The sound of my alarm clock ringing woke me up in the morning. I looked over to the time to see that it was 5am. I groaned as I threw myself back on my bed. Today was the day. I was officially becoming a part of the RUA, an undercover agency I hadn't even heard of until 4 days ago.

Yesterday after my talk with Captain, Eric had shown me around and then given me a piece of paper with the address to the factory on it along with the pin for entering the building. I was right. There were exactly 30 numbers. I'd come home at exactly six o'clock for dinner and my Mom had been completely unaware of anything. Things were already starting to go to plan.

I got up and walked towards my dresser. In the corner on top of my magazines sat the riddle I had received from Eric on Saturday. I took it back to my bed and sat down as I studied it. I knew this was all real.

I went and had a shower and then got dressed. I tried to put more effort into the way I looked when I stood in front of the mirror by spending a little more time working on things. I was never one to be concerned about my appearance but felt it might help if I looked more presentable for the case.

My Mom usually slept in until late in the morning so I didn't even have to worry about running into her as I headed downstairs. I left the house at exactly 5:30 am, knowing that I still had a good half an hour until I needed to be at RUA headquarters. Everything looked so different at 5 am in the morning as I peddled my bike down the street. It was darker, colder but at the same time more beautiful. I had never left the house during sunrise and I was kind of enjoying it - aside from the fact that I could barely keep my eyes open.

I arrived at the factory feeling instant relief due to the fact that I hadn't got lost. I checked my watch again. I still had ten minutes which was plenty of time. I approached the door and started entering the pin. Luckily on my first try, I got it correct. The door swung open seconds later allowing my entrance and I shut it behind me as I entered.

I walked casually over to the elevator and pressed the button. It opened seconds later and I stepped in and watch the doors shut. For a moment, I forgot what I was supposed to do next. I thought back to yesterday. The tile. I got on the ground like Eric had previously to lift the tile. It was then I realized I didn't know what tile to lift.

"Oh no." Not good. Not good.

I started trying to lift every tile I could. On every try, the tiles I attempted to lift stayed glued to the floor. I checked my watch 5:55. Damn it. I kept trying.

After what felt like a lifetime I finally lifted the right tile as it came off the floor and the button was revealed below it. I hit the red button and let the elevator take me underground. I got back up off the ground, slightly disorientated after the delay. As the doors of the elevator opened, I saw Eric standing in front of them, waiting for me.

"You're two minutes late." He said sternly.

"I didn't know which tile to lift! I couldn't remember which one you lifted and had to lift nearly every single one." I complained. "I actually did get here on time."

"I know," Eric informed, a smug smirk appearing on the side his mouth. "I saw you on the security cameras."

I looked at him in horror. Oh God, he had seen all that. 

Great job, Becca. You really know how to make a great impression on the first day of a job. 

I tried to recover from the embarrassment by straightening my posture. His face went serious again.

"Okay come on, we're going to the gym." He said and started walking. He had shown me the gym yesterday on the quick tour we'd had after meeting Captain and I was impressed. It was better than the gym I trained at. There was a large amount of space for training, seats everywhere and a heap of equipment.

We walked in and he stood in the middle of the room waiting for me to join him.

"Okay, so the reason we are sending you in this morning without practically any training is because you won't need it. Today is just about sussing everyone out and come up with a list of suspects that could have anything to do with this drug." He explained

I nodded in understanding "What's the drug called?"

Eric opened his mouth to answer but then shut it seemingly reluctant to answer. I awaited his reply curiously as silence filled the room. He finally sighed.

"Naughty Time." He answered, almost looking like he was in pain saying it.

I raised an eyebrow. Was he serious? I couldn't even stop the small laugh that escaped my mouth unexpectedly.

"Yes, it's a stupid name, apparently they're not the most creative bunch. But it's called that because most teens have been using it before...engaging in sexual activity." He admitted slowly.

I looked at him in shock. Who would even do that? That's was the stupidest thing I'd ever heard. I couldn't even hide the slightly disgusted and confused expression that crossed over my face.

"Look it's apparently supposed to make sex better or something, It doesn't matter. The point is people have been taking it a lot. It's becoming more popular. We managed to grab residue of it and our lab team has never seen anything like it before. But it's clear that it's dangerous. The sooner you can find out where it's coming from the better."

