Y/N'S POV:

"UGHHHHH," I yell out loudly after stretching and remembering that I had school. Kelly jumps up from beside me with a loud gasp of terror.

"WHAT! WHAT!," She yells while looking over to me.

"Just that I got school," I tell her. She looks at me dead in the eyes with a cold expression before flopping down and bringing the covers above her head.

"Comes on Kels! You gotta drive me to school. Dad took away my car saying that it's apart of the protection process," I explain to her. I hop out of bed and go into my bathroom.

Kelly follows quick behind me as she redoes her pony-tail that was messy from her slumber.

"Y/N!! I sworn to 12-year-old me that if I didn't want to go to school then I'd wouldn't," Kelly says. "Middle school was rough," She continues, getting lost in her thoughts.

"What about high-school," I ask while brushing my teeth.

"Now that's a story for another day. They could make a movie off my high-school experience," Kelly answers with a laugh. "I'll go text Dorn and the others to tell them to get ready," She ends. Kelly walks out the bathroom and begins a phone call.

Once I finish brushing my teeth, I turn to my shower and turn the water on. As I wait for the water to heat up, I wash my face and head to my bedroom to pick out my outfit for school.

"Get in the shower already Y/N!," Kelly yells from the living room. "We gotta get over there in the next hour!," She continues.

"Okay!!," I yell back. I smooth out my chosen clothes and go back to the bathroom. While undressing I hear my phone ding but I ignore it and place my shower cap over my head.

I hop into the shower instantly being met by the cold water.

"You gotta be joking," I say to the water as if it can hear me. I was letting it run for a good five minutes and it's still lukewarm.

The water grazes my body feeling the droplets fall off my skin. I let out a sigh of relief and close my eyes for a brief moment. After opening them again, I start to use my body-wash allowing soapy bubbles to absorb me.

After my shower I hop out and wrap my body with a towel. Opening the door, I pick up my dirty clothes and walk towards my laundry room.

"Bathrooms yours Kelly!," I tell her. I place my clothes in the washer and move towards my bedroom.

"Finally! What took you so long?," Kelly asks.

"Beauty takes timeee," I sing out once I hit my bedroom. I remove my towel, drying off with it and moisturize my body. Queso was snuggled around my shoes watching my every move. I rub his head and then place my outfit on for school today.

Queso stands up from his position and rolls over onto his back to get more comfortable.

I head over to my vanity that was gifted to me -by my mom- and remove my bonnet. Once I take a seat at my chairs I apply my hair-oil to my braids and begin to fix up my hair. I place my hair into a pony-tail satisfied with how it looks.

I step up from my vanity and spray my perfume. My backpack is right next to my bedroom door (packed the night before) and I pick it up. Queso hops up and follows me out of my bedroom with a string of meows.

"Someone's hungry," I say to Queso. He meows back as if he understands me as I make his food for him. Placing it down I walk back over to my sink and wash my hands.

The bathroom door swings up and Kelly walks out.

"Your water pressure is deathly Y/N," Kelly tells me while out of breath.

"That's how I like it! If my body isn't burning with pain after using the shower then i don't want it," I say back. She shakes her head, still trying to catch her breath and starts to get dressed.

"Excited for school?," Kelly asks me.

"Eh, schools school," I answer. I take out my water bottle and fill it up with cold-water and ice from my refrigerator.

"Schools schools," Kelly mocks after me. "A school for doctors and stuff," She continues.

"Well duh," I say. "But it's cool, sad that i gotta go back. Just wanna stay at home all day in my bed," I tell her. She responds with a laugh while placing her shoes on her feet.

"Ready to go?," She asks.

"Yup!," I answer popping the "p". "Days like this I hate leaving Queso alone but he doesn't do well with babysitters that aren't Dorn," I tell Kelly. Queso tilts his head when he sees the door opening but soon gets distracted with his toy mouse.

We both begin to walk out of my apartment. Kelly with her artillery bag in her hand and me with my backpack.

"That's too cute!!," Kelly says. "But also kinda scary cause whenever I hug or are too close to Dorn, Queso throws a fit," She says.

"He's getting better! He now tolerates you," I say back. We both get into Kelly's car and drive to my school.

"Sooooooooo," Kelly starts, driving out of my apartments's parking garage,

"Yesssss?," I mimic back.

"You and Armando," She say.

"What about it?," I ask with another question.

"You guys are cute together. Except for the part that he's an ex-criminal who's killed a lot of innocents," Kelly continues with pauses in between her sentences.

"You just couldn't have ended with a compliment?," I ask cheekily.

"Gotta keep you humble," She answers truthfully, eyes still forward on the road. ——— ARMANDO'S POV

"How are we looking Mike?," Kelly asks Mike through her mic.

"Great! Y/N just went into her first class. I'm here with Armando," Mike answers.

"Perfect. And Marcus?," Dorn continues for Kelly.

"Here! No sight of the stalker yet," Marcus answers but his voice was muffled.

"What is that?," Armando asks while adjusting his mic. Mike and Armando look up from their spots and see Marcus stuffing his face with food from a lunchbox.

