For Her Honor

Chapter 20

It was hot.

How else could I describe the weather of that particular day in North Carolina other than being hot.

It was hot.

But even the heat didn't distract Emma from giving us the best tour of North Carolina anyone had ever received. And after what happened that morning with Ryder, I think everyone just wanted to let her cope. And her way of coping was staying busy so she didn't have to think about it.

That's exactly how I kept my mind off of things as well.

Emma took us to her college and showed us around campus. We went to several coffee shops and three different libraries. It felt nice to be doing something normal for once. Visiting colleges was what seniors in high school were suppose to be doing, but I hadn't gotten the chance to visit even one due to the events that had plagued me for the past couple months. The University of North Carolina was the first college I had actually been to.

Which worried me.

Let's say for argument sake that we eventually find out who is threatening me and I manage to make it out of this whole situation alive. What do I do then? I haven't had any time to study for SAT's or any other college entrance exam. Yeah I was a pretty smart girl but no college would accept someone who couldn't meet their requirements. So what was I going to do after I graduated from the academy?

At least Emma made it to college and was working towards a career. I didn't even know what I wanted to do with my life. At one point I had wanted to be a lawyer to help people but after seeing the crimes my bodyguards had committed to keep me safe, I realized that sometimes helping people fall outside the boundaries of the law. How could I enforce something that I myself had broken countless times before?

Of course none of this mattered unless I figured out who was after me and stopped them before they killed me, or worse, killed Marco. My mind flashed back to what Emma had said at the table this morning but I still couldn't pinpoint what my mind had unraveled. I had discovered something, but I didn't know what.

"Harmony? Care to join us in the conversation?" Emma's voice drifted to me and suddenly I was pulled away from my troubling thoughts and back down to earth where my friends and I were currently seated at a table in a cafe somewhere.

I shook my head to snap myself out off my dozing state, "Yes I'm sorry, what was the question?"

The group giggled and they turned to face the server who was standing next to me, "What would you like to eat?"

A blush dusted across my cheeks and I quickly recited the first thing I saw on the menu, "Um just a cheeseburger please. No onions, extra pickles."

The server wrote down what I said and quickly retreated back to the kitchen to deliver our order. I felt something brush against my leg and found that it had been Marco's knee. When my gaze met his I saw him mouth, "Are you okay?" to which I nodded. There was no point in revealing my troubles of school and figuring out who was after me. It would only stress Marco out more and that was the last thing he needed right now.

"So how long are you guys planning on staying?" Emma asked as she sipped her pop, "Ryder never told me."

"That's because we never told him." Marco informed, bringing the cup of water to his mouth and swallowing a huge gulp of it.

Did I mention that it was hot?

"We aren't really sure how long we'll be staying." Toni chimed in, "Maybe a few days, maybe a little longer. We haven't had any contact with the academy since we left so we want to make sure we give them enough time to sort things out with the school's defenses."