My winter holidays have finally begun! I'll actually be updating a lot more.

"You will have to change your names," Alexander said as soon as we got into the car. According to him, we were to stay in a luxurious five-star hotel. "Erica, you will be Lacy Whitman and Ben, you will be Ben Miller."

"Why don't I get to change my first name?" I asked, frowning.

Alexander shook his head. "I don't know. This is what Dad told me to tell you. You can contact him with further questions. You both will pose as classmates, children of billionaires. You will be attending a private school for about a week and a half, depending on how well it goes. Every class you have will be with either one of them. As far as I know, you both only have two classes in common, which means you have to use a radio earpiece for any contact details."

I nodded. The car pulled up near a hotel.

The hotel looked like Aquarius, but ten times bigger and better. It was so stylish and elegant, with beautiful fountains and ponds and gardens. Even Erica seemed to be in awe.

"Okay, now, let's go," Alexander said, stepping out of the car. The driver drove off, leaving Erica and me staring at the magnificent hotel.

"There's an indoor swimming pool in each and every one of the rooms, and a theater, and so much!" Erica said, wide-eyed. Only she wasn't happy. She was annoyed. "What a waste."

I rolled my eyes. You seriously need more hobbies, Erica, I thought as Alexander booked us a massive suite.

We handed our luggage to the hotel waiters and they took it to our room, which was on the seventh floor of the building. Alexander opened the door and I stood in awe.

It was a beautiful suite with three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a kitchen, a living room and two indoor pools with a beautiful balcony.

"Wow," I breathed. "How?"

"The CIA can actually afford this?" Erica asked, bewildered. We immediately chose rooms and got settled in. Alexander rushed out of the suite to attend a phone call, leaving us in the suite.

"Look at this," Erica said, emerging out of her room with her phone. "We have schedules."
"Oh, we do?" I asked, opening up my own phone as well. There was a welcome email addressed to me and 'Lacy'.

"I'm going to have to get used to not calling you Erica, then," I said, sitting on the couch. Erica nodded.

"Do not screw this up, Ben," she said. "I'm going to go get some sleep. It's eight in the night and I need sleep."

With that, she headed back inside the room. I went back to mine and curled up in bed. Tomorrow morning I had to be in a brand new private school spying on two kids I'd never met. Erica probably wouldn't be in my classes, so I had to look out for myself.

I wondered whose classes I would have. Jamie's or Cynthia's?

"Ben," came Erica's voice. She opened my door and threw me a shiny, black object. "Your earpiece."

I nodded, then thrust it near my phone. Erica closed the door and headed back to her own room. I settled in, trying to sleep.

Only I couldn't.

I wasn't able to fall asleep at all. I tossed and turned in bed, unable to sleep. Finally, I grew exhausted and got up. I could hear soft snoring from Alexander's room. It was almost midnight and the moon shone on our suite, lighting up the balcony. I slowly crossed Erica's room and headed towards the balcony. I grabbed a candy bag from the mini fridge and popped a couple of pieces in my mouth.

I found myself wondering about Mike and Zoe. They weren't on the mission with us, and they probably thought that I was visiting my parents. My parents, on the other hand were anticipating my arrival. Both these thoughts haunted me as I glanced out into the open.

"Can't sleep?" came a voice.

Erica.

"Yeah," I replied. "You?"

"I was sleeping perfectly well," Erica said, "until you woke me up."

"What do you mean?" I asked. "I didn't do a thing."

Erica shook her head. "You as in I had a nightmare and you were in it."

Erica dreamt about me? "Uh...okay?"

"No, you don't get it," Erica said. "I'm having dreams and nightmares. This isn't me."

I motioned for her to join me on the balcony. "What do you mean?"
"I normally don't dream, and even if I do, I don't remember them. Lately, I've been remembering my dreams, Ben."

"So...is that a bad thing?" I asked her. She nodded.

"I'm playing around with my emotions, and it's interfering with my life, Ben."

I looked up at Erica. I was expecting her eyes to be filled with tears, her mood to be confused, and her head in her hands. But she just stayed calm and expressionless as she spoke. She looked out into the clear sky lit by the moon that beautifully reflected onto the pool.

"So, is there anything I can do?" I asked her.

She turned away and started walking back to her bedroom. "Just get a good night's sleep. We need to go to school tomorrow. We should start at seven in the morning."

I sighed and walked back into my room. Erica wasn't going to talk to me any longer, so I got into bed and prepared myself for what was going to come.

XXX

"Ben!" came Erica's voice, jolting me awake. "It's five thirty in the morning. Get up."

I groaned. I needed more sleep. Figuring that Erica would probably burn the bed down if I didn't wake up, I grumpily got up and got ready. Pulling on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, I double-checked my schedule for the day before sitting at the table for breakfast, which consisted of an egg and a glass of orange juice.

"Your car will come at seven, kids," Alexander said. "Make sure you have your schedule, and engage with Lucio's kids. We need information."

We both nodded. The clock read six thirty in the morning, so we figured we should be going down.

"Okay, wait outside the hotel and a blue sedan will pull up. The woman driving it is one of my agents. The password is 'Golden Blue'. Once you have confirmed it is her, she will take you to your exchange school," Alexander commanded, so me and Erica headed outside.

