Hello everyone!

I hope you are all okay!

Here is a new chapter.

Enjoy!

**************

Anna counted to ten in three different languages to control her brewing anger. At the moment, she really contemplated changing her roommate. She sat up on her bed and looked at Mary with annoyance. But the happy girl was oblivious to Anna's discomfort as she started chatting rapidly.

"Hey! Can you stop a little so I can at least understand you?" Anna raised her hands in an attempt to stop Mary from continuing her speech.

She felt relieved when Mary took a seat on her already made bed and breathed deeply.

"Today morning I went to the administration, and guess what?" Mary looked at Anna expectedly.

"We are expelled from school," Anna said hopefully.

"It is not funny you know," Mary said with a glare on her face that made Anna think she offended her, but she sighed in relief when the smile returned to Mary's face, and she resumed speaking.

"Since you are so bad at guessing, I will tell you, our schedule is matching. We have all classes together and also with Hunter. I am sure this year will be a blast."

Anna groaned and threw her head on a nearby pillow.

"Oh joy!" she said under her breath.

"Come on, you need to get up because we will be late if you don't," Mary said and yanked the covers from Anna, who looked at the clock on her bedside table. Mary was right because it was 7:45, and classes started at 8:30, so if she didn't hurry up, she would be late.

**************

Anna looked at her phone for the tenth time that day. She can't bring herself to hurt the girl in front of her. The photos Lillian sent her were of a fragile girl who seemed defenseless. She sighed and put her phone away.

She needed to figure another way to get herself in trouble. Because hurting that girl was absolutely out of question.

It was homeroom class, and as expected, Anna found herself in the same class with the Salviatti clan. She took the last seat in the first row and observed her surroundings. Moments later, her target "Anya Green" walked in the room with her head down, and like any nerd took the first seat in front of the teacher's desk. Anna breathed deeply and walked towards her. She needed to see her target closer so she could study her personality.

"Hi," Anna said coldly.

"Hello," Anya returned timidly.

Anna closed her eyes and took a deep breath. It was hard, really hard. How can she bring herself to hurt that innocent girl? And to make it harder, her eyes were chocolate brown and held no harm. Anna looked around the room, and her eyes caught Lillian staring at her apologetically.

It's her or your friends, choose. Anna's conscience screamed at her.

I can't, she doesn't deserve it. She didn't do anything bad to me. I don't even know her.

"Miss Ivanov, is there something wrong?" Ethan's voice brought Anna from her mental struggle.

Anna smiled devilishly as a new plan formed in her mind. They want her to go to the principal's office, then she will get there but on her own terms.

"No, there is nothing wrong," Anna answered with a passive look on her face.

Ethan knew right away that the girl was up to something, but he decided to play along, "then I suggest you take your seat so we can start class."

"I don't like your suggestion. You can start your class. I have unfinished business here. Once it's done, I will join you." Anna fixed her attention once again on the trembling girl in front of her and asked sweetly.

"Where were we? Ah! We just got to say hi to each other before Mr. rude here interrupted us. So what's your name?" when Anya just stared at her, Anna tsked and snapped her fingers.

"I asked you a question, and when I do that, I expect an answer." Anna finished her act by slapping her hands on the desk.

"Enough! You crossed the limits, Miss. Ivanov. Follow me." Ethan said sternly and marched out of the room.

Anna smiled in victory and walked with her head high as all the students looked at her with astonishment. Once in the corridor, Anna looked at Ethan with cold blue eyes.

"Now, what?"

"What was that? You didn't follow the plan." Ethan said angrily.

"I disrespected a teacher and mouthed off. Isn't it a good reason to send me to the headmaster's office?" Anna said in a matching tone.

Ethan ran his hands across his face and breathed through his nose in an attempt to control his anger. Without another word, he started walking towards the office.

Once in front of the door, Ethan knocked twice then entered after Mr. Harrison permitted them. The man wasn't surprised when he saw Anna accompanying Ethan and just sat on his chair with an indifferent look on his face.

