d like to, my girlfriend’s getting a little fired up. Perhaps some other time.”
“Some other time my ass!” Aven yelled.
That attracted our attention. We whirled around to find an aggravated Aven shaking his fist at us. I vaguely noticed a throng of girls surrounding him. Damn. Liana really shouldn’t have suggested the haircut. It attracted more females than I would’ve liked, and now it would only be harder for us to complete the task at hand.
“Oh come on, Aven. It was all in good fun. I can’t help myself when I’m in the presence of a cute guy.” I turned and shot Cade another wink. He only laughed.
Aven scowled and whirled me close to him, resting an arm around my waist protectively. “Keep away from my girlfriend, Lovaine. I don’t care if you’re the governor’s son or what, but she’s mine.”
Cade grinned coolly. “No need to get possessive. I had no intention of stealing her in the first place.” He walked towards us with Braelin clinging onto him, but when he brushed past me, he stopped and said, “But whatever you do, don’t let the girl escape from you. She may not be much, but she’s damn sexy.”
My mouth fell open and I quickly rested my head on Aven’s shoulder to hide it. Cade chuckled again before moving on, his throng of followers following pathetically.
When they were out of earshot, I turned around and blinked at Aven. “Did he just say I was…sexy?”
He nodded stupidly. “Yeah…I think so.”
We looked at each other. “Ewww!”
Aven blanched. “Did I just…squeal like a girl?”
I smiled sweetly. “I think you did, dear boyfriend.”
I averted my attention to my watch and pressed a button. The digital numbers were swapped with a miniature version of this high school. I glanced at the mini green dot waltzing towards the basketball hoops. The tracker was doing its job.
“Perfect,” Aven commented. He swung his bag around his shoulders. “Now let’s go before we’re late to our first class of the day.”
I pulled out my cell phone. I hit the menu button and a list popped up on the screen. So what if my cell was a multi-purpose device as well? Everything was. Even my iPod wasn’t just an iPod. I smirked smugly as I deleted the first line of business.
“Introduction?”
“Completed.”
I grinned and pocketed it again. Everything was going as planned. Now it was time for the second line of business.
“Remind me to scrub myself clean after this, okay?”
Aven smirked and prodded me forward. “No problem. You can scrub me too while you’re at it.”
I blinked confusedly. “Why?”
He stared at me. “I’m touching you.”
And with that, he darted away, all the while laughing uproariously at my shocked and peeved expression.