"She's so full of herself."

The words floated around Jessi's head and bounced right off him. He pushed his hands into his pockets, leaning against the lockers as he stared at the object of the conversation. Anna was putting things in her locker, listening to her friend talk nonstop.

"You think everyone is full of themselves, Angela." Dan slammed his locker door shut and turned to Angela. He deadpanned.

Angela rolled her eyes. She flicked her perfect blond curl to the side of her head and crossed her arms, her blue eyes resting on Anna once again. She's been talking about her ever since a few days ago. That one hour lunch session they shared together only served to deepen Angela's animosity towards the new girl. Jessi, once again, just ignored her. Angela hated anything that outshined her, whether it was with attention, or looks, or academics. If Angela Staton was not on top, to her, she was not Angela Staton. So, she couldn't afford to lose the top spot.

"She is worse than all of them," Angela snarled. "Just look at her, acting as if she's all that."

Dan looked at Anna with a frown. "She looks normal to me. I think she's kind of cool."

At that, Angela laughed. "Don't tell me you're actually fooled by her?"

"I don't think she's trying to fool anyone."

"Yeah, well, just you wait. I'll figure her out soon enough."

Get in line, Jessi thought.

Anna closed her locker door then went to sit beside Mina at the back of the class, Jessi's eyes following her every move. Jessi, Dan and Angela stood to the back of the chemistry lab, leaning against the lockers. He had noticed that they shared all the same class. At first, he thought it was just a coincident. But now, as he stood waiting for the teacher's arrival to the last class of the day, on the last school day of the week, he was beginning to think this was more than a coincident. This was fate at its finest.

For the past few days, they haven't spoken much. Dan had taken a liking to Anna's friend, Mina, and so the two groups were always around each other, much to Angela's annoyance. But they didn't get to talk, one on one, like they did before. He found himself itching to get her alone. But each time he tried, she either blew him off, or something else got in the way of it. He began thinking she didn't want to be alone with him anymore, but he couldn't be entirely sure; not with those eyes on him.

She liked watching him. Jessi wasn't a very observant boy but he knew that much. Every class, every time they were around each other, she watched him. She was always solemn with it too and when he was looked at her, catching her in the act, she hadn't bashfully looked away. She just kept on staring, as if she didn't care that he caught her.

Angela was the observant one of the group. Jessi knew she saw Anna's staring, just as he knew she didn't like it one bit. She never failed to mention it once she wasn't around.

"Stop staring at her like that," her voice broke through.

Jessi blinked and looked at her. "What?"

She was glaring at him. He was beginning to think that was the only expression she had. "You heard me. Stop staring at her like that."

"Why?"

"I don't like it."

Jessi almost groaned aloud. As much as he like Angela, he never – ever – wanted to leave the platonic nature of their relationship behind. She, on the other hand, was more than eager to, and she made it very obvious to anyone around her. Just as how Angela Staton was a girl who wanted to be on top, she was a girl who wanted a guy on top. Jessime Beaumont was that guy.

Instead of snapping at her, he just said, "We're not dating, Angela. So I don't care if you don't like it."

Angela just huffed in response. "Keep telling yourself that," she murmured afterwards. "Anyway, I have two tickets to see the new movie. Want to come with me?"

Jessi looked down at the tickets she held up to him. "What movie?"

"Monster Maniac 2," she replied with a grin. She knew his guilty pleasure. Horror movies, thrillers, basically anything with so much blood spray it would have made anyone sick.

"Or," she reached into her pocket and pulled out another pair of tickets. "We could watch Spy Nation?"

She knew too much about him. If there was one thing Jessi loved, it was spies. He was a biggest fan of Double O Seven, and he would have killed to be a spy himself. He instantly snatched the second set of tickets from her hands. Angela smiled.

"I'll go with you," he said, taking one ticket and stuffing it into his pocket before handing her the other. "But this is not a date."

"Not a date."

"Definitely not a date, Angela."

"Definitely not a date." That smile on her face was beginning to make him think his words were just passing through her. Still he straightened up and turned back to Anna. That's when he noticed that Dan had slipped away and was currently leaned over the lab table, talking animatedly to the two girls. At that moment the bell rang.

"That's class," Angela said. She leaned off the lockers and patted Jessi on the shoulder. "See you later. Don't forget the movies tomorrow."

"I won't."

Jessi went over to where Dan stood. "Dude, you have class," he told his best friend.

"What are you, my mother? I heard the bell too."

"Then what are you waiting for? Scram."

Dan rolled his eyes and straightened. He sent the two girls his widest smile before sauntering out of the chemistry lab. Jessi didn't say anything to the two as the teacher came in, and so he just made his way over to his assigned seats.