"Good morning Mr. Salviatti, I see that you have problems on the first day of your teaching here."

"Sorry to disturb you at this time of morning sir, but unfortunately, Helena here landed herself in trouble," Ethan explained and tried to appear apologetic.

"Okay, let's hear it." Mr. Harrison said as he took a pen and a notebook.

"May we step outside to have a word privately? I am afraid talking in front of Miss. Ivanov would make the situation worse than it is." Ethan suggested.

Anna caught Ethan's subtle gesture indicating his ear. She nodded and slipped the ear device as the men left the room. As soon as the door was closed, Anna moved to the headmaster's side of the desk and sat down. Fortunately, the computer was already on. She logged in the school system searching for something out of the ordinary. Fifteen minutes later, Anna was sure that the idea of the mafia keeping important files in a school's computer was stupid.

"Okay, I think everything is fine, and I can let it go with a warning that time. Now, excuse me Mr. Salviatti, I need to go back to my office. I have work to do, and you have a class to teach." Anna heard Mr. Harrison said to Ethan.

"No, I need more time. I need at least more five minutes." Anna pleaded as her fingers flew rapidly on the keyboard.

Anna blocked the new conversation that started between the two men and took a flash drive from her pocket. She found a folder with a suspicious name and thought that maybe it contained important information. Anna cursed under her breath when a window with the words "enter the password" popped up in front of her. She tried random numbers, but nothing worked.

"It's time I go back to my class. I am sorry I took a lot of time from you, sir."

Anna understood the hint Ethan gave her and quickly closed all the open tabs and made sure that everything was in his right place. By the time Mr. Harrison entered his office, Anna was sitting on her chair feigning boredom.

"Count yourself lucky that Mr. Salviatti convinced me to let your transgression with a verbal warning. But I advise you to watch your attitude, Miss Ivanov." The headmaster stated as he sat on his chair.

"Are you done?" Anna asked while playing with her curls.

Mr. Harrison breathed through his nose, and it was obvious that he was trying very hard to control his anger. He can't believe that a girl like Anna can be that rude.

"Yes Miss Ivanov, I am done and you can go back to your class."

Anna made sure to take her time leaving the office, and what she noticed drained the colour from her face. She felt like collapsing. In front of her were two surveillance cameras, one was situated in the corner of the wall that was facing the desk, and the other was above the door. It was sad to get kicked out of school on your first day, but Anna was sure that she would be packing and going home by evening.

"Is something wrong, Miss Ivanov?" Mr. Harrison asked when he saw the girl's hesitation on the door.

"No, no. There is nothing wrong." Anna managed to answer and took her leave.

Anna returned to class and took her previous seat. She was still shaking from what she discovered in the office. All the eyes were on her, but she did her best to ignore them. She knew that Hunter was watching her intensely and could literally feel his blue eyes piercing her soul, but she was determined to not give him the satisfaction of seeing the turmoil in her eyes.

"Can you stay behind for a minute Miss Ivanov?" Ethan asked as the students pilled out of class.

Anna nodded and went to his desk. After the last student left class, Ethan closed the door and turned his attention to Anna.

"So, what did you find?"

"Nothing relevant, but there was a file with the name 'XYZ' that caught my attention, but I wasn't successful in copying it because it required a password, and I think I need to hack it to take it."

"Good, at least we have a lead. You need to go there at night and take it. You will have enough time to do it." Ethan voiced his opinion.

"What? Are you kidding me? By the way, they have cameras, and I think Mr. Harrison is watching me rummaging through his files as we speak."

"Don't worry, right after you exited his office, Simon our technology guy deleted all records and replaced them with you sitting on the chair like a good girl," Ethan reassured her.

Anna sighed in relief and nodded her head, "and here I was thinking about going back to my room and packing my clothes."

Ethan laughed at her words and went to his desk to write her a tardiness paper.

"Here, give this to your next period teacher and try to stay under the radar for a few days. We don't want the headmaster suspecting us from the beginning."

