"You're quite the little gym bunny, aren't you?" I teased as I walked towards the cafeteria with Joey.
"I like to keep fit," he shrugged. "The new teacher seems decent as well."
I rolled my eyes at this.
"How comes you got out of it?" Joey asked and I arched an eyebrow as we walked into the cafeteria.
"I'm not sure whether to tell you or not. You seemed rather shocked when I told you about the bruises earlier," I said.
"Oh give over," Joey said and shoved me lightly. He led me over to a table that had a group of people sitting on. "Tell us."
"My brother stabbed me," I said just as everyone turned to us.
Joey froze and the people that heard me on the table looked at me in surprise. "Hey guys," Joey said, staring at me in utter disbelief. "This is Daisy."
"Hi," I smiled.
"She's new," Joey said and coughed. "And I hope that she's joking about her brother."
"He claims it was an accident," I said. "I call bullshit."
"Fuck," Joey muttered and nudged me to a seat. He sat next to me. "I don't even want to know."
"I don't blame you," I shrugged and Joey then introduced me to his friends.
One guy turned to me, his mouth was still full of pizza but he spoke anyway. "Your brother stabbed you?"
"He did. He's quite the twat."
"I think I would disown my brother if he stabbed me. Why the hell would you stab your own sister?"
"Our relationship is complicated," I explained. "I'll get him back."
"Jesus," the guy gasped and soon the conversation drifted from me to boring school gossip.
I got on well with Joey's friends, they all seemed nice, although many questioned me about the whole stabbing situation. I silently hoped that a teacher would over hear, contact the authorities and get Blake in shit.
When the bell sounded for the start of lessons I sighed and stood up. "Do you know where to go?" Joey asked me.
"Yeah, I'll find it," I nodded.
"See you in history then."
"Yep," I smiled and waved to his friends before walking out of the cafeteria. The school was easy to navigate once you knew your way around and I easily found my next lesson. I took a seat towards the back and leaned back in my chair, waiting for the hour of boredom to begin. It was maths and I hated maths. I was surprisingly skilled in this subject and I found high school maths lessons extremely easy and I got bored easily.
My attention was drawn away from my phone when a guy walked over to my desk and smiled at me. It wasn't a friendly smile, it was a smile of an over confident asshole who assumes they can get any girl. I recognised his dark hair that had a reddish tint to it and realised that he was one of the guys Eli had attached himself to.
"Can I help you?" I asked and looked back at my phone, finishing a text to Beth.
"It's Daisy, right?" He said and smoothly slid into the seat next to me.
"Right," I nodded.
"I'm Noah," he said.
I glanced up at him and nodded again before looking back at my phone. "Okay," I said.
Noah shifted in his seat and I smirked to myself. He wasn't used to being ignored. "How are you finding it here?" Noah asked. "Made any friends?"
"Loads," I said sarcastically and Noah smirked.
"I could help you out there."
I wanted to punch him and rip out his vocal chords so I didn't have to hear his flirtatious tone ever again.
"I'm good thanks."
"You sure?" Noah said, piling on the charm. "It must be awful being new and not knowing anyone. I'd be happy to help a beautiful lady like you."
"Do you say this to all the new girls?" I wondered and placed my phone on the desk and swivelled on my chair so I was facing Noah.
"We don't get many new faces around here," Noah shrugged. "You seem cool, you dealt with Emma well. I thought I'd get to know you."
"I'm sure you don't need the hassle of a second new kid," I said dismissively. "Why don't you run along to Eli?" I glanced over Noah's shoulder as Eli and another guy walked into the classroom.
"He said you two knew each other," Noah said. "I thought he was bullshitting it."
"And why is that?" I wondered.
"You're hot," Noah said and I raised my eyebrows at his confidence. "I thought Eli was trying to show off."
I laughed slightly and smirked when I saw Eli glaring at me. "I think the poor baby is a little jealous that you're spending time with me and not him."
"There's enough of me to go around," Noah smiled.
"So," I said and decided to find out a bit more about Noah to see if Eli was considering him for recruitment. I saw him handling himself well in the gym and physically capability is one of the first things we are taught to look out for when targeting potential recruits, then we had to find out about family. "Tell me about yourself, Noah." I added a flirty smile and twisted my ponytail around my finger.
"What would you like to know, Daisy?" Noah wondered and he couldn't hide the smirk on his lips.
I smiled and leaned towards his ear. "Surprise me," I whispered.
"I'm an only child," Noah said and I sat back in my seat, but edged closer to Noah so my leg was touching his knee.
I caught Eli's eye and smiled sweetly. It was bugging him to see my getting along with one of his new friends which was exactly why I was talking to Noah. He seemed like a nice guy, but it was obvious that his intentions were to get into my pants.
"Really?" I questioned.
"Yep. Parents are always away so I get to throw some wicked parties," Noah grinned. "You should totally come when I next have one."
I smiled. "I might have to take you up on that offer," I said and steered the conversation back to his parents. "It must be lucky to have no one stopping you from doing what you want, throwing parties and all that."
Noah shrugged. "It has its perks. They send me money once a month and don't even bother to check what I spend it on."
"Once a month? How often do you see them?"
"Rarely. They work in America. I last saw them last year."
"Wow," I said and noted that Noah wasn't at all bothered by the lack of parental figures.
"Tell me about you, Daisy," Noah urged.
"Well," I said dramatically and smirked. "What would you like to know?"
"Why did you move schools?" Noah wondered.
