Author note: Okay, so, yeah, I'm glad you enjoyed the last chapter.

I thought I had dreamt the kiss that day. I left Spot on the street by himself, purposely of course. I didn't sleep well that night either. I still couldn't get that kiss out of my head. I was shocked that I even enjoyed it, and even more shocked that I shared it with Spot Conlon.

I was afraid, though, because Ned's spies have a tendency of following me everywhere, and a dozen of them were bound to see me with Spot. I was a bit afraid, to be honest, of what Ned might do. He didn't send for me that day, so he had something planned on Monday.

As I walked into the school building that morning, I could feel my palms getting sweating, and my heart pounding beneath my chest. Usually I wouldn't be so frightened, but I had a feeling that today wasn't going to end well.

I walked towards the main hall, but was stopped by a tall, skinny looking man.

"Mr. Neeley would like to see you, 101," he said, looking down upon me with disgust.

I had no intentions to object, because whether or not I wanted to go, I had to. I didn't have enough strength to argue anyways, because my head was spinning from remembering the kiss so vividly, and so often.

I followed the man to Ned's office doors, and he soon left. I stared warily at the doors before pushing them open with less force, and entering cautiously. Ned sat behind his desk like he was important, and motioned for me to come in.

I closed the doors behind me and walked towards the desk. I sat down in the familiar chair before the desk and stared at Ned with fake laziness.

"What do you want?" I asked, putting on my best act.

"I'm ready," Ned said, smiling.

"For what?" I asked, sitting back in the chair.

"The favor of course," he said. "You haven't forgotten, have you?"

I shifted uncomfortably in the chair and licked at my lips. "No, I haven't," I said darkly. "So what is it?"

"First, we need to talk about your little rule breaking problem," Ned boomed. "One of my spies reported that you were with a boy yesterday."

"You act like it's a crime," I said with a roll of my eyes.

"It is a crime in this school!" Ned snapped. "I thought I told you to stay away from that boy."

"You're not my father, jackass. Actually, my father doesn't even tell me what to do and neither will you!" I shot back.

"You know the consequence, Anomie," he spoke. "But the favor will also count as your punishment, so it doesn't matter right now."

"I have things to do, old man, hurry up," I said boredly.

Ned reached into one of the drawers in his desk and fumbled around. He pulled something silver and shiny out, and it glared in my eyes. I squinted and turned my head slightly.

"You'll need this," Ned said, holding out a medium sized dagger.

"For what? Skinning you alive?" I joked with a small laugh.

Ned's lips were set in a thin line of seriousness as he walked up to me. He grabbed my hand and pressed the tip of the blade onto my palm. He slowly cut into my flesh and a long line of blood leaked out of the cut. I stared blankly at it as he pulled the dagger away and watched droplets of blood stain his carpet.

"I figured you should be the first to test it out," Ned said.

I grabbed the knife away from him and in a fast motion made another thin cut on my palm, and now the two small wounds were in the shape of an X.

"You might as well mark me," I said dangerously. I let the blood drip down to the floor, and watched as Ned smirked evilly.

"Your mission, Eve Carter, is to kill-"

"I am not Eve Carter!" I hissed venomously.

"Eve Carter will kill him, but Anomie Parker will love him," Ned growled.

I stared at Ned in confusion. "Kill who?" I asked slowly.

"It was all part of the plan, Anomie, for you to get close to the boy. And now-"

"I won't kill him," I said through clenched teeth.

"Why, it sounds like you are backing down," Ned said. "We had a deal, Miss Parker. I let your friend live, and you do me a favor."

"You can't do this to me!" I yelled. "You can't make me kill him!"

"You kill him, or your friend dies."

My personal mission: stop Ned Neeley from destroying every last bit of me.

My life or death mission: assassinate Spot Conlon…

"After sunset, Anomie, is when you'll do it," Ned said. "Bring back his corpse. You are dismissed."

I clutched the dagger in my wounded hand and felt my heart sink to the floor. I turned around and left the room in sorrow. Great, I finally find the right guy and now I have to kill him. Why did my life have to be so…ruined?

