Secrets of the Harts

10 December 2009
“So, how was your date?” sang Tia, flipping through some magazine that promised to help you snag the perfect body in three days. She tossed me another magazine. This one said, “Does he really like you? Or does he treat you like a friend? Take this test to find out!”

“It was okay.” I flipped open the magazine. It was glossy, filled with many pretty images of thin, beautiful women and tall, muscular men. And then I felt obliged to add, "I haven't seen Dylan since then."

“You haven’t seen him since then?” She studied me and then looked at the magazine. “Hey, take that test!”

I shot her a look.

“Seriously, if you want to find out what he thinks of you, take that test.”

I hadn’t paid much notice to this before but it seemed like Tia had been in a much better mood these few days. I had taken it to mean that she’d had a great date with Luke but hadn’t really wanted to hear about it, especially since my insides still felt twisted up whenever I thought about Dylan. Trying to distract her, I put the magazine aside and asked her, “How was yours with Luke then? You never said anything about it.”

She flushed uncomfortably. “I get it. I’ll drop it.”
“No, I really want to know.”

“I don’t really want to talk about it.” She attempted a smile. “Anyway, Christmas is coming soon. Are you going home?”

Calloway hadn’t mentioned my plans for that day. “I’m not sure actually. I’ll have to find out from my parents. What about you?”

“I don’t think my parents are going to want me home. But I think I heard Luke and Dylan saying something about how they’re going to stay in Dylan’s winter place for Christmas. I guess I'll check with them again. Do you want to come?"

“Are you asking me to be there so you won’t have to be alone with them?”

Tia smiled and shrugged. "You caught me."

“I’ll check with my parents first and get back to you later.” I stopped and wondered if the next question was too rude before taking the plunge. “Why aren’t you going home?”

“My parents are probably going to be busy this time of the year. Dylan’s dad isn’t the easiest person to get along with, so he usually doesn’t going back home unless he really has to. And Luke will probably follow Dylan.” Tia stretched and went back to her magazine. “You should really take that test, Tee.”

I nodded absentmindedly, wondering why she had tried to turn the attention away from her to Dylan and Luke.

14 December 2009
Frankly, I was starting to get very tired of this school.

Something about this school really irritated me. Perhaps it was those boys who swaggered about as though they were gangsters when they were only small-time crooks or maybe it was those girls who kept giggling every single time I was near them, probably recalling that ill-fated Thanksgiving party.

Whatever it was, it was starting to get to me. I found myself thinking of leaving for the apartment, just to get away from the school though I still didn’t relish the thought of leaving with Dylan.

“What’s up?”

Shaking myself out of my thoughts, I smiled at Luke. “No, I was just thinking. I heard that you guys were leaving for Dylan’s winter cabin for Christmas?”

“It’s not really a winter cabin, more like an apartment. Are you joining us?” He sat down opposite me, placing his tray carefully on the table.

Ignoring the hopeful expression on his face when he saw that I had a cookie left over, I said, “Maybe. I’m not sure yet. What will you be doing?”

“Sleeping, eating leftover pizza, watching trashy television... Hey, do you want that?” I shook my head, allowing him the cookie and waited for him to continue. “Yeah, I think that’s about it. Maybe we’ll go explore the city, though there really isn’t much there. You should come though.”

“Why?”

He looked surprised by my question. “I don’t know. Wouldn’t you be tired of this school by now? Dylan and I’ve only been here for a few weeks and we’re already bored with this school.”

I smiled wryly at that. “Are you sure you aren’t asking me because you want Tia off your back?”

“Despite what you think, I’m not going to be so lowdown,” he replied, stiffly.

“I heard both of you fighting outside my room the other day. I know what you two are like when you’re around each other.”

“Yeah, but I was completely polite on the date.” Luke froze, as though just realising what he said.

“What happened on that date anyway?”
“You mean Tia didn’t tell you?”

“No, she didn’t.” I saw the way he was fiddling with his cutlery and added, “Why don’t you tell me about it?”

“No! I mean it isn’t a good idea.”

I was about to press him for more details when there was suddenly an announcement. “Will Christina Drake please report to the office? Will Christina please report to the office immediately?”

“You better go. It sounds like something important happened.” He looked openly relieved, only making me even more suspicious.
***
I arrived at the office, unsure of what to expect.

“You took your time, Christina. We have other things to do here another than to wait for you.” The secretary shook her head at me before she looked back down at her paperwork and a faint smile developed on her face. “Your cousin, Peter Sanders, is here. He’ll be joining you at this school. You better bring him around this school.”

Confused, I followed her gaze. Then I saw the boy sitting on the uncomfortable chair further down the hallway.

Owen was here.

15 December 2009
It should not have surprised me at all that the Agency had managed to get Owen into the exact same classes that I had. What surprised me was the fact that the school had actually bought that Owen was a teenager, when he was actually four years older than my seventeen. Then again, Owen had always managed to charm his way into others’ hearts.

All my questions about what he was doing here, when I had managed dragged him into his room (which was thankfully, quite a distance from mine), were met with a smile. All he had said was, “Don’t you miss me, Kristen?”

I had stared at him, taken aback. “Don’t call me that. Someone may hear you.”

“This must be safe enough for you to ask me about the Agency.” He cast a cursory glance around the room, before his eyes had landed back on me. “So why can’t I call you Kristen?”

Owen hadn’t been so arrogant before. In fact, something about his attitude had reminded me of Dylan Fuller. That thought had left me speechless, uncertain of what to say Owen.

“How’ve you been?”

“I’m fine. Or rather, I was fine until you arrived.” I had paced around his room. “What are you doing here? Did Calloway send you?”

“I’m not answering anything until you tell me if you missed me.” He had caught me by the elbow, forcing me to turn around and look at him. “It’s been so long since we last met.”

“What do you want me to say, Owen? That I missed you?” I had narrowed my eyes at him, shaking his hand off. “You know me well enough to know that I’m not going to say that.”

“Oh, I know that. It’s just that I heard things have been changing around here. I was only wondering if that meant that you’d changed as well.” Owen had ambled to his bed and sat down, looking at me calmly. “After all, I saw your boyfriend with you the other day.”

I had flushed at this. Somehow, I had not thought that Calloway would have ignored me and sent someone after all. But she had and she had chosen Owen Harrison, the only person competent enough to do so without me detecting anything. "So what if youd did? Why are you here now? Are you here to spy on me?"

“Spy on you?” He had looked shocked. “Why would I do that?”

“Maybe I chose the wrong word. Are you here because Calloway thought I needed a nanny?”

Both of us understood what a nanny meant. He was someone who was usually assigned to dignitaries visiting the country or important men in the country. No one liked the job of trailing those fools.

“Do you remember the last time we saw each other, Kristen?”

I had folded my arms. I didn’t like thinking about that particular memory. He had, after all, chosen to break it to me that our relationship wasn’t working out, that he only saw me as a friend and that, oh, did he mention that he was flying to Italy for a new assignment? I had never found out if he had taken the assignment because it would have made avoiding me easier or because Calloway had insisted that he did. In any case, I wasn’t sure that I had wanted to know.

“Can I ask you something about?” He had said, standing up suddenly and crossing the space between us. “Did you ever wish that we’d fallen in love?”

Blinking back at him and at his abrupt change of topic, I replied, easily, “No.”

Then because I had realised that I was never going to get anything useful out of Owen Harrison, I had left his room, knowing that he had probably figured out the truth.