"Marcus!," Mike yells under his breath. "Where did you get a lunch box from?," He continues.

"Bullied one of these kids out of it," Marcus answers still munching on a PB&J sandwich.

"Moving on....," Rita starts. "I want you all to meet up in the janitors closet on the second floor. I'll explain the plan again," She says.

The three men move to different elevators and head to the second floor. Marcus gets out first and then Armando and Mike.

"Talk to me Rita," Mike says into his mic. They're all now inside of the cramped janitors closet.

"Alright guys. Dorn and Kelly are working on identifying each and every student Y/N has a class with, until then just keep watch over her," Rita explains to them.

"Any progress on your side?," Marcus asks.

"Not much that's worth mentioning," Rita answers bluntly. "Each student so far is checking out, no sight of unusual activity," She says.

"Marcus are you aware of any friends Y/N has here?," Dorn asks Marcus. "I know her and Arthur are in some classes together," He continues.

"Not really," Marcus answers. "She doesn't really talk about the people here," He says.

"What about this Arthur kid?," Armando ask.

"Yeah, Dorn did he check out?," Mike questions.

"He's my brother, he's for sure not Y/N's stalker," Dorn answers.

"Who are we to listen to you," Armando says under his breath.

"Hey! Watch it man-," Dorn starts. "Arthur wouldn't hurt a fly!,"He continues.

"Guy! You can go ahead and go back downstairs and keep watch. We'll keep an eye on both you and Y/N," Rita says abruptly, attempting to stop the fight that was going to occur.

Armando rolls his eyes soon joined with a scoff and the three men leave the janitor's closet. They all head back into the elevators and return back to their positions. ——— I walk into school with my water bottle in my left hand and my backpack snugged over my shoulder. I take out my phone to check my messages and see one from a unknown number.

——— 1234567891: marcus gave me your number 1234567891: i missed you last night (sent 2 hours ago) 1234567891: you didn't tell me dorn snores (sent two hours ago) ——— I laugh at his last message, knowing that it was Armando and turn off my phone putting it away. Once I look up I spot a new janitor. An unrecognizable disguise but off the height just may be Mike.

He shoots me a nod and I turn my head back to the front. Mel (another one of my friends) joins my walk to class.

"I think we got new janitors?," Mel notifies me while looking around.

"We did?," I ask her. "Didn't even notice," I continue with a slight shudder in my voice.

"Ugh I did," She scoffs. "They're probably gonna take from our tuition and give all of their employees raises. Hence the new hires," Mel explains while ending her sentence off with a huff.

Mel always paid attention to the small details concerning our school. She had a whole lotta opinions and thoughts that never went unheard about the school since her family is the main donators funding it.

I honestly have no clue how we even clicked. She was sitting alone, I was sitting alone. Then the magic happened.

But never mind that.

"You're so passionate and it's only nine o clock Mel," I say to her.

"Had a coffee," Mel says back. I look over at her and we both share a laugh as we walk into our first class together. We take a seat next to eachother and set out our notebooks.

"Applesauce...your three o clock," Mel says quietly to me. Referring to Arthur who's code name was applesauce. He's sweet but persistent. Mel hates him, says he "tries too hard." I slightly turn my head to see Arthur making his way over to us.

Arthur is an exact photo copy of Dorn just younger. His hair is fluffy and brown and he wears these circular glasses. He's pretty tall and muscular. Went to Stanford.

"Hello ladies," Arthur says smoothly to us. He takes a seat right next to me.

"Hey Arthur," Mel and I say in sync.

"A little birdie told me that we have a new project coming up, it's gonna be 50% of our grade,"Arthur tells us.

"Please say you're joking. I don't know how many more bad grades I can take," Mel says while rolling her eyes. I laugh at her and take out my highlighters, pencils, and pens.

Arthur watches what I do and then let's out a rich chuckle.

"You need all of that for one class?," He asks me.

"Duhh," I say back. "Helps me with writing notes," I continue.

"I don't need that, I use the handy-dandy brain as my paper," Arthur says while tapping his right-pointer finger on his temples.

"Good for you Art," I say to him, still taking my stuff out from my backpack and not bothered enough to care. He catches my mood and changes the subject with a stutter.

"You looked really pretty in your last Instagram post," Arthur admits to me shyly. I shoot him a smile before responding.

"Thank you Arthur! Thats so sweet of you," I tell him. He sends me back a smile.

"Sooooo," Arthur starts. "This Friday. There's this "star gazing," thing going on in the park," He tells me.

"She's not interested in you or whatever nerd convention you're going to" Mel says bluntly cutting him off, her eyes never leaving her phone. Mel's a nice person but when she wants to be.

"Mel!," I say sternly. I turn back to Arthur to answer. "That sounds fun! I'll see if I'm free," I continue, slightly slapping Mel's hand as she lets out a quiet "ouch."

"Yeah yeah, for sure. Cool cool cool," Arthur rambled with a light tint of pink attacking his cheeks. He takes his left hand to push up his falling glasses, revealing a long cut on his arm.

