A/N:
Hello all. This story is actually the first 5 chapters to my novel. I have condensed them in to around 3000 words. My novel uses character named Madeline and Blake. If one of those character is mentioned in the story please inform me. I will be posting the lengthened version of these chapters in the next month. For those of you who have already read the story, I tried to fix all the mistakes, and added a little bit at the end.
Bells blare in my ear signaling the start of class. The bells stop. The ringing remains. I moan. God, I hate high school. How many times have I been here. Ten? Eleven? Being a secret agent and all, you might think I could skip high school. But oh, no. The SIS just had to send me to spy on 15 year old children despite my protests. I have been a spy for 63 years, and yet I still have no say over what missions I go on. I remember that conversation well.
I stalk into the room, my arms crossed and eyebrows raised. Jamie, my boss just smiles. "Good day Isabella. Please, have a seat." I remain standing with my usual indifference plastered on my face. "Very well," she says. Jamie hands me a manila folder. "You will be going to a high school in Florida where you will find the target Edward Cullen going to school." I open my mouth to protest, but she cuts me off. "His father is a CIA agent that we suspect has information on our agency. You will need to befriend Edward and get the information before it goes to America's government." I look up from the file and glare at Jamie.
"Send a different agent," I snap.
This time Jamie sighs, " Isabella, we need you to do this."
"No, you do not. This is a simple case. Send Ralph or Gwen."
Anger and frustration starts to build in Jamie's eyes. "This is anything but a simple case. You are the only one qualified for it. Besides, you never age." Jamie's eyes soften a fraction. "Bella, this case is very important. If that information gets out, the US potentially will have the power to bring down Britain. You are the only agent I trust with this."
And that right there is the crux of the problem. I am the only agent they truly trust. Now why they classify me as trustworthy I have no idea. I may be 143 years old, but I am not a saint. Yes, I am immortal. My stupid mother Renee decided she didn't want me to die so she worked a little bit of her science. A teaspoon of this and a pinch of that and voila! I was immortal. No one knows what my mother gave me. SIS has done multiple tests, but they find nothing abnormal other than the odd color of my eyes...purple. They do know that I heal exceptionally fast, never get sick or age and I don't need to sleep, eat or drink. Ever. Oh, and I have super powers, well sort of.
You see I can change my appearance to anything I desire off will power alone. Speaking of which, a boy who I instantly recognize as Edward from the folder swaggers into the room. He has light blue eyes and a mop of sandy hair. I start to study him out of habit. He has a way about him that commands the room. Everyone is staring at him. He smirks in a way that tells the room I'm rich and don't forget it. I roll my eyes. Yeah, just keep thinking that Mr. Hot Shot I'm too cool for everyone else.
He is walking towards me. I pretend to be flipping through the history textbook. The strong scent of his cologne floats in the air, the heat rolling off him. The silence in the room notifies me of Edward's presence without looking up. He clears his throat. I don't look up. Again, this time louder. I don't look up. Finally after finishing my chapter in the book I make a show of closing it and glance up.
"Is there a reason for interrupting my reading?"
"Yes, actually. This is my seat. You must be new here so you would not know." I blink. If he thinks I'm going to move, he's greatly mistaken. "Well..." I raise my eyebrows in challenge. Blake looks surprised and briefly lost. Then his face hardens and eyes narrow.
" Look, my name is Edward Cullen and this is my seat. I don't care who you are. You. can. not. sit. here."
Jeez, this guy is really not so bright. Doesn't he get that I will not be moving? I start to tell him just that when the teacher hobbles into the room. Her eyes scan the room, stopping when she sees Edward's angry position and my attitude. "Mr. Cullen please take a seat," she says. Many of the other kids giggle and I see a ghost of a smile touch the teacher's face. Score: 1 for Bella, 0 for Edward. I spend the rest of class thinking of how I am going to stake out Edward's house tonightwhile Edward glares at the back of my head. A lovely start to what will be a lovely 'friendship'. I'll start the whole friend thing tomorrow.