The chemistry teacher was a fat glutton named Mr. Poll. In one hand he carried a mile high sandwich, and in the other he carried his teaching material. He set both down on the desk and looked at the students laid out before him before huffing a laugh.

"You guys enjoying your seats?" he asked them in a loud, booming voice.

There were a few murmurs in reply.

"Then too bad. I'm switching you guys up."

This time, they replied with loud groans.

"Yeah, yeah. I suck, tell me something I don't know." Mr. Poll picked up a sheet of paper and taped it onto the wall beside the whiteboard. "This is the new seating arrangement. Maybe this time, you'll be paired up with people you don't like so you can stop all the infernal chatter. I swear, you children are like a swarm of bees in my ears."

He sat down into his chair and picked up his sandwich, just as the first student got up. Anna and Mina got up and made their way to the paper, Mina complaining the whole way there. She wanted to be with Anna, she said. She wanted to work with her new bestie, she said. This sucks, she said.

Anna couldn't care less.

"He partnered me with Herbert?!" Mina squealed in horror and her hand shot out to grab Anna's once again. And once again, Anna peeled off Mina's grip before Mina had the chance to do damage. "This can't be happening."

"Who's Helbert?"

"Only the nastiest boy in school!" Mina pointed to a boy sitting by himself at the back of the class. "Just look at him."

He looked rather normal, in Anna's opinion. He had brown hair and brown eyes – or they looked brown from the distance. He sat slouched over the table, his cheek resting on his hand. His eyes scanned the dispersing students, no doubt trying to spot his new partner. Anna watched as he picked his nose, smelt it the pushed the booger into his mouth.

"See?" Mina exclaimed. "I'm going to die."

Anna chuckled, "You're not going to die."

"Yeah, of course you could say that. You got partnered up with Jessi."

Eyebrows raised, Anna looked at the paper. Right there in black and white, Mina's words were proven true. She was partnered up with Jessi. Mina sighed again.

"Pray for me," she murmured to Anna. She turned and began walking to the back of the class like a criminal on the way to the death chair. Anna couldn't help the smile as she went to sit beside Jessi.

For the past few days, Anna has been avoiding Jessi. It was after their little talk in the cafeteria. She had seen that look in his eyes. It told her – loud and clear – that he was curious about her. She didn't think very much about it however until she saw something hiding deeper beneath those deep brown orbs. He was curious about her, and he will stop at nothing to figure her out. That was what put her on edge. She didn't need any more attention than what she had already drawn to herself. She didn't need anyone trying to figure her out, especially not her target. If anyone couldn't find out who she was, it was Jessi.

Not that she was particularly scared. From what she observed, Jessi wasn't the most observant fish in the sea. He might have noticed that she wasn't all that she seemed but that didn't mean he would ever find her out. No, if Jessime Beaumont ever finds out who Annabelle was, it would be because she told him. Not the other way around. Still, she wanted her back cleared. She didn't want a pair of eyes on her everywhere she went, especially if the pair of eyes belonged to the same person she was supposed to be watching.

Despite all her efforts to stay away from him, here she was sitting beside him. For the next hour, and for every chemistry class after that, Anna was going to be sitting beside Jessime Beaumont while he watched her, unbashful.

He wasn't looking at her now though. When she sat down beside him, Jessi didn't spare her a glance. He just kept doodling in his book.

"Now that everyone is seated," Mr. Poll started. "Turn your pages to 115 in the text book and began reading. Together. By the end of the class I wanted a group assignment with each of your partners on the topic turned in." He stood. "I'm going to get some ketchup."

"Fatass," someone dared to say. It was the sandy haired boy, the one with his collars turned up and a soft chuckle went up from the class at his comment.

"Wow, Johnny," Mr. Poll replied. "You managed to say a whole two syllables. Now let's see if you can say: detention."

This time, the entire class erupted. Johnny, sitting at the table ahead of Anna, shrank back in his chair, but she caught a glimpse of a smile on his face. The teacher left after that.

The partners sat in silence after a while. The entire class became quiet, each doing their own work. After a moment, Jessi said, "You gonna open the book?"

Anna looked at him, blinking in bemusement before she realized what he said. He had paused in the process of doodling and was looking at her expectantly. "Oh, the book." She flipped it open. "He said page 115, right? Here we are."

By the time she landed on the right page, Jessi was back to doodling and paying her no mind. Anna didn't mind the silence, she welcomed it. With nothing else to do, she started reading.

"So, how was life in Burnei?"

Anna's eyes shifted over to Jessi. He was still doodling but he glanced at her curiously before looking back down.

"What was that?" she asked, not sure if she heard him right.

