The cinema was jam packed. Couples walking arm in arm, giggling and laughing to each other, squeezed by groups of friends, cracking insider jokes and sipping on too large cups of soda. The chatter was at an all-time high, an annoying buzz that hovered over the crowd. If one were to listen closer, one could pick up different conversations; the girl complaining to her boyfriend about the movie, the guy telling his buddies that they should have went to the party instead, the girl spitting rapid Spanish into her phone. Anna found herself translating without realizing it, the girl's chauffeur left her on her own. Anna wouldn't be surprised if she was a student at Middleton too.

The crowd was a hindrance but Anna was focused. Despite all the milling bodies, unaware they were blocking her view, Anna's eyes remained on the only two bodies in the lot of them she cared about. Jessi and Angela stood at the concession stand. Jessi smiled at the woman manning the stand, accepting a large tray holding one big tub of popcorn and two huge cups of soda while handing her the money with his next hand. Angela, who had been texting away on her phone, turned to Jessi with a smile and slid the phone into her back pocket. She took one of the sodas from the tray and said something to him, which made him laugh.

Anna scowled.

She was at the very back of the room, resting lightly against the wall, her phone in her hand. Her ball cap rested low on her face, her ponytail pulled out the opening in the back. She typed away on her phone, putting in whatever random words that came to her head into the Google search bar in her effort to come off as normal. Her eyes never left Jessi for a second though. In a crowd like this, it would be easy to lose him.

Finally, the woman behind the concession stand handed him his change and the two made their way towards their movie. Anna launched herself off the wall and tucked her phone into her pocket. She kept her hood back, moving purposefully yet casually towards them, weaving herself between all the bodies like an eel in water.

Out of nowhere, someone stepped in front of her and it was too late to prevent herself from bumping into him. "Hey, watch it, will you?" the person cursed immediately.

"Sorry," Anna mumbled. She tried pushing past him but the guy grabbed her arm.

"Hey, I know you," he said. Anna looked up at him with a slight frown. It was the guy in her History class, the one with the turned up collar. Johnny. "You go to my school, don't you?"

"I have to be somewhere." She tried pulling her arm away from him but his fingers tightened. She closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. This guy was asking for it.

"What's the rush?" His lips tipped upwards in a mischievous smile. "My friends and I were just saying we need some female company. Why don't you come hang out with us?"

"You're hard of hearing, aren't you?"

His smile faltered, just a bit. "What?"

"I said, I have somewhere I need to be." She pulled her arm again but it only succeeded in bringing him closer. His grip was too strong. "Let go of me."

"Hey, don't be like that. Come on, it's going to be fun. We're right over there." He pointed somewhere behind her but Anna didn't turn.

By now, Jessi and Angela were probably settled in their seats, lost in the darkness of the room. It would be hell trying to find them. To make matters worse, Anna wasn't even sure if they went into the room, or if those Frenchmen showed up and copped him. All she knew right now was that the longer she stood here talking with this bozo, the more dangerous it'll be for Jessi.

"I'm going to say this only one more time, Johnny," she growled. Her eyes glared up at him from beneath the cap. "Let go of my arm."

Johnny smiled into her face like a man smiling into the face of a rabid lioness. Full of himself with a lot of idiocy mixed in. "Not until you say you'll come hang with us."

They stayed like that for a while. Anna was dumbstruck. She couldn't, for the life of her, believe the nerve of this guy. Her words were meant to strike fear but it did nothing of the sort. Instead, it looked as if it fueled him. At another time she would have smiled at his audacity and guts. Now, she just shrugged. "You asked for it."

Anna grabbed the hand currently gripping her arm. She considered flipping him over, break his back or something. But that would only cause a scene and she was trying to be incognito. So instead, she quelled the urge, and merely clutched his pinky, wrenching it backwards as hard as she could. He released her instantly, a strangled cry coming from his mouth.

Johnny tensed up, trying to bend his body towards his hand so as to ease the pain and leverage she had on it. Anna bent it back even further and it forced him to the ground. His other hand reached up to capture hers.

