Chapter 4

Her day was going considerably well considering the fact that she was still in the middle of nowhere. She exited the repair shop and was, once again, met with the short man. She would have asked him what he wanted but she had a pretty good idea of what it was.

"It seems like we have a bit of a problem. We were supposed to receive a black Audi A5 this morning. Instead, we received this with your name on it. I'm sure you want your own car, so if it's no problem wit you, we can contact your uncle and have this entire dilemma cleared up in no time."

She looked down at the man and shot him a charming smile.

"Oh, no! There was certainly no mistake at all. You see my uncle is a very busy and moody man. He changes his mind quite often. Trust me, if it has my name on it. I will take it. There is no need to bother him with petty little issues like this. So lets not worry about it, hmm."

The man gave her a questionable stare before nodding his head and handing her the keys. She kept her smile in place until she entered the blacked-out Ford Mustang coupe.

"Good morning babe! How was your trip here?" She spoke flirtatiously in the empty car.

In an instant the dashboard lit up in red.

"Good morning Miss. Adams. My trip was fine, I went by completely undetected."

Not available to the public or even those with the highest of connections, this car along with a few others was a piece of technology ahead of its time. Armed with all of the latest technological and militaristic gadgets, THORNS researchers had also managed to create a car with artificial intelligence. The show Knight Rider wasn't off by much, well it was off by a lot but it captured the general gist of things. She smiled inwardly to herself at the simple thought of flirting with a car. It was terribly amusing, especially when the car wasn't having any of it.

"That's great. I'm going to drive from here to the coffee shop, pick up my coffee and from there, straight back to the school. So switch to manual drive." She ordered.

"No problem Ms. Adams"

"Call me Heidi sweetie. Ms. Adams was my mother and Heidi was the unfortunate name she stuck me with"

She made a quick stop at the coffee shop and when she re-entered the car, she handed over control of the driving to the car. Taking a few sips of her coffee she spoke once more.

"Alright, babe. First things first, I need a live video feed to Demi."

Before she knew it the windshield had become her own personal screen and a window had popped opened to reveal a young woman with brown hair and striking features. She looked at Heidi and breathed a sigh of relief.

"It's about time." She scowled

"Yeah, yeah. Here's the deal. I'm calling to thank you and let you know that you'll have it back in no time"

Demi glared at her for a second before sighing loudly and expressing her concern. She knew that Heidi's "thank you" really didn't mean anything. She had owed Heidi a favor and this was her calling it in.

"I appreciate you letting me know you have him but you do realize that Elijah is going to murder us if he finds out right? In fact, I'm not even sure if murder is the right term. All I'm saying is, don't screw this up and don't get caught. This is it. I owe you nothing anymore."

Heidi stared at the girl as she spoke, crude honesty behind the girl's words. This was a business agreement and Demi was right. Her debt had been paid.

"Done. We are even and as much as I'd like to say you'll never hear from me again—we both know that's not true."

She was about to disconnect the feed when Demi spoke up once again.

"Oh and by the way. It has a name."

"It's a car."

She replied trying to keep her voice calm as the conversation turned in a nonsensical direction.

"That doesn't mean he doesn't have-

"You know what? Fine. What it is? What's the name?" Her patience was wearing thin, this conversation should have ended a few minutes ago.

"His name is Cruz. He has feelings. Try to refrain from being your normal self. He is all you've got."

Those were the last words to come out Demi's mouth before she disconnected and they left her slightly irritated. Demi was right. The car was her only tool, her only weapon. She was stranded out here, all the while she knew something big was going down at THORN.

"Cruz, I'm going to need you to pull up everything you have on me for the past few days."

In a matter of seconds, snapshots of newspapers and tabloids appeared on screen.

"Teen Supermodel A No Show In Paris."

"Heidi Adams In Rehab!"

"Supermodel Heidi Adams Elopes With British Boyfriend"

She wanted to say she couldn't believe it but the truth was she could. Her (almost) true identity was her best Alias. Heidi Adams, rich socialite -trust fund baby- turned model, has access to everyone and everything. No ne would be suspicious of a girl like that for espionage. However, staring at the numerous headlines, she knew that there could have been some better PR, especially since British guys were so not her type.

"Next thing, I need you to pull up everything and anything about a young girl named Amanda George, a man named Pogue Parry and a girl supposedly named Kate. I don't know her last name but how many Kates could there possibly be in this place. Narrow the parameters by searching for those names in the Spenser Academy electronic database. Oh, and when I say everything, I don't mean everything. Just everything I shouldn't know. While you're at it, I also need you to get me on a line with my PR representative Stefan."

In what seemed like a less than a minute, profiles and pictures of her future classmates appeared on the screen and a call to Stefan was made. She had 5 minutes until she reached Spenser, so she would need to make this quick. Her thought process was interrupted, however, as Stefan's voice echoed in the car.

"Who the hell is this!?"

"You have less than 5 seconds to explain to me why you didn't tell me about the media."

"Oh it's you." He muttered, "Do you have any idea what time it is! Why the hell would you call me now?"

