Undercover

20. Almost Complete

It had been two months since the encounter with Charles Daniels. Turned out that it had been him and that I hadn't freaked out for no reason. I think that he "accidentally" dropped his identification. But it wasn't his ID that had sent chills down my back; it had been the note that the ID had been wrapped in. It had been addressed to Aiden. I was standing next to him when he read it. In big handwriting, it read: Be prepared, Aidy. I know who your girl is. And I know where she lives. I'll strike when you least expect it and you're going to wish you had never crossed me.

The only thing I didn't understand was how Aiden had crossed Daniels. Last time I checked, they had found out that he was a traitor the day that Aiden left. I knew that there were still missing parts of the story but I really didn't want to nag. If he wanted to tell me, he would.

In other news, I had started helping out with the kids at the local school. I wasn't really starting yet, I was more observing than anything else, but it gave me a certain happiness that I couldn't quite explain. I was getting closer and closer to the job of my dreams. There were already kids that knew my name. And there was one little girl in particular that had already started to be really close to me. I think that she liked me more than she liked the regular teacher of the class. Those were not my words. In fact, it had been the teacher that had told me that this little girl, Aura, was more comfortable with me than with anybody else here. She made it clear that she didn't understand why that was. I wasn't sure if she was just saying that because she was jealous that she had been trying so hard to make Aura feel comfortable and had failed, or if she genuinely didn't like me. Either way, I wasn't too intimidated. The good thing about being here was that I got to know the kids and that I wasn't as bad as I thought.

It was a Friday when Aiden had been waiting for me outside of the school. I almost jumped fifty feet in the air when I heard him say my name. I turned around and saw that it was him, in his uniform. What in the world had he been doing there?

"Aiden. How are you doing?" I asked him, my heart beating faster than it normally did. But I ignored it and focused on him. The anger I had once felt towards him had dissipated completely. I guess that is what finding out that you're in danger does. Seeing as how he is one of the people that can protect me made me understand that I didn't have to be such a jerk. Especially since all he was trying to fo was to keep me safe. As I looked closer at him, I noticed the dark bags under his eyes. I was positive that he hadn't had those the last time I saw him. Maybe finding that note had taken a toll on him.

Instead of giving me an answer, he just shrugged his shoulders. I didn't know what I could do to help him. I guess he didn't really need my help since he had been in some fine company the last time I had seen him, but I wanted to make him feel better. It was funny how life worked. I loved him, and according to the letter that he had given me, he loved me too, but we were still here. Being distant and acting like we had just met instead of acting like we had meant a lot to each other at one point in our lives.

"You're not sleeping at all, are you?" I mentioned.

"Is it that noticeable?" he said to me.

"Just a little bit. Not too much."

"I just haven't been able to sleep. Not a big deal."

"What are you doing here?"

"I just wanted to make sure that you're okay."

Before I could answer, I heard a little voice behind me call my name. "Ms. Castillo!!"

I turned around to see that it was little Aura. "Hey, sweetie. What are you doing here so late? Are your parents here?"

"Mhmm. They're over there." she pointed her little finger towards a black Toyota parked across the street. Then she looked up at Aiden and asked, "Who is that person?"