I nodded, "Okay, I'll do my best."

He stared at me in content. "Okay, now on with the training. Mainly you are going to be learning defense, not offense. You should have no reason to attack anyone. This is just to protect yourself."

I nodded again, taking note of everything he said.

"So what would you do if someone grabbed you from behind like this.." he went behind me and put his arms around me.

I froze for a second out of shock, realizing what was happen- ing. "Uh," I tried to squirm out of his strong grip. It tightened around me and I found myself stuck. For a moment I felt like I couldn't breathe, but he wasn't cutting off my oxygen in any way.

"The more you move, the tighter the person's grip will be, do you understand?" he pointed out.

"So what do I do then?" I asked trying to focus.

"Sudden quick movements," he explained. "If you can surprise the attacker then you're likely to-"

While he continued to talk, I elbowed him in the stomach which made him loosen his grip giving me a split second to escape his grip. I took it and forced myself out.

He looked a bit taken back and shocked.

"Sorry," I apologized feeling horrible. "That probably would have hurt" I just elbowed the freaking guy in the stomach, of course it would have.

"No," he argued looking astonished. "That was good," He admired, still standing there in shock.

"Thanks," I said awkwardly taking a step back, I was as surprised as he was by my sudden move.

He cleared his throat trying to turn his attention back to the lesson. "So if you ever find yourself being grabbed or captured, remain calm. The more fear you show the worse things will get-"

Just then the gym door opened and we both shot our heads towards it. A tall woman with long blonde hair walked in the room. I was taken aback by how gorgeous she looked, almost making her journey toward us look like she was in the middle of a catwalk. 

"Agent Cassie," Eric greeted her.

"Sorry to cut your training short Eric but we need Rebecca now," Cassie said looking towards me. I felt her scan my whole body. I uncomfortably kept my eyes away from her gaze. I hated when people looked at me that detailed, especially people who were obviously much more beautiful. 

"It's fine," Eric, replied to her. "We still have a training session together this afternoon."

"We do?" I asked him with wide eyes. "Mornings and afternoon sessions?"

"Every day except Sunday," he nodded. 

My eyes widened in shock. How much training did I need?

"Not every session will be physical, we'll also have to study and you need to learn more about certain things, like how to arrest someone," Eric explained.

Cassie tapped lightly on the door gesturing for me to follow her. I walked out of the gym taking one last look at Eric as he stood there before the gym doors closed.

"So Rebecca," Cassie began.

"Call me Becca," I said with an awkwardly shy smile.

She nodded. "Okay Becca, so I'm about to give you your class timetable, fake ID, and clothing. You're all set up and registered in the school system so all you need to do is attend your classes."

"What about school supplies?" I asked.

"We've got that covered too," she answered swiftly.

They were very organized. I was surprised at how well thought out everything already was, down to the last detail. 

"So anyway, your name here will be Amanda Ryan. You are an only child with happily married parents and you've just moved here from LA because you found it too 'noisy' over there." Cassie read from the file before handing it to me.

I scanned the file trying not to feel overwhelmed by the new information. "Okay, I think I can handle that."

"Good," Cassie smiled as she handed me a pile of clothing and a backpack. The backpack was extremely heavy so I knew immediately that all my school stuff must have been in there. "Get changed you leave in twenty minutes," she ordered while steering me into the direction of a room. When we opened the door I realized we were in a gigantic closet, full of clothing and accessories.

"Pretty cool huh?" She smirked. "We have a whole wardrobe department for undercover missions."

"Yeah," I answered in awe. "But why can't I just go to school in what I'm wearing?" I asked gesturing at my black leggings and a simple shirt. I saw no problem with it.

"Because you are a completely different person now. At this school, our main aim is to get you in with the popular group because they'll be more involved with this drug, so short skirts and tank tops it is." Cassie explained.

She led me to a dressing room and within 5 minutes I was dressed. Saying that the clothing I was wearing wasn't my normal style would be the understatement of the year. I had been given a leather skirt and a long woolen jumper that looked like it had more fur on it than a cat. I started questioning whether someone like me could get in with a popular group.

After that, it was time to go. We gathered all my school supplies and got ready for day one of this mission.

I felt my stomach churning as I left the factory building. Cassie was walking alongside me, holding the same device that Eric had on him yesterday.