"Ow, ow," he murmured. Anna almost laughed. If she wasn't in such a rush, she would have. He looked so pathetic, being brought to his knees by just a pull on his pinky.

"Next time I tell you to leave me alone, I think you should listen."

Johnny could only managed a small nod. She pushed him to the ground. Anna suppressed the witty remark she had on the tip of her tongue; no doubt it would be fun to rib him on his weakness, but she had a job to do and she was already way behind time.

The crowd was beginning to thin out. Johnny was quick to scurry away, fleeing with muttered curses and sending her heated glares over his shoulder. Anna didn't spare him another glance. She quickly got to the viewing room and handed her ticket to the woman standing at the door.

Inside was as dark as she expected it. The movie had started, looking to be about ten minutes in. Something action filled was going on onscreen but Anna didn't spare it a second glance. While a round of gunshots echoed around the viewing room, Anna headed down the aisle, discreetly peeking under her cap to spot the back of Jessi's head. After staring at it all day for the week, she was pretty sure she had it embedded in her mind.

It didn't take very long. Near the back of the room, Anna spotted Jessi and Angela, sitting in the centre of the row. She scooted into a row two rows behind and sat right behind them. Angela held the tub of popcorn in her lap and Jessi reached over and gathered some into his hand. She leaned over and whispered something to Jessi, who, lo and behold, believe it or not, laughed. Another scowl crept unto Anna's face and she scooted down further into her seat.

The movie they watched was Spy Nation. Anna found herself hating every second of it. Not only was it incredibly overplayed and clichéd, but the actions and special effects were horrible. First of all, the lead character was wearing too little clothing. What spy in their right mind would go on a mission that involved bombs and gunshots in a pair of leather shorts and a tank top? It was impractical and it was unsafe.

Secondly, she found it very unbelievable that the lead could do triple flips in the air, kill two men on her way to the ground, disarm a bomb and have enough time to kiss the new love of her life before they escaped from the warehouse, seconds before the second bomb she magically didn't get to disarm exploded behind them.

And lastly, the entire mission that the plot was centred around was so outrageous, in Anna's opinion, she almost laughed. In what world would the United States of America have an evil mastermind, who also happened to be the President, who believed that he wasn't fine with ruling the free world but wanted to control the entire world? It was so outlandish and downright awful, Anna felt like peeling her eyes out by the time it was over.

Jessi, on the other hand, seemed to have loved it.

"Well," Angela started as they rejoined the crowd outside. Anna walked behind them, within earshot. "I guess I can put that on my list of worst movies ever."

"What are you talking about?" Jessi asked excitedly. "That was awesome! Mon Dieu!"

Angela laughed. "That was the worst movie I've ever saw, Jessi."

"You don't know good movies when you see them," he pouted, taking a sip of his half-finished soda.

"I don't think I'm the one with that problem."

They laughed again. Anna was seriously beginning to think there was something wrong with them why they felt the need to laugh at everything the other said.

Anna kept her distance as they made their way out the cinema. She could see them talking but with the space between them, she couldn't hear what they were saying. It bothered her, not knowing what kind of flirty comments Angela was making or what kind of declarations she was assembling about being his girlfriend.

Not that it should bother her. She just ... could tell Jessi didn't like it. That's all.

But they were laughing again. Anna couldn't understand it. From what she's seen on the shows, the popular mean girl was always either hated by the popular guy she wanted, or was just ignored. To see they were actually friends came as a surprise to Anna, one she couldn't get over. The more she watched them, the closer they seemed, almost like best friends. Even with Angela's constant statements about them dating, they were closer than two peas in a pod. Anna didn't know how to feel about it.

She followed them all the way to the cinema parking lot. Her bike was parked nearby, sitting idly while they conversed beside Jessi's Corvette.

"I don't feel like going back on campus yet," Angela said. "Come to the mall with me."

"Nah, I've got some studying to do. Big Spanish test coming up."

"You're going to ace that test without studying. You speak French, and Spanish and French are like cousin languages."

Jessi laughed. "That doesn't mean it comes naturally. You know I suck."