I hid the dagger in my shoe, and left the building without saying anything to anyone. I couldn't go back to being Eve, not now. Not when everything is finally puzzling out. I was so close to saving Daniel, and now I blew it. I had to go and get close to Spot. So now I had to choose: Erica, or Spot.

I ran a hand through my hair and sighed deeply. I pushed myself through people rudely and carelessly. I could only remember how good I was at ruining everyone's life. I told the boy not to get involved, and look at where he is now. He shouldn't have ever spoken to me, and I shouldn't have ever let him in. Now we both have something to regret.

I walked past some of Brooklyn's newsies, selling the morning newspaper, and could only catch glimpses of what was printed. I only saw fire – dead – family – sorrow as I walked by. I stopped when I saw him standing at a corner, talking to a group of girls and boys.

"Yeah, and den Crow ran away screamin 'cause he's afraid of boids!" Spot laughed.

I looked down in despair and turned to walk the other way, but Spot was quicker.

"Hey, Anomie!" he called.

I turned around, frowning, and watched as Spot left a bunch of jealous girls, and confused boys. He ran up to me, his eyes softly rested upon me.

"Hey," I said in a whisper, looking to the side.

"Where ya headed, Parker?" Spot asked.

"Nowhere," I said, sighing.

"Where's Cromwell and Erica?" he asked, looking around.

"Back at the school, probably," I said.

Spot pulled the cap off his head and took in a deep breath. "It's hot as hell out here, wouldn't you agree?" he asked.

"It's like this everyday."

"Adam, aren't you going to finish your story?" a girl called out to him.

Spot made a face at the name "Adam," and wiped the sweat from his forehead.

"Maybe anudder time, Mae," he told her.

The girl – known as Mae – flinched in surprise and sent me a rude look. She crossed her arms over her chest and tapped her foot.

"Why are you wasting your time with her?" she asked impatiently. Mae wore an ugly frilly dress, and had long, dark brown curls.

I narrowed my eyes and stepped forward, but Spot held his hand out. "Don't, Anomie, you might kill 'er," he said with a chuckle.

"That's the plan," I said sharply.

Spot grinned and shook his head. "Quit bein jealous, Mae," he told the girl.

"Yeah, Mae, you're so uptight," another girl laughed, slightly pushing Mae's shoulder.

"I'll change her mind," I said, moving forward only to run into Spot's arm.

He looked down at me, his eyes laughing, and lowered his hand cautiously; ready to snap it back up if I tried to run at Mae.

Mae laughed and "fixed" her hair. "You see, girls, Adam is still protecting me," she said.

Spot raised his eyebrows and looked down at me. "Well, I jus' don't wanna be responsible for yer death," he said.

He smirked and the both of us laughed at Mae's horrid expression. I turned around and began to walk the other way, and Spot followed.

I felt uneasy walking with the guy I was supposed to kill after sunset.

"Anomie," Spot said, catching me off guard.

I looked over at him, to find that he was fidgeting with his hat.

"What?" I asked.

"You don't hate me for yesterday, do you?" he asked.

I licked at my lips and found myself smiling. No, I didn't hate him, and no, I didn't regret kissing him. I only hated myself for the things that will happen today, and I hate Ned for killing my spirit.

"Why would I hate you?" I asked.

Spot still didn't look down at me, but I saw him smile. "I jus' didn't wanna make you mad, is all," he said.

I watched people as we walked by them, giving us odd or dreamy looks. I guess they never saw a boy and a girl walk together before.

Spot stopped walking, as did I, and turned to me. He stared at me for a second, as if trying to read me, but he wasn't getting anywhere.

"You don't have to ask for permission, Conlon, you're a big boy," I said.

Spot smirked and leaned down, and I could feel the weight of his lips on mine. It was quite nice to have somebody to kiss you, but what was even worse was that I had to kill him today, and I didn't want to do that.

Next Chapter: The day is going by fast, and Anomie must choose whether or not she'll take Spot's life. Will she do it, or will love – something she's never experienced before – stop her?

Author note: Well, look out for the next chapter.