We descended and exited the hotel lobby. Sure enough, there was a blue sedan pulled up by the entrance. There was a woman with long blonde hair waiting for us in the driver's seat.

"Password?" Erica asked. The woman looked around both ways, then gestured for us to lean in.

"Golden Blue," she said. I smiled. She extended a hand and Erica shook it. "I'm Riley."

We got in and she drove us to the palace-like structure of a school.

"This is your destination. I will come here at three pm precisely to pick you up." with that, Riley drove off, leaving me and Erica standing outside a massive building swarming with students.

"Okay?" I said, eyeing the students who were laughing and talking. Some of the students kept to themselves and their phones while others formed stagnated groups in the hallways chatting excitedly.

"My first class is biology," Erica said. I nodded in agreement.

"Mine too. Should we just head there?"

Erica nodded. "It's on the first floor."

We headed to the staircase and went up to the first floor. We could see more people our age going in and out of classrooms. We tried to blend in and quietly slipped into the biology classroom.

"There. There's a table that says exchange students. I think we're supposed to be there," Erica said. We both sat at that table, which was unfortunately in the middle of the room. There were tables on either sides of the classroom with this one in the middle.

"Hello, class!" a chirpy voice said. I turned around and saw a dark haired woman wearing a billowing top and jeans set a book on her desk. "Welcome back to a whole new week of school!"

Our teacher.

I surveyed the class for Cynthia and Jamie, but I couldn't find them.

"We have two exchange students from the United States. Let's welcome Lacy and Ben!" she said. Every pair of eyes turned towards us. Erica jumped into her fake persona and smiled to the students. I smiled as well, trying to hide the fact that I was a nervous wreck.

"Cynthia, Jamie," she called. "Lacy and Ben will be shadowing you throughout your classes. Be nice to them, class, and make them feel welcome."

The teacher proceeded with the class, and the sound of paper rustling and notebooks being opened filled the classroom.

"Are you Ben?" came a soft voice. I turned around and saw a beautiful girl with long brown hair. It was dyed light purple at the ends, and she had piercing violet eyes.

Cynthia Mirgher.

"Yeah, I'm Ben. It's nice to meet you," I said, but I doubted she heard me.

"Huh? Oh, yeah. I'm supposed to show you around. It may seem intimidating, but don't worry. This school may look big, but all the kids here are super nice."

I smiled. She seemed nice. Not spoiled like a rich kid would be. Every kid in the class looked like they were super rich.

"Thanks."

Cynthia flashed me a smile as she headed back to her table group, which consisted of two more girls. They eyed me and giggled. I ignored them and tried to focus on the teacher.

"Okay, you have the rest of class to do whatever you want!" she announced, and all the students pulled out phones and started talking. Cynthia and her friends gestured for me to join their table group. Erica had barely talked to me the whole period, and I figured that I could get information on Lucio that way.

"Ben, this is Lilly, and this is Chloe," Cynthia said, pointing to the two girls sitting opposite her. I smiled at them.

"So, where are you from?" Chloe asked.

"Washington D.C.," I replied, figuring it really didn't make a big difference. "I attend a private school back there too."

This was a partial lie. It was technically a private school, but then again, it wasn't.

"Ooh!" Cynthia exclaimed. "Is your dad rich too?"

"Uh, yeah," I said, figuring that all the kids here normally asked such a question. "My dad owns a large, uh, perfume company."

"Ohhh," Lilly said. "The one with the crystal perfumes?"

I nodded, having absolutely no idea what they were talking about. "It's really popular here in Australia."

"Oh my gosh! I use it!" Cynthia exclaimed. "Like, everyday. I use it for every occasion. I have all one hundred and fourteen scents."

"There's the, uh, new one," I said, trying to attract their attention. "Uh, crystal blossom."

Cynthia's face grew serious. "No way. I need it!" she said, then turned to me. "Do you have it?"

"Uh, my dad gave me three bottles," I lied. Cynthia's face brightened.

Then she took my hands in hers. It was sudden and surprising. I was shocked, but I let it be.

"Please?" she asked. "For me?"

I nodded. "Of course."

She smiled. "Oh my gosh thank you so much!"

The bell rang and all the students filed out. Cynthia waited for me to grab my things. I checked my schedule and found out that I had math.

"I have math too! Follow me," Cynthia said, heading out the door. Her locker was right there, in front of the science class. She opened it, threw in her notebook and pulled out a math notebook and a calculator.

We crossed the hallway and entered the math room. The teacher was already putting up a warm up, so I quickly followed Cynthia to a table. It looked like she was the only one at that table, so she didn't mind me sitting with her.

That's when I realized that I should have met up with Erica to talk. She wasn't with em, so I presumed that she had a different class, probably with Jamie.

"What's wrong?" Cynthia asked, snapping me back into the present. "Are you okay?"
"Uh, yeah," I said. "I'm fine. I was just thinking about Erica."

"Erica?" Cynthia asked. "Who's that?"

Awkward place to end the chapter, but I'm leaving you in suspense.