I exited the elevator and walked into RUA Headquarters as swiftly as I could. After everything today, I still had training and needed to speak to Eric about my progress today.

I walked into the gym and let out the biggest groan as I dropped down on the floor.

"How did today go?" Eric asked, staring down at some files intently.

"Good," I replied, not sure whether I meant it or not. I was laying down on my back looking up at the ceiling. "But it was pure torture," I answered honestly.

"Did anything go wrong?" he asked, not concerned with my dramatic ways.

"No, no problems." I dragged my bag closer to me and took out the spy device, holding it up above my head to hand it to Eric.

Eric grabbed it from my hand, accidentally touching my fingers in the process, waking me up as I felt the jolt of electricity rush through me. I suddenly wasn't feeling as tired anymore.

I sat up as I watched Eric take my device over to a laptop that sat in the corner of the gym. I got up and followed him, keeping up with his pace. I watched him grab a cord and plug one end into my spy device and the other into the laptop. After a few more seconds of fiddling around, he pressed play.

"I don't know he might get some from Henry if he has any left." a voice said, coming from the computer.

He was playing back the tape. "They're talking about the drug," I informed, even though it was probably obvious. Eric nodded and paused the tape.

"Who's Henry?" he asked.

"I don't know," I replied.

"Make a note to find out who he is tomorrow okay? We can't waste a single day on this. You need to be making progress on this every day." He said.

"Okay,with" I replied, trying not to feel the pressure building on me already to get things done.

He continued to play the tape. I listened in with him, remembering the lunchtime conversation.

"Actually, you know, I could maybe try it sometime." I heard myself say on the tape, referring to the drug. Eric nodded.

"Good call on that." he muttered, keeping his eyes on the screen.

"Thanks," I said. I felt my heart lift at his small praise.

The tape continued with Charlotte saying no one knew who dealt the drug and then proceeded with the sound of the bell ringing. It ended with a loud click, signaling I'd turned it off.

"Good, we're making progress." He stared at the device. I watched as he copied the audio onto his own device and save an extra copy on the computer. "Now, we need to talk about relationships." He began, shutting the laptop screen.

"What?" I asked.

"We need to work out how you are going to be with each person." He explained.

"Oh."

"These girls are obviously in your friendship group now, so make you watch the way you speak to them. You need to stay in their good books."

I nodded as he continued. "We can't have any drama or teenage problems delaying an important mission. Also, make sure you don't get attached to anyone here. This is all just a job. You won't be able to keep in contact with any of these people when this case is over."

"You don't have to worry about that," I said, reassuring him. I'd pretty much already decided that I hated everyone already. Their conversations were insufferable.

"Okay." Eric nodded in satisfaction. "Now, let's move onto self-defense again. I didn't get to finish teaching you this morning."

We trained for about an hour with Eric teaching me new combat moves that I was still attempting to master. Before it began to grow dark, I left RUA headquarters to begin my journey home. I somehow managed to find the energy to ride my bike back to my house regardless of my tiredness yet, it didn't take too long for me to fall asleep on arrival.

The next morning, my alarm went off and the annoying beeping sound filled my ears. I groaned as I flipped over on my bed.

Day 2.

Yesterday, I had come home at 6:00pm and felt extremely guilty when I saw my Mom sitting in the lounge room and greeting me as usual, completely unaware of everything I was doing. She'd just assumed I had come back from another day at school. Well, technically I had, but just not mine. She hadn't been suspicious of anything to my relief. 

I'd also texted Debby telling her I had bronchitis and wouldn't be able to go to school for a while. She'd texted me back straight away to inform me that bronchitis wasn't actually contagious.  I'd had to google it quickly and then clarify that I had acute bronchitis, which was, in fact, contagious when it came with flu symptoms. I'd luckily dodged a bullet with that one. Lying definitely wasn't my strong suit - good thing it was a necessity for my Kennedy High case!

Regardless, I was taking care of all my problems one by one - except for the main one: gymnastics. That was my big issue. I needed to find time for it. It was extremely important to me and if I started skipping practices, my Mom and Coach May would be onto me straight away.

I used all my strength to push myself off my bed to prepare for the day. I didn't bother choosing an outfit at all because I was going to have to change into 'popular clothes' when I got there anyway. Agent Cassie had told me to just turn up in my pajamas and no one would care.

I took my bike again, hoping there would be a day where I would actually learn how to drive and get my own car. When I arrived, I quickly entered the building, almost running.

"6:02," Eric said, holding up a watch as the elevator door opened.

"Ugh, are you serious? Two minutes! I was late by two minutes!" I complained.

"On time, not a minute too early or late." he reminded me.

I sighed. "Sorry."

"It's fine, you'll learn. Time for training," he said and I followed him into the gym. As usual, we were the only two in there. The other agents must have all had more serious things to work on, or we must have had a schedule or something.

