Ariella’s POV

Sometimes, it’s hard being the only girl at an all boys school. You would constantly be glared at, constantly questioned your existence at the school. You would have to prove you belong here. Become one with the others. Know how they act, speak, walk. It may have been hard at first, but that’s exactly what I did.

Do I regret coming here, just to save my father? No.

Do I wish I had a companion that was of my gender? Well, yes.

Even though Brittney is here, I don’t talk to her. But trust me, you get used to it. Once you stick around for a while, know your way around the building, what not to do in certain areas, ignore the stares from the horny men that haven’t seen a female in ages, its pretty nice here. Girls get a different suit, ones that the incredibly attractive women wear, such as Black Widow, tight leather for the field work. Let me tell you, they are much more comfortable than they look.

During the day at Black Cove however, it was just like what I had worn before; a short skirt with a blouse and sweater vest on top, but instead it’s in black. I haven’t really made a ‘friend’, since my time to acquaint with the others are often cut short for training with Walter, but I have been closer to some of the boys. One in particular more than the rest; Ryan. He doesn’t really mind that I was a girl, and treated me like everyone else, but when necessary, treats me like a queen, which wasn’t often.

“Good morning gentlemen.” I greet the boys at the table. They all silently waved hello, the food in their mouths preventing them to properly speak. I sit beside Ryan, carefully moving around the bench to prevent my skirt from rising up. Once I am situated, Ryan places his arm around my shoulders, bringing me in an embrace.

“Get a room already. Seriously.” Cody, a friend of Ryan who I am still not fond of says from across the table, fake gagging. I roll my eyes at his comment but move away from Ryan and proceed with breakfast.

“Hey Ari...” Ryan starts. I hum, telling him he has my attention. “There’s going to be another party tomorrow night, are you going to actually come this time?” He asks before taking a sip of his coffee. I shrug my shoulders, as I am not one to go to ‘parties’, usually. At least not anymore.

“Come on Ari, you know you want to.” Cody urges me with a smirk.

“You know what happened last time when I went to one of those parties.” I eyed them both, hoping they would recall the memory.

“But this one is different. There won’t be any drinking.” He pauses from my gaze. “Okay, there is, but not a lot, promise. I’ll be there to make sure nothing bad happens.” He assures me. “We don’t have to bring him up anymore. It’s been long enough.” He adds.

I stay silent for a moment. Last time I went to one of their parties, they had a bonfire in the back of the school, in the secluded woods, with drinkers.

The music was heard miles away, giving me the direction of the party. I was invited by the guys, as a way to get to know each other, and to ‘get along’. I wasn’t too sure about this at first, but when Matthew, I think, told me he’d be sure to watch over me, I gave in.

When I arrived, a large, bright glow in the center of a small open area lit enough to see. The open flame, providing heat to most of the guys, as others held marshmallows on sticks, burning them to a soft, golden brown. I scanned the area, seeing many of guys present with alcoholic beverages in hands, my first thought that its going to be one of ‘those’ parties.

Heavy laughter caught my attention, a group surrounded by a broken-down blue pickup truck, rust across the edges of the doors. They seemed the most sober people at the party, so I made my way there hoping for someone to talk to. Thankfully, Matthew was there. He introduced me to the rest of the guys, obviously pleased that I arrived.

It turned out his name was actually Ryan. The guys were telling stories, most of them directed at me about their stories on how and why they were here, all sounding just about the same. Because of Walter. Ryan kept a close distance to me, asking me every once in a while if I was alright.

Yeah, it sounds fine, at first. But then conversations were getting a bit graphic, a bit too graphic for my taste. They started to offer some of their beverages to me, but I denied every one of them. As the night went on, Ryan was pulled away, since a friend wanted to ask him a favor.

Once he disappeared, the conversations went to take a turn for the worst. The jokes of sex came in and out, as the guys got more and more intoxicated by the drinks. One of them wrapped his arm around my waist, causing me to quickly back away.

“Please do not approach me like that.” I firmly state, holding my hand out to create distance between us.

“Oh, come on. Live a little! You are going to be with us for a while, might wanna get used to it, honey.” He slurred with his redneck accent. I shook my head, as he approached me once more. I moved away from him, only to collide with another body. I turned around and saw a different man, but with the same face.

