It was raining again in California. Duncan finally emerged from the convenience store across the street and ran across the street to meet me. He stomped in a big puddle splashing mud all over my jeans. I rolled my eyes and pulled my hoodie tighter around myself. “Did you get it?” I asked. He nodded and pulled me under a tree for at least a little shelter from the rain. He pulled out a small brown bag and waved it in my face. I snatched it away and shoved it in my backpack. “You can’t just swing it around like that!” I exclaimed. Duncan raised his eyebrows at me. “It’s in a bag, Em. You’ll be fine.” He said shoving his hands in his front jeans pockets. I couldn’t thank him enough for this. I threw my arms around him and he hugged me back awkwardly. “Come on, we should get back before your dad starts to get suspicious.” He whispered in my ear. I nodded and we ran down the street that led to my house. By the time we got to my house we were completely soaked to the bone. I reached into my backpack to pull out my house key when Duncan put a hand on my arm. I glanced up and saw why. The door was cracked open. “Well, that’s not normal.” Duncan said. I pushed open the door slowly and the two of us peeked inside. “Dad?” I called. I closed the door behind me and we looked around the entryway. “Uncle Greg?” Duncan called from next to me. No answer. I looked over at Duncan, thankfully he understood. We split up and looked around the entire house with no sign of my dad until Duncan called me back downstairs to the kitchen. “EMBER. YOU MIGHT WANT TO SEE THIS!” He yelled. In an instant I was at the top of the stairs, I ran down and straight into the kitchen where everything looked normal besides the note on the fridge. “Dear September and Duncan, I ran out for a few hours. Don’t worry about me, there’s money in the cookie jar for pizza.

Love ya,

Dad/Uncle Greg”

I stared at the note stuck to the fridge with one of the dorky letter magnets we’ve had since I was three. It wasn’t the note that had shaken me up. It was the fact that it wasn’t my father’s handwriting, it was my mother’s. “Well, Pizza it is I guess.” Duncan said. He was reaching for the phone when he noticed my face. I must have gone very pale because he rushed over to me. “Em, are you alright?” He asked. I nodded, I couldn’t tell him. Not yet at least. “Yeah, yeah. I’m fine. You order the pizza, I’m gonna go take a shower and change.” I said turning and walking away from him. After I took my shower and changed my clothes, I found myself on the couch watching the only channel that was coming in on my tv waiting for Duncan and the pizza guy. Duncan was in the shower after I practically forced him to change his clothes. The doorbell rang and since my cousin was still in the shower I jumped to my feet and opened the door. The pizza guy stoof there with our pizza. He handed it to me and I handed him the money. “Keep the extra.” I said my face burning. They couldn’t have sent any other delivery person? No, of course not. They had to send my ex-boyfriend. If you could even call him that. “Ember. I’m sorry about the night. You know I didn’t mean what I said, right?” Rick asked. I glared at him. “No. You meant every word and nothing can ever change what happened that night.” I said and closed the door in his face. I turned around and walked to the kitchen, wiping at my eyes. I set the pizza on the counter and got out some paper plates. I opened the cabinet to get two cups when it became too much for me. I dropped one of them and fell to my knees thinking of that night/ The shattered glass was sprinkled everywhere and I ended up kneeling it in but I couldn’t stop the tears or the flashback.