"Now one very important thing I want you to know about being undercover, is tha- what are you wearing?" he asked suddenly noticing my attire.

Maybe this whole pajama thing wasn't going to work out. I sighed as I looked down at my long woolen penguin nightwear.

"Cassie said I should come in what ever I wake up in as I'm going to have to change in wardrobe anyway." I tried to explain. "I know it was a stupid-"

"No, it's fine, don't worry about it. I sometimes do the same thing when I'm undercover. Most of our agents do." he said.

"Really?" I said, relief flooding me. He nodded.

"It was just the penguin thing that threw me off. For our morning training sessions it's fine because I'll just work on teaching you things, in the afternoons you'll have to wear just our normal black uniforms because we'll be working on fighting and combat stuff."

I nodded but wasn't really paying attention, still mortified over the penguin incident. I made a note in my head to wear cuter pajamas next time.

"Anyway, I was going to say that when being undercover, it is important that you become the person that you have been assigned to. That person may be completely different to your own personality traits but that is unimportant." He said

"Got it. I'm Amanda." I said nodding.

"Great, now just remember that. The moment you step into that school, Becca does not exist," he said.

"Hey, that's the first time you've called me Becca," I said, noticing instantly. It shouldn't have been so surprising but for some reason, it seemed unexpected. He'd always referred to me by my full name 'Rebecca'.

"You didn't really seem to like being called by your first name." he noted.

I shrugged. "No one calls me Rebecca. Not unless it's a substitute teacher taking attendance or my mother when she's extremely angry at me." When I was called by my first name, it seemed too formal and weird.

"Anyway, today I wanted to focus more on safety practices. You can do more physical training tomorrow ," he instructed.

"Against you?" I asked. I could feel myself growing nervous at the thought.

"Who else?" he asked sarcastically. "Think you can handle hands-on training?"

"Why? Do you think it's too much for me?" I asked, trying not to seem offended.

"It's intense." he admitted.

"Is it as difficult as me elbowing you in the stomach yesterday?" I smirked at the memory. "You couldn't have been expecting that," I argued.

"I wasn't," he admitted reluctantly. "But tomorrow, I will be prepared."

After our conversation, he went back to teaching me, but for the first few minutes, I wasn't paying much attention. All I could think about the day that I faced later that morning.

"Agent Number Four Three Three Two, on the move," Cassie announced into her spy device while walking me to the limo.

Here we go again. Except this time when I opened the limo door, Eric wasn't there waiting for me. I was on my own from that point on wards and he had his own cases to deal with. I slid into the car holding my bag nervously. I waved goodbye to Cassie as she shut the door, taking a death breath to calm myself down. Today Cassie had grabbed me some skinny jeans and a tank top. It was a little more simple than yesterday's attire so I was thankful.

"First mission not treating you well huh?" the limo driver asked as he heard my sigh.

"It's a bit overwhelming." I vaguely explained as I closed my eyes.

"Yeah, my first mission was too." he replied.

My eyes snapped open. "You're an agent?" I asked, surprised.

"Agent Turner reporting for duty." He joked with a salute.

The engine turned on and a low humming noise began. I could feel the slight vibrations on the seat as I leaned back.

"Why are you driving limos then?" I asked.

He laughed. "Only for the RUA, I'm not some random limo driver. I only drop you off and then I return to headquarters for work."

"Wait, so you only drive the limo to come get me and then bring me back?" I didn't think that agents would have time to do that sort of thing. "Thanks, I know that would probably take up a lot of your time," I said, still shocked.

"Oh, it's no trouble," he replied calmly. "I mean, we are working on this case together right?"

"We are?" I raised an eyebrow. As far as I'd known, it had only been Eric and me with the occasional help from Cassie.

"You're the undercover agent. Meaning, you have the most involvement and work on uncovering potential suspects. Cassie and I help with your progress by making sure you have things like transport and whatever else is needed in order to keep your cover. Eric's the supervisor so he just monitors it all. " he explained.

I sat back taking in that information. A huge part of me felt relieved that there were more people on this case, the more the better. Hopefully they would help make things easier if I stumbled upon any problems.

For the rest of the ride I went over the notes Eric had given me for today. I'd written them out like a to-do list while he'd paced around with orders.

1. Find out who Henry is

2. Get closer with the girls (tolerate them)

3. Find out anything more you can about the drug

4. Come up with a list of possible suspects

5. Record anything related to the case that you can

It seemed simple but it was going to be a challenge. He was right. Day one was easy, now I was dealing with the real trouble. The more I got involved with this case, the more complicated it would probably become.

"We're here." Agent Turner announced as the pulled up in front of Kennedy High.

I thanked him as I got out of the car with my bag. The air was cold and people were chattering away as usual. I kept my head down knowing eyes would still be on me- exiting a limo, and all. I made my way to the bleachers were I had promised the Tasha girl I would meet her.