"4 seconds."

"Ah! Who the hell cares? I didn't think it mattered or that you'd be bothered with the stupid news stories. It's the God Damn New York media and there is nothing you can do about it. I had some of my people clear the air and rumors and I'm trying to keep you out the papers as much as I can. The tabloids you saw are now the only ones out there. Give me a break, besides rumors are good for your image. Better keep them guessing than give them actual substance. Keeps your popularity up and suspicion down"

His voice hinted desperation but she knew better than to think it was for her approval of his explanation. He was a nocturnal bastard and she was interrupting his precious beauty sleep. As if he had been reading her mind, he spoke right on queue.

"Now can I go back to sleep please?"

Her frustration dimmed at the sound of his voice and she found him rather amusing in his current state.

"Goodnight Stefan."

"Night."

The call disconnected and she focused her attention back to the windshield, which was now her personal desktop.

"This is all great information. Send me everything here to my email and do make sure it goes by undetected please. I am still being monitored. Oh and one more thing, do you think it is possible for you to get into THORN under the radar?

"The emails have been sent and I am sorry Heidi. You of all people know THORN cannot be breached. Technically, it doesn't even exist. If I try to find the organization that doesn't exist and try to get into the system that doesn't exist, my presence with you will be detected." Cruz responded.

She couldn't help but to feel tang of disappointment. Something was going down and she was being kept in the dark. Elijah was monitoring her activities and had cut her off from any and every source of Intel. This car was her only connection to such information and she didn't have it for long.

"How much longer do you believe I can keep you here without Elijah finding out?" She asked softly.

"That cannot be calculated but hypothetically speaking - not long."

She let her head fall back to hit the headrest and looked down at the coffee. She had only taken a few sips for it was still half full.

What the hell was she thinking? She hated coffee.

She stared at herself in the mirror and concluded that she did, indeed look great. Not only had she managed to get back to Spenser in time to take a shower and get ready, she had by some miracle, managed to make the hideous uniform look good.

The white oxford shirt fit snug underneath the blue sweater vest she had stretched out, as such that it hung off of all the right parts of her body. She opted to leave the first button of her shirt open and wore the tie loosely outside of the sweater. There wasn't a force on the planet that could make her wear that thing underneath the sweater. She had both the skirt and the coat fitted upon her arrival at Ipswich. The skirt was shortened so it was a little above her knee and the boxy blazer was also somewhat fitted.

Her long, dark hair was tied up in a slick, high ponytail and she had applied minimal makeup. She had never been a fan of large amounts of makeup. She was already a beautiful, that much she knew. She was much more intimidating in her natural state. She had found herself to be the envy of many, for her skin was flawless and her beauty required little effort. It took her less than 30 minutes to get ready and in so she had succeeded in looking as if she had just stepped of the runway. She didn't care if she was violating dress code; fashion sense was something she was simply not going to compromise on. She was on her way out when her (temporary) roommate walked in.

"There you are! Did you have a nice run?" Amanda inquired as she got her books together. "Do you know what you have as your first class?"

"History." She responded offhand, still looking herself over in the mirror.

"Aw, that sucks I have English but its right across the hall so we could still walk together. After that?"

"Math."

She didn't know why she was tolerating the girl but for some reason she found herself doing so as she responded once before going towards her bed and picking up a single black and white composition book and pen.

"Oh my God! Me too that's great. Come on, I don't want to be late"

It was at that moment when Heidi got a real good look at her roommate and for some reason, one she could only ascribe to her growing insanity, words slipped out her mouth before she could stop them.

"You're seriously not going like that are you?"

Amanda turned to her in slight shock before reaffirming what had just been said.

"Excuse me?"

Heidi was losing her mind. The seclusion from society and major shopping centers was finally getting to her. She cringed inside before caving in.

"Sit." She ordered as she pushed Amanda down to sit on her bed.

"What are you –

Amanda didn't get a chance to finish her question. Heidi was having a moment of weakness and she did not explain herself... and yet she did.

"Fixing you. You're my roommate and if you're going to be seen with me you need to look good."

Amanda wiggled underneath her before a light bulb went off in her head and a large smile appeared on her lips.

"Wait? So you're keeping me as your roommate?"

"Don't move. That includes your mouth."

"But class starts in-

"Wiggle one more time. I dare you."

She seriously could not believe herself at the moment. This was why she hated plans; nothing ever went according to plan. Here she was not only being nice to the girl she never wanted here in the first place but she was starting to find the girl tolerable. She frowned at the thought. No. She wasn't helping Amanda; she was helping herself. The girl would be seen with her after all.

"Okay. I'm done with your face, now get up." She ordered.

Amanda looked at her face in the mirror and was genuinely surprised. She was a pretty girl but Heidi was a pro.

"Oh my god I look so-

"Yeah, yeah .Ya' look great. Now turn towards me."

Heidi began tugging and tweaking the girls uniform. After a minute she stopped, gave the girl a once-over, turned around, picked up her book and headed towards the door.