"Agent Number four three three two on the move," she spoke into it.

Was I agent 4332? Did I get my own ID number? Or was that her ID number? The journey to the vehicle alone was already flooding me with more questions. I continued walking with Cassie who was kind enough to hold my heavy bag. I stopped midway when I realized the vehicle we were approaching was the one I was about to get into.

"A limo?" I asked in horror.

"Studies show that being rich will boost your popularity and being in with the popular crowd will-"

"Get me closer to uncovering the truth about this drug," I interrupted, nodding. "Yeah... I'm just getting that part."

"Good," she simply replied as she opened the car door for me. Eric sat inside while the driver sat in the front. I wasn't expecting to see him again after our short training session this morning. I slowly stepped into the limo and looked around.

"First time in a limo?" Cassie asked from behind me while handing me my bag.

"Yeah," I said still looking around.

"You'll be fine. Anyway, Eric will take it from here. Good luck agent," she said. It took me a moment to register that I was the agent she was referring to. I was an agent. She shut the door and the limo began moving.

I stayed silent for a few minutes with Eric until he began speaking.

"Nervous?" he asked.

I slowly nodded looking out the window.

"I was on my first mission too." He said.

I turned to face him, interested. "How old were you?" I asked. 

"Seventeen." he admitted.

My eyes widened. "My age?"

"Yeah" he answered, not explaining further.

"How? Didn't your family know what you were doing?" I asked curiously.

"It doesn't matter." He immediately replied, shutting down any conversation about himself. "Anyway, I just want to do a quick background test on you."

I tried to suppress a groan. Cassie had made me do the background check several times within the last hour. "My name is Amanda Ryan, I have two happily married parents, no siblings and I'm from LA. We moved because it was too noisy" I repeated in a dull tone.

"Good," he said nodding. "Just try not to say it like a robot when people ask you."

I let out a small laugh until I felt the car stop. We couldn't be there already, not that soon.

"We're here." The driver announced.

Oh god. I turned to look at Eric desperately.

"Hey, look you're going to do fine. Today's an easy day. Just settle in and try to get a good idea of 

"Okay," I sighed. Trying to remain calm. He pulled something out from the side of the car. It was another one of those devices that Cassie had been talking into earlier.

"This is for you," he said handing it to me. It only had three buttons, one with a cover over it. "The green button will connect with you with me straight away and we can talk to each other, like a walkie talkie." I nodded, knowing I had an emergency contact was relieving.

"The blue button is for recording so if you hear anyone say anything about the drug or anything you believe we need to be aware of, just hold it down and it will record. It's not mandatory, it just helps with gathering evidence." I nodded, "And the red button, is for emergencies. It's pressed whenever you are in a dangerous situation and need backup or to be rescued. It's mainly used for if you or someone else is attacked by someone who has a lethal weapon and you cannot fully defend yourself. It has a little lid over it so you don't accidentally press it. You press that button and you have an entire swat team by your side in minutes."

I stared at the button, noting to be careful with it. "Got it, thanks," I nodded, grabbing the device carefully from him and putting it in my bag.

"Keep it with you at all times," Eric ordered.

"I will," I assured him. I sighed as I looked out the window. "Everyone is going to stare at me when I walk out of here."

He nodded. "They will, just ignore it and head to the front office."

"Guess this is goodbye till this afternoon." I realized.

"It is," he responded. I opened up the car door, stepping outside and grabbing my bag.

"Oh, one last thing," Eric said. I looked at him holding the door in my hands. 

"Welcome to the team - and make sure you don't have too much of a good time out there today. Remember your mission."

"Better a good time than a naughty time, right?" I joked sarcastically.

"Funny," he muttered absently.

I let out a small smile before shutting the door.

This was really happening.

I watched the limo drive away and then all of a sudden felt sick.

I was on my own now and had a whole spy company depending on me. I sighed as I turned around to see dozens of students staring at me. My stomach tightened as I heard the whispering and felt their eyes on me. I ignored their looks and made my way up the stairs into the building, keeping my eyes down on the floor.

The hallway was crowded. I scanned down the hallway instantly working out the stereotypical groups. Goths. Nerds. Jocks. You would think their would be some diversity in this school but, I guess not. I continued down the hallway, noticing them instantly. The popular girls. They were always the easiest to find. The confident ones who laughed and smiled and were always dressed like they were going to a fashion parade. The ones that had their iPhones out and were gossiping away. I walked past them quickly, planning on dealing with them later.

