Brianna Acero and the Second One's Return

47. I take on a secret identity

"I seem to be at a disadvantage. You know who I am, but I don't think I've ever seen you around here before," says Diana, smile still intact.

I quickly go through the backstory Kalen helped me come up with in my head, trying to remember the details. We spent a good two hours testing each other on our secret identities, and I'm not about to let all that hard work go to waste.

"Where are you from?" He asked me, lying next to me on the floor of the living room. I would answer and ask him a question, which he would then answer. Ask, answer, ask, answer, consecutively until we knew our stories so well, we had started to believe them ourselves.

"I just moved here with my parents a couple of weeks ago," I answer casually, the lie rolling off my tongue with ease. "My father got a new job position at Delle Inc and we had to move, I used to live in Saint Richards, Opia."

She nods, looking pleased with my answer. I chose Opia because nobody really knows much about it. It's one of our smallest states, with a population of about 3.000 people. People knew enough about it to know where it was, but not enough to ask too many questions.

"So, do you go to the high school here then?"

There is longing in her voice that I don't miss, and my heart gives a painful thud. Diana isn't allowed to go to a regular high school, her father had her homeschooled since she was a child, which means she never got to meet other kids our age unless it was at charity events or parties held by the President at their house on special occasions. She must feel so lonely.

This is why we made my story a lonely one as well.

I make a show of frowning, lowering my head and playing with the hem of my sleeves. I need Diana to feel as identified with me as possible, that will give me a better chance of connecting with her, and hopefully, of getting her to talk about her own private life in return.

"No, I've never gone to high school actually, or any school for that matter."

I look back at her, and find her staring intently at me, recognition and sympathy lighting her pretty blue eyes.

 Gotcha.

"One of the reasons we moved here was because my mother is the head of the Elite compound stationed in the city. I was raised to be the perfect little Elite and do everything I was told. I've been at the Opia compound since I was four, and now I'm continuing my training here."

"You're Tatiana's daughter?"

I nod, glad that Mara had the good sense of calling up the compound before we left and telling them about our mission. If anyone were to check that I was Tatiana Dorian's daughter, they would find pictures of the two of us in her office and birth certificates in the record books. All fake of course, but no one needs to know that.

"Wow, so you're an Elite, what is it like?" She leans forward, resting her head in her hands.

I shrug.

"What's it like being a Norm? I mean,  I am what I am, nothing special."

She smiles again. Diana is all for equality between ranks, Norms and Elites are the same in her eyes. I didn't need to change that part of my sorry for it to be true. It's one of the things I admire most about her.

"Oh! And my name is Sofia by the way," I say quickly, realizing I still hasn't introduced myself.

"Nice to meet you Sofia."

She stretches out her hand and I shake it, trying not to squeal. I can't believe that everything is going so smoothly. I couldn't have planned it better myself.