I stare into the black of night. It's 1:15 am. Time to take a look at Edward's house. I park my Audi a ways down the street from Edward's house. I hop out and immediately start to observe. I am on a hill so I have quite a good view of Edward's house. From my vantage point I can see 4 security cameras circling the perimeter of the house. They're the good kind too. But I'm the best. There are no guard dogs, so I begin. Clicking the button on my awesome pen, I aim lasers at each of the cameras. This should blind them for around 30 seconds. I dart through the yard mindful of the cameras on all sides of me and counting the seconds in my head. 25...24...23. I reach the front door. Pulling a bobby pin out of my hair, I jam it into the lock. 19...18...17. It clicks open easily. Stupid people. They rely way too much on their cameras. God, and I thought they were supposed to be super spies. Yeah! Not seeing it.
The house is silent as I slowly look around. I start to move from room to room. Kitchen, bathroom, office. Bingo. I slide into the room and lock it behind me. Immediately I head towards the laptop sitting on the desk. It's locked. "Crap" I start to try names that were listed in the files. Nothing works. Then the door knob jiggles. I freeze. I am so busted. Outside I head what is distinctly a male voice mutter about not locking a stupid door and darn kids and their tricks. I almost laugh. Almost, but not quite.
Footsteps walk away. I sigh relieved. The house is silent again. I scuttle down the hall and out the door watching for cameras the whole way. I'll have to try again tomorrow. Sliding into bed I can feel exhaustion wash over me and sleep comes instantly.
The ringing of a phone pulls me from my dream. Reaching through my haze, grumbling to myself, I reach towards the desk next to my bed.
"Isabella, how is the mission going?" Jamie asks.
"What time is it? "I murmur into my pillow.
"5 in the morning. How is the mission?" Jamie asks, persistent. 143 years of life, and Jamie feels that I can ruin the mission in a single day. Yeah, and I am the one that they trust. Sigh.
"Well, I pissed him off. Great start." I say, wiping the sleep from my eyes. It is Tuesday, my second day at highschool on my third go around. As always, high school mornings are the worst. My mind wanders to my mission while the phone buzzes lightly. Jamie was thinking to herself .
"Keep your eyes on the prize, Isabella." Jamie says and I hear the beep at the end of the phone call. I listen to the silence drowsily before pushing my hair back. Today, I probably should try not to become Edward's worst enemy once again. However, it it was a lot of fun. Throwing back my covers, I stare at the wall before throwing my legs over the edge.
"Good morning world," I whisper. Good morning, indeed.
. . .
"You are in my seat again. I thought you would learn by now that you DO NOT want to mess with me, freshman." Edward spits at me. A piece of his spit lands on the page that I am reading and I wipe it off slowly, pointedly. I cannot deal with ignorance, and Blake is the definition of ignorance.
"Now that you have interrupted my reading a second time, I would like to introduce myself. My name is Bella I am a senior, wonderful making your acquaintance," I retort. I then turn my eyes upward from my book. He blinks when my eyes connect to his with contempt. He has noticed my special eyes. He suddenly realizes that he is not dealing with a normal freshman here.
"Nice to meet you, Bella," He says, twisting my name horribly. "My name is Edward Cullen, and that has been my seat since freshman year. I would like it back, please."
I smile, turning my charm on and he blinks again. The two brain cells in his head are working harder than usual and he has to keep refreshing."Now, that is better. Repeat that sentence with a bit less attitude next time, and maybe I will consider moving to the next open seat," I say, my voice is sweet and sharp, and Edward tightens his gaze.
"May I please sit down in my seat," Edward asks. His voice is tight and his fists are white. I blink, as though waiting for something.
"What?" He spits. The teacher is walking through the hallway. His window of opportunity is closing.
"Your seat?" I ask. The class chuckles. Every set of eyes are watching us.
