Criminal Activity

Chapter Nine

 I wake up to my annoying alarm clock. This time, Rebecca doesn't come to do makeup or anything because we will be moving stuff into the new house and we wouldn't have a reason to put makeup on anyway. Tom is still sound asleep right next to me. I stare at him for a bit. I never thought I would actually fall for someone. I've always been that girl that didn't really care whether I got married and had children or not, but now, in this very moment, I realized that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with Tom.

I look at the clock and decide it's time to get Tom up because it's already 7:00. I shake his shoulders and he groans and pushes me away.

"Come on, Tom!" I yell at him. "Rise and shine!" I sing out and shake him more.

"Sprint, I will knock you out," he says to me then rolls back over. I roll my eyes and go downstairs to see Sabrina. I ask her to go out and get some food to help get Tom up.

I double check to make sure we didn't forget anything. When I have double checked and triple checked every room in the house for any of mine or Tom's things, I grab a book from off the shelf. It was a random one, but I had already read it. The Art of Not Breathing by Sarah Alexander is one of my favorites. You can really relate to the characters.

Fifteen minutes later, Sabrina walks through the door with steamy, golden brown pancakes and three large coffees. I can't remember the last time we all had coffee together. It feels like forever ago and she still remembers my drink. Just as I suspected, Tom comes running down the stairs.

"I smell food and I want some," he says bluntly. Sabrina and I laugh at him. We sit down to eat and talk about funny things we've all done. I'm really going to miss this place. Who knew you could become so close with people you've only known for a few days?

***

It's the first day in our new home. I will be honest, unpacking boxes is not the most fun thing in the world, but we all gotta do things we don't particularly want to do. I shouldn't complain too much because I get to live with someone I deeply care about. They said they would pay for most expenses, but I would like to get a job so I can get a couple personal things, like maybe a necklace.

Someone knocks at the door, so I pull myself out of my thoughts and answer it. It's Charles. I let him come in even though it is a mess because we are still putting things away. I hope he isn't here to tell us we have to move again because I don't want to pack this stuff back up.

"Hey, Sprint. How are you and Tom doing?" he asks.

"Good. We are almost done with the kitchen and the bathroom. I hope he is prepared to sleep with girly sheets because my sheet are comfy," I said and chuckled. Charles rolled his eyes and smiled.

"Thad not what I meant. He's never actually dated someone before and he hasn't ever shown any affection until you came around. After his parents decided that they were going to travel the world and take up every mission they could possibly find, they just stopped communicating with him. It's been three months since they talked. If they ever came back to his house, they'd go when he was sleeping, so they never actually visited him." I feel sadness creep up on me as I learn more about Tom. He never talks about his family and I never talk about mine. I guess we have an unspoken agreement that we won't talk about family because we both have been neglected by our parents. His to a good cause and mine to a bad one.

"I didn't know. We don't really talk about family. Only our future because why dwell on a past that we cannot change?" I respond.

"I knew you had some wise words in there. On a more positive note, I have you signed up for your online classes. Since you are pretty smart, I enrolled you in the college classes for your core classes, then put you in regular high school classes for your electives. We wanted some college courses because everyone is going to think that you are in college. This side job you are wanting will make things easier too because it will make it believable that you're in college. Try to avoid parties because they normally don't end on a good note."

"Got it." With that Tom came in through the door.

"Hey, what are you guys discussing?" he said as he hung his coat on the back of the chair I was sitting in. He leaned down and kissed me on the cheek. I blushed and Charles smirked.

"We were discussing my online classes and my side job," I replied.

"Oh, where do you wanna work? I can go pick up an application when I go out to pick up a couple pairs of jeans."

"No, it's fine. I'll go with you. I want to get some new earrings anyways."

"Oh, speaking of which," Charles started. "Here are your credit cards. You can only spend $800 a day. The rest comes out of what you make on your own," he finished and handed us our cards. I doubt I am going to spend $800 a day.

With that, Charles leaves and I finish getting the bathroom and kitchen organized. At about 2:00, Tom and I grab our coats and head to the car.

We stop by a few places and pick up job applications. Mainly pet shops or doggy daycares. I would like to refrain from working at any restaurants, but as I said before, sometimes we gotta do things we really don't like to do.

Tom and I walk into the mall and he heads to JC Pennies while I head to hot topic. I get done shopping before he does, so I go check out Zumies to see if they have any new items. I get a hoodie that has the Adidas logo on it and a t-shirt with an alien on the right breast that says "far out". As I'm checking out, my phone rings as Tom calls.

"Hey, my love," I say in a sweet voice because the cashier looked like he was trying to flirt with me. The cashier's face goes red.

"Hey, babe. Almost done?"

"Yeah, just checking out. See you in a few," I say and hang up. I grab my bags and head towards the car. On my way out, I notice someone following me. I make a few pit stops, as does he. Oh no, this is going to be bad.

Oh, crap.. I walk faster towards the exit, but I notice someone dressed in the same exact black hoodie as the other guy. I freak out. I slowly pull my phone, hoping no one gets suspicious. Just as I start unlocking my phone, someone shoots my leg. I scream out and everyone around me runs towards the nearest exit screaming just as loud.

I try to stand up, but the pain is too much. I give it one more go and my adrenaline kicks in. Someone tries to grab my shoulder, but I grab their hand and flip them over my shoulder. They land on their back with a deep groan. I spin around so that I'm facing the exit and make a run for it.

"Get back here you miserable brat!" a deep voice says. I keep running and ignore his voice. This is insane. I'm always in danger! The FBI drops in just in time. I make it out the door and they shoot 3 of the 5 men and handcuff the other two.

"Ms. Veronica Williams," a paramedic says. "We should get you fixed up."

"No, I'm fine." he looks at me odd as I say this.
"You have a bullet in your leg," he says. I look at my leg. Oh, yeah. I guess I do have a bullet in my leg. The adrenaline worked so well I forgot all about it.

***

"How you feeling, Sprint?" Tom says after re-wrapping my injury with a clean bandage before we get in bed.

"I'm fine. Did Chucky tell you about this new implant that's supposed to go in the back of our necks to make us obtain powers? I knew this mission was gonna be bad- ass, but I had no idea we would be trying out anything like this. No one knows what kind of powers we will get. They just appear as they want to," I say with excitement.

"I don't know how I feel about that," he says with uncertainty.

"It'll be fine, babe. We are totally safe," I assure him, and with that we go to sleep.