"Hey!" I heard one of them yell the moment I passed. I turned around to see they were talking to me. "You just came out of that limo right?" the blonde asked, smiling.

I had to give Cassie credit, she had been right about the limo thing. "Yeah I did," I answered shyly.

"Oh cool, I'm Tasha," she smiled at me. I took in her appearance a short pink dress and blonde hair that almost fell to her shoulders.

"Hi I'm Be-uh Amanda." Crap. I'd barely started the case and I was already slipping up. My name was Amanda. Amanda Ryan. I needed to be more careful. Luckily I'd registered the slip before I completely stuffed up.

"You're new here right?" She pressed further.

"Yes, I am," I said trying to smile in recovery from that almost horrific name incident."I'll take you to the office to get your timetable," she offered, grabbing my arm and dragging me down the hall before I had a chance to react. Two girls followed her. "Okay, that's Violet and Charlotte," she said gesturing to the girls who smiled at me. I had to walk quickly to keep up with their fast energetic pace which was almost like a strut on a catwalk or something. The one that was introduced to me as Violet had dark brown hair that was almost waist long and the other had long blonde curly hair. They looked like they belonged in some kind of fashion magazine or a Vogue photo shoot.

"Hi," I greeted them awkwardly. They smiled and I took a small breath as I continued to walk with them down the hall. So far, so good.

I had told everyone the same story I'd said to Cassie millions of times this morning. And a lot of people had asked. It seemed like everyone wanted to know the limo girl. I had made it through Art and Drama, two classes I wasn't even taking back at my old school, or was it still my current school? The whole thing was too confusing to think about.

At lunchtime, I was being steered off by Tasha and her friends who had been by my side almost all morning since I arrived each of them being in at least one of my classes. Even though by that point I was discovering how annoying and spoiled they really were, I was glad to have people to help me get around the school.

I entered the cafeteria and followed them to their table that other girls were sitting at that I had barely spoken to this morning. All looked eager to see me. All of this because of a goddamn limo.

I looked into my backpack thankful to see that lunch had been included. I pulled it out and instantly wanted to groan. Salad. I hated lettuce. But as I looked around I noticed all the other girls at the table had salad too, the ones that were eating of course. I couldn't believe how accurate Cassie had been about everything that had happened so far. They continued their earlier conversations from this morning during the lessons.

"So anyway he told me that he is totally into me and he thinks that we should totally hook up-" one girl babbled on.

"Oh my god, you two are perfect for each other!" Violet exclaimed.

"So happy for you babe." another girl added.

It was torturous listening to them. They kept going on and on about things I had no interest in or didn't understand. It made me miss Kevin and Debby. Our conversations were never this stupid. I wondered if they were sitting at our lunch table right now wondering where I was. I still hadn't worked out a cover up for them yet. I obviously couldn't tell them anything about this or I could risk my job with the RUA.

"That's so awesome Zoe, do you think he'll use Naughty time?" Tasha asked.

I felt myself freeze. The drug. That was the name of the drug. I acted quickly but casually, digging through my bag and pulling out the device Eric gave me earlier. I held it under the table and hit record as they continued to speak, not noticing my odd behavior.

"I don't know he might get some from Henry if he has any left. It would definitely make things better if you know what I mean," Zoe answered, winking.

I needed more information. I couldn't just leave it at that so I decided to speak up. "What's Naughty Time?" I asked pretending to be clueless.

"Oooh that's right, new girl doesn't know yet." Tasha cooed. "It's only the best drug ever. It helps make everything better. Especially-"

"Yeah, I kind of got that part from the name." I interrupted, not wanting to hear her explain drugged up intercourse to me.

"Anyway, everyone's using it. You're not cool if you don't use it." I hoped she wasn't suggesti- 

"You totes need some." She was. 

She was now recommending that I take the drug. I couldn't believe this.

"Oh me? No, I'm fine." I answered trying to get them to drop the subject. I was not willing to take a life-threatening drug for the sake of this case.

The accepted my answer and continued eating. I realized that maybe pretending to want the drug, might help me find out more information about the drug.