Anna nodded her head in understanding and went to her next class which was History.

**********

It was lunch break, Anna and Mary were making their way to the cafeteria with Anna ignoring Mary never-ending questions. The girl was too curious for her own good and loved to know everything. She would make a very good reporter. She doesn't allow anything to slip by her. They took their trays and filled them with food. Mary took an apple and chicken salad and nearly squealed in shock when Anna took three slices of cheese pizza and a glass of cola.

"are you okay?" Anna asked her shocked friend.

"No, I am not okay. How could you eat junk food? You will lose your shape if you keep it up." Mary tried to explain to her crazy friend.

"It is okay. I love pizza so much and can eat it every day without gaining weight. Besides, I am in a bad mood and need some calories." Anna laughed and took a seat on one of the vacant tables.

Mary sat beside her and looked dreamily towards the table in front of them. Anna raised an eyebrow and followed her friend's line of vision, only to be met with a pair of blue eyes. Hunter along with the Salviatti boys and Lillian were sitting in that table. Anna kept eye contact with him. She refused to avert her eyes. She was trying to read his look, but like always, his eyes were empty. What do you expect from someone who is the master of masking emotions? Anna was brought from her musing with the scarping of the chair beside her.

"Can I join you, ladies?" Alex asked charmingly.

Anna was going to roll her eyes and told him to find another table when Mary smiled and nodded her head. Anna rolled her eyes at her roommate instead. The girl was okay with any boy sitting with her as long as he was handsome and attractive.

"So, how was your day?" Alex asked.

"it was great actually until Helena here decided to get in trouble with our homeroom teacher......."

Anna focused on her food and tried to block her friend's babbling. She just sat there and listened, nodding sometimes when a question was thrown her way. She wasn't in the mood to mindless chatting. Also, she still felt Hunter's eyes on her and it was making her uncomfortable.

*******

"Who is he?" Hunter asked as he saw Alex taking a seat next to Anna.

"Alex Giroux, a student from France, we have three shared classes," Lillian answered as she took a sip from her chocolate milkshake.

"and?" Hunter inquired.

"that's all I found on him. His file is pretty empty." Lillian shrugged.

"why is he sitting with my sister then?" Aiden asked.

"I don't know, he is just trying to befriend her. I spotted him sitting with her the other day."

"Why are you acting so casual about that?" Hunter asked suspiciously.

"the boy is just sitting with her. He didn't do anything alarming, so stop being paranoid, and let Anna enjoy her stay here." Lillian said with annoyance.

"no, he is not just sitting there. He is flirting with her, the bastard." Hunter said and was about to get up and go to Anna's table. That boy needed a lesson, and Hunter was willing to teach him.

Lillian caught her cousin's arm and fixed him with a serious look.

"Go ahead and make her hate you more than she already does. It is not the right time to show your jealousy. If you want to win her back, I suggest you give her space." Hunter contemplated his cousin's words, then snatched his arm from her grip and left the room altogether.

The rest of the day was spent with a staring match between an angry Hunter and a clueless Alex. The blonde boy was trying to gain Anna's friendship and didn't hold back on anything to do it. The girl was a walking beauty, and he would be dumb if he allowed her to slip from him, but would he be brave enough to stay by her side if he knew the murder plans that were forming in Hunter's mind.

*************

Lillian was ecstatic when the first day of school ended without blood-shedding. But the tension was very thick and people could explode at any moment. She really hoped that this damned mission ended without someone dying, more specifically, without her cousin committing a public murder.

"We need to talk," Ethan announced to his household.

After everyone gathered around the dining table, Ethan explained what had happened in the headmaster's office.

"what do we need to do?" Eric asked.

"Anna has to go back to the office, and she will need plenty of time to hack into the file. The night is when she will have that amount of time." Lillian concluded.

"And here comes another problem, we can't let her go there alone, anything might go wrong," Ethan stated.

"I will go with her," Hunter said without hesitation.