**Flashback**

“Rickkkkkkkk, I dare you tooooooooo,” Buster, Rick’s big brother scanned the room until his eyes fell on me. I didn’t even want to be there but my father had sent me so I could make friends. But what he didn’t know was that this party wasn’t even for teens my age, I mean there were teens there but it was mainly just Buster’s college buddies throwing a party at his house for inviting teens just to satisfy their disgusting boy habits. Most of the girls there would have been glad to do that, but not me. I wanted to grab Duncan and go. Sadly, they would let us leave. Rick was dared to ‘do it’ with me but since I was totally against it, it was technically rape. **End of Flashback**“September!” Duncan was shaking my shoulder. I threw my arms around him and sobbed into his chest. He held me and let me cry. Duncan had been through a lot . Way more than me but he still cared enough to let me pour my problems out to him. His parents had died in a plane crash three years ago so he came to live with me, my mother and father. We became a team, we did everything together. Then just last year, my mother went missing. And that’s when it hit me. My father didn’t just go out for a couple hours, he had disappeared just like my mother. That’s why the note wasn’t in his handwriting. But wait, it wasn’t his handwriting it was my mother's. I could never forget the way she formed her letters, she taught me the same exact way. But how did that make sense? If she was missing how did she write the letter and where was my father? I had no clue, but Duncan and I were about to find out.

The summer sun was ridiculous. I pulled my hair up off my neck and twisted it in a ponytail. I watched as Duncan talked to a stranger walking his dog. I sat on a bench to catch my breath. It’s been a year since my mother disappeared and a week since my father disappeared. We’d packed clothes, and as much food and water and every bit of money we could scrounge together in two backpacks. That’s all we had. That, and each other. One way or another we were going to find my parents. They’re still out there, I know it. The stranger walked off and Duncan came over and sat next to me. “He hasn’t seen anything either.” He said running a hand through his already disheveled hair and glanced at me. I turned my head to watch the dog walker walk down Parkman Ave. “Unless they left the state or maybe even the country, I don’t think we’re going to be finding them any time soon.” Duncan said also watching the man. My stomach grumbled and I groaned. “Ugh, I’m starving. Do we have any food left?” I asked. Duncan shook his head. “What about money?” I continued. Duncan reached into his pocket and pulled out a five and four ones. I thumbed through the money three times just to make sure I had the right amount. Nine dollars. That’s all we had. “Well, let’s find somewhere we can use this. We need to eat. We’ll figure something out soon.” I said pushing myself to my feet and pulling him with me. Duncan and I walked down Parkman in search of something to eat. We’d made it to Arizona about a day ago. Even if we wanted to we wouldn’t be able to make it back to California before we ran out of money. So, for now, we were stuck. Duncan finally found a small cafe on the corner. We slipped insde and before we sat down we split up to go to the restrooms. I stood in front of the mirror and studied my reflection. I looked different. There were dark circles under my eyes, my hair was tangled in knots, I looked terrible. But for someone who has no parents or a house what could you expect? I tried to at least make myself look presentable then when I tried the bathroom door, my vision went black and I could hear voices before I fell into a deep sleep.

When I finally pried my eyes open I could tell something was different. My head pounded with a terrible headache and I felt nauseous. Where am I? Where is Duncan? What is going on? Somehow my body found something in my stomach for me to throw up moments after I sat up. I hadn’t eaten since yesterday. When I finally got everything out of my system I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand as the door opened. I glanced over at the perso. I had no idea who this was. She was wearing a business suit and heels. Classy. She was also holding a clipboard. Once she approached me she looked me up and down. “Hello, September. I am Agent Beatrice Lovell, and before you ask, your cousin is fine.” She said. I gaped at her but didn’t say anything. She smirked like I did the right thing which automatically made me hate her. “Let’s get you cleaned up and then we’ll get you the tour.” She said gesturing to the door behind her. When I didn’t move she huffed. “Please, let’s just get this over with. Your cousin has already taken out five agents just trying to figure out where you are.” Agent Lovell said. Reluctantly, I agreed. I felt gross and I was starving. So, I stood up and followed Agent Lovell through corridors made out of tunneled out stone. She led me through a bunch of them, every time we turned a corner we were in an identical corridor. I don’t know how Agent Lovell knew where she was going. It was like a giant maze here. When Agent Lovell finally stopped, I bumped into her. She grunted and turned to look at me. “These are the locker rooms, go get yourself cleaned up and then you’ll meet the rest of the crew.” She said pushing me inside. I stumbled but caught my balance and, indeed found myself in a locker room, with that same stone ceiling as the corridors. I find my way to the showers. After I scrubbed my body free of dirt and grime, I started working on my hair. It was tangled together so bad I thought I was going to have to cut it, but water was a miracle worker. I finally stepped out of the water feeling better than I had in a long time. I was about to reach for my clothes when I realized they were gone, replaced by fresh new clothes. They fit perfectly, thankfully. I slowly walked back towards the door expecting to see Agent Lovell, instead I found two girls not much older than me. “Feel better?” The girl with long brown curls asked. I nodded as they pushed themselves off the wall. “I’m Janessa, and this is Leela.” She said. I smiled and waved at them. “I’m September. But call me Ember. Are you supposed to escort me to wherever I’m supposed to go next?” I said. Leela nodded and looped her arm through mine. “Yes mam’ we were told to take you to the Yellow Finch room. Where they’re keeping your cousin.” Leela explained leading me down the hall. Janessa walked next to us keeping the same pace.