"I was homeschooled by my brother. We decided I should study my last year of education at an actual school," I lied and Noah raised his eyebrows.
"Brother?"
"Parents aren't around," I said dismissively, making my cover seem more real by not wanting to divulge details of my private life to practical strangers. I had told Joey, but Joey was genuinely nice. Noah had ulterior motives.
"So you live with your brother?"
"I do," I nodded and I noticed Eli walking over to us.
"Daisy," he said stiffly and I narrowed my eyes at him.
"Hey, man," Noah said. "I take back what I said about you lying about knowing Daisy."
"I don't see any reason to lie about knowing her," Eli said harshly, putting emphasis on 'her.
I glared at Eli. "How about you turn around, walk back over to your new little friends and let the grown ups talk," I snapped. "Does that sound good?"
"How about you stop flirting with every guy you meet," Eli growled.
"Noah actually came over to me," I said. "He's so lovely, I don't see why he would bother with you." I placed my hand on Noah's arm and smiled sweetly at him.
"I could say the same about you," Eli scoffed.
"Jheeze, there is some tension between you two," Noah laughed. "Was it a messy breakup? One person cheated on the other?"
I stared at Noah in shock. "What?" I said. "No. Me and him... Just no. I think I might puke."
"Oh real mature," Eli muttered and he flicked me on the head with his fingers.
"Do that again and I will break your fingers off and feed them to my dog," I warned.
"You don't have a dog."
"I'll get one especially for you," I snapped.
Eli rolled his eyes. "I just came over to remind you that you have to go counselling tonight."
I tensed. "You have the wrong day."
"Daisy," Eli said sternly. "I've got shit to do tonight and you better not make me wait around to take you."
"Counselling?" Noah questioned and Eli smirked at me.
"Yeah, she's a real nut job," Eli said. "Anger issues, deep psychological-"
"Oh shut the fuck up, Eli," I said and turned to Noah. "He's bullshitting. I'm perfectly normal."
Noah seemed amused by our bickering. "Why have you got to take her?" He asked.
"She's grounded. Car is confiscated and I'm her only lift. I'm such a nice person that I offered to give Little Miss Unstable a ride to counselling when I can," Eli smiled and I clenched my hands into fists. I so desperately wanted to claw his eyes out.
"Aren't you the little rebel," Noah smirked. "What did you do?"
"Ran away," I sighed. The Agency had incorporated my real life events into my cover so it would seem more real when we told it to potential recruits. We were meant to gain their trust to find out more about them and that involved us opening up to them so they could open up to us.
"Never would have clocked you for a bad girl," Noah grinned.
"Yeah, well..." I shrugged and a thought hit me. "Eli, how am I getting home tonight?"
"Me," he said unhappily.
"Can't you get Blake to pick me up?" I asked. "You're both assholes, but I'd much rather be in his company."
"Which is exactly why he wants me to take you home," Eli said and smirked when it realised it bugged me that I had to spend time with him.
"You better sleep with one eye open, Eli," I warned, glaring at his smug expression. "Don't think I won't sneak into your room and smother your annoying face with a pillow."
"You two live together!" Noah gasped and laughed. "You must drive the people you live with crazy, arguing all the time!"
"She's the crazy one," Eli shrugged.
"You're such an ass!" I hissed. "Don't forget you moved into my house!"
"Don't forget that I have the power to get you in more shit that you already are," Eli said. "One mention from me to Blake about you misbehaving will get you in more trouble."
"Blake won't do shit," I scoffed. "And why would he believe you over me?"
"I know someone else that would take my side," Eli smirked and mouthed the word Rob. I stiffened and glared at him. Rob would never back me up in a million years. Eli was one of the Agency's best. His word would always get believed over mine.
"And what would you say?" I wondered, crossing my arms over my chest. "There's not much more that I can do that will get me in more shit than I already am."
"I can think of a few things," Eli said mysteriously. "I don't think Blake is aware of your smoking habits." I knew that Eli wasn't talking about Blake. He was talking about Rob and he knew that Rob was strict with me, which was why he didn't know about a lot of the things I did. "Or the tattoo running down your back. I'm sure he'd love to find out about how you got it."
"How the fuck do you know this?" I demanded.
"We live in the same house, Daisy," Eli said, slowing down his words and talking to me like I was a child. "The guys talk."
"Was it Jack? The little shit can't keep his mouth shut," I muttered.
"You better be in my car dead on 3pm or I'll start spewing all your dirty little secrets," Eli warned.
"Are you blackmailing me?" I growled.
"I think even you're smart enough to answer that question for yourself," Eli shrugged and I glared daggers at him.
"I am so glad I don't live with you guys," Noah laughed and looked at me. "Although, you're cute when you're angry."
"She's not when she's lunging at you with a knife," Eli said under his breath and Noah raised his eyebrows at me.
"He's joking? Isn't he?" Noah said.
I ignored him. "What do you think of Eli?" I wondered. "Do you think he's a decent guy? Nice?"
Noah shrugged. "He seems cool."
"Would be seem cool if you found out that he goes around punching girls?"
Noah looked taken aback. "What?"
I pointed to my bruised face and cut lip. "Curtsey of Eli."
"Dude, that is fucked up man!" Noah gasped, looking at Eli in shock. "You can't hit girls!"
I smirked and smiled at Eli, wondering how he was going to dig himself out of this one.
"Daisy, that's sly," Eli said and shook his head. "Tell Noah what really happened."