I saw her in the distance and she waved her hands in the air frantically, excited to see me. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. "Hey!" she called out.

"Hey, who's Henry?" I asked bluntly, then suddenly realized how weird that could have sounded. I wanted to slap myself in the face. Eric had told me that one of the main rules of undercover work was to avoid causing suspicion. But the thought of having another drawling conversation with Tasha like the one from the previous day had already caused my impatience to grow. I just wanted answers.

"Oh, he's my twin brother, why?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. My question had caused her to look off put.

I suddenly racked through my head, looking for a way to cover up my mistake. I needed a good enough excuse to stop any more questions being raised.

"Oh, no reason. I just remember you guys talking about him yesterday at lunch and you said he might have some of that drug Naughty Time." I answered. I felt stupid saying those two words - Naughty Time. It sounded like a term a fifth grader would use.

"Oh," she said realizing with the slow nod of her head. "Yeah, apparently he's fresh out. I asked him last night. But I'm sure it won't take him long to stock up again and he might be willing to give you one."

"Don't worry about it, I was just curious," I said smiling as genuinely as I could. But it was hard to mask my frustration.

So close, yet so far away. But at least I'd checked something off my list already. I'd found out who exactly Henry was - Tasha's twin brother. Knowing that he was getting the drug from someone and had been in possession of it already made him a suspect.

By the time the next bell rang, we were all seated in English class.

"So for today's lesson we'll be talking about Shakespearean language in his plays and trying to analyze it." the teacher Ms. Trace drawled on. "Many common and well know terms used in his work can help us gather a better understanding of feeli-"

She was interrupted by the sound of the door opening. A student walked in casually. He had black hair combed back with gel and his dark eyes piercing as he looked around the room. On top of that, he was wearing a leather jacket with skinny jeans. As if he needed another reason to look intimidating.

"Oh, hello Brad. Late again." Ms. Trace greeted in disapproval, "Please take a seat."

His late appearance rose questions in my mind. Where had he just been? Coming into class late wasn't them biggest deal in the entire world but it was already seeming like this was a regular occurrence for him. He could have been buying drugs and got held up - or he could have been dealing them. But being late to class wasn't reason enough to add him to a suspect list so I made a note to keep a closer eye on him.

Twenty minutes later, class finally ended and we all stood up to leave. I felt like dropping on the ground and just falling asleep. I might as well have been on the stupid drug as I was so dizzy and disorientated. As I walked to the door, I felt myself accidentally bump into someone.

"Oops, sorry." I apologized automatically. I looked up to see that person was Brad. Being up close gave a better chance to take in his appearance. Structured jawline, high cheekbones and dark eyes. If he'd gone to my school, I would have probably found him attractive, but the whole 'bad boy' thing wasn't my deal. I liked to avoid trouble, not cause it.

"Don't worry about it," he said with a smirk. He walked out of the room and I was left standing there in a state of shock. I hadn't expected to interact with him, yet alone have that small episode.

That following lunch had been unsuccessful as everyone at my table had just talked about the latest episode of some reality show that I didn't even. I waited in boredom for the bell to ring but instead, I heard an announcement over the intercom. Chatter died down as the female voice filled the halls coming from the speakers above.

"Hello students, this is Principal Constance speaking. I want you all to listen. I have a serious issue to talk to you about."

Her voice was firm, as if about to talk about something very serious. I grabbed the recorder quickly from my bag, eager for something interesting to happen and ready in case she brought up any drug-related issues. I held a finger on the record button ready to press it down.

"The taco truck outside our school wishes to inform that if students wish to purchase tacos, they fill out order forms in the morning and hand them in t-"

I sighed, releasing my finger from its ready stance on the record button and I waited for her to finish her stupid taco announcement which seemed to go on forever. Apparently hot sauce was now banned inside the school building due to some 'recent incident' that she didn't further elaborate on.

"One more thing students," she continued. "As you are all aware, there have been rumors about a drug that's been circulating around our school-"

Crap. I hit my finger down on that record button in an instant, clinging onto every word she said.

"If this is true, then those involved could face serious consequences that involve the police...We admit that so far, we have been unsuccessful in finding a culprit-" A few students cheered and clapped across the room. I looked over and saw two jocks literally stand up and high five each other.

"But we are now going to try and stop its dealing at this school. From now on to leave a class, you will need a hallway pass otherwise if caught without one, you will have a drug check and locker sweep and if clean, you will still receive a detention. If not clean, well, we'll deal with that ourselves."

I heard several gasps, groans and boos throughout the room but I had to admit that, that was a good plan. If security was stepped up, it made it harder for the drug to circulate. But it might also make it harder for me to investigate.

"Thank you." click.