~A New Day~

The next morning someone shook my shoulder to wake me up. I groaned and rolled over on my side. I had not slept well, I didn't feel very great and I really didn't feel like dealing with anybody at the moment. Finally, though, I gave in and turned to face the person shaking me. It was Leela. Duncan, Janessa, Cody and Simon, which I had learned where the two boys' names were not in the bunker room where we had slept. "Ember, It's time to start your training. Agent Lovell won't be happy if we're late." Leela said softly. I pushed myself into a sitting position and pulled my hair into a messy bun, not caring what I looked like. "Ugh, can't it wait a couple hundred years? Who said I even wanted to be a spy?" I said. "Secret Agent." "Same thing." "Whatever, I would let you sleep if I could, I would definitely say you need it. But orders are orders, and my orders were to get you out of bed and straight to training." Leela said standing up and crossing her arms, staring down at me. I tried to be mad at her, but she was right. I had to get out of bed at some point. So, I climbed out of bed and followed her through the winding corridors. "How do you not get lost down here?" I asked. Leela fell back to walk right next to me. "I don't know. I grew up here so I know these tunnels inside and out." She said reaching to touch the wall with her hand as we walked by. I glanced at her and saw she looked kind of sad. "Why the sad face?" I asked, not being able to keep it to myself. She dropped her hand from the wall and looked at me. "Sometimes I wish I had a normal life. I've never known how to be anything but a Secret Agent. I love it but sometimes I wish I had a different fate, a life to look forward too." She said. I froze in my tracks and she stopped a few steps in front of me turning to look back at me. "You don't have a life outside these walls? Aren't you aloud to at least get married and start a family?" I asked in disbelief. Leela shook her head and I gaped at her trying to process the thought of being stuck in these tunnels my entire life. "So, you've never been outside?" Another head shake. We began walking again."I've always hope Agent Lovell would assign me a mission, but I haven't been so lucky. Maybe I'll get to go with you and Duncan, when she decides you're ready to get your parents back." Leela said after a moment of silence. I nodded as we reached our destination. "You ready for this?" She asked looking at me with her hand on the doorknob. I shook my head. "No. I feel like shit, I have no idea how to be a secret agent an-""Shh, you'll be fine. Come on." Leela said twisting the handle and nudging me in before coming in after me and closing the door. Inside the room, there were a ton of teenagers, both older and younger than me. They were all staring at me and Leela. Leela led me over to, Duncan, Janessa, Cody, and Simon who were waiting in front of Agent Lovell. Agent Lovell looked pissed. Great. Just what I needed right now. "You are late." She said matter of factly."My bad, I didn't even want to come but Leela convinced me, and now I'm here so do what you want with me and let me go." If she wasn't mad two seconds ago she was now. She pointed to one of the girls on the other side of the room. "Agent Fae Silvetti, center of the room. September Davidson, join her." Agent Lovell said. Reluctantly, I went to the center of the room where Fae Silvetti was glaring at me. Suddenly, I was terrified. "Attack." Agent Lovell said. My head snapped over in her direction. "Wha-AH!" I cried as a fist punch me in the stomach, in seconds I went from clutching my stomach to lying on my back with my arms pinned under me and Fae sitting on me. "Fight back, September. When out on a mission you must always be on guard for another agent could take you out within seconds if you lower your guard for even a moment. Fight back." Agent Lovell demanded walking around Fae and I in a circle. I squirmed beneath her. My mind flashed back to the night of Rick's party, when I was in this same position and I couldn't do anything about it. The weight of Fae's body on mine was getting to be too much. I couldn't hear anything very well, but