Spies, Volume 1: Hurricane

Chapter 1 - The Chase Begins

Five minutes. That's how much time Nicholas Santiago had left to reach his English class; his first class of the day. He was sprinting down the hallway, his sneakers squeaking rather audibly.

His heart pounded with anticipation. Any minute now, that bell would ring and he'd be late. He turned a corner and ran down the section of classrooms labeled with the numbers 20 to 29 and the letter A or B. His class was merely inches away.  Okay. 32A... 32A— oh, shit!

He attempted to skid to a halt and inadvertently slammed into a girl, knocking her down.

"Aw, man..." the girl groaned as her orientation packet spilled its contents onto the floor.

The 16 year old sophomore looked around and began helping the girl collect the papers that were scattered around them. "I'm so sorry. I was in a hurry to get to class and I didn't— wait... Raven?" He picked up the folder and noticed her name scrawled on top.

The girl looked up into Nick's brown eyes and smiled, the realization suddenly dawning on her. "Nick?" She gasped. "I don't understand. How are you here?"

"I go here now," he replied. "It's my first day. I was just trying to get to class." He unfolded his schedule. "Let's see... English 3/4 with Ms. Peterson."

"32A?" Raven pointed at the classroom number posted near the door. "That's gotta be a coincidence. I'm in this class too."

Nick slowly got up and helped the girl to her feet as she stumbled into his arms. "You sure you're okay?" He asked. "You seem pretty banged up."

"I'm okay. Promise," she nodded. "Shall we?"

The two sophomores walked into class together, and sat down at a table close to the window that overlooked the parking lot. Soon after sitting, Nick got up to talk to the teacher.

"Ms. Peterson, I thought you were back at Headquarters," Nick whispered, getting closer to the teacher so no one could hear their conversation.

"We've got bigger problems, kid. We've got a Bravo-Juliet in progress. They might show up any minute now. They're not only after us, but one of your classmates too," Peterson replied. Her gaze diverted towards Raven in the second row.

The 16 year old girl studied the black-haired boy closely, but then she noticed the teacher and the boy studying her back. She quickly turned away to talk to her best friend Melissa, who was seated adjacent to her table.

"What does Raven have to do with it?" Nick asked while looking at the girl, then back at Peterson. "You don't think she knows about the files, do you?"

"I'll talk to you about this later. I've gotta start teaching," Peterson interjected before ushering Nick back to his seat.

The boy sat back down and unzipped his jacket halfway. He was dressed in a gray t-shirt under a sleek black jacket, faded denim jeans, and a pair of black and yellow sneakers.

Raven turned back over to Nick. "Hey, I know you told me this before, but what school did you transfer from again?" She asked.

"I transferred from Norview High School," he replied. "It was... okay, I guess."

"You didn't really like it much, did you?" She chuckled.

The boy laughed. "No, it's not that I didn't like the school. My freshman year was pretty fun, actually. It's just the bus ride going to and coming home from it. I wanted to attend a school that was in the neighborhood."

Raven nodded. "Yeah, I get what you mean."

7:15 am.

The morning bell rang as Peterson left her desk. "Okay! So, welcome to English 3, 4! Here is the syllabus for the class. I expect that you'll return it signed by your parents and/or guardian as soon as possible," she said, handing each student a syllabus.