"I don’t know if I’m ready to speak about it." I became fully aware of Spencer sitting closer to me. I could feel her breathing against my skin. It was soothing. I thought back to that day and words came flooding out

"Like I was saying, we… We trained together. We went on most missions together. It sounds awful, I know, but having her around almost made killing people easier. Anyway… One day, the head of the Agency came in and told us that we wouldn’t be on anymore assignments. We were so excited! I swear, that night we were both so happy. Kyla even thought the Agency might let us go. The next morning, Aiden came in and told us we were being enrolled into school…" I paused, moving falling hair away from my face quickly, glancing at Spencer to make sure she was still listening. I couldn’t say any of this again. She nodded, her hand finding mine. “So the next morning we were dropped off at school. We were given strict instructions to not tell anyone who we really were. Of course, we obeyed. We were just glad to be around normal teenagers, I guess." I started chewing on my lip trying my best to remember all the details.

"Kyla and I were having the time of our lives! We had friends, we even tried out for the cheerleading squad." I forced a laugh while wiping away a tear. I took a deep breath. I needed to get to the point. I rushed over my words. "One morning before school, Aiden called me aside. He handed me a backpack. We were running late, so he said I should open it during my lunch break. I was puzzled because he didn’t give Kyla a backpack, but I guess I knew he favoured me, so it didn’t bother me that much. I put the bag in my locker and completely forgot about it. Lunch came around, and I went to my locker…" I started laughing. This time, it was a bitter laugh at how stupid I was back then. I wish I’d left that stupid backpack in the car.

"I opened the bag. You know, I really can’t even remember how I reacted to what I saw. Everything just sped up. I ran to the nearest bathroom and examined the contents. I even threw up." I let out a sigh, maybe this was a bad idea. Maybe I should have made up a story about Kyla, a story with happier ending