I'm pretty sure I heard Duncan yelling at Agent Lovell to make Fae leave me alone, but Agent Lovell seemed to be ignoring him. That made me mad. I found a sudden burst of strength, and with it I brought my knees up hard right into Fae's back. As she cried out in surprise, I took that as my moment to use all my body strength to twist myself onto my side, throwing Fae Silvetti off of me. Her legs where still wrapped around my torso, but I had managed to get myself into a sitting position. She jerked her leg up towards my face, I ducked just in time and rolled to the right where she had removed her leg. I had freed myself but now Fae was back on her feet. In a single moment I was back on mine. She stalked towards me, I stood there uncertain about what to do next. My entire body ached and all she had done was punch me, oh yeah and judo flipped me. She suddenly lunged at me, miraculously I somehow managed to dive to my left in a perfect somersault and land on my feet facing her back. When she spun around on me she had her fists raised. Slowly, I did the same. As soon as she reached me she started throwing punches. I ducked the first few and managed to spin around her and punch her square in the back, the exact spot where I had struck her with me knees. In seconds, she had thrown a single punch right at my face. I felt something begin to dribble down my chin but without stopping to make sure I was fine. I punched with my left fist, having a feeling she was going to duck to the right, thankfully she did, and I kicked her square in the chest sending her flying backwards onto her butt. Someone began clapping and I looked up and saw Agent Lovell smirking her grim smirk and staring right at me, clapping her hands. After a moment, everyone else joined in. I felt uncomfortable and then with a sudden drop of something hit my hand did I suddenly realize my nose was bleeding. Janessa pulled out a handkerchief and handed it to me. I accepted it and while I worked on stopping my nosebleed, Agent Lovell began another pep talk. "That, my young Agents, is how you fight. However, that was a very sloppy fight. With practice you can do that plus, a whole lot more. Agent Silvetti, back in line. September Davidson." She said turning to me. I shoved the bloody handkerchief in my pocket and looked her in the eyes. "That was very impressive, for someone with absolutely no training. However, I guess it is in your blood. Congratulations, you are now officially Agent September Davidson." She said. I gaped at her but I was too tired after what just happened to put up much of a fight so I just nodded and sat down in a chair against the wall. Not very long after everyone else had taken a seat as Agent Lovell called two people up to have it out in the middle of the room. Directly across from me Fae sat glaring at me. Cody sat down next to me, after beating another Agent in a fight. "Don't worry about Fae, She may look intimidating but she's really just a bit of a bully." He whispered to me. I looked over at him. "A bit of a Bully? She just kicked my ass, I'd such she's a huge bully." I whispered back. Cody chuckled and glanced at Fae then back at me. "Really, cause I thought you were the one that kicked her ass." He said. I smirked. "I did at the end there..but she definitely had me beat in the beginning." I said looking at him. He grinned at me with his perfect white smile and then he winked at me and turned back to watch the next two agent's fight. It was Duncan's turn. I had barely made it through my fight could Duncan make it through his? Turns out he could. As soon as Agent Lovell told them to attack, Duncan's opponent charged at him. However, Duncan just stood there like he was going to give his opponent a big hug. When the opponent reached Duncan, Duncan sidestepped him, grabbing his wrist and holding it above his opponent's head and then flipping him forwards causing him to land on his butt. Everyone was gaping at Duncan. Every other Agent had put a lot of effort into their fights, whereas Duncan did it effortlessly. "Duncan Adler, how did you do that so easily?" Agent Lovell asked, even she was amazed. Duncan shrugged his shoulders. "One