That looks oddly familiar... ——— As Mike and Armando head for their positions, Marcus wanders and takes a different route. He runs into a couple and sees them fighting in the halls of the medical school.

"You don't even care about me anymore!," The girl screams at him.

"How could you even say that!," The man screams back. The girl let's out a huff with a string of tears rolling down her cheek and walks into the nearest bathroom.

The guy hesitated to go after her but turns around and sits at a table next to him. He has his head in his hands while breathing heavily.

Marcus stands and watches the entire thing before turning to the man.

"Look here kid," Marcus starts. The guy flips his head up to be met with Marcus. "Now i didn't see all of it, but that's some Real Housewives shit," He continues with a nervous laugh.

The guy rolls his eyes before standing up.

"Go on somewhere old man," The guy says to Marcus.

"Now hold on! I'm not the one who has a crying girlfriend now am I?," Marcus asks him.

"What do you want?," The guy asks.

"Why are you two fighting?," Marcus counters curiously. Y/N's in class and he's bored out of his mind.

"She thinks I cheated or something," The guy answers.

"And why does she think that?," Marcus hits with another question.

"How am I suppose to know that! Why would she even think like that?," The guy rebuttals. "I'd never cheat!," He continues, patience running low.

"Alright alright alright," Marcus cuts him off.

"It's just crazy! She's being crazy!" The guy continues while flopping back into his seat. "She means the world to me, I'd never cheat on her. She's so special to me," He explains to Marcus. His words get caught into his throat. The guy is visibly sad from his girlfriend's accusations.

Marcus walks closer to him and takes a seat opposite of the young guy.

"Did you try asking her why she thought that?," Marcus asks.

"I told her I'd never cheat," The guy says.

"Okay but-," Marcus says but is cut off.

"I'd never cheat," The guy repeats.

"You keep saying that but you're not hearing her out kid," Marcus says.

The guy takes a pause but still has his eyes on Marcus letting him know that Marcus has his full attention.

"I understand that you would never cheat but does she have a reason for not believing you?," Marcus questions. "Or we're you talking over her and not listening?," He ponders again.

The guy looks down at his feet while playing with his hands.

"I fucked up," He admits. "I should've heard her out, I know," The guy continues.

"Never too late," Marcus informs him. The guy shoots him a small smile before standing up.

"Thank you...," The guy says while squinting down at the man's name tag. "Martin. Thank you Martín," The guys ends while walking over to the family bathroom and knocking.

Marcus returns his smile and stands up to walk back to where Mike is.

"I saw what you did there," Mike teases Marcus. "But let's get back to protecting your daughter, yeah?," He continues ——— ARMANDO'S POV

"We should split up," Armando suggests to Mike. Ever since they walked in, it's like Mike was always a foot away from Armando, giving him no space to breathe.

"No. You have to stay by my side," Mike tells him. "It's not safe," He continues.

"I think I know what's best for me," Armando says.

"No you don't, you need to stay right here," Mike shoots back.

"And if I don't?," Armando says more sternly. "What you gonna do detective?," Armando pesters harder.

"You know what-." Mike starts but is cut off by Marcus.

"Now Mike, you are pushing fifty and going back and forward with someone half your age," Marcus says to Mike.

"Stay out of this Marcus," Mike says.

"No cause it's dumb! If he wants some space then let's watch from a distance," Marcus says back. "It's not as if he isn't this stone-cold-killer who can fend for himself Mike," Marcus continues.

"He's my son!," Mike defends himself.

"Well he obviously doesn't listen to you so you're a hell of a parent," Marcus tells him with a chuckle.

Marcus and Mike continue to go back and forth. Their voices only growing as they argue infront of the teachers break room.

Somewhere in between each new argument, Armando snuck away moving to removing his janitor disguise and placing a ball-cap on his head. He keeps his head down and finds your classroom, peeking through the window.

"No Mike! The last time you "handled" something was with MY SISTER," Marcus says to Mike, bringing up the past with his contagious air quotes.

"When will you stop bringing that up?," Mike asks while rubbing his temples viciously.

Dorn and Kelly were watching the entire argument from their van. Shocked with the words thrown around at each other.

"WHEN I'M DEAD," Marcus yells back loudly. Marcus turns to where he thinks Armando would be. "Now Armando, listen to what your no-good daddy did-," Marcus starts.

"Where's Armando?," Mike asks Marcus quietly while looking around once they noticed he wasn't there.

"Oh shit," Mike and Marcus say together in sync. ——— idek why but my brain was hitting so many walls when writing this. it's like i had zero ideas for this chapter 😭😭😭

but on a better note, the next chapter will be more Armando, Marcus, and Mike centered with their adventure around Y/N's school!! i'm so sorry for how late I am for this post, I've been non stop shopping for clothes 😔😔

anywhooooo, this was a very very long read so i really hope you guys enjoyed!! i won't be online this weekend cause I'm going on vacation so the next chapter will be around much later than expected. I'll keep y'all updated💗🙁

please let me know if there are any grammar or spelling fixes and I'll see you guys next time! it makes me so happy to see you guys liking the book so thank you for all the support and reads!!🩷💕💗