Bullets and Beauty

Chapter 2

        I smile in relief as the final bell rings, signaling the end of the school day. I head to my locker, falling into step beside James and Peter as our lockers are next to each other. Peter grins at me, his easy smile making his eyes twinkle. I laugh at his expression. Peter was the silver tongue of our group, with light blonde hair and baby blue eyes that made him look like an angel when he pulled his innocent face, he could talk his way out of almost any situation. I shake my head as he pulls his most innocent look on me. "I'm not the one you need to worry about Pete. Annie is convinced you guys are hiding something, and she isn't wrong. But while I'm down for a few surprises she will want to know what's going on. Go try those baby blues on her"

Peter shudders and James laughs. Peter nudges my shoulder and says; "The look of innocence doesn't work on your sister Malina. She counteracts it with the look of death. Can't you put in a good word for me?" I shake my head as he flashes me a sheepish smile.

James glances at me sideways. "You're pretty calm about this whole thing Malina. Usually you're the one trying to piece the puzzle together."

I shrug as we reach the lockers. "That's because I don't think you know as much as you're pretending to. George texted me last night with the meeting instructions, and I'm betting you guys got a more detailed one. But knowing George, he didn't give you too much more than he gave Annie and I. I think that you guys know about something other than the mission we are getting today. What that is, I haven't a clue. But from the way Tommy was acting, I'm guessing it's a good thing so I'm not too worried."

James leans against his locker, with his backpack slung over one shoulder as I grab my own from my locker. Peter looks at me in surprise and says cryptically; "You're not far off actually. Does your sister think this too?"

I shrug. "Probably. Although, she will still want to know the big secret you guys are not so subtly hiding. But that can wait until after this next assignment." I sling my backpack over my shoulders and glance at James, wrinkling my nose at the way his obviously heavy backpack is only slung over one shoulder. "You know that is bad for your back right? Having that bag on your one shoulder is going to screw up your posture."

James laughs and readjusts his bag. "Is this better?"

I nod. "Much better." I check my watch and start walking down the crowded hall to the exit, calling back to the boys over my shoulder. "Come on, we have to meet the others out front so we can walk to the park. I want to see why George is being so mysterious about this mission."

They laugh and jog to catch up as we make our way to the front of the school. Everybody else is already waiting. I grin as I see Annie interrogating Liam again about what the big secret is. They look up to see us walking over and Liam looks relived as Annie walks toward me. She grabs my arm saying; "Lina help me get these dopes to talk. Something is going on, and Liam is getting more smug by the minute." I laugh as she drags me over to the group.

Looking around, I note that everybody is here. "Sorry Annie, we'll have to question them later. Right now we need to get to the park and meet George. You know how he gets when we make him wait, especially in this heat."

Everybody cringes slightly, remembering the last time we had showed up late. George had given us a firm lecture on the importance of punctuality, and then proceeded to tell us that the mission had been time sensitive and we might as well just go home. It all turned out alright in the end, and we had stopped the kidnapping of a wealthy and well known politician's teenage daughter. But none of us were too keen on another lecture from George. Besides that, George had threatened to enforce a mile penalty run for anyone who was late, stating that if we couldn't get from the school to the park in the reasonable amount of time he had set then we needed to get in better shape. As the Texas sun was mercilessly beating down on us already, nobody wanted to have to do the penalty run.