Hacker (Book 1)

Veronica Chapter 13

I didn't realize I was so tired until I collapsed on the bed. My heart was still racing from Sebastian's comment. I know  I'm being stupid, but something about his smile sends my heart racing.

I'm so stupid. I need to stop falling for him. If I'm going to survive here I need to stay focused. I can't get attached. Right?

I toss and turn all night. It's not that the bed isn't comfortable, on the contrary I haven't slept in a bed this soft since my parents died. I just keep thinking about tomorrow. What's going to happen?

After what feels like hours of contemplating what's to come, I finally drift to sleep. Nightmares don't haunt me tonight. I dream of Sebastian instead, his kind eyes, beautiful smile. I don't know why, or maybe I don't want to think about why. However, it's better than the nightmares from my past that haunt me day and night. It's a nice change.

I wake up what I assume is early, but without a window or clock, I don't know what time it is. I push myself up, not able or wanting to go back to sleep. I decide to take a shower, and change clothes.

I was able to wash away the grime that clouded my skin. After I was clean, I looked in the closet. The clothes were my size, thankfully. I picked black athletic leggings, a loose fitting black t-shirt, and gray tennis shoes.

I pluck a book off the shelf and read while I wait for someone to come get me. The organization handbook was interesting like the color brown. It was the most boring thing I've ever read.

About 10 minutes later I hear a knock on the door. My heart flutters at the thought of seeing Sebastian. I pull the door open.

A girl with blond hair, piled on top of her head stands in front of me. She's a little shorter than me, and has dark brown eyes framed by big glasses.

"Hi," she says extending her hand, "I'm Emmalyne, but my friends call me Em. Well if I had friends the would."

"Nice to meet you Em. I'm Veronica," I reply shaking her hand.

"Oh I know," she says, "Everyone knows who you are. You're famous here."

"Are you here to give me a tour?" I ask uncertainly.

"Yes, sorry. I can get So side tracked sometimes. I could just go on and on and on and-," she says.

"The tour," I interrupt.

"Oh right," she says laughing, "I did it again."

"It's fine," I say with a smile.

"So, we're on level three. That's the dorms and cafeteria," she says guiding me to the cafeteria.

"Does everyone in the organization live here," I ask.

"Oh heavens no," she says, "Only the teens live here."

"Oh ok because I was a little concerned," I reply.

"Anyways, breakfast is at 7:30 sharp," she says, "Lunch is at 12:30, and Dinner is at 5:00."

"Cool," I respond, "Where to next?"

"We can go to the training room," she replies, "It's on level four."

She leads me up another flight of stairs.  We enter a very long hallway with glass walls. On the left there's a room full of weapons. The other side was a training area.

"We call that the arena," she says.

"Does everyone train there," I ask.

"Not necessarily," she explains, "I work in the medical devision, but the field agents train there a lot. There's a separate room farther down the hall for the agents in training, and agents under 20."

I nod in understanding. She guides me farther down the hall. I look through the window, and see two people fighting. One of them is Sebastian.

"That's Sebastian," she says in a hushed voice, "He's the best around here, and the cutest."

"Yeah," I say not looking away.

He dodges punches, and lands some of his own. He's completely in the zone. It's like he can see every attack before it happens, and he's ready for it. One punch his opponent throws he catches, and he flips the other guy.

He has the guy pinned when he looks up. He sees me and gives me a small smile, and winks. His opponent takes advantage of him being distracted, and flips him. Sebastian lands with a thud.

I smile trying to conceal a laugh. I was so wrapped up in watching Sebastian that I didn't realize Em was talking to me.

"Wait, you know Sebastian?" She squeals.

"Um, yeah he saved my life," I say.

"Is he as charming in person?" She asks.

"More," I reply.

"You're going to have to tell me all about him during lunch," she says.

We continue the tour, which surprisingly lasts the whole day. Em and I depart after dinner. I didn't see Sebastian after the training center. Unless you count at dinner when this guy yelled my name, and Sebastian started hitting him. However he said he'd show me the library, so who knows.

I didn't realize I was so tired until I laid down. It's ten pm so I guess I'll have to wait to see the library. Part of me deflated knowing that I'll have to wait to see Sebastian.

Stop obsessing over him Veronica, I scream at myself, he doesn't care about you. To him your just another girl he can hypnotize with charm. Well, not this girl. I am not falling for Sebastian.

I drift off to sleep determined not to fall for him. Wait, I'm still thinking about him. Ugh!!!! This is going to be harder than I thought.