“You having fun yet?” He asks me. I shake my head. “Then have a drink or two. It’s not gonna kill you. You look too sober.” He hands me the cup in his hand.

“I’d rather not.” I have never felt so scared in my life. Even after all these years, nothing had prepared me for this.

“Drink it, hun.” He coldly hisses. I shake my head, scanning the area for Ryan in the process.

“What’s the matter? Cat got your tongue?” The redneck asks from behind, getting a hold of my upper body with his arms, preventing me from breaking out.

“Here. You will feel better after this.” I swing my legs, hoping to kick either one of them as he approaches me with the red plastic cup, holding it just above my face. My mouth was propped open, as a sting travels down my throat and into my system, burning in my stomach.

“HEY!” Someone shouts. I fell to the floor, choking back on the disgusting liquid. I cough up what I could, but the majority was already inside. I wipe my hand across my mouth, removing any extra spit. What was in that?

A hand on my back brings me back, as I spun up and slapped the person in front of me. The slap echoed, silencing the crowd. The music stopped, as murmurs could be faintly heard. I look up, ready to see an angry face that would want to kill me, only to realize that it was just Ryan, with a sad look.

“Are you okay?” He asks me, not taking in the fact that I just slapped him across the face.

“Ryan… I... I’m so sorry.” I quietly apologize, cupping my mouth. He shakes his head.

“Don’t be. Are you alright, though?” He asks again, taking a step closer to me. I nod my head. He takes me in an embrace, rubbing my back gently, whispering happy thoughts.

“Can I leave now?” I ask him after pulling back, feeling a bit tired suddenly.

“Of course. Come on, I’ll walk you back.” He slowly moves his hand to my lower back, guiding me the way out. We were at the boundary of trees, until a voice shouted out behind us and caused me to stop, a wave of oohs followed.

“What?” I asked, slowly turning around.

“I said, ‘It’s too bad that Niall moved on, he is really missing out on something’” The redneck repeats himself, looking at me from head to toe.

“What do you mean by that?” I question him further, taking a step back in his direction, causing him to chuckle.

“You haven’t heard, haven’t you?” He crosses his arms, smirking.

“You can’t be more vague, can’t you?” I fire back, mimicking his actions, earning an ooh from the crowd.

“Niall is getting to better places, meeting more people, becoming popular, hot girls at his door, you know.” He shrugs casually. Niall. Moved on?

Even evil people needs to party from time to time. No, evil people doesn’t sound right. Bad people? Gang people? Gangs? Sure, I’ll take that. I don’t even remember what happened afterwards. All I know is that he ended up paying a visit to the hospital with a few broken bones, cuts, scrapes, but never returned. That was also how Ryan and I became good friends, and how my training really started. Even today its still brought up, making me a force to not be messed with.

“I’ll think about it.” I tell him quietly.

“Ms. Ariella Edwards! My office now!” Walter yells into the speakers, blasting our eardrums with his loud voice. I sighed, standing up from my seat and throwing the remaining away, knowing that I’m going to be in there for a while.

“Good luck, Ari.” Ryan wishes me. I smile and nod before casually walking out of the mess hall to his office.

Once I got to his door, I knock only once, before a ‘Come In’ was heard on the other end. I step inside, seeing the back of his chair to me. I shut the door quietly behind me and make my way to the empty stool across from him.

“Sir.” I salute.

“Ariella. You may sit. We need to chat.” He says slowly, spinning in his chair until he turned the 180. I sit down on the stool, straightening out my skirt before intertwining my fingers together on my lap, looking up at him, waiting for him to continue.

“You are aware that your performance levels are rising, correct?” I nod my head once. “Good. Because I think that you are ready to go with this certain task I have in mind.” He places a file on the desk, motioning for me to take it. I reach for the dark folder, leaving it on my lap. I look up to him for his permission to read.

“Go on, you may read it.” I nod and open it, immediately seeing the same photos that I’ve always hated. Niall and Brittney. Niall with a different girl. And another. And another. And more after that. I shut the paperwork, closing my eyes and taking deep breaths.

“It’s alright. You may still look. Go on.” He whispers, smiling softly.

I take one more deep breath, before opening it once more. Photo after photo, description after description, all the same. The look a-likes of me. The more recent descriptions of the females are more and more disgusting with every page turned. There was one photo that I have not seen yet, however. I slowly reach for the image, the date printed on the bottom right corner. 9/13/13. His birthday. The description was one that I have not seen yet.