"May I please sit down in your seat," Edward spits. I nod, smirking victoriously.
"Yes, you may. Thank you for asking politely." I say. I kick myself internally. This friend thing is really not working out quite as I expected. I grab my items and slowly exit the seat, Edward watching intently. As I move one seat behind him, the class is beaming and you can almost see the steam rolling off of Edward's head. I sit down, and the girl behind me nudges me. She slips a note into my hand.
That was awesome.
I look at her and grin. The class is buzzing when the teacher enters. Her eyes fall directly onto the seat positions and she grins when she sees Edward's simmering hatred. "Good morning class!" she boasts playfully. Edward stared pointedly at the desk. "Mr. Cullen, would you like to begin the discussion on the twenty pages assigned for homework? Tell me, what is your opinion of the use of iambic pentameter in Shakespeare's work?" she asks. I almost feel bad for the boy. Almost. Final score: Bella 2, Edward -1, Teacher 1
Class continues and I find myself drifting back to last night. To get into the computer, I am either going to need a lot time to hack it or squeeze it out of Edward. The thought makes me grin. But I still need to befriend Edward. Time for damage control.
The bells ring signaling the end of first period. Edward jumps up for his seat like it has hot coals on on it. He then proceeds to bolt from the room . I start to follow him, but an onslaught of people interrupt me. "Bella that was" "Bella what,". I struggle through the people trying to keep Edward in sight. He is rounding the corner. I speed up losing the swarm of people.
"Hey Edward, wait up,"
He stops but doesn't turn. He is silent and brooding. Teenagers " What do you want? Here to embarrass me some more?" I start to get angry. Really I was just going to offer to be friends What. A. Jerk. Screw damage control.
" You arrogant jerk. I was going to apologize but now I, I, ..." I am so livid that I can't speak.
"Well forget it freshman. I am going to hail misery on you." His eyes narrow again. " You want to play dirty? Bring it on." I take a deep calming breath. Oh Edward, Edward, Edward. You have no idea how much I want to take you up on that offer. Jamie would not be pleased though. Such a joy kill.
" Look Edward, I don't want to cause trouble. I am only going to say this once. I am offering to start over. You don't want to turn that down. I can and will make your life miserable." Edward starts to look slightly scared. Finally! Thats right. I'm a scary immortal spy.
"Please?" I say quietly. I hate begging, but the situation called for it. I watch Edward's conflicted features carefully. Resignation finally settles over him. Finally, Edward gives a small nod. I grin and phase back into snarky Madeline from scary immortal. "Later boys," I smirk at Edward's groupies who have just now decided to grace us with their presence. That went well.
I decide to sit in Edward's lunch seat. This was not difficult, they always arrive late to lunch and skip the line for food. Their spot is actually pretty nice but no one has ever dared to touch it. At least, not until I came around.
When Edward's eyes fell onto me sitting in his "special" seat, he becomes flustered. His friends form an attack formation behind him and puff up to try and look bigger. They do not need help, but I could easily take them if it came to a fight.
"Good morning, girls. did someone take your ice cream? You look a little put off," I tease. Edward raises his fist threateningly and I look him straight in the eye.
"I will pulverize you, you little sh.." He began. I interrupt him. "Watch your language, I wouldn't like mommy to have to wash your mouth out with soap." His pack chuckles and he turns to them to and glares. The cafeteria is silent watching our confrontation. If something is going to happen, it needs to happen now.
"Common, Edward. She won't move," one of the jocks says. Emmet I think his name was. He is the smartest of the group. I have counted seven in total, and they all nod in accordance with the beach blonde who had just spoken. Other than Bl of course.
"You can join me, if you would like!" I say, being honestly sweet. Their problem was not ignorance, (unlike Edward), just too many muscles and too few brain cells. Their girlfriends were watching with pursed, fat lips, glaring into my soul. A lesson; making enemies 101.