"Actually, you know, I could maybe try it sometime." I said trying to strike up the conversation again."In the distant future." I added.

Tasha looked up at me with her big green eyes shining brightly. "Really?" she asked excitedly.

"Yeah sure, any idea where I could get some of those pills?" I asked holding the recording device closer to Tasha under the table, trying not to look suspicious. So far none of the girls had noticed my odd behavior.

"No one knows who deals it. It's like some big mystery. All deals are done secretly. But don't worry, we'll help you get some." Violet assured me. The rest of the girls nodded in agreement.

Suddenly the bell rang. I released the record button I was holding down and put the device back in my bag. I silently congratulated myself for finding out basic information about the drug early. Today was just supposed to be about fitting in but I was already getting ahead.

"English now," Tasha informed me, linking her arm with mine and steering me down the halls. It felt like the day would never end.

I excused myself halfway through the English class claiming that I needed the bathroom. It was a mortifying experience as I knew the whole class had been watching me and I'd only met the teacher briefly fifteen minutes earlier. As soon as I left the room, I quickly headed into an empty small janitors closet and shut the door behind me. I pulled out my spy device and pressed the green button.

"Eric?" I asked into it, praying I'd hit the right button.

A few seconds later I got a reply. "Is everything thing okay Rebecca?"

"Yes, look I need to talk to you." I began.

"Are you alone?" he asked.

"Yes of course" I answered. "Look this mission is going to be a bit harder than we thought. No one knows who the dealer is. They do everything in secrecy." I explained.

After a moment, he finally responded "Guess I should have expected that. Don't worry we'll talk about it more this afternoon when you come back here. Well have to start accounting for all this information ...did you get any recordings as of yet?"

"Just a recording of a conversation that pretty much explains what I just told you" I sighed.

"Good, you have evidence." he sounded slightly impressed with that small praise making it obvious he hadn't expected me to be onto it so quickly. "No one's suspicious?" he asked.

I scoffed. "No way, I'm with the dumbest group you could ever imagine."

It was a vicious reply, and not the kind of thing I would ever say about anything however, a couple of hours with that group and I'd already begun to feel like I was going crazy. From their empty conversations to the way they spoke about each other behind their backs, I'd never witnessed anything like it before. 

"Just keep going as you are now okay?" He said sternly.

"Yeah sure," I said. "Look I gotta go, bye." I clicked off the device and shoved it back in my pocket. I made my way back to the classroom before I could warrant any suspicion.

It felt pretty amazing the day I went on stage to collect my medals for breaking various records during the annual gymnastics competition and I thought nothing would ever be able to beat the happy feeling I felt that day. But nothing could describe how happy I was when that last bell rang to signify the end of the day. Relief flooded through me instantly and the thought of me lying down on my bed watching movies in my room filled my head. I was suddenly missing my familiar comforts.

Students eagerly left the classroom and I followed quickly behind a group of them.

"Amanda! Wait!" I heard Tasha call from behind me.

These girls didn't quit. I turned around plastering a fake smile on my face as I waited for her to catch up to me.

"Meet you tomorrow in the morning in front of the bleachers?" she asked.

"Sure." I answered with a big fake grin on my face that may have read sincere happiness to her but read 'kill me now' to me. I walked over to my locker that sat with a few others on one side of the hallway. I hoped my bag would be lighter from now on considering I'd placed all the school supplies in my locker. 

"See ya! I got a mixer to go to." Tasha said waving at me as she walked off.

I shut my locker door and placed my bag around my shoulders.

I was eager to leave the school grounds. I walked as quickly as I could to the front doors, being blocked every few seconds by slow students. It was almost painful being stuck behind their slow pace. I barged out of the doors and then stopped to look around. I immediately saw the limo and walked as quickly as I could to it. I looked down to avoid more stares.

I grabbed the door and opened it awkwardly, knowing I was being watched as I got in slowly.

"Agent Eric is waiting back at RUA for you ma'am." the driver greeted.

"Thanks," I said but it came out muffled as I had my hands covering my face, from feeling fatigued.

"Everything alright mam?" the driver asked, taking note of my actions.

I removed my hands from my face, trying to lean back on the seat as casually as I could. "Oh yeah, everything's fine," I said in a calmer voice. He started the engine and within seconds we were heading on our way back to the RUA.

How much more of this could I possibly take?