of the few things I ever learned from my father. He used to do that to me except he would fling me onto the couch not the concrete ground." Duncan explained. Agent Lovell nodded thinking about something to herself. "I see, alright, that's enough for now! Everyone go get some lunch and meet me in the computer room afterwards." She said turning and leaving the room. Duncan weaved his way over to Cody and I, with Leela, Janessa and Simon. "So, you guys hungry?" Simon asked. I shook my head. "Are you kidding? I just got punched in the stomach, food is the last thing on my mind right now." I said even though food did sound amazing. "Fine, you don't have to eat, but you still have to come with us." Cody said looping his arm through mine and leading our little group to the cafeteria. They all got their food, and the smell was so overwhelming I had to get some for myself. "Did your appetite win you over anyways?" Simon joked. I nodded and took a small bite of my PB&J sandwich. Duncan was already on his third. "Jeez, when was the last time you two ate?" Janessa asked genuinely curious. I met Duncan's eyes and counted back the days to when we had last ate. "Well, it's been a couple days." I said since Duncan had just taken a big bite of his sandwich. Cody, Simon, Leela and Janessa leaned it waiting for an explanation. "We left the house and we ran out of food, we were about to run out of money and then we woke up here. There's really not much to tell." I said. They didn't look convinced and they let it slide out of conversation. I thought about what I could ask them to keep conversation going. "So, how come you guys aren't aloud to go outside?" I asked. The four of them exchanged glances and I glanced at Duncan. "Well...it's kind of against the rules." Simon whispered finally. "Why is going outside against the rules? How do you get fresh air? That doesn't even make any sense." Duncan said. All four of them shushed him and Duncan snapped his mouth closed. Janessa leaned closer to us, and pushed her hair behind her ears. "According to what we've picked up over the years, our age group isn't allowed outside until we're over twenty-one because the last time a group of underages went out on a mission three of the girls came back pregnant, and they all got kicked out of the entire organization. That entire group of them." She said quiet enough that no one else could hear except those at our table. I felt something click in the back of my mind. "Wait, why were they kicked out? Who cares if they got pregnant?" I asked. They looked at me, all five of them. I glanced at Duncan and saw he had the same panic I did in his eyes. "Relationships are banned unless otherwise authorized by one of the head Agents." Leela explained."Why? You look terrified now." Simon said. Realization crossed their faces. "Ember..you're no-" I cut Leela off before she could finish. I found myself staring at my hands as I said it. "I don't know. But I think I could be." I said almost a whisper. Duncan nudged my foot with his and I looked up. "Don't you dare have an episode right now, I don't think I can comfort you in front of all these people." He said. I gave a halfhearted smile, then I looked over at the others who were watching me. "Even if that was you know a possibility, there's no way Agent Lovell would decide to kick you out. You're too important to her..Right?" Janessa blurted meeting Simon's eyes. Simon shrugged. "I would think if anything she'd push back the mission." Simon said. "But what if Agent Lovell just doesn't find out?" Cody put in. I rolled my eyes. I barely knew these guys but here they were ready to protect me for something that could get me kicked out of this entire organization. "That's only if she even is!" Leela continued. Duncan suddenly slapped the table with his hand making us all jump and look at him. "Ember, your backpack!" He exclaimed. I gasped and nodded. Turning to the others, who I could tell were confused, I said, "I have to find my backpack. That's the only way we can find out." They nodded catching on. We were all silent for a moment and then Cody motioned for us all to lean in close. "Alright, here's the plan..."

