The Agents

Chapter Eighteen

"Then, he turned to me and asked, is that your cat? Of course, my brilliant answer was, no, it's Satan's cat. Not really my best move seeing as I was with a priest," Jaxon finished his story.

We were in tears from laughing so hard. I had to give it to him, Jaxon could tell a good story. "Apparently the concept of sarcasm was lost on him," I said.

"Good thing he wasn't talking to you then, Jaycee," Drake joked. We all laughed at that. Everyone knew I was the most sarcastic person around.

I was about to reply when the door to the stairwell opened and Wallace came in with Crystal in tow.

"I'm glad to see you four are working as hard as always," Wallace said when she saw us with our picnic.

"Of course! We wouldn't want to let you down now, would we?" Drake answered. Wallace chuckled as she came to a stop in front of us.

I looked passed her to Crystal. "What are you hiding Crystal?" I asked, a smile on my face.

"Well, I was cleaning out some stuff earlier when I found," she paused before bringing her hand out from behind her back, "This!"

My smile slowly faded as I looked at what Crystal was holding. When I didn't immediately jump up in excitement, Crystal's expression turned confused. "Thanks for the thought Crystal, but I don't play the guitar," I said quietly, a sad edge to my voice. Her face fell a little, but I knew she understood.

"Very well, I'll just leave it over here," she replied, leaning the guitar against the wall.

Old memories ran through my head as I looked at its battered form. It wasn't my most cared for guitar, but it was my favorite classical. At least, it was.

"Jaycee?" I looked over at Taylor who was standing in front of me. I could tell it wasn't the first time she called my name.

"Yeah?" I asked.

"Are you ready to go back to training?" she asked. Everyone else had already gone back to working out, even Wallace.

"Yes, let's go." I stood up from my seat, making sure to avoid looking at the guitar again.

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This was impossible.

I had been lying in bed for four hours, and I had yet to fall asleep. I couldn't take it anymore. I threw back my blankets and climbed out of bed. Since I had gone to sleep in nothing but an oversized t-shirt, I quietly snuck over to my locker. I put on my skinny jeans, a tank top, and my leather jacket, throwing on my boots as well. I put my piercings back in, knowing that if they were left out any longer, the holes would start closing.

After wearing this outfit every day for over two years, I had gotten used to it. It comforted me, having something familiar. My world had been turned upside down for the second time. Nothing was the same anymore. This was though, and it relaxed me.

I silently walked out of the dorm and into the main room. My intent was to go up to the roof, but as I was walking to the stairwell, something caught my eye. I looked over at my guitar, still leaning against the wall where Crystal had set it.

As if in a trance, I walked over to the guitar and picked it up. Then, I grabbed the ear pieces I was using earlier and turned on my music.

I laid down on the ground, my guitar resting in my lap. Music flooded my ears and I started strumming the guitar along to the song. The rooms were pretty much sound proof, so I didn't worry about waking anybody up. I looked at all the pictures on the wall in front of me. As one of my favorite songs came on, I closed my eyes, letting the music take over as I started singing along.