Chapter 1

I looked out the window, staring blankly at the dismal landscape. It was just a small town; full of normal looking houses, normal looking businesses, normal…everything. Yep, Roseville Virginia is not exactly a hopping town. But where I was going was nowhere near normal. I was going to Gallagher Academy; most people think that it is just a school for snobby rich girls. (This in my opinion is somewhat true) But it is not. It's a school for spies.

Yes, the kind of spies you're thinking of. The kind that are the heroes in all the movies, but in real life are just taken as normal people. Every female spy has started out here: Gallagher Academy.

I sighed. I didn't know what was wrong with me. I had been waiting for this day ever since I got my admission letter to Gallagher Academy. Every day I had been practically wide awake at night in my anticipation… why was I feeling so hopeless and lost?

Maybe it was just the first day jitters. Or the fact that I was the first Gallagher Girl to ever come from a family that was… normal. My family is completely normal, sure we've served in the military many times, but most of my family had normal jobs, dentist, nurse, teacher, etc. None of us have done anything like this. Honestly I don't know why Gallagher Academy picked me, out of every girl in the world why did they pick a girl from Montana?

I felt like slapping myself, "Snap out of it Marina! Instead of questioning it just be grateful that something so wonderful is happening to you." But it didn't kill my unease, I've always been paranoid… this just seemed one of those 'too good to be true' instances. Before I could think of anymore we came to it finally, Gallagher Academy for Exceptional Young Women. I stared at the tall ivy covered wall that surrounded the estate. The wrought iron gates were open, allowing the limos to bring in all the other girls coming to the school. I could see the other girls looking at the great building ahead of us with a bored look on their faces, as if they had been to a million different schools just like this.

The road we were on was about a half mile long, and ahead of us was Gallagher Academy. The building was old fashioned (what do you expect? The school has been here for a hundred years) but it had a vintage look to it that was timeless. The grounds around it were perfectly manicured and managed, looking like a photograph. But I knew better, all of the grounds were covered with booby traps, lasers, explosives, and other things to keep unwanted intruders out. The limo came to a stop, I thanked the driver but he didn't respond, his face completely blank. I sighed, he was still not talking. I had tried to worm information out of him earlier but it seemed that the academy had ordered him (and probably the other drivers as well) to keep silent.

Everyone was rushing into the building in a big wave, carrying me along with them. I felt my heart rate pick up, too many people… I cursed myself. I hated crowds! I hated being around more than about twenty people, I get shy and claustrophobic. But luckily that wasn't a bad thing at a spy school; the whole point of being a pavement artist is not to be seen. What better way to do that than to not talk to anybody? So you can imagine how surprised I was when someone tapped my shoulder.

"Hey, do I know you?" Said a voice, I jumped and whirled around, people grumbled and went past me. There was a girl with long straight brown hair; she was wearing the school uniform (which was a blue plaid skirt with a blue short sleeved shirt with the Gallagher school crest with a long sleeve white shirt under it. Classic school uniform.) She had bright green eyes that made the perfect green grass by us look dull. I tried to hide how nervous I was, putting a confused look on my face.

"Um. No." I responded.

She laughed "Of course I don't know you! But I sure do want to." She held out her hand, "I'm Keyana but everyone calls me Kiki." She says cheekily.

I shook her hand, not wanting to be rude. "I'm Marina."

She smiled, "That's such a beautiful name! Don't worry I like my name- but Marina is just so unique!" My head was spinning, why was she talking to me?

"Um… thanks." I said.

She giggled, "You say um a lot."

I blushed, "Not all the time, it's just… I don't understand why you came up to me." I said. She looked up as if thinking.

"Well… I've never seen you before; you don't look like you recognize the school. So that would mean it was your first time here, but you don't appear to be a seventh grader!" She replied. I nodded.

"I'm fifteen… But this is my first time at Gallagher Academy."

Kiki nodded, "I figured as much, you'll have a lot of catching up to do since you've missed the first two grades… but you have to be really good for them to let you in this late! So I'm sure you'll do fine but if you ever need help feel free to ask. Bye!" With that she went skipping away, I just stood there absorbing what she said. I still couldn't believe that someone could say something so fast. Was that even physically possible?

I shook my head. I just needed to get to my room. With that, I grabbed my duffel bag off the ground where I had set it while talking to Kiki. It was kind of sad that these girls had at least three suitcases that they were dragging down the halls but all I had was a duffel bag. I started walking towards the headmistress's office. Or at least… what I hoped was the way towards the headmistress's office. Soon I got so far into the hallway that it was only me; it would be a relief… until I realized I was totally lost.

I groaned, this was pathetic, I was lost and I was supposed to become a spy that would have to memorize twists and turns in a blink of an eye. Well, I was already lost, might as well go exploring. I glanced at the pictures on the walls of past headmistresses. I looked at the first one, the current headmistress, Cameron Morgan Goode. I smiled, over the last couple months I have read every single one of her mission reports. I could understand why she was so famous, she and her friends Bex, Liz, Macey, and Zach (who is now her husband) had all single handedly taken down the Circle of Cavan… once and for all. I had thought that reading through all of the mission reports would be boring, but I didn't want to be ignorant of what the headmistress did… but I felt like I was reading a novel, a really good novel.