~Backed Up~

After lunch I followed the others to the Computer lab. Today the tables were set up different. Six people could sit at one table, which was nice and meant none of us had to split up. "So, what do you guys do in this 'class' exactly? Just figure out how to hack into accounts and stuff?" Duncan asked after we had all sat down. "Pretty much, but we also on occasion have to do group hacks, which looks like we might be doing today. We also have to do the simulator room on occasion." Leela said. "The what?" I asked."The simulator room? Oh, it's that room behind the glass, they can project it to make it seem like we're on a mission." Leela answered. That was cool. "We've never made it very far. But now maybe we have a chance." Simon added. "So do you go in there and practice just your hacking skills or..?"

"Hacking, Combat, everything you could encounter on a real mission. And it's like Leela said, we've never gotten very far because usually the groups need six people to get to the next level of the simulations, we've only ever had just the four of us but now we have you two." Simon said, gesturing at Duncan and I. "That's how we can show Agent Lovell how much we're improving!" Duncan said a moment later. Everyone broke out into a grin right as Agent Lovell herself walked into the room. She seemed like her normal self. Sophisticated, All business and pissed off. "Buster Moseley has a concussion and will not being joining class so I'm afraid his assigned group," She gestured to Fae's table, "Will have to work with just five people today." Agent Lovell continued. That whole table, Fae, and Fae's goons glared at Cody who was smirking. It took me a moment to realize he was grinning at me and I found myself grinning back. "Yes, yes. It's very upsetting, but congratulations to Agent Marvell for winning the fight with such ease, NOW. Today, we will be doing a Group Hack. Your cabin mates are your teammates. If ever you are to be chosen for a mission, these are the people that would have your back, which is why you need to be able to read each other's minds. Know what that person is going to do next before even they do. Group Hacking requires much more complicated work in a much shorter amount of time than any combat. You will have a half hour to crack as many of these cases as you can. The two teams with the most at the end of the day will be the first two teams to do the first simulator of the year." Agent Lovell explained. A murmur of what I assume was excitement started up around the room. Agent Lovell held up her hand and the room fell silent once more. "Ready, set, hack!" and seconds later all you could hear was furious typing at keyboards and the occasional whisper to another. I turned towards my friends. I stifled a giggle when I saw Duncan's face. He looked so lost. I made a strangled sort of laugh and Duncan and all five of the others looked at me. "Come on, D. This is easy! You're acting like you've never seen a computer screen before." I said. Duncan looked away from the computer and up at me. "I have no clue what in the hell I'm looking at." He said. Janessa nodded her head. "Me either, if I'm being honest." She said. Cody looked just as confused as Duncan and Janessa. This time I did giggle and I glanced at Leela and Simon who looked like they were trying to hold in their own laughs. "Alright, we'll help you." Leela said leaning over and showing Duncan where to start. Simon turned to Cody, which left me to Janessa. She gave me a small smile and I returned it. "Okay, watch me first and then try to do what I did, if you can't I'll show you step by step, k?" I asked. She nodded and I turned to my screen with Janessa watching closely. I pressed a few buttons and pasted the last thing the mouse had copied in the search bar, pressing enter I scrolled through the results clicking the one with the least amount of views. I glanced over at Janessa and saw she was helplessly lost. "Okay, maybe I should start slower." I said going back on my progress. Step by step I showed Janessa what to do. Slowly, she figured it out. I guess the others were getting the hang of it as well because pretty soon we were on case number five before some groups had gotten past two. With no alarm to intervene on the class this time we made a lot of progress. By the time Agent Lovell called for everyone our team, well The Whisperers I guess, had successfully completed thirty-two cases. We won by a landslide, even a member short Fae and Rick's team coming in second. I shouldn't have been surprised that they came in second, I shouldn't have even been surprised Rick and Buster were on her team. I was really not even surprised they were here anymore. I knew Agent Lovell knew I lied to her, but how she tracked the connection between us. Did we even have a connection? Yeah. Actually, the