Hey, guys. Thank you for waiting this long and I hope you like this one.

Much gratitude to my amazing beta, dpower.

Disclaimer: I do not own VA.

RPOV

"College?" I questioned Lissa. She sat on the edge of my bed, strapping on her red, opened toed Louis Vuitton heels. As she got ready, my mind raced to come up with a logical excuse to why college was not a possibility for me.

This morning, my family and I went to my best friend, Lissa's, high school graduation. As usual, everything went accordingly boring, but I was more than happy for her. She was totally excited to be free from high school hell. I couldn't blame her there, even if I had no clue what it was like. When it was over, we went to my house to get ready for her graduation party Mr. & Mrs. Dragomir planned at their mansion.

"Come on, Rose. You've been off at spy school your whole life. I really think what you do is kind of cool, but please take a break." Walking over to me, she placed her hands on my shoulders, her bright emeralds locking on me with sincerity. She genuinely looked worried about me.

She shook my shoulders lightly to get my attention. "Don't you ever want to have a normal life for once?"

Rolling my eyes at her, I wiggled out of her grasp. I know she meant well, but jeez!

Two years ago, Lissa accidentally overheard my parents and I talking about getting drafted for a mission. When she came forward and confronted me, I had no choice but to reveal the secret that I had been concealing since I was seven.

My best friend already knew too much, and to lie to her, like I did all of those years about my life, would've only resulted in our great friendship falling apart. She was dismayed towards me at first and didn't take it lightly, thinking that I didn't trust her. I told her that was not the case, I just didn't want her to get wrapped up in the dangerous mess I usually got into. Later, with some major convincing on my part, Lis finally came around to it with some mixed feelings towards my occupation. She worried for my life and overall well being, while on the other hand, got excited about my missions more than I did.

"You know a normal life for me is out of question, Lis. I'm a spy, Rose Mazur will never have a normal life." With that, I walked away from her, into my walk-in-closet and closed the door behind me. Hearing her heels clicking towards me, I knew this discussion wasn't over between us.

Groaning with agitation, I rifled through my closet looking for my little leopard print dress. Lately, Lissa had been worried about me. Saying "what you're living is not life at all." She wanted me to experience everything by going to college with her this fall.

My life was...adventurous. It consisted of kicking ass, going undercover, and unfiltered danger.
Abe and Janine Mazur were my parents and spies as well. They worked for an organization called the COA, Covert Operative Agency. A secret black operation ran by the government located in an underground facility, in the middle of nowhere Maine. When I was six years old, one of the COA head leaders, Alberta Petrov, saw something in me and contacted my parents about it. They consequently agreed to the idea and I immediately started training. From there on, my life was never my own again.

Novices normally started out as early as the age of seven, but Alberta said I was special. Each beginner would undergo an extensive process of training for six years before graduating from new recruits to the field. The younger the brain, the more capacity to absorb the intricate details of the job. My eagerness and attitude, more like stubbornness, gave me a competitive edge. Due to my dedication and aggressiveness for the agency, I graduated early and became one of the youngest COA agents in history to go out in the field.

Now, at the age of eighteen, I'd done more than forty missions around the world. I was good, damn good. To be honest, I loved it, I loved the danger. It gave me an adrenaline rush, keeping my blood pumping, constantly challenging me to reach higher levels of superiority. Even though I was forced to grow up fast, and I had thoughts of what would've been, I wouldn't have changed it for anything.

Lissa bursted through the closet door and through her hands up in agitation. "Gah, Rose, just have fun for once!"

"I do," I laughed. Sometimes, she was such a drama queen. "More than you know, actually." If only she saw how much fun I have. "Tell me Lis, what is your idea of 'fun'? Because my idea of fun is kicking some dirt bags ass."

"Just get ready." Exasperated with me, she shook her well brushed, blond head and walked over to the couch in front of her. "I don't, I don't even know what to say to you anymore." She plopped herself down and picked up People magazine from the table next to her.

"Whatever," I said, hiding my contentment that she finally stopped annoying me.

Changing into a flirtatious, below the knee, silk leopard print dress by Dolce & Gabbana, I paired it with my Sergio Rossi heels. Going over to the mirror, I began to apply my makeup.

She's awfully quiet, I thought. That was never a good sign. Turning around, I took a quick glance at her: Still flipping through the same magazine. Knowing she was deep in thought, by the look of it, this was not good for me. I cringed as to what she might've been thinking.

Deciding to go all natural, I applied light, pink eyeshadow that brought out my brown eyes, pairing it with matching lip finish the look, I put my dark brown hair half up and half down.

"What if we compromise?" she startled me from my deep concentration.

Turning around to see her full of giddiness, she could barely sit still. "Compromise, what do you mean?" Suspicion ran through me as I thought about where this was heading. Locking eyes with her, the glow in her emeralds told me that she had been scheming the whole time.

"You go to Berkeley with me... try it out for a semester, and I won't annoy you with any of my personal guidance on how to live your own life." Her lips turned up to a conniving little grin, but a look of hope glistened in her eyes.

A semester? I can do that.

Lately, I'd been in good graces with the Agency. I hadn't broken any rules and did my job professionally. I was sure they could let me take a break for half a year.

"Really?" Slowly, I walked to her with my arms crossed over my chest. "You won't bother me with this shit?" I asked, waving my hand in the air, referring to this whole conversation.

"Yes," she spoke softly, thinking she won me over. "So you'll think about it?"

"Maybe." With that, I turned around and proceeded to check myself in the mirror.

"Yes!" Lissa screamed with joy.

"I said maybe," I said, turning around.

"What the hell is going on?" My one and only, older brother Christian bursted through the door looking at me, then averting his attention to Lissa.

Lissa blushed crimson and quickly sat back on the couch. She looked at me for support, but I left her to fend for herself. "Um, nothing," she looked anywhere but at him. I faked a gagging sound earning me a scowl from both Christian and Lissa.

He looked at Lissa and walked straight to her. Stretching his hands, he motioned for her to take them. As she did, he pulled her up into a standing position. My big brother made his move, I was purely horrified by the sight. He planted a kiss on my best friends left cheek and whispered something to her. Lissa blushed crimson as she said something back.

I was clearly invisible to them.

"See you two at the party." He walked out the door nonchalantly, as if what he just did never happened. Standing there with my mouth hanging open, I watched as he closed the door behind him.

"He-" Lissa cleared her throat.

"I don't wanna know," I mumbled, holding up my hand to stop her, trying not to rewind the scarring moment I'd just witnessed. "Can we just go?" I motioned to the door.

"K," she breathed out, sounding relieved that I didn't press her for information.

I grabbed my purse and we headed to my car. "Just be careful. From what I've witnessed, he is too much of a player for your interests," I muttered my advice. Although, what I'd seen was not one of my favorite things, I still cared too much for my best friend's well being to look past the situation.

"He'll change," she responded softly.

I shook my head in disbelief as I started the engine of my car.

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