Rule #1: Never Date An A.C.E. [COMPLETED]

Chapter 3: Rule #16 Never Underestimate An Ace That Succeeds You

Chapter 3: Rule #16, Never Underestimate An Ace That Succeeds You

"So, what's your nickname?" I asked, as Alex pulled me away from the fighting ring and began directing me to archery.

She smirked, "Bull's-eye, and I'm sure you can figure that one out," she winks and I laugh.

"When do I get mine?"

"All in due time, Isabella," she says seriously and I groan. We finally reach the archery side, and a woman calls to Alex.

"Mansfield! Come over here and show these newbies how it's done," she smirks and Alex smirks back, grabbing an arrow from a quiver, and her bow off the hook marked MANSFIELD. She snaps her fingers and a target starts moving erratically, so much that the movement gave me an instant headache. She gets into her stance, eyeing the target expertly.

Suddenly a kid in the pack yells out, "Shoot the target already, Bull's-eye!" he says tauntingly. I saw the slight tighter grip on her bow, but other than that she doesn't move a muscle. After a quick second, the arrow is shot and hits the target, which instantly stops moving. An arrow protrudes directly from the center of the target, the end quivering. She turns to the newbies and glares at the one guy in the pack.

"Rule number sixteen, never underestimate an Ace that succeeds you. Never," she whips around and winks at me, showing me she isn't actually upset. I giggle and the woman who yelled at Alex walks over to me, after sending the pack to try their hand at archery, and sticks out her hand.

"I'm Liann Porter, nicknamed Archie, since I'm the archery teacher," Archie smiles and I shake her hand, smiling back. "What division are you in, newbie?" Alex runs back over and whispers in her ear, which causes her face to look shocked, much like Alex when Dylan told her.

I groan, "I have no idea, no one will tell me!" and Archie just shakes her head.

"Really?" Archie directs at Alex, and she nods, which causes me to become more annoyed.

"Tell me," I whine and they both turn and shake their heads.

"You'll find out eventually," Archie's face portrays a confused, but excited, look, and I just inwardly roll my eyes. My parents used to occasionally pull this same thing on me, you'll find out when you're older or you'll find out when you're ready. A pang of sadness struck and I felt my face pull a frown. I sure did miss them.

Alex looked at me quizzically, "You really will find out soon, don't be sad." I force a smile, and Alex pulls me towards the gun range. Each one of the corners is far enough away from each other where if a mishap were to happen, it wouldn't affect the other corners. As we walked, Alex began to tell me more about her.

"I'm in the logistics division, meaning I'm pretty much a technology nerd," she says happily.

I stop her, "You don't look much like a nerd," She laughs and I smile back at her.

"Not all nerds are unattractive," she flips her hair and we continue walking, laughing.

"But, you're amazing at archery, I thought maybe you were a field agent or something," I ask, trying to figure more out about the Ace Program. It seemed I wasn't getting the same treatment as the other newbies, the ones in the group touring. They seemed to be learning about the Ace program, and it seemed I was being thrown in without actually knowing anything. She shrugs.

"Every Ace must become proficient in some sort of combat, whether it is guns, bows, or fists."

I nod and continue along with her. We reach the shooting range just as an instructor yells and guns begin to fire. Alex plugs her ears, and I follow suit; I cringe as the sounds still penetrating my plugged ears, but soon the instructor yells again and the gunshots seize. The shooters automatically reach up and pull off their noise-cancelling headphones and push a button on their station which brings their target flying toward them.

"Quite impressive, don't you think?" A male voice behind me says and I smirk.

I answer without turning around, "I guess so, but it seems quite a few of them missed their targets entirely." I gesture to the closest shooters to me hadn't even made a hole in the entire paper, but their looks were pointed directly at Alex and I. We both smile and wave our fingers, chuckling to ourselves. I then turn around and look up at the boy that spoke to me. "I'm Isabella Donahue. What's your name?"

"Chandler Martinez," he holds out his hand and I shake it.

"Aw come on, Martini, I called dibs," another boy come up behind him and shoves him lightly out of the way.

"Martini?" I laugh and Alex joins, while Chandler just rolls his eyes.

The new boy in front of me speaks, "I'm Blaze, but my friends call me Smoke."

"Because your name is Blaze?" I ask.

He laughs, "Nope. Because I always use smoke before I shoot my enemies down with my mad archery skills."

Alex rolls her eyes, "In your dreams, Blaze. You're not the one with the Bull's-eye nickname." She winks at me and we stroll away, arm in arm, leaving the two boys to discuss.

"Did she just walk away from us?" Blaze says incredulously, and Chandler nods, just as surprised.

"That's never happened to us before," Chandler trails off and the two look at each other.

"I'm going to win her first!" They both yell before beginning to tackle each other to the ground. Alex and I overhear, and we continue laughing.

Alex runs into my shoulder making me stumble, "I can already see you're strong enough to resist the infamous Blaze," and I laugh again.

"He's infamous?"

"He and Chandler both, but of course Lancaster has the nickname," she rolls her eyes and leads me out an almost concealed door in the corner.

"Leading me to my imminent death?" I ask sarcastically as she holds the door open for me. Alex shakes her head and gestures ahead of me through the door. I sigh and walk through it. Darkness greets me on the other side as Alex slams the door behind me without entering. I turn quickly around but I can't even see an outline in the door, and I can't feel a handle.

"Damn it," I whisper. I realize right off the bat this is some type of test. The sound of rushing water reaches my ears and, in seconds, my sneakers are filled with water and my socks are soaking up the water like a paper towel. I begin fumbling around for any objects and when my hand touches something thin and metal-like, I pull it out of the mid-calf water and run my hands over it.

"You lock me in a room that fills up with water and all you give me is a damn hanger?" I yell in frustration.

I hear a sound system beep into life, "Only two minutes left."

I mumble a few choice curse words at Dylan's voice but begin feeling the walls for something-anything. My curious fingers then find a hole in the wall-just small enough for one finger. I search up the wall with my other hand and find a similar hole right above it. My eyes finally begin to adjust to the light, but I don't need my eyes to tell me the water is at my waist now, and holy crap is it cold. I look up and realize I don't see a ceiling. I tilt my head in confusion, but something dawns on me.

Teeth chattering, I push my shoulders into the water and wait, the hanger still clutched tightly in my hand.

I can't touch the floor anymore and I have to kick my legs to stay afloat, but I continue to wait. The dark water swirls around me and I have to fight my instincts to not panic.

Come on, Isabella, show the asshole you aren't a little girl.

I look up again and now see what looks like a manhole cover and I smile, exactly what I thought was going to happen. Twisting and bending the hanger until it is strong, I hook it into the tiny hole I can see and give a little tug.

It doesn't move an inch.

Shit.