"Okay, the fastest we solve this, the easier our mission becomes. So let's put a plan together and execute it tonight." Aiden suggested.

"Good idea," Ethan said and fished out the school's map.

Fifty minutes later the plan was done, and Lillian was informing Anna about the details. Hunter laid in his bed and tried to relax a little. Today was stressful and nerves consuming and to make sure he performed the plan perfectly, he needed to clear his mind.

************

Anna's heart was beating fast as she tried to slip by her sleeping friend quietly. She turned the door's knob and stepped outside. Carefully, she closed the door and nearly collapsed in relief when Mary didn't even stir from her deep slumber. She took her cell phone and turned the flashlight to help her walk down the dark corridor.

Anna thanked God for her good memory as she didn't find any difficulties in finding the headmaster's office. She stood against the door waiting for Hunter who showed up moments later. Anna watched in fascination as Hunter picked up the door's lock without any problem and entered the office. She followed him and went directly to Mr. Harrison's desk. Without any delay, she started working rapidly.

One hour later Hunter looked at Anna expectedly.

"Any luck?" only to be disappointed when she shook her head negatively.

Hunter was playing on his phone when Simon's panicked voice echoed through his ears.

"You need to get out from there, or find somewhere to hide because the headmaster will be there in two minutes."

"Why didn't you inform me before?" Hunter snapped.

"I am sorry, but the man came from nowhere. Now hurry up because he just turned right and would be there in a minute."

"Anna, close all the files and turn off the computer," Hunter ordered.

"but I am close to cracking the password," Anna complained.

"the headmaster is two steps away, so either you stop whatever you were doing, or he will catch us."

When Mr. Harrison opened his office door, he found the room pitch dark. He turned on the lights and went to his desk. He searched through his files then opened his drawer and took a red pen and started writing. Suddenly, he stood and made his way to the cabinet. He opened it and took a red file. He stood there and looked around the area. Anna caught her breath in her throat and pried that he won't look behind the cabinet. He was so close to them that she could hear his breathing quite easily.

For the second time that day, Anna felt her knees would give up from relief. If it wasn't for Hunter's tight grip on her, she was sure she would have ended a puddle of nerves on the ground. Ten minutes later, he rearranged his things and took his leave.

Anna who was back pressed tightly against Hunter's chest behind the large files cabinet sighed in relief and made a move to detach herself from his grip, but Hunter only tightened his arms around her and turned her so she was facing him.

"let go," Anna said forcefully.

"and why should I?" Hunter countered.

"he is gone and I need to move from here and continue my work, so I can at least sleep a little before classes start." Anna reasoned with him.

"who is that Alex guy you are hanging out with?" Hunter asked.

Anna detected the jealousy in Hunter's voice and decided to play with him a little.

"he is a new student from France. It's a blast to spend time with him. He is funny and has a good humour sense. On top of that, he is very attractive and handsome, not to forget his French accent of course. I think he is the dream of every girl." Anna said dreamily.

"Anna," Hunter said warningly.

"you asked a question, and I answered you. I am not responsible if you liked the answer or not." Anna said smugly.

"let's see if you will find him handsome when I am done redecorating his face for him and maybe even knocking a tooth or two." Hunter retorted dangerously.

"you won't dare," Anna spoke seriously.

"try me. I don't want you hanging out with him. Preferably, I will speak with Mr. Harrison and ask him to move him out of your shared classes."

"you don't have the right to do that Hunter. He is my friend, and I will treat him as I want." Anna said haughtily and tried to move from Hunter's hold.

"he wants to be more than your friend. I saw it in his eyes."

"then what? Maybe I want to be his girlfriend. Maybe I like him too. What's your problem? We aren't together anymore, so it doesn't concern you with whom I associate." Anna snapped angrily.

"I think I was merciful with your new friend. Maybe I should kill him and get rid of him forever. I don't like people messing with what's mine." Hunter said with a malice smile on his face.

Anna just stared at him with her mouth wide open. How dare he threaten her? How dare he act with her like that?