“Today’s subject is on the CIA; the Central Intelligence Agency. The CIA’s job is to work on cases with more depth and involves something the public should not know about,” Kaiser explained, but I was too busy figuring out how my car blew up, “Then there is the Witness Relocation Program,” he added. This information seemed useless to me. I sighed and stared at my cell phone unnoticeably. Suddenly, a text message…

Who else knows?

Huh?

Who is this? –Miranda

Who else knows?!

Knows about what?! -Miranda

I’m sorry, but I have to kill you now.

My heart stopped and my eyes widened. Was that a threat?

What? –Miranda

No answer.

The bell rang. I stood up slowly and cautiously from my seat, hoping no one would shoot me suddenly. Someone was really out there to kill me. This is all really happening… I left class and bumped into Belina and Daniela.

“Hey, what’s up?” Daniela asked. I grabbed their arms, pulled them into the bathroom, and checked each stall, making sure no one was listening.

“Mirs, we’ll be late for class…”

“Forget school for this one second! My life’s being threatened…” I interrupted.

“‘Threatened’ as in grades are going down, or ‘threatened’ as in someone’s going to kill you?”

“Someone wants to kill me.” Belina and Daniela had their lips pulled back against their teeth, holding their laugh. “Don’t believe me?” I pulled out my phone and showed them the text…wait, where is it? I know I didn’t delete it…

“Mirs, maybe you need to calm down and find another guy. Maybe David and…”

“Just stop it with David! I don’t like him! Guys, I’m serious! Someone is out there to get me, and I think I know why.”

“Why?” Daniela asked.

“I know too much.”

“About what?”

“I don’t know.” Belina sighed.

“I think you should go home, get some rest…”

“No! I don’t need that!” I shook their hands off me.

Just then, our school’s sirens went off.

“Students and teachers, we must go into lockdown mode. This is not a drill, I repeat, this is not a drill!” Our eyes shot open. We darted out of the bathroom to the nearest classroom, but they were all locked already.

“Oh no,” I thought. A chuckle filled the halls. We turned and nearly screamed.

“Hi. You must know who I am. I’m Charles Derkwood. Are you Miranda Evans?”

“You know him?” Belina asked me. Daniela hushed her.

“Ah…so you are her. And are these your friends?”

“What do you want?” I said boldly, taking small steps backward.

“It’s not really what I want, but what I’ve been paid to do…” he took one big step forward.

“Who’s paying you?” I stalled.

“I’m not supposed to say, but I don’t see anything wrong with telling you right now.”

“What did this person tell you to do?”

“Let’s just say, the guy wants you dead. He helped me escape prison, so I might as well finish the job.”

“How did he help you escape?”

“I really don’t know actually,” he stepped closer, “enough stalling. This will only take a second if you don’t move,” he grinned. Charles reached into his back pocket and pulled out a .45 caliber, pointing it in my direction. He pulled back on the safety and placed his finger on the trigger. At this moment, a rushed of adrenaline went to my arms and legs. I pushed Daniela and Belina to the other side of the hall behind a trashcan. Charles pulled on the trigger. There was a click, then a loud deafening shot as I dove behind another trashcan nearby. I glanced at Belina and Daniela. They nodded as if they knew what I was thinking. We shoved our trashcans towards him and ran into the janitor’s closet.

“Come on out little girls,” Charles called out. I could hear his footsteps that echo the halls. He was close by. I looked around the room and on the shelf was a tank of helium for the balloons of last year’s graduation. Daniela and Belina covered their noses as I opened the tank and rolled it out the door. I figured he would have shot, but nothing. We heard his footsteps get closer. Daniela looked around and found a box of matches on the shelf. She swiped one on her jeans. It lit and she threw it out as Belina shut the door. We ducked down as the sound of an explosion filled the school, setting off the fire alarms. I felt the ground shake under us and when it stopped, I stood up.

“Are you guys okay?” I asked. They nodded. The expression on our faces was accomplishment. We weren’t scared…I don’t think. I slowly opened the door. The knob, as hot as ever, burned my hand. I gripped my wrist, out waiting the pain. Belina took her jacket and opened the door. Ashes floated down and small piles of fire were around us. There was another gunshot and my reflexes kicked in. I jumped and kicked upwards at Charles’ hands knocking the gun out of his grasps. It dropped onto the floor five feet from us. Daniela punched him in the gut and back kicked him across the face. He was knocked out; unconscious. We were breathing heavily, our faces drenched from the sprinklers above. We wrapped ourselves in each other’s arms, happy to be alive.

“Now do you believe me?” I asked. They nodded.

The SWAT Team, followed by the fire department, ran inside. We turned and immediately put our hands up in surrender. They grabbed and pulled us outside as the fire fighters put out the fire. A few men dressed in black suits ran inside, apprehending Charles.

My arm became sore and bruised from being pulled on. Our principal saw us and charged over.

“What were you three girls thinking?! Do you even want to graduate?!” Principal Gordon yelled.

“But…” I started.

“No buts! You three are getting written up for this!”

“But Principal Gordon…” we pleaded.

“But…” he sighed, “I’ll make sure you won’t end up expelled. Please, just don’t ever attempt suicide again. It makes me look bad as Principal. Okay?” We nodded in agreement. Principal Gordon gave us a skeptical look, then left to talk with the FBI.

“I can’t believe we beat up an assassin!” Daniela squealed.

“Guys, not now. We have our lives on the line. Whoever is trying to kill me will now go after all of us. We have to keep an eye out for anything suspicious.” I scanned the area and spotted Justin, Sean, and Conner. Justin had the same expression on his face he had earlier today.

“Mirs!” David was running to me. He embraced me, squeezing the water out from my clothes. He pulled away and took my face.

“What happened? Are you okay? Is there anything you want to tell me?” he said rather quickly. I was about to speak to him when I noticed two FBIs walk up to us. David released me, but held my hand. I tried to get out of his grasp, but he only tightened it more.

“Excuse me, are you Miranda Evans?” one man asked. I nodded. He was white and had a thick mustache.

“I’m Agent Matthews, and this is my partner Agent Neil,” Neil was African American and had a large figure, “Could we ask you a few questions?” David squeezed my hand. I jerked on it and finally escaped from his hold.

“Yeah, sure,” I replied.

“Do you or your family have any relations with Charles Derkwood?” Matthews asked.

“No.”

“Did he tell you why he was after you?” Neil asked. I thought carefully and then lied.

“No.” Neil had his eyes fixed on me. Did I look like I was lying?

“If you have any information, give us a call on our cells,” Matthew handed me his card with two numbers on it, “We can protect you.” Protect me? I doubt they could.

“Thanks, but I think I can manage on my own, as you can tell,” I pointed out. They stared at me for few seconds and then left to their car. I turned back towards my friends.

“Mirs, you shouldn’t lie. If they find out, we’re screwed,” Daniela said. I looked at David who was trying to be inconspicuous on his cell phone.

“Hey, I got to go,” he shut his phone, “I have to meet up with someone.”

“Okay,” I said.

“Take care.” A black car pulled up and David climbed inside. Weird. I looked back at Justin…but he wasn’t there anymore.

“So what are we going to do?” Belina asked. I turned back and pursed my lips.

“Figure this out. Can you guys come to my house and spend the night? It’ll be safer that way,” I said.

“Yeah, I can do that,” Daniela replied without a doubt.

“Let me text my mom and let her know,” Belina took out her phone and texted. I looked at the buses.

“Hey, Belina, do you think your mom could give us a ride?” I asked. Taking the buses wouldn’t be the best idea.

“Alright, my mom’s on her way,” Belina informed.

“Okay, good.”

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