Beneath the Surface (On Hold)

Chapter 3

Meanwhile...

"Wait, you saw her?" The man asked, nearly dropping the file folder he had been holding at the time.

"Yeah, I was doing my job and I accidentally bumped into her while she was walking with her friend. She seemed freaked out." Said the boy with the black hair and blue eyes.

"What did you do?" the man groaned in annoyance.

"Um I may or may not have told her that we had met before." The boy said rubbing the back of his neck and looking at the ground guiltily.

"Seriously? You had to say that?" The man asked

"She probably thought that I was one of the many creeps that live in the city just hitting on her or something." I said defensively.

"Well let's hope so. But you need to fix this. Soon." The man said rubbing his temples but them his face softened and he looked up, "But, how did she look?" the man asked curiously.

"Grown up." The boy said slightly smiling, "She wears makeup and dyes the ends of her hair red. She wears different clothes than I would expect her to. A lot of black. But her eyes are the same though, unforgettable." The boy finished.

The man nodded and walked out of the room, leaving the boy to sit there, alone.

Lexi...

I had just finished "tweaking" my record for school when my life changed forever. Though I didn't know it at the time.

I was so busy shredding my old records after I had printed out the new ones that I didn't hear my bedroom door being opened.

It wasn't until my new and improved record was yanked from its' spot on the printer did I know that Jacob was in my room. And he was looking for trouble.

Jacob Collins is another one of the kids at the orphanage. He's fourteen like me and at least six inches taller. His parents had died in a fire three years before and he's been here ever since. And let me tell you, he absolutely loves blackmail.

"Give it back Jacob!" I said shooting out of my chair like a rocket and whipping around to glare at him.

"Ah ah ah, hold on." he said holding the papers up too high for me to reach them.

With a devilish grin on his face he asked me, "Ooh is this your record? now that's not supposed to be here. But why is it here?"

"That's none of your business." I snapped, trying to grab for it again. But he yanked it away just in time.

"Hold on," He said, then he smiled, "there's a price."

"Isn't there always one with you? what do you want?" I asked crossing my arms and rolling my eyes. My anger now changing from a simmer to a boil.

"20 bucks." He started.

"Done." I snapped.

"Hold on. I'm not finished." He said holding up a finger, "I also want, let's see, I also want you to do some research for me. Find some information." He said.

"What kind of information do you want me to find?" I asked him.

"I want you to find out what caused the fire that killed my parents." He said, seriousness settling into every feature in his face.

"Done. Now give me my file." I said yanking it from his hands as he let the file go.

I dug out the 20 dollars and handed them to him, "I will see you tomorrow, in the computer lab after school. Be ready to search." He said with an evil grin as he walked out of my bedroom and closed the door behind him.