Chapter One, New Girl

Alex Rider sighed, he was bored. A solid year of school immediately following a year's action did that to you. All he'd ever wished for whilst he worked for MI6 was to go to school and be normal. Now, he was bored senseless and didn't know what he wanted. 'I guess it's a case of the grass is always greener…' he reflected. It was the first class of the day, maths, and as usual, the teacher's attention was taken up helping those he had problems with last night's homework. Alex glanced at his own homework, it'd been ridiculously easy, and he had no idea why it was causing so much trouble. Then it hit him, it wasn't hard, everyone just wanted to spend class goofing off. The easiest way to achieve this was by keeping the teacher to busy to start the new lesson. Suddenly, another distraction presented itself. A knock at the door had Mr. Gerald hastening over to the door. The principal walked in accompanied by a girl. Alex was the only one who noticed, everyone else was busy trying to appear studious.

"Mr. Gerald, this is the… ahem… new student I told you to expect." The principal gestured to the girl. "This is Erin."

Alex focused in on Erin interestedly. She was average height, slim and had short, razor cut hair that was a dark blonde. She had the appearance of a dancer A/N hahaha! Huge hint given away there! Sorry if u wanted to guess about her true identity, but I couldn't keep it in! in that she was wiry, compact but obviously fit. Although she was obviously disinterested by both of the teachers before her, Erin's eyes flicked across the room. Alex could tell she was absorbing everything, nothing was escaping her notice. This in itself sparked his curiosity; he'd only ever seen that look on a particular type of person…

'Don't go there' Alex told himself fiercely, 'you're in school, have been for a year, nothing and no one has bothered you for the same amount of time. There's no need to get yourself suspicious.'

It was too late though, Alex had already realized what Erin reminded him of: An MI6 agent, alert, yet relaxed. Fit like him, but not overly muscled. Alex told himself not to be ridiculous, the girl was fit and a little brighter then his classmates. That was no reason to jump to conclusions. Mr. Gerald spoke then.

"Ah, ok. Pleased to meet you Erin, I'm sure you are going to enjoy Brookland."

Alex listened to Erin's answer with interest.

"Mhm… I'm sure Brookland's great."

Sounding a little put off by her apparent disregard for his warm welcome, Mr. Gerald spoke distractedly.

"Why don't you take the desk there?" The man gestured to the empty spot in front of Alex. He watched as Erin sat down lightly, depositing her books in the desk neatly. He noticed that she didn't greet any of the students around her; she put her head down and started on the homework immediately. Curious about her behaviour, Alex decided to say something.

"Umm, hey…Erin was it?"

She turned around sharply, eyes calculating and speculative. "Yes."

He thought quickly for a reason to explain his calling her name. "You know, if you're new here, you don't have to do the work today. Mr. Gerald won't mind, you've got an excuse if it's your first day."

Erin smiled coolly.

"Actually, I like to keep busy. Thankyou anyway, Alex Rider."

Just then, the bell sounded for 1st break. Like the rest of the class, she was out the door immediately, pulling out a black mobile phone. Alex followed a little more slowly. It wasn't until a few moments later, once he was on the tarmac school yard, that he realized that Erin knew his name without being told. He looked around for her, wanting an explanation. She was nowhere to be seen.