A voice broke my train of thought, "You lost?" For the second time that day I jumped and whirled around to see a stranger. She had long pitch black hair, her dark brown eyes had a no nonsense look to them. She was wearing the uniform, but along with it she wore leather boots, a worn looking jacket, and black eye shadow. If she only had some sunglasses on then she would look like a secret agent (no duh) or a juvenile delinquent. I wasn't going to let her know I thought that though. I just looked at her calmly.

"I was just looking around." No need to let her know I was lost either, that would just be embarrassing!

She glanced up to see what I was looking at, "I see that you already found one of the main secret passageways. Impressive."

This time I couldn't hold back my shock, "Secret passageway?" That was definitely not the right thing to say.

She looked at me like I just asked her how to breathe, "Yeah, secret passageway. There are at least a fifty, and probably a lot more undiscovered ones." She pushed on the nameplate that said 'Cameron Morgan Goode' and the picture swung open into a passageway.

Note to self: Start searching for secret passageways.

"Cool." I gaped, "Where does it lead?"

The girl shrugged, "I've never gone through it all, it's a long tunnel. But so far I know it leads to the library. I have no idea where else it leads." She pressed the nameplate again and the picture swung back into place. "Who are you?" She asked.

I looked up, "Marina Lockwell. Why?"

The girl shrugged again, "I've never seen you before, and you're the only person that isn't talking to other people about the five vacations to Europe you took over the summer. And you seem to be the only other person here that doesn't have a single friend." She tilted her head to the side, "I don't know what, but there's just something about you that I like."

She held out her hand, "I'm Daya Burns." I shook her hand, she then grabbed my hand and pulled me towards her, until my face and hers were inches apart, she said in a menacing voice, "But if you ever call me that, I will sneak into your room and murder you in your sleep. The name's Dae." I could tell by her face that she was dead serious.

"Okay… Dae," I said. With that she released me and stepped back.

"Okay Marina, now where is that you need to go?"

I sighed, "Was it that obvious that I was lost?" She nodded. I glared back; at least I knew that Dae was honest. She gave me a half smile at my reaction.

"Let me guess, headmistress's office?" I nodded, she started walking and I walked beside her. At least I had one friend in the school.

I glanced at myself in a large mirror we passed by, my long dirty blonde hair was down to my mid back, it was straight. Though I spent most of the time outside at our ranch in Montana, I still was pale. I have very fair skin; my blue eyes were the same blue as the pale blue of the sky, depending on what I wore would decide if my eyes looked more blue or gray. Sure, I was pretty, but I have always felt dull compared to the other girls. Plus, if there were even any guys here, why would they choose me over all these girls that could fly them to Europe for a date?

Dae finally showed me to a door that was made of a dark wood, but she was leaning against it. She put her finger to her lips, I immediately understood, what she meant, someone was in there talking to the headmistress, and whatever they were saying was interesting. I leaned into it next to her, listening. "… Do you think that's very smart?" I recognized it as Headmistress Goode's voice. The other was of a man that sounded about her age

"We need to stop keeping secrets from them, and it would be better to protect Miss Lockwell." Me and Dae exchanged looks.

She mouthed, "Do you know what they're talking about?" I shook my head and we continued listening, I definitely listened more carefully.

Suddenly someone opened the door, and me and Dae went tumbling into the room. Dae sprawled on top of me, I looked up into the annoyed face of Headmistress Goode. I had read her mission reports (as I mentioned earlier) and she always insisted her mom was beautiful and she wasn't. Saying it was complete nonsense would be an understatement. She looked slightly amused though.

"Well, if it isn't Miss Lockwell. Oh and Miss Burns as well." The headmistress stated.

I stood up abruptly, "Oh my gosh! Sorry ma'am. I was just about to knock and Dae was leaning against the door and when you opened it she took me down with her."

Headmistress Goode looked surprised and smiled, "Well Marina, for a second you sounded like Keyana." She said, reminding me of how I had met her earlier. I glanced over at the man in the corner; he looked about twenty, the same age as Headmistress Goode. I almost gaped when I saw him, he was… well, he was hot. He had dark hair and bright green eyes; there was an air about him that made him seem like a leader. Also like a bad boy. Dae was also staring at him in bewilderment, Headmistress Goode smiled, "Marina, Dae, this is my husband Zach Goode. But you probably already knew that…" He was Zach Goode!? I guess I thought that Headmistress Goode was exaggerating a bit in her mission reports. I was way wrong.

Zach smiled at our reactions, "Well, you must be Marina Lockwell." He nodded at his wife. "Thanks for the introduction."

Dae then blurted out suddenly, "So it's true? Is there really a spy school for boys?"

Zach nodded, "Ever since we took down the Circle of Cavan I've been headmaster of Blackthorne. In fact, me and your headmistress, as I'm sure you overheard. Are planning to bring them here."

Dae seemed to regain her composure, "Wait, what does that have to do with Marina?" I saw a brief glimpse of emotion cross Zach's face, apparently he didn't think we overheard that little detail, but in the next instant it was gone.

"We have been discussing Miss Lockwell. We were hoping we could protect her from getting killed since she is so far behind in her studies." He smiled, "But what I've heard she is above average despite her lack of experience."

I felt myself blush, "Um, thank you." Dae was about to continue to questioning, but I gave her a look. I knew that they weren't going to cough anything up; we would just have to figure it out ourselves. There was something they weren't telling me, and I was going to find out. "When are they coming?" I asked.

Zach smiled, "Momentarily."

(A/N) So I hope you have all enjoyed this chapter. If you like it, please review.

The consistency of reviews will determine how frequently I update.

Thank you~

NS