Fire Starter

Chapter Seven: The Mission

Aiden stepped out of the two door black Z Coupe that Jack, one of Killian's most trusted bodyguards, used to drive her to school. She barely closed the door before he drove off, leaving her truly alone for the first time in forever as she looked up at the Midtown Tech building, it was overwhelming. She could hear the conversations of almost everyone around her and everything they were thinking as she watched who she now realized were her peers moving around her; she could smell the different colognes and perfumes and everything else in between. She reached into the black and green leather bag that she was holding tightly on her shoulder and pulled out the ring from her mother. She slid it onto her thumb, watching as the emeralds in it seemed to grow brighter. She pulled the headphones out of the front pocket of her bag and put them over her ears, drowning out everyone around her. She adjusted her sweater, quickly changed her expression before she started to push through the crowds to get to the front office. She slid the headphones around her neck and tucked her phone into her back pocket once she walked into the front office and rang the little bell on the counter, the noise it made hurting her ears. An older woman with pale brown hair and blue eyes looked at her and offered her a smile.

"May I help you miss...?" she asked, pausing as she waited for her to give her name.

"Aiden Moran," she offered, "I'm new here and I was told to come get my schedule in the front office?"

"Of course, the new student." The lady looked down and started ruffling through a snack of papers in front of her, "It's rare we get a student in March, but here you are," the lady chuckled.

"My family moved here last week," Aiden replied softly, sticking to the story that the American had spoon fed her and made her repeat until she'd almost thought it was true herself.

The woman nodded slightly, "I figured, you don't have an accent like everyone else," the woman replied, "Ah here it is!" she announced pulling the pale yellow schedule out of the stack of papers in front of her. "Here you go. If you have any questions, come right back here and I'll be happy to help you." she replied as Aiden slowly took the thin piece of paper from the woman's hand.

"Thank you Misses..... Evans." Aiden replied, reading off the lady's name tag that was tacked onto the navy blue cardigan she was wearing as she offered her a small smile that felt so foreign to use.

"You have a good day now sweetheart!" the older woman called as she started walking back to the office doors.

"Thank you, you as well," Aiden replied, her Russian-English slipping in a little as she talked.

Aiden slipped the headphones back over her ears as ACDC pumped its way into her mind while she stepped out of the room. She studied the schedule and tried finding her first class: Advanced Mathematics. She shrugged her shoulders, the backpack was uncomfortable against her sore muscles. They left her in that room for almost three hours, before stuffing her in a cooler for a couple more; her punishment for not acting like the puppet that Killian wanted her too. It hurt worse than the heat had, usually the cold was comforting, but when she was overheated from the boiling room, being plunged into a freezer was more painful than refreshing. She finally looked up from the paper in her hands, she was lost in the large building; she didn't know where she was supposed to be or what she was supposed to do with so much freedom, even if it was restricted by the rules of the institution she stood in. Maybe school will suck just as much as everything else, the voice in her head whispered; she shoved the thought away and looked around at the poster covered walls and the trophy case behind her. She looked back at the already crumpling paper in her hands and started to walk before running face first into someone. She backed up quickly, ready to yell at the person when she noticed it was a boy about her age. He was looking at her with concern, his big brown eyes full of worry. He ran a quick hand through his fluffy, brown curly hair.