Black Rose

Chapter 14

Valerie

I despise Kate for everything she's done to me: expel me from school, ruin my reputation, and, most importantly, take my spot of Queen Bee.

Besides, I never would have gotten into this whole mess if it weren't for her. She was the one who decided to join Black Rose with me against her own judgement. She was the one who befriended Bethany and Caitlin, who helped reveal my plan later.

But deep down, I knew I was wrong. I was putting the blame on Kate even though she was not a part of this. I would never admit that to anyone though.

I swung my feet back and forth as I sat on my bed, thinking about everything that went wrong. It was harder to lift my left leg because of the hulking ankle bracelet I was wearing.

The police had made me wear one after they put me on house arrest. I was desperately wishing that I had made friends at Black Rose who could have gotten me out of this.

Suddenly, there was a loud thump that came from the front of the house. Then there were three knocks and a clap. I sighed as I got up and walked out of my bedroom.

I approached the living room and called out, "Leave it in the kitchen."

Every Monday, my grandma stopped by and dropped off two grocery bags full of food. We had developed a secret signal just in case anything were to happen.

My grandma walked out from the kitchen. "How are you doing?" Ms. Martinez asked.

"Wonderful. I finally know what it's like to live in the 18th century like you," I grumbled sarcastically. To be honest, I wasn't usually this mean, but being forced to stay home really took a toll on someone. Especially if it was being enforced by the law.

"I'm not very happy either. After all, I got fired from my teaching job and we still don't own Black Rose!" my grandma complained.

She suddenly perked up. "I have some news from Harry! He called to say that he got a business deal for another spy organization called SLF. He was wondering if we could be a part of it."

I scowled at the thought of Harry being able to use technology. I was not allowed to use any technology except for the television. All my other gadgets had been confiscated anyway.

"I want to get off house arrest as soon as I can. Engaging in another business deal is not going to help anything," I pointed out.

My grandma nodded. "True. I'll leave you some time to think about it though. We could make a lot more money than we would have off of Black Rose."

I watched her walk out the door and lock it from the outside. There was nothing else I could do except watch television.

As I sat on the couch watching reruns of Pretty Little Liars, I realized that I was very similar to the characters. After all, we had secrets we needed to keep. And this business deal was definitely one of them.

Now I just had to think about whether I should take up the offer or not.