The Test [#1]

Chapter 13: Daniel

"But how does that happen?" Lissa yells at the leaders. "Are you even worried by the fact that there's a murder loose in your stupid compound?"

Seven glares at her. "You better watch your mouth, Stevens," he says harshly.

She was about to protest when Five puts an arm on her shoulder. "I can assure you we are as shocked by your friend as you are."

Lissa pulls away from her, obviously not believing her. "No, you're not. Do you even care? What are you even going to do about it?"

This time, it was me that calmed her down. I grabbed her by the arms and pulled her back. She gave me an exasperated look but doesn't say anything else.

Knowing she would lose it if they asked her another question, I speak up. "Look, what she's kindly trying to say, is that we want to know what happened to our friend. And that if there's anything you can do to figure out what happened then we'd appreciate it."

Four, a very short woman, looks at Lissa and forces a smile. "Is that what you were trying to say, Miss Stevens?"

Lissa looks down, obviously suppressing the urge to strangle her and everyone else on the table. "I was trying to get you to understand," she starts evenly, "how upsetting this is to me. Have you ever lost someone you truly care about? Are going to be completely heartless about this? What if other kids start getting murdered too? The government will take notice. They'll send cops here. Your pretty little compound could get shut down."

Two, another man, laughs. "That sounds like a threat, little lady."

The cold harshness in Lissa's eyes as she said her next words made me a little scared. She's never been this mad before. Ever. I can tell finding Joshua's dead body made her start thinking about her dad. She still has something she hasn't told me yet. "Find out what happened," she tells them bitterly.

The leaders were clearly finding this amusing. All except for Five. Who was looking down at the ground.

"And if we don't," Seven asks, trying to keep himself from laughing.

Lissa's shoulders sag a little and I can tell she's growing tired of this. "It's all I'm asking you to do. Please. I'll stop bothering you. Just tell me what happened to my friend," she says, sounding defeated.

The leaders nod after studying her for a while. "We will try our best."

And with that, Lissa and I walk out of the room and make the way to our own.

"You okay?" I ask her once I lock the door.

She sits on her bunk and stares down at her hands. "They killed my dad," she says quietly.

I look at her. "What?"

She wipes a random tear from her face. "They did. He didn't die in a car wreck. He was murdered by them."

The way she said them, so full of hatred and venom, was enough to make me want to hurt someone.

"What do you mean?"

She looks up at me, her eyes reflecting all the anger she feels. "I don't know, Daniel. They killed my dad. That's all I know. That's all I was told. He worked for some spy company and had been wanted by criminals for a very long time. So they killed him."

I smile before I can stop myself. "I think that's a James Bond movie."

That did it. She stood up, her face red with anger and her nose flared. "Do you even care?" she yells at me. "Because if you don't, then leave. I already have enough to worry about without you trying to make jokes about it."

Gently, I grab her hands. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make it sound that way."

Lissa's jagged breath was starting to slow a little. I know her well enough to figure out that this is when she starts crying. Every single time.

She gets upset. She yells about it for a few moments. Then gets tired of yelling and starts crying.

As if reading my mind, she looks up. "I'm not crying. Not now."

I smile kindly at her. "Not even a little bit?"

Her trembling lip gave it away. "I just..." her voice breaks.

Pulling her in for a hug, I wrap my arms around her. My chin rests on her head. Her hands covered her face as she cried in my chest. I kind of feel bad for thinking it, but I like it when she cries. Mostly because I'm the one who gets to make her feel better. I've seen her cry so many times and this time isn't as different as any other time. I am just used to her, is all.

When she's done, she looks up at me, her eyes stained with tears. "I have been waiting for you to say something about it since it happened," she says quietly.

And I know what she's talking about. I've also been waiting.

I sigh. "Let's sit down," I say.

Lissa follows me onto the bed without saying anything. Her eyes glued on her hands as if they were the most magnificent hands in the world.

"What do you think about it?"

She looks up. "I don't know," she says after a few moments. "It didn't feel wrong. Just different."

I want to stand up and start dancing. I was hoping she'd say something like that. "So... what does that mean?"

She smiles. "Daniel, I think you know what that means."

A laugh escapes from my mouth before I could stop it. Does this mean she actually wants to date me? Not that we'd be able to go anywhere. And nothing would really change. But I'd at least know she's mine.

Staring into Lissa's face is just... I'm not sure. There's just something about her. I know she's waiting on me to make the first move. But instead I stand up and hold out my arm. "Let's go check on the others."

Her jaw squares and I know I crossed the line. "You know, for someone who's been waiting, you are very stupid."

I glare at her. "What?"

But she stands up and walks towards the door. Right as she opened the door, I shut it again. And wedge myself between Lissa and the door.

"Hey," I say. "I love you. But I'm sitting here waiting on you to decide. I mean, yeah. We kissed. But, so what? Did you do that because you were actually starting to like me back or because you thought it was something you had to do?"

She stares at me for a while. "I'm not even sure anymore," she says flatly. "Let me out."

I shake my head. "I'm not letting you out like this. Not until we fix everything."

We look at each other for a moment. Not saying anything. Her hand was still resting on the doorknob.

Before she could say something, I grab her by the waist and pull her close. Pressing my lips against hers. Gently at first.

She gasps in surprise but thankfully doesn't pull away. Instead she takes her hand off the doorknob and rests it behind my neck.

After a few minutes, we pull away. Her eyes glistened, letting me know this is what she wanted.

"You okay?" I ask, catching my breath.

She looks at me. Instead of answering, she takes my hand and we walk over to sit on the bed.

HEY!!! THIS ONE IS A LITTLE LONGER. BUT AT LEAST IT DIDNT TAKE TOO LONG!

THANKS FOR READING!! I REALLY HOPE YOU LIKE IT.