more I thought about it we probably did have a connection, since the possibilities of me actually being pregnant were looking pretty big right now and considering Rick would be the father- Oh great, just add that to the list of things that made my life a living nightmare. "Congratulations to the two teams with the most cases solved, next week will be the first simulator test and your teams with be the first to compete. I will see you all tomorrow." Agent Lovell said snapping me out of my thoughts and back to reality. She took her leave and the other teams began fanning out into the hall. We hung back a little. "That was complicated. How do you guys even know what you're looking at?" Cody asked. I heard Leela and Simon answer his question but I was distracted again. Not by my thoughts but because I caught someone's gaze. I knew I'd have to talk to him sooner or later so while the others were distracted I slipped away. I took a deep breath and walked towards him. "Ember-""What are you doing here?" I asked stopping a few feet away from him. Rick studied my face as he tried to put his thoughts together. I crossed my arms and leaned back on my heels waiting for his answer. "I don't know what I'm doing here. I just woke up here, and trust me if I could be back at home right now I would be but somehow I'm here, and so are you so it looks like we're going to have to deal with each other." He said. "It's not you I'm worrying about getting along with." I said surprising myself and even him. "Who then? You and Buster or Me and Duncan cause right now it looks like he wants to murder me." Rick said nodding towards Duncan and the others. I turned around and saw the five of them staring at us. Cody, Simon, Leela and Janessa watching us thoughtfully and Duncan shooting imaginary lasers at Rick with his eyes. I felt a little laugh bubble inside me. "He probably does. He's really mad at you for what happened." I said. I could feel Rick watching me. "And what about you? I'm surprised you haven't killed me yourself already. Don't you hate me too?" He asked. I thought about it for a moment. Didn't I hate him for what he did? Sure I did. But he had brought up a good point. If I hated him that much wouldn't I have kicked his ass by now? Of course I would've. So, why didn't I? That's a good question. I guess it was because if I really am carrying his child then I would hate myself for not letting the poor thing get to know it's father. But was that the only reason I hadn't just beaten him up? Sure it was a big part but no. I'd known him for years and he'd always been a nice person, it wasn't until Buster came home from college that he started seeming like a different person. Maybe he was just scared of his brother. Maybe Buster was the terrible person here not Rick. Whatever the reason I felt like he needed to know. "No. I don't hate you. I thought I did but, I don't. I mean okay I might hate you a little bit but that's to be expec-""Ember. Just spit it out.""There's a really, really, really big chance I could be pregnant." I whispered just in case Agent Lovell had secret cameras around the room, which wouldn't have been surprising at all. I bit my lip and looked into his eyes. He was staring at me slowly processing what I had said. He swayed on his feet a little, his eyes never leaving mine. "What?" He asked. I crossed my arms, rubbing the top if my arms with my hands. "Please, don't make me say it again." I said. "You're..oh shit, I'm so sorry.""It's not your fault." I said, as he gave me a look. I nodded, "Okay, it is but-""Rick, what are you doing talking to this tramp?" Fae asked from right next to me causing both me and Rick jump. Rick looked like he wanted to punch her. "I just thought you should know." I said before turning around dramatically flipping my hair so he knew I meant it and Fae would continue to think I was a spoiled brat. "Emb-" I heard him start. Stupidly, I glanced over my shoulder and saw Fae dragging him away by his arm. I turned back around and yelped. Duncan was inches from my face. "What were you thinking?" He asked. I stepped back and held up my hands. "He needed to know." "Know what?" "I told him.""You did what!? Ember, why would you tell him?" "Because he deserves to know, Duncan!" I yelled louder than I meant too. I noticed Cody, Simon, Janessa and Leela watching us after they formed an uneven circle around us. Duncan sighed and stared at me. "Fine. I guess you're right. He does need to know. But that doesn't mean I have to like it." "Whatever Duncan. Can we get something to eat now? Because I'm starving." I said, ruffling Duncan's hair. "Sure, come on let's go feed that tummy." Janessa said looping her arm through mine and leading the way to the cafeteria. The cafeteria was crowded, but I was expecting that. We all got in line and then sat down to eat.