"Yeah but I still want you to come with me. Come on, take a break. You're always studying."

"Yeah well, I've also got soccer practice at four."

"You're just full of excuses, aren't you?"

"Valid ones." He grinned, bring forth a smile from Angela.

"Fine," she conceded. "Drop me at the mall on the way back to campus."

"Hop in."

Anna swung her leg over her bike. She waited for Jessi to pull out the lot before she sped out behind him. He liked speed, she noticed. That was one thing they had in common. Anna loved speeding on her bike. She loved the way the wind attacked her face, and the way her hair flew out behind her like a thick black cape, and the way the adrenaline steadily rose in her veins until she was laughing with a high.

Now, she could do no such thing. She drive patiently, almost idly behind him, three cars between them to separate and throw suspicion. Anna followed Jessi's car all the way to the mall, spitting out and gobbling up people of all ages. She parked across the street, watching as Angela got out of the car. She waved Jessi goodbye then strutted towards the doors. Stares followed her in her wake.

Jessi pulled out of parking and sped off down the road. Anna took off behind him. He was a fast driver, very fast. As they neared the street light, Anna spotted the green switching to red.

Crap, he was going to get the light before she did.

She revved the handlebars, pushing the bike to its limit. Still, it was too little, too late. Jessi's car zoomed past the street light just as it turned red. Anna would have followed straight behind him had it not been for the waiting cars pulling up in front of her. She braked hard, skidding the tyres across the rough road and filling the air with the smell of burnt rubber.

This was not good. He was fast, and he was getting away. It didn't matter that she knew he was headed back to campus. So much could happen while her eyes weren't on him. So many things could endanger him.

Anna slammed her hand on the handlebars, frustrated. The light took years to turn green in her opinion, but as soon as it did, she was speeding again, earning an earnest curse from a concerned mother walking with her children. Anna didn't even hear the curse. She was too busy trying to quell the unease creeping around in her stomach.

She was almost there, almost to the school. Anna whipped the bike around the next corner and pulled hard on the brakes at the sight before her.

Jessi's Corvette was parked up on the side of the road. That had her heart beating, but the very sight of Jessi himself, getting out of the car with his hands raised in the air while a man in all black held a gun to his head had it flying up to her throat.

"Damn it," she cursed. She hopped off her bike and pulled it off the road, hiding behind a tree. "You just had to take the shortcut, didn't you?"

They were on a lonely road. Anna has spotted Jessi's car taking a left turn, which was the short way to the school, instead of going straight down the road. It was a lonely street. Not many cars drove down here and the cracked asphalt and dust in the air spoke for that. The district was home to many abandoned buildings and warehouses and that knowledge had Anna even more on edge.

She watched from behind the tree as the man pushed the barrel of the gun down on Jessi's temple forcing him get into the car. She couldn't see much from the distance but she knew he must be scared. Terrified, actually, and, to admit to herself, she was too. It was a foreign feeling; she's never been scared before but she recognized it immediately. The sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach, the pounding of her heart, the sudden overactive nature of her sweat glands said it all. She was scared for him and she hated it. But she understood why, even while she felt a dose of self-loathing. It was the first time anything ever happened to Jessi, the first case of someone coming after him. She didn't know what she was up against.

Anna crept out from behind the tree as the black car sped off. She took her bag out from under the seat of her motorcycle and pulled out her trench coat. Anna removed her sweater and quickly donned the piece of clothing before she wrapped the mouth mask around her face. She took of the cap, freeing her ponytail and made sure her hairpin was securely in place.

Instead of putting the bag back underneath the seat, she pulled it over herself and hopped aboard her bike. Anna revved the engine twice before zooming down the road. The car had a head start but she was confident that, at her speed, she would be able to catch up with them.

That is, until she reached the T junction.

"Crap!" Anna banged her hand on the handlebars again. She just couldn't win, could she? How was she supposed to know which way they had gone? The constant wind blowing about the place had already blown dust to cover whatever tyre marks the cars could have made. All she could do now was take a chance.

Left or right?

Left or right?

Left or right?

"Screw it." Anna chose left.

.