The intercom turned off and students started complaining and yelling loudly in anger. I turned off the recording and stuck the device back in my bag. Eric and I had worked out that a lot of the dealing probably went on during lessons when there were less people around. This definitely had to have a serious effect on the drug's distribution. Thankfully the bell ran a few seconds later, making people move and continue their complaining elsewhere.

It was interesting to hear that the school was also trying to get to the bottom of this. They just had no idea that we were too. We couldn't risk telling anyone in case of my identity being uncovered. If my cover was blown, the dealers could abandon their drug business and we might never find them.

After lunch, I headed off to my next few classes and was more than happy when the school day was finally over.

"How was your second day?" Agent Turner asked me as I hopped into the limo.

"Less terrifying, but still not any fun," I replied honestly.

"Don't worry it will get easier." he offered in comfort.

I smiled, hoping he would be right about that. However, it hurt my brain constantly thinking about the case and I attempted to start a new conversation. "Hey, what did you get up to today?"

"I spent most of the day working on my case." he answered as he started the vehicle.

"Which is?"

"We're working on rescuing a group of women from a prostitute ring in France." his reply was shocking yet his tone remained casual. Something told me that this kind of job was in his usual forte.

My eyes widened and my jaw fell open. "That sounds dangerous," I commented. My work was nothing compared to what he was doing and I was suddenly looking at things in more retrospective.

"And extremely difficult." He added with a nod. "But we're working on it. Getting closer to a solution every day."

For the rest of the drive, we sat in silence. When we arrived back at the RUA, I saw Eric as usual for our afternoon training and talk about what I had accomplished today.

I sighed as Eric plugged in my device into the computer just as he had yesterday. He listened to Principle Constance's warning speech to the children.

"I'm glad you got this, it's showing us they are aware of the issue and are trying to sort it out, whether they are actually successful or not." He said as the tape cut off.

His praise was comforting and made me feel a little bit better about the day. Thank god I got that on the recording and not the taco announcement or it would have been a completely different story.

"Now," he began unplugging my device and handing it back to me. "Who's Henry?"

"Get this, he's Tasha's twin brother," I informed him. Eric's eyebrows raised in amusement.

"The queen bee of your group." He noted. "We should have looked more into her file. Did he have any drugs?"

"He apparently finished his supply last night, but word is he'll get more. But from where I don't know. It doesn't sound like he's responsible for actually making the drug but rather just supplying it to a few of his close friends." I revealed, sitting down on the floor.

"The dealers could be using him to help get people hook on it and increase profits. Did you note any suspicious behavior today?" Eric asked.

I thought back to the first lesson I'd had in the morning. "There was this guy that came into my English class late, his name was Brad - your typical bad boy. I don't want to throw labels around but he seemed like the kind of person who would get involved with this stuff. Plus, there's always the chance he was late because of maybe something to do with the drugs." I explained. "I think we were right about the dealings happening during class. But with the new announcement I guess that won't be the case anymore"

"He sounds suspicious." Eric agreed with me. "You'll have to find out more about him. But for now, we need to talk about weapon handling."

We spent the next hour discussing gun safety which I was completely clueless on but didn't feel like I needed to know much about. I wasn't going to be supplied with a gun or anything, it was only a high school drug bust. But Eric reminded me that dealers could be dangerous and also tried to give me advice on how to handle a situation where another person might be holding a gun to me. We worked on some combat moves I could use to disarm someone until I had to get home for dinner.

"Hey, Becca!" I heard my Mom call as I shut the front door, entering the house.

"Hey!" I yelled back, doing my best to sound casual. I had to try and not raise suspicion at home just as much as Kennedy High

"How was school?" she asked me, calling out from another room.

"Good," I answered feeling guilty for lying to her. I hoped I at least sounded convincing.

"And Debby and Kevin?"

"Good, yeah they're good Mom," I answered, hoping that my terrible answers would satisfy her. I was too distracted to process anything she was saying so I relied on the word 'good' as an automatic response.

"Great to hear!" she yelled back.

I took off my boots and slowly made my way up the stairs. I collapsed on my bed and was almost ready to fall asleep. Sleep was something I had never really appreciated that much before but now, I seemed to crave it every waking minute of the day. Early wake up calls combined with training and case work made me mentally and physically exhausted.

I didn't bother getting changed and just dove under the covers. It felt so comfortable. I would have to at least have something to eat and stay awake a little longer before going to bed so I just laid there, relaxing my muscles. Staying awake became more of a challenge as I felt my eyelids get heavy and yawn escape my mouth.

Suddenly, I heard a knock at my door that startled me awake from my drowsiness.

"Becca!"

I groaned to myself. "What?" I called out, trying to mask my annoyance. I just really wanted to be left alone in peace.

"Get dressed you have a private gymnastics session in half an hour."

Her words made me feel like someone had just stabbed me in the heart and I felt my stomach grow sick.

Great. Just great.