29.

"Can I sit here?"

I jumped and turned from my seat on the bench to see Grant standing behind me, holding a tray with an apple and a small bowl of oatmeal on it, along with a glass of orange juice. I forced a smile, remembering that I was still supposed to be acting all into him. "Of course."

"How was your talk with Mr. Solomon?" he asked. "I didn't mean to get you into trouble."

After Mr. Solomon had caught us, he'd quickly made up a mad-teacher façade. He'd lectured, saying that it was inappropriate for us to be doing that on school grounds and that he needed to talk to me in private to go over a punishment. I bit back a smile and shrugged. "No big deal, actually. Just detention every night this week. Not really sure what I'll be doing."

But I did. I'd be on mini-dates with Joe Solomon, my official boyfriend. He'd allowed the whole school to know about Grant and him making out with me (which wasn't hard because it's hard to keep things from a bunch of spies, even if they are in training), so according to the rest of the school, I really did have detention.

Grant nodded slowly. "So, are we official?"

I almost choked on my apple juice. Seriously, Grant had to thump me on the back so that I wouldn't choke. "Um, what?" I finally managed, trying to ignore stares.

He rolled his eyes, but he was smiling like I was the most entertaining person he'd ever talked to. But I knew that there was no way that was true. He didn't even know the real me. He didn't know that I knew the truth about his school or that I had all of the training that he'd had. He didn't know that I was involved with Joe Solomon and that, in that process, I had broken another assassin's heart. No, he didn't know me at all, but he liked to think he did. "Official," he repeated as if I hadn't heard him. "You know, like going out and stuff. Boyfriend and girlfriend."

This was what I had wanted, I knew, but it still felt weird. I caught Joe Solomon's eye and he gave me a small smile, along with a nod. Go for it. I sighed. "Yeah, sure. Official."

Grant smiled. "Cool. So, I hear we're going to town on Saturday. How about a movie?"

I shrugged. "Sounds great."

"Good." He spooned in oatmeal while I ate a banana and then it was finally time for CoveOps. Grant had been moved up to the junior CoveOps class where he belonged, and he claimed the seat next to me that Leah usually took. She wasn't a bad sport about it, though. In fact, she smiled at us.

"What do you think of Mr. Solomon?" Grant asked me in a soft voice, his chair closer to me than it really should have been.

I kept my voice even. "He's a really good teacher. What about you?"

"He's legend at Blackthorne," Grant said, as if that should say everything.

Before I could say anything else, Mr. Solomon himself walked in, wearing black slacks and a white shirt, his blond hair neatly laid down. "Hello, ladies and gentlemen," he said as if the 'gentlemen' part had always been there. "Today, we will be learning about the art of lying. Dr. Fibs has been so kind as to allow me the use of-" he reached into his pocket and withdrew a handful of what looked like mood rings. "These detect lies. You will feel a subtle vibration which alerts you to said lie. Partner with the person across from you."

When he handed me my ring, he flashed me a special smile because no one else could see him. They could all see me, though, so I acted as though he hadn't smiled, even though butterflies were going off in my stomach.

"Should be fun," Grant said with a grin.

I smiled, too.

"How 'bout a demonstration?" Alicia asked with a wicked grin and a bunch of the girls agreed. Mr. Solomon sighed and gestured for her to continue, since he was closest to her desk.

She thought for a moment. "Do you have a girlfriend?" she asked suddenly, her whole face lighting up.

People leaned forward excitedly. I held my breath.

"Yes," he said, looking like he was fighting a laugh.

Alicia looked at her hand. "It didn't do anything. So it's true?"

"Ask again," he suggested.

"Do you have a girlfriend?"

"No," he answered.

Alicia looked at the ring in disbelief and shook her hand.

Mr. Solomon let out a half laugh. "It's not broken. It's just not as good at detecting lies as I am at telling them. Yes, these rings can be fooled by a highly trained operative. Let's hope a few of you can fool these rings today. Get to work."

Grant slipped on his ring and then looked at me. "So, did you like making out with me?"

"I don't think that's the kind of questions he was talking about," I said, though I made sure to give him a flirty smile.

"Answer the question," Grant grinned.

"Yes," I said and the ring must not have vibrated, because he said, "Good; I liked it, too." Which made me blush for real. I didn't consider myself an expert kisser.

"Do you want to do it again sometime?"

I blushed, but I knew what my answer had to be. "Yes."

He looked satisfied. "How about tonight?"

"I have detention."

His face fell slightly, but he kept up the cockiness. "Next week?"

"Sure."

"Ms. Hunter," Mr. Solomon called from the front of the room. "I need a word about your detention."

I sighed dramatically, as if the last thing in the world I wanted to do was talk to him, and ambled over. Now, it was my turn to be able to smile, which I did. He kept his face neutral. "I hate seeing you with him."

"It's just for a little while longer," I reminded him. "And you know I love you."

"Maybe you should show me tonight," he said, which made me blush for real and think about how hard it was going to be to make it through the rest of the day until my "detention".