Only The Goode Spy Forever

Chapter 54: The Lies

Annalise Goode felt the change in the air. She thought that maybe it could have been the signs of spring. The air was warmer and the Earth was becoming beautiful again. Still, when she was inside she felt a change. She knew that it wasn't because of spring.
Then she thought that perhaps it was the presence of her parents. Maybe they were the reason that everything felt so different. Then she realized that her parents spent most of their time with the sophomore class, so it couldn't have been because of her parents.
Next Anna thought that maybe it was her. Maybe she was getting older. Getting more mature. One look at the way that Caroline was focusing on a coloring book told her that wasn't the reason either.
Anna was a spy. She was supposed to know why the air had changed. Noticing things was what she did. She had noticed things. She noticed the way that her parents and grandparents looked like they were sharing one big secret. She noticed the way that Diana and Caroline looked at her when she was late getting back to their suite. She even noticed how Adalind and Amelia had dyed their hair with a chemical reaction they had experimented with. But most importantly, Anna noticed the change in her brother. She noticed how his focus was no longer only for her. She noticed the protective way that he looked at Bree. She noticed how he looked ready to take a bullet for her, how he smiled at her. She also noticed the way Bree would grab his hand from under the table. She noticed the flirty looks and googley eyes that were being made.
The change wasn't spring. The change wasn't because of her parents. It also wasn't because of her. The change, she knew, was because something was different. The change was because 2 children in the Goode family had fallen in love. The change in her friends and parents was because Anna had fallen for a townie named Cason. It was because she had broken the rules, endangered people. They were scared for her.
And then there was the change in Chase and Bree. Bree's smile was even wider. It was so much more real. The pain that once hid in her eyes was replaced with a twinkle. Chase, unshakable Chase, fell for a girl. He had never given any girl more than a second glance, yet things were different with Bree. Anyone could tell that those 2 had an undeniable chemistry.
Anna shook her head, thinking of the changes as she walked to the East Wing. She was going to apologize to her papa Ed again for the truth serum they had given him. Edward had told her mother. Cammie was mad until Liz reminded her that they had done the exact same thing to Townsend many years ago. Anna was once again stunned by her mother. She always thought that her mom followed all of the rules and was the perfect Gallagher Girl. That's when Anna realized that the perfect Gallagher Girl was the one who lived the "rules optional" path. She walked down the long hallway and stopped short. She heard voices, her families voices.
"Please don't leave, Ed. Catherine is closing in. The risks are getting higher. She's not safe!" Cammie cried.
"Annalise is never safe, Cameron!" Anna heard her papa Ed snap. "She will never be safe. She is fine where she is. You are both here and so is Chase. Rachel and Joe won't let anything happen either."
"We're supposed to make her safe!" Cammie shouted.
"No, we're supposed to make her ready!" Townsend shouted back. Anna was so confused. What did they mean? Why wasn't she safe?
"Everyone calm down," came her fathers voice. "Let's think about this. Catherine won't attack now because she knows that our defenses are up. She'll attack when she knows that we're weak. Maybe she's waiting."
"That's an awful lot of waiting, Zach," her mother snapped at her father. "Fourteen years is an awful long time. She does nothing without strategy."
"Exactly," Zach said softer. "Maybe she isn't looking for Anna. Maybe she's looking for someone else."
"The descendant," Townsend said. The descendant? Anna had heard him speak of the descendant while he was under the influence of truth serum. She had thought that it was gibberish. She was wrong.
"I don't care who she's looking for!" Her mother roared. "She's going to figure it out. Which one of you wants to tell her that her own grandmother is trying to kidnap her and groom her to be a monster? Who's going to tell her that Chase already knew? Who's going to tell her that she'll never be safe?" Cammie's voice cracked towards the end.
Anna's mouth hung open. She had always believed that Zach's mother was dead. That's what she was told, that she was killed by the circle of Cavan. Catherine. They'd said her name was Catherine! Catherine was the name of the woman that her parents had defeated when they were teens. She was a part of the circle. Anna's mind raced as she put the pieces together. Her grandmother wasn't killed by the circle. Her grandmother WAS the circle.
And what did they mean when they said that her grandmother was trying to kidnap her? Had she been the one to send the attackers? Had it been her grandmas fault that her roommates could have been killed? Anna felt tears fill her eyes. Chase knew. Her parents knew. Everyone knew.
"My whole life is a lie?" She squeaked as she worked up the courage to enter the room. Her family whipped around to face her.
"Annalise!" Cammie exclaimed. "Anna, honey it's not-"
"True?" Anna interrupted. "Because it sounded pretty true to me. Grandma Goode isn't dead? She was a part of the circle? And what, I'm next? That's why you've always been nervous about everything I do. That's why Chase is so protective!"
"Anna," Zach started cautiously. "Our lives are lived on a need-to-know basis. Trust me. Everything we did was to protect you."
"Trust you?" Anna asked, hot tears rolling down her face. "How can I trust you? I don't even know you!"
She turned the corner and sprinted up the stairs towards her suite. Chase and Bree were walking together.
"Angel?" Bree asked with worry written all over her face. "Is something wrong?" Yes! There was a whole lot of something that was wrong! Anna ignored Bree as she turned to Chase.
"You knew!" She shouted as the tears poured down. "You knew about grandma Goode! You knew about me! We're siblings. We're best friends. I thought we were supposed to tell each other everything. You lied!"
The shock was clear on Chase's face. He grabbed her hands. She hadn't even realized that she was shaking until he did. "Anna," he started cautiously. "I'm protecting you."
"No!" She shouted as she ripped her hands out of his grasp. "You ruined me! You let me be reckless, but only to your extent. You knew everything about me and I didn't even know myself!" She turned away from her brother and ran up the stairs.
She heard Bree ask Chase what was going on. She didn't wait to hear the rest. She entered her suite and grabbed her backpack. Not the bag that she carried to class. The bag that she had in case she needed to run. She slung it over her shoulder and ran to her favorite secret passageway. She opened it and sprinted away. Away from her school. Away from her family and her friends. Away from everything she'd ever known. Not a single fear crossed her mind as she ran towards the monsters that her family had been fighting to keep at bay.