Amanda watched her roommate leave with a smug smile on her face. Yeah, she looked great but it was Heidi's antics that amused her. The girl was nice person deep, very deep inside. She was just a little, well a lot , rough around the edges. Her smiled widened before she looked herself over really quick and called after her roommate.

"Hey! Wait up!"

It was the first day of class since their winter break and as usual Reid was already slumped over his desk, fast asleep. History was more of Tyler's thing anyway.

"Dude, seriously? We have only been back one day and you can't keep even keep yourself awake for a single class?"

It was Tyler's voice that had awoken him from his nap. He looked over at his best friend and shot him a lopsided smile.

"I stay up during lunch don't I? I also, stay up for gym mind you. Besides if I stay up then what do I have you for?"

Tyler shook his head as he watched his best friend put his head down once again. Reid was always like this. They were always like this. Reid was the careless one and he was the good one – the baby. Reid got them into trouble and he got them out. Well, most of the time anyway. With a slight shake of his head, he focused his attention to the teacher.

"Alright everyone, lets settle down. I'm sure you all had a good winter break but it's time to get back to work. We'll start of with a simple question. One you should all know the answer to, if you did the readings I assigned for the break. Can anyone tell me, what the immediate cause of the of the 30 years war was?"

The room was silent. Each and every head in the room looked anywhere but towards their instructor. Of course no one had done the reading. They were too trying to enjoy the holidays before the new semester sucked them in.

"I know we haven't touched the topic at all, this is just to see how much of the readings you probably didn't read. What about you Mr. Simms? Any ideas?"

Tyler groaned inwardly at the sound of his name. Of all of the unlucky souls in the room, he would be the one called out on a subject that he didn't study for. Not to say that he didn't study, he had skimmed through the reading, just not with great attention. He took great pride in being a good student but there was a lot more on his mind than history readings. One of which was trying to pick up after their run in with Chase.

"Mr. Simms? " The teacher repeated.

The sound of his name pulled him back from his thoughts and he contemplated throwing any answer out there but decided against it.

"Sorry sir. I don't seem to remember."

He could see the disappointment flash in his instructors face for a second before it disappeared. He hated the look of disappointment. It was unnerving.

"Alright then. What about you Mr. Garwin? Seeing as you seem to be oh-so attentive today."

Reid's head shot up and he shot the teacher a lazy smirk. One that Tyler knew all too well. It was the look Reid usually wore before he was going to say or do something very, very stupid.

"You know? If I actually cared to know the answer to that question, I wouldn't be putting my head down now would I? Sorry, Teach but the only war I care about is one where we kicked some ass!"

The class began to snicker and their instructors face light up in bright red.

"Quite down every one. You can see me after class Mr. Garwin and if anyone knows the answer to the question, I urge you not to hold back. Anyone?"

The class was silent once more.

"Oh come on! Are you going to tell me not a single student in this room did the reading?"

Tyler almost felt bad for their instructor as the room remained silent. He tried long and hard to remember what he had read.

"1618"

Her voice echoed in the classroom as all the heads in the room snapped to see where it came from.

"Excuse me?" The teacher asked as he turned towards her surprised.

"May 23rd, 1618" She repeated. " The Defenestration of Prague."

His breath hitched at the sight of her. He observed her carefully as he watched the situation before him unfold. Beautiful wouldn't even begin to describe her.

"You know, when they threw those two imperial governors and their scribe out the window? No?"

"Correct!" The teacher exclaimed "Job well done Miss -

"Adams. Just transferred in." She informed him.

"Well done Miss. Adams. It's nice to know some of us actually study on our own time. You may have seat anywhere you like."

She shot the teacher a quick menacing smile before looking around the classroom for an empty seat. Never in his life had he wanted the seat next to him, currently occupied by Reid, to be vacant. It was at that moment when the oddest of things happened. The minute her head had turned in search for an empty seat, her ice-cold blue eyes instantly met warm ones. For a moment too long, all time stopped.

Her voice alone had seized him like some sort of paralysis. But right now, he couldn't move, he couldn't breathe and he couldn't think. Unable to avert his eyes from hers, he knew he was bewitched. But it was her eyes that grabbed his attention, blue even at a distance, a volatile color that was simply unforgettable. He was lost in her eyes, searching for what exactly? He had no clue. Looking into those eyes, just felt . . . right.

"Dibs."

His head instantly snapped into Reid's direction whose voice brought him back to reality.

"What?"

Reid shot him a look and repeated himself, except this time he decided he would enunciate every syllable of the word.

"D-III-BB-ZZZZ"

Tyler looked long and hard at his best friend, he could not believe they were going to have to go through this again. On second thought, he could most definitely believe this was happening. He shook his head before speaking

"Dude, you cannot call dibs on a girl. That's ridiculous!"

"Who says I can't? It's a free world man."

"Reid, how many times are we going to go through this? You can't call dibs on a girl. Women are not property!"

"What ever man."

Were the only words that came out his mouth as his best friend ogled over the new girl.

There you have it! Let me know what you all are thinking! Also, have a positively amazing day!