The boys shrug and join me, leaving Edward standing alone in the center of the cafeteria. He watches with defeated eyes. I laugh. He looks like a sad tomato with a headache (that headache being me). I pat the empty seat next to me, waving him over.
"Come on, I saved you a seat next to me," I smiled The cafeteria hesitates. I can almost hear their thoughts. Will he do it? Come one remember we are friends now. I think, this could be the one chance to actually turn his hatred into an acquaintance, at the very least. You can't be that stubborn. He isn't. He puts his head down and takes the seat next to me. I can almost hear the herd of girlfriends hissing at me. The obvious leader, a cherry blonde with tiny wrists, leans over and whispers to the girl next to her. I can just make out the words from her lips. "She needs to go," she whispers. She meets my sharp eyes with her painted green ones. Her makeup makes her look like she is wearing a halloween costume. I grin, she scowls.
I turn to Edward who is simmering as his friends continue to normally, joke around without a care of their infuriated leader.
"Who is that?" I ask, nodding towards the girl.
"My girlfriend Tanya. You got a problem with her?" Edward spits.
"No. But it looks like she has a problem with me," I chuckle. I think I hear him murmur something along the lines of "not the only one." I decide to ignore that.
" So tell me about your family," I ask nonchalantly. hoping for some information that will make my hacking easier. A spark alights in Edward's eyes. I watch him, suspicious of the arrogance I see written on his face.
"Oh, well they own a corporation called Cullen Enterprizes. It earns about $40,000 a day so naturally we are rich with a huge house. Mom says that's why we can't have any neighbors. She doesn't want to brag,"
I roll my eyes, "Mommy must be so proud of you."
He snarks right back, "What do your parents do, work at the McDonald's down the street?"
"Come over to our house this weekend and I'll introduce you. We can tell them how we met."
Edward glares at that statement. "Actually my family and I are spending the weekend in Paris shopping for a new yacht." Thank you stupid, that was exactly the information I needed. Mommy and Daddy are taking Edward out shopping. It's time to stage another break in.
Once again I find myself on the hill overlooking the Cullen House. A slight breeze blows through the grass making a whistling sound. The trees behind me provide huge dark shadows and a sliver of the silver moon can be seen. Silently, I move through the trees and down the hill towards the enormous house. It seems that the Cullens up the security level when they leave. Almost twice the amount of cameras circle the house. I can't ever catch a break. Well this will be fun. I only have time to dismantle half the cameras. I'll have to avoid.
Never breaking stride, I move my body around the yard. Thank god there aren't lasers. I am about ten feet from the door when a blinking red light catches my eye. A camera that I didn't see is turning in my direction. "Crap," This is not good, at all. I do not have enough time to run or blind the camera. Fear streaks through me. Oh boy. I transform. Glancing down I see that in my haste I have turned myself into a furry black cat. This is embarrassing, but it will keep me unseen.
Leaping, land on the front porch and turn myself back to human form. Whew. I hate cats. I pick the lock in under 7 seconds. This time when I open the door I know exactly where I need to go. The office is unlocked and silent in the night. Everything is in perfect order except the laptop is missing. How could I not see this coming. Mr. Cullen must have taken it to Paris. Stupid, stupid immortal spy. Well I might as well search through the desk. I pull open the giant drawer and sift through all the various papers. Most of them are bills and old checks. One paper near the bottom of the pile catches my eye. It is an email. I start to read.
From: Lauren Johnson
Subject: Safety Measures
Date: 9/2/13 5:19 pm
To:Carlisle Cullen
Carlisle,
I am very worried about the safety measures on the documents. We have been informed that there are people looking for them not to mention the SIS spy that has surely been sent out. Please be sure to tighten the security on your computers. As you know, many people would like the information on Renee Swan.
Sincerely,
Lauren Johnson
My mind reels. The information is about Renee Swan. My mother. Renee Swan.