A Secret Service [NOW PUBLISHED]

Chapter 10 - "Funny one, Carter."

Link tensed, staring at Carter. After a long silent moment, where Donovan knocked on the door again, Link burst out laughing. Carter blinked and took a startled step back.

"You think that..." Link was bent over double, laughing.

"Carter, open the door," Donovan called out.

Carter stood there, trying to iron out her thoughts. Link straightened, the end of his laughter sitting on his lips.

"Does this mean I can walk around acting like a jerk and people will still have to be my friends?" he asked.

More knocks resounded through the bathroom.

"Link, do you honestly not know?" Carter asked.

Link tossed up his hands, looking around the room.

"Carter, you can't be serious? Me? Be..." Link didn't finish his sentence.

She stared at him puzzled.

"Funny one, Carter," he said.

He walked passed her and unlocked the door. Donovan stopped knocking at the sound. As Link stepped out of the bathroom, he threw a furtive glance at Carter, his eyes holding in a look of panic. She froze, understanding what lay behind the look, knowing what she had discovered was true and Link knew it too.

Link slipped out and the door swung shut behind him.

The bell rang, jolting Carter from her thoughts. She reached for the door and yanked it open. Before her was a storm of bodies and no sign of Link or Donovan. She rushed into the crowd in search of them but as she burst out of the entrance she still hadn't found them.

Students raced down the stairs, heading for waiting cars or moving to the parking lot. She spun around, her gaze jumping from face to face in a vain attempt to find Link. When it seemed that the majority of the school had left, she gave up the search.

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A troubled look still held Carter's expression as she stepped off the bus. The doors clunked closed behind her and the bus drove away, leaving her alone on the quiet street. The sun was dipping to touch the horizon, its last rays elongating the trees and buildings' shadows. Carter shifted her messenger bag and headed for the deli.

The ding of the overhead bell was lost in the sound of loud conversations as she walked in. Maggie greeted her with a bright smile and a wave before continuing on with her current customer. Carter slid into an empty booth and stared out the window, her chin resting in her hand. She watched, her mind half distracted, as a family of three walked down the sidewalk, their faces dotted with smiles.

A napkin was dropped before Carter, closely followed by a cookie. She didn't take her eyes from the glass, the world around her drowned by her thoughts. Maggie slid into the seat across from Carter, her eyes holding a look of concern. She poked Carter's arm.

"Hey girly," she said. "What are you thinking over there?"

Carter finally pulled her gaze away from the window and looked at Maggie.

"I was pondering why people do what they do," she said.

The concern in Maggie's eyes deepened.

"Thinking about your mom?" she asked, in a caring voice.

Carter tensed and her hands instinctively curled into fists. Maggie placed a hand over her fist.

"You understand that what she did was terrible and you didn't deserve that, right?"