Goldmont Girls: Secrets and Lies

Chapter 5: Karissa

Karissa ducked at the flying basketball coming towards her head. She scurried to the bleachers and picked up her thermos of water to take a long swig. It was Monday morning already; the weekend flying by faster than her winning track record. She sank down onto a seat on the bleachers. She was stuck in second period gym again. The air of the Rory Ann Gym smelled like sweat, unwashed socks, and rubber sneakers. Everybody was supposed to be participating in the basketball game, but that obviously wasn't happening. Monica Teasherallen, Nikki Monroe, and some auburn-haired girl were hanging around in a corner, making poses like they were at a Teen Vogue magazine shoot. The sporty guys, like Jordan Shunock, were having a competitive bet on who could score the most baskets. A few artsy kids were under the bleachers, doodling on their wrists and talking. Karissa could even spot some kids in the janitor's closet, most likely making out.

Karissa pulled out her Biology notebook from her gym bag. If she couldn't play basketball, she might as well go over her notes before her study quiz in half an hour. Before she could even finish the small paragraph she wrote on genetics, she felt a warm hand tap on her bare shoulder. Karissa flinched and turned towards the person.

Uh oh. It was Chad Ludwick.

She's been trying to avoid Chad since the day her Aunt unexpectedly showed up. She'd missed their study session looking for Kalea, and she felt awful about it.

"Kari? Where've you been?" Chad asked worriedly, just like Karissa expected he would.

Karissa slammed her Bio notebook shut and slipped it back into her gym bag. "Oh, sorry I missed our project study thing," Karissa apologized and then stopped. She didn't know what else to say.

"It's cool. We're just five days behind everyone, I guess," Chad shrugged.

Karissa nodded and adjusted her glasses. "We can study tomorrow after school, if you're free."

Chad was silent for a moment, and Karissa could hear the girlish squeals of Kalea's clique in the corner. Well, Kalea's clique minus Kalea. Now that she thought about it, though, she hasn't seen Kalea since that day. Where was she?

"Kari? Karissa?"

Karissa snapped back to the stinky Rory Ann gym. "Oh, yeah, sure, uh-huh," Karissa blabbered on cue, not even catching a drift of what Chad just said.

"Okay, great! See you then!" Chad grinned and ran off.

Wait...see her when?

Karissa jumped up, knocking her bag off the bleachers. "Chad!"

Too late. He had disappeared into the crowd of Rory Ann students filing out of the gym. Karissa sighed and slung her gym bag over her shoulder. It was so unlike her to tune out in the middle of a conversation. As soon as the gym emptied out, everyone hurrying to grab lunch, Karissa reached into her pocket and dug out a small gold ring. The gym was empty. Perfect. She slipped the ring on her middle finger and waited for it to glow. A transparent screen popped up from the ring. Karissa gasped excitedly. When Mariam mentioned that they will receive spy gadgets, she didn't expect anything so cool. Actually, she had been kind of freaked out.

"Me? A spy?" She had blurted.

Mariam had nodded solemnly and handed her the gold ring.

Now, the gold ring beeped, snapping her back to the stinky gym. She started to read the words on the screen. A teenage spy from The Void is currently attending Rory Ann High School Academy. According to a few tips, he is a male. This spy might possibly have a partner. They are planning to take over TIU by planting tracking and listening devices around Goldmont, to figure out who might be a spy in TIU and uncover top secret information. Your mission is to find the two culprits and stop them with your partner, Kalea. Warning: This mission may put your life at stake.