My Fairytale

“Delinda Winters is going to disappear today,” Special Agent Patricia Luis said with a smile.

Delinda looked at the woman in horror. “You want me to be a man!” She screamed.

Patricia shook her head. “You won’t be a man, you’ll be sixteen year old Danny Hunter of the Hollywood Hunters.”

“And what about the real Danny Hunter?” Delinda demanded crossing her arms and pouting.

“He’s dead.”

Delinda’s job dropped. She hadn’t expected to hear that. She was going to become the face of a dead boy. That was worse than simply becoming a male. “Why can’t I just go hide out in a convent?”

Special Agent Luis blinked once before she burst out laughing. “Oh honey, you’ve been watching too many movies. Don’t worry, we know what we’re doing and this is what is going to keep you safe. A few months and you’ll be free to go on your way. This is just a favor we’re doing for Detective Waters.”

Silence settled in between the two women. Delinda’s mind was racing. It had been a week since she had lost her job. A week since she had found out her dirty secret. A week since Preston had gone to jail. She was only sixteen. It didn’t matter that she never acted like it, she was still only sixteen.

“A-are you going to cut my hair?” Delinda finally managed to find something to say.

Patricia smiled and pulled a pair of scissors off the table. “We have to make you look like a boy sweetheart. Emo or Prep?”

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Classes were done for the day. It was the one thing that Delinda could be grateful for. It was hard answering to Danny. The name was so unfamiliar, but she had to catch on quick. She knew that. Special Agent Patricia Luis and Detective Mark Waters had both made that point very clear. If only they knew that there was a chance that she wasn’t going to be able to hide the fact that she wasn’t a guy in a few months. There was still a chance that the test had been a fluke. She was banking on that. If not, she was seriously screwed.

Delinda slipped out of one of the side doors and into a garden surrounded by the high brick walls of Brigham Prep. She slipped her bag off her shoulder and shrugged off the thick wool jacket that was part of the uniform. She would have loved to strip off her shirt as well, but she had been warned against that. The bandage across her chest and its purpose would have been too obvious. It was tempting to slip up to her room and have some alone time there. The nice thing about being in a rich kid school was that there was no sharing rooms.

A door slammed shut nearby and Delinda jumped. She took a deep breath and let it out. As she looked around, she could see no one. Maybe she was just going crazy. “Jeez Lin,” she muttered. “You’re getting paranoid.”

“Lin?”

She heard someone made a squeaking sound. Then she realized it was her as she spun to face the voice. Her heart sank as she stared at piercing blue eyes. She snapped her jaw shut and looked at Michael Horn. He had been a jerk to her for no reason, but he was still sexy as hell. How was that fair?

“My middle name,” she muttered her eyes flicking down. She couldn’t remember what Danny Hunter’s real nickname had been, but she doubted that Michael would ever know the truth of the matter.

“Right,” Michael snorted skeptically. “So tell me…Danny Lin Hunter…did I not make myself clear?”

“What are you talking about?” Delinda demanded. She had a feeling she knew exactly what he was talking about. Damn lunch period.

Michael shook his head. “You don’t look stupid Hunter, but apparently I was wrong. I don’t like being wrong. I don’t like being violent. But since I can be wrong, I can obviously be violent.” Delinda’s eyes widened as she took a step back. Michael took a step forward and began to counter every move that she made until she found herself pinned against the wall by his sheer presence. “I did warn you.”