2 months later...

CHAPTER ONE

Bright Future

Alex glanced over at Sabina, who was sitting across from him. She was talking to one of her many friends who constantly stopped by their table to chat. Alex marveled, not for the first time, at just how quickly he'd settled in. At first he'd been the new kid, but at least he hadn't been "Alex Rider-the boy who disappears every other month". The teacher's hadn't made any jokes about him having the potential to excel at their subjects-if only he'd stay in school long enough. And, surprisingly, the pain that seeped into him every time he thought of Jack had gone from being indescribable to bearable. Barely, but still, Alex thought some improvement was better than none…

He remembered calling Jack's parents all those weeks ago, planning on telling them the news… He'd been unable to say anything at first, but he'd felt like he should say something, even though Mrs Jones had informed him that she'd let already Jack's family know of their loss. Alex had stood there, the phone clutched in his hand, unable to speak. He remembered how Jack's mother kept asking who was calling. She'd kept repeating hello? again and again and again-

No. Alex firmly pushed the strained memories out of his mind. He didn't want to think about that.

"Alex? Are you listening?" No. I obviously have something on my mind, Alex thought, but didn't say. He glanced at his side, where his friend Jade sat, staring at him expectantly. He'd made a few friends at SFH-Sans Francisco High-and while he supposed he ought to be pleased he'd settled in so quickly, he found it hard to keep up with all of them. "Wait, don't answer that; your eyes have that faraway look in them." Jade rolled her eyes, flicking some dark hair out of them. "You know, you seem to have a bad habit of daydreaming when people talk to you. What exactly were you thinking about?"

"Nothing." Alex shrugged. Of all his friends, Jade always unnerved him. She seemed to notice his habits, and after spending so much time working for MI6, it seemed he was getting slightly paranoid.

Sabina turned around, her friend gone, just as Matt and Dylan joined the table, their lunch trays laden with food. "Alex, Sabina, Jade," Dylan chuckled, by way of greeting, "you'll never guess what Matt did in class-" Dylan launched into a story that Alex had no doubt was exaggerated. He smiled faintly when Dylan got to the part about Matt having to write a love poem as part of his punishment for misbehaving.

"Man, Miss Ruden sucks," Matt grumbled, then added another word to his sentence. Dylan laughed at his friend's obvious frustration. "Dylan's not kidding," Matt sighed, "She's even gonna make me read it to the class. I mean, who does that? She's bent on teaching English, even when it's obvious no one could care less."

"Err, maybe because she's an english teacher?" Sabina muttered sarcastically, but Matt didn't hear. Alex grinned at Matt's obliviousness to Sabina's obvious dislike of him. Sabina didn't like Matt at all-the only reason he even hung out with them was because he was Alex's friend. But even though Sabina had once announced to Alex that listening to Matt was like gouging her eyes out with nails, she wasn't ever mean to Matt outright. This was partly because she respected Alex's choice in friends. Mainly, though, it was due to the fact that Sabina was as good as his girlfriend. Everyone thought that, and although it wasn't official-he and Sabina certainly hadn't discussed their relationship-Alex had to admit that the thought brought a smile to his face.

The bell rang, indicating the end of lunch. Matt grumbled some more about being held in too long by his teacher.

Dylan, Matt and Jade headed off together, they had the next two classes together. Sabina hung back; Alex waited for her. As she grabbed her bag, Sabina glared in Matt's direction. "Alex," she groaned, "Why do you hang out with him?"

"We're friends," Alex shrugged.

"But he's so slow-I'm sorry Alex, but he is-'why does the English teacher want to teach English?' It's a real mystery to me." Sabina narrowed her eyes. "Did you hang out with people like him in your old school?" she added, her tone curious.

"I take it by 'people like Matt' you mean 'trouble makers'?" Alex thought of Tom Harris, his friend from Brooklyn... He changed the subject. "Sabina, did you do your maths homework?" It was a lame attempt at a new conversation, but Sabina took the hint.

"No!" She groaned again. "I wonder if Mr Waddington will mind…"

Alex grinned. By some lucky stroke, he had two classes with Sabina, but by some unlucky stroke, they had the strictest maths teacher. "Yeah, that'll be the day," Alex said.

~o~

Jade was getting books from her locker for her next class, Matt and Dylan bickering about some playstation game, when her phone rang. She excused herself once she saw who was calling.

Stepping into a deserted corridor, behind the trash cans, Jade answered her phone. "Hello? What's up?"

"I've got bad news," the voice on the other end was apologetic, "I can't make it home tonight."

Jade felt like a deflated balloon. "Busy again, huh?" she mumbled. "You've been gone the past month. But I suppose some important work has come up?"

"Something like that." There was a few second's silence. She knew the person calling her so well, even over the phone, that she could tell he was hesitating. After all, this was a voice she'd heard her whole life. "About that boy-Alex Rider-has he… I mean to say, is he still at school?"

Jade rolled her eyes. "I know you've said he's some sort of super spy, but I've yet to see that side of him. If anything he seems a little sad. But then again, if what you said about his housekeeper is true…"

"Well, as long as the CIA haven't asked him for any help-"

"If they have, he's doing a remarkable job of being in two places at the same time," Jade said, a warning in her tone. "What are you doing this time?"

"It can't be discussed over the phone Jade." Her enquiry was immediately brushed aside. "I'm already risking a lot divulging this much information to you-"

"What information?" Jade was exasperated. "All you've said is that you're planning something? That isn't a heck of a lot to go on."

"This will be the last time," he assured her firmly. "It's just such a good opportunity-I can't possibly pass it up."

"What is it?"

"Jade, we've talked about this. I'm not getting you involved."

Jade sighed. "You know what? That's fine. Because I'm tired of this. One day I plan to go to college, to get out of Sans Francisco and do something good with my life."

"Doing good isn't as easy as it seems. I promise, this is the last time-"

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but that's what you promised last time," Jade hissed, before ending the call.

She wasn't in the mood to talk to her father anymore. Her father, who was hardly home, who was always busy trying to take over the world, or on some other ludicrous plot. And now, apparently, he had a new scheme. She's wasn't six anymore. Jade knew her father was a criminal. In fact, she'd known for quite a while. But it hadn't gotten any easier to deal with over the years, and she was nowhere near ready to accept it.

Matt and Dylan were waiting for her when she returned to her locker. "Hey, everything all right?" Dylan asked, catching sight of her expression.

Jade looked away, afraid of giving anything away. "Yeah," she lied, "Everything's fine."

~o~

Caleb stared at the phone in his hand. Jade, his daughter, had just hung up on him.

She didn't understand, Caleb thought, and that was the truly sad part. But it was all right, with time, she'd come to see things his way. This was a fabulous opportunity; this plan would work. He'd have to sacrifice a few things; a little money, a lot of time. But he'd reap the rewards-potentially millions of dollars and perhaps even the downfall of the CIA. If he played his cards right, he might even gain the allegiance of Alex Rider… He'd have to lie through his tongue to trick that boy, but lying was something that came naturally to him.

Caleb couldn't help but smile as he thought of the bright future that lay ahead.