"How was life in Burnei?"

She paused a moment, choosing her word carefully. "It was very ... traditional, compared to America."

"Traditional how?"

Why was he asking all these questions? Anna narrowed her eyes at him, her mind reverting backwards to that time she went to Burnei. A terrorist had fled the states and resided there, and so Thomas had sent her out there, to take care of him. It had been no problem for her back then. She had gotten around easily, since she already spoke Malay, and even had a bit of time for sightseeing.

"America is very modern," she replied finally. "Rituals, ceremonies, you guys don't have that very much anymore. Burnei is full of traditions," after a moment, she added, "I guess I missed that about it."

"That sounds like a great place," he commented. He flashed her a smile. "Ever thought of going back?"

"Yes." She didn't want to talk to him about this anymore. For some reason, it made her uncomfortable spewing such lies.

"So, I'm guessing you don't like America."

"There are a lot of things I do like about America," she admitted. That, at least, was the truth. "I like your TV shows."

That made him laugh. "Not what I was expecting but I'm glad something we do around here makes you happy." He paused. "I'm sorry about your mother."

For a second, Anna had absolutely no idea what he was talking about. Her mind was still stuck on his laugh. It was echoing in her head, and she found herself smiling, until his statement registered and brought her back to reality.

"My mother?"

"Yeah," he stopped doodling and looked at her, "Sorry about her."

"Oh, my mother. Thank you."

"How did she die? If you don't mind me asking."

She went for the easiest thing. "Car crash."

"Zut, that's rough. How many siblings do you have?"

She saw what he was doing. The interrogation was cleverly disguised by the actual interest in his voice but Anna wasn't fooled. Still, she couldn't help but divulge. "Yeah. Eleven."

That made him drop his pen. "Eleven?" he gasped. "You have eleven siblings?"

She nodded at him, a smile creeping up on her face at his shocked expression. "Yep, I'm the twelfth one. The bastard."

"W-wow." He blinked at her a few times. His hand reached up to run over his face as he laughed in disbelief. "Annabelle Ferguson sounds English though. Is that your real name?"

Anna was well aware that she was sinking into the lie even more. She wasn't drowning yet, but this far down, it won't be hard to. She could have told him to buzz off and stop questioning her. That would have been the logical response and it certainly would have gotten him off her back. But half of Anna wanted to see how far this could go. She wanted to see if she could pull this off. Leave this place with everyone here thinking she was a bastard child of the Burnei sultan.

The other half of her just wanted to please Jessi. She wanted to answer his question is any way she could but she didn't focus on that side of her. Rather, she couldn't. She pushed it aside and forgot about it, pretending as if she didn't just think about pleasing someone that was not herself.

"My Malaysian name is Haji Azura Ferguson – last name from my mother – and when I came to America, I changed my name to Annabelle."

It was the name the she had went under during her time in Burnei – minus the Ferguson – and it came in handy now. Jessi took it all in with a nod of his head. "Zut," he muttered. "Azura, I like that. You should have kept that."

"I like Annabelle better."

To be perfectly honest, Annabelle loved lying, especially about her name. She loved conjuring up different last names for herself, to match the time and the country. Living all her life with only a first name made her long for the feeling of belonging she felt when she created another one, one with a last name that had identity, that had a story.

"Wow, eleven siblings," Jessi said again. "I wish I knew how that felt."

"You're an only child?"

"Sure am. I'm all on my own now though, since my father died not too long ago."

Anna blinked at his bluntness. He didn't sound very sad. "I'm sorry?"

He waved his hand, dismissing it. "Nah, don't be, amour. We never really got along when I lived with him and I haven't been living with him for a while now. I cried when my mother died though."

"How did she die?" Anna heard herself ask.

"I don't know," he replied honestly. "Or maybe I should say, I don't remember. All I remember is showing up at my dad's house crying my eyes out."

"That's sad." The deadness in her voice made him laugh.

"You don't think it's weird that I'm telling you all this?"

"I do."

He laughed again and this time Anna joined in. He opened his mouth to say something else but the teacher reentered at that time and so they fell silent. They didn't talk very much during the rest of the class, only when they were discussing the work. Jessi's hands were occupied most of the time, doodling in his book and so she did most of the writing. Not that she minded. She had something to focus on. Something to take her mind off the past few minutes. Something to stop her from questioning herself on that conversation.

One question broke through though and it left her baffled. Why did she care about making him happy?

--

Okay, this'll be the last update for Espion for the day. Lol, sorry about all the notifications :)

I practically broke Google trying to write this chapter so I hope you guys like it. By the way, Zut means Damn and amour means love.

Thanks for reading! :)