“5’4, Brunette Hair, Model, A.R.Y.A.”

“A.R.Y.A. sir?” I ask, not looking up at him.

“Yes. Academy of Rebellious Young Adults.” He explained, standing up.

“Who are they?” I question. He reaches into another filing cabinet in arms reach, pulling out another file.

“Read this. It has all the information that you will need to know.”

“Need?” I repeat. He nods. “So there’s more information?”

“This is the information we could get so far. But if there is more it will be sent to you.” I nod in understanding.

“So what am I to do?” I ask, flipping through the file.

“Let’s just say that this organization, makes us look like the good guys.” He quietly states. I looked up at him.

“So? There’s nothing wrong with being bad.” I should know. I know both sides.

“We can’t have competition, we need you to take them out, and the closest source we could get is through her, so-” Oh no. I know where this is going.

“I’m not doing it.” I quickly state, cutting him off.

“Excuse me?” He asks, confused.

“I’m not. I can’t, I won’t. I’m not going near him again. He gave up on me, I gave up on him. I'd rather stay here.” I place the files back on his desk, and began to make my way to the door.

“If I said that you could also ruin his career in the process?” I called out. I stopped at the door, my hand hovering at the door knob. I can be rude, disrespectful, but could I go that far?

“If the public sees him dating one of the U.K’s enemies, they won’t let him come back. Ever.” He added. I removed my hand from the door knob and slowly face Walter.

“Alright.” I agree. If he doesn’t come back, then it’s alright with me.

“Good. Come back and take a seat.” He gets up and looks through different file cabinets, before finding the one he was looking for. He hands me the file, and I could already tell what it was. A profile. I quickly scanned the page, taking in what I was to pretend to be. Background, friend, kind, quiet.

“Kind? Honestly Walter?” I exhaled. I haven't been super kind since I had first arrived.

“Yes. I know you still have it in there. Just let it out for now. No consequences. Well…” He starts, looking away from me.

“What’s the catch?” I ask.

“You should know by now. The reason why you’re here. If you don’t do as I say… Well, say goodbye to your last line of blood.” He smirks, leaning back on his seat. I gulp, remembering that I am here for my father, his life on the line.

"Of course."

"If you complete this task, I will set your father free." He bargains.

"And never touch him or anyone of blood again?" I question, to be sure. This is great news.

"Yes. No harm done for your family members. Unless you cause us trouble, that is."

“I’ll do it. When do I start?” I stand, clinging the files close to my chest.

“This weekend. It will give you the rest of the week to pack everything.” He sighs.

“Wait, pack?!” I exclaim, taken back. “I have to leave?”

“Well yes, you aren't going to do it from here. You, Ariella, are heading to the U.S.A.” He smiles. I have to leave?

“Can I at least bring a friend?” I blurt out, before I could even think. He cocks an eyebrow, leaning onto his desk.

“Such as who?”

“R-Ryan.” He chuckles quietly, looking down. The nervousness exposing in my posture. He moves over to his microphone, turning it on.

“Will Ryan Williams please come to my office? Thank you.” He asks politely. The laughter and ooo's is heard on the other side of the door, obviously wondering why the happy attitude. Not too soon later, the hard knock on the door is heard.

“Come in.” Walter calls out. The door opens quickly, a nervous/scared Ryan appearing.

“Sir.” He greets him quickly before coming over to me, taking me in an embrace. “You okay?” He whispers. I nod.

“She is fine, enough of the embrace. But, I must ask you something.” Walter cuts in. He releases me and walks over to Walter at his desk.

“What is it?” He asks.

“Do you feel like taking a trip to the U.S. with…” He pauses, looking over a paper on his desk. “Elizabeth?” Ryan scrunches his face up.

“Who?” Walter gestures to me. It takes him a moment to put the pieces together before he answers with a smile. “Of course.”

“Good. Then go start getting ready. Your flight leaves at 4:00 am. You will leave here at the stroke of midnight, not a second before, you hear?” He informs us. We nod at the same time. “You are dismissed.” He dismisses us. When we exit the room, Ryan takes hold of my profile, skimming the details.

“Hmm. Alright. Ready, Elizabeth Rogers?” He smirks at me.

Notes

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