005

Gaia

"Hold up a minute," Tatum heaved another carton box unto his broad shoulders. "You're really serious about this?"

"Have I ever joked about anything in my life?" I rolled my eyes at him. "I'm fucking serious."

"Wow." Alyssa exhaled as she rounded the corner of the black SUV, stopping beside me and directly in front of the passengers' door, which was threatening to break open with the number of boxes and other things I'd stuffed in there. "Chief Keith did not go easy on you this time."

"It was either this…" I frowned, gesturing to the modest looking house that I'd turned to. It was a modest house to be honest, with glass doors you could hardly see through and crystal clear windowpanes too. Underneath them, were little baskets popping with sunflowers and dandelions alike. It had another flat on top, with a balcony extending like an alcove onto the front porch. It was nice, but it wasn't black. I frowned deeper. "Or I get to be Susanne's personal nurse till she recovers."

"Damn." Tatum whistled. “He really did put you in a tight spot."

"Tell me about it." I yanked the passengers' seat open and quickly caught a box about to tumble over. “He knew I'd never take up the Susanne offer, so I got stuck with this."

"But Gaia," Alyssa called. “For someone who's not excited about this case, you brought along a whole lot of boxes. Are you planning on going through college all over again?"

"That's another thing." I huffed, balancing two boxes on my arms as I made my way towards the front gate. "Chief basically packed all this for me. Both from my house and his. He just couldn't wait to send me away."

"Can you blame the man?" Tatum nudged me in the shoulder. "You're literally a pain in the ass."

"What?" I glared at him. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Well." He drawled. "I mean you're a handful. You're stubborn, annoying, and let's not forget the fact that you're really aggressive too. Your leaving would definitely calm his blood pressure levels...."

"Why you tiny moron…." I gritted my teeth. "If there weren't enough valuables to buy you a pint sized cup of sense in this box, I'd have broken your jaw into two."

"And that's the reply I'm going to miss badly at work." Tatum grinned, his teeth flashing under the sunlight. "That office won't be the same without you."

"As flattering as that sounds," I trained my eyes on him, flaunting the biggest frown I could muster. "I still owe you at least three broken bones."

"I'll keep that in mind for you," Alyssa smirked as we all stopped at the front door. "Do you need help settling in?"

"Nothing I can't handle." I rolled my shoulder blades, carefully dropping the boxes to the ground. "You both have to report to work soon and I have a roommate to meet. I'd rather not waste your time."

"Okay." Alyssa pulled me in for a bone crushing hug. "I'll call you often, okay? And if you need anything, Tatum and I are here for you."

"Speak for yourself please." Tatum's hands went up in mock surrender. "But I'd definitely appreciate some selfies with you and your new sorority sisters in your frilly pink tees and the rest."

"I hate you." I pulled out a vase from the half open boxes and tossed it at an already sprinting Tatum. "And I'd run faster if I were you."

"I love you too." He stopped midway, clutching the vase in his hand. Damn his stupid fast reflexes. "Let's go Aly."

"I'll talk to you later." Alyssa flashed me her popular knowing look before hopping down the tiny stairs and making her way towards Tatum. "And please don't kill somebody on your first day."

"I make no promises!" I half yelled as I pushed open the front door and walked right in.

°°°°°°°°°°

"Yaaaay college." I rolled my eyes with as little enthusiasm my body could come up with. "I'll never forgive you for this, Chief."

Swinging my tote bag over my shoulder, I marched through the gates and took in my surroundings. Glancing around, I felt like a freshman all over again. The hustle and bustle of students running around the quad with bags and books of different sizes and proportions brought back nostalgic moments from my freshman year almost five years ago .

"Oof." I came head on with a mass of pink frilly clothing. I winced in pain as Tatum's words haunted me in my head. "Are you blind by any chance?"

"I should be asking you that" The pink mass in front of me which was in fact a girl let out in an ear defeaning shriek . "Watch where you're going!"

"You watch where you're going!" I snapped back. "It's not like I did it intentionally."

"Of course you wouldn't." The brunette by her side smirked smugly. "With the type of clothes you're putting on, you obviously don't belong here."

"What's wrong with my clothes?" I took a menacing step closer towards her. I was clad in a pair of black ripped denim jeans with a slightly bogus blue hoodie on top while my feet were adorned with a pair of white Vans sneakers. "You look like the colour pink puked all over you.

"You did not just insult my designers!" She squealed, obviously annoyed. A bright pink power suit ,which was definitely two times smaller, clung tightly to her almost bone like structure. Her brown hair was braided into a complicated updo with a couple of pink hair pins to fasten loose strands of her hair to the side. And in my opinion, she looked like a certified freak.

"Do you know how much my whole ensemble costs?"

"I'm guessing probably just a penny since you can't pull it off." I shrugged , my nonchalant attitude causing her to twist her face in rage.

"Seriously, did you not take a look at your mirror before stepping out this morning?"

"How dare you?" She lunged towards me but I caught her wrist mid air, tightening my grip on her hand. "Let go of me, you bastard!"

"Trust me." I pressed down on her hand, watching her lips quiver in pain. "You don't want to make me mad. So get out of here while you've still got legs."

I pushed her and she stumbled backwards, only managing to get her footing on her pointy heeled stilettos.

"There!" She'd grabbed a cup of smoothie from another student and spilled the contents in my shoes. "That should teach you a lesson."

"These were my favorite pair." I seethed as I grabbed a hold of her collar and flung her into the fountain nearby. Her shrill screams drew the attention of other students, but no one dared to step closer. I scanned my surroundings while my victim was still gurgling water and my eyes landed on another student with a smoothie in her hand, completely rooted to the spot. "I'll need that quickly please."

"Ewww , nooo." Her screams came out muffled as the slimy contents of the cup slid down her hair and unto her designer piece of clothing. "You'll pay for this."

"I already did." I wiped down the last drops of whatever I'd spilled on her, a smug smile growing on my face.

"Sayonara."

As I sauntered out of the way and back onto the road that led to classes, I felt badass. The other students who'd witnessed the whole showdown oohed and aahed as I walked past them. I fished out my phone from my pocket and opened the app Chief had made install last night prior to the mission today. On the screen a red dot flashed brightly under what was a blueprint for the entire school.

The red dot represented Mr Cassian and from the direction in which he was headed, I'd be running into him in just a few.....

"Oh God no." I whined as I came in contact with something solid. "Are y'all just blind or is this common over here?"

"Pardon me miss, I'm so sorry." The buttery smooth voice rang a faint bell in my head, one I didn't think I would be remembering anytime soon. Like that wasn't enough , his hand steadied me almost instantly, in a way that felt too familiar. "Are you okay? Did...."

"Oh. My. God." I let out slowly as the one person I wasn't expec

ting in my entire lifetime stood inches away from me. "What are you doing here?”

I'm in deep shit.