Life As Though I Knew It Chapter Three

I pressed my face against the cold window. Outside, the world was flying by, literally, as the car jolted back and forth through every stop-light possible. Skyscrapers towered over me as if they knew they're monstrosities and used it to their advantage.

"How much longer?" I pulled myself from the cold glass, eyeing the driver with derision.

"Jesus, Daniels. We aren't far from the college, its a ten minute drive from the office to the damn school." Jefferson scoffed at me. He sat next to me in the back of the cab. Yes, cab. Undercover can be a real bitch sometimes. Can't do anything that hints to your old ways. I'm a damn good detective, sacrificing myself like that. Good thing was, I got to wear human clothing. A nice zipper turtleneck, and a pair of jeans. Right?

I just can't get over the fact that I'm spending a semester of my life back in school. We came to a halt, and where we stopped was exactly what I had expected. There it was.

It didn't look too big of a school where I would have troubles navigating. Though a map wouldn't be so bad. The cab was parked in front of the main entrance to the school, which, as I stepped out of the car, a wild Lion made out of some sort of bronze metal stood hind legged over top of me. I peered up at the beast, with just a hint of intimidation.

"Hey, Daniels." Jefferson strode over to me with elegance, handing me a wallet with a rubber band strapping a few things to it. "This is your new identity for the time being. When spoken to, you refer to yourself as your alias. Even when speaking to me. Got it?"

I furrowed my eyebrows, wondering what my new self would be like. I stripped the wallet of the rubber band, realizing that a stack of twenties was attached to it. Along with the money rested an I.D.

"Alex Byer?" I tilted the licence towards the clouded sun. My age, 23. My height is 6'2 and my weight, 168. A life of lies, being fake, can save lives. Its a life of danger without any warning. Jefferson patted my back.

"Every week, Friday night. I want you to come into the office and report everything you believe is crucial to this investigation." Jefferson moved his hand onto my shoulder. "This all rests in your hands now, Alex." My name definitely didn't slip off the tongue as well as Alex Byer. Alexander Byer! Now I'm having some fun. I smiled and shook my head.

"You know I got this cap'n," the seriousness returned to my face.

A thought must have popped into Jefferson's mind perhaps causing his eyes to go dark with fury. He turned to the cab and stepped down into it before slamming the door. I watched after him, still trying to contemplate what just happened. Suddenly the window rolled down.

"Andrew, you are important. Especially for this case. I wouldn't want to see anything happen to you." I opened my mouth to speak, but the cab sped off and was swallowed into the moving sea of traffic into the heart of the city. I stood there, luggage on one side of me, people whizzing pass me on both sides, clueless as to what I should do next. I'm good a figuring things out, what would you normally do if you first enroll in college? Find your dorm!

I turned on my heel and scooped up the handle of my suitcase, dragging it along with me as I made my place walking, accompanying the students that would soon be my peers.

"Um, which way is the dorms?" I was able to accumulate enough courage to ask someone reasonable looking... It was some kid with pretty crazy hair. By crazy, I mean short with real tight curls. His skin was pale white, and he wore round rimmed glasses. Did I say reasonable?

"Aren't you a third year, though?" he replied, holding his over the shoulder bag back away from me. Do I look threatening? And how the hell did he know that?

"How do you know--"

"You look like it. And also because your schedule says so.." He pointed to the piece of paper in my hand. I raised an eyebrow at him.

"I switched dorms," I replied smoothly. "Now I'm in 214B." He opened his lips, and raised his chin as if mouthing the word "oh". He understood what I meant and pointed me in the right direction.

"Its down that hallway there. You are actually in the right building." He pointed behind him, the hall holding doors adjacent from each other, back and forth all the way down. I gave him my gratitude and pushed pass him, squeezing through the not-so-small corridor filled with students coming back from their vacations.

I stood outside of my room, or what would be the next so many weeks of my life. This was it, the dorm number and all. I put my hand onto the knob, and rested it there for a bit. Damn, I just can't get Tracy out of my head. I can't seem to rid my mind of Kathy's expression at the funeral, either. I'm thankful that I didn't see it the moment she was told the news. About Trace and Shawnie not having a proper funeral that is.

I brought myself back to reality, preparing to open the door when the handle slid out from my grasp and ripped away with such violence.

"Holy shit, dude! I didn't know you were standing there!" Some young kid started through the door, catching me in the midst of his hurried angst. A confused look planted itself upon my face. This was not one of the things I had braced myself for. A roommate, seriously? How would I conduct the investigation with a kid running around all the time?

What the hell are you saying, Andrew, are you nuts? Why am I here, and not anyone else in the force? The answer is plain, and quite obvious. I make an impressive detective. Dealing with this brat will be a piece of cake.

"No, its alright." I lied, it was definitely not alright. "I guess we are roommates?"

The kid held out his hand and straightened himself to basically my height. Except he was a bit stockier, and probably was a football star. Great, one of those assholes. I gripped it, and gave him a good, firm handshake.

"Andr--. Alex. My name's Alex Byer." I gave him a faint smile of being civil. I don't plan on having any problems with this guy.

"Keith Edwards. So, I guess we ARE roommates then. I never had one before," He opened the door, showing me one half of the room totally cluttered and an atrocious mess. The other side was slightly being taken over by Keith's belongings but this is where I'll be staying.

I tossed my crap onto the bed, pulling out all of my sheets and blankets. The squeaking of Keith's bed hinted that he was sitting and watching me intently. I didn't acknowledge him, let alone even care for his presence. I needed to begin my investigation as soon as I could. And no bastard kid was going to screw anything up.

"So, you must live a pretty far distance to be rooming." Keith practically stated. I stayed quiet for a moment while I unpacked my things. A sigh escaped my lips.

"I could say the same to you." Another awkward silence settled in, the only sound to be heard was zipping and rummaging.

"If you need anything, I'm right across the room," Keith spoke out. I hope there wasn't some sort of pun hinted behind that. I just gave him a smug smile.

Keith stood up after inspecting me from behind. Actually, I felt quite violated from that. He shuffled over to the door, as I turned my head to see, with a book in his hand. He nodded is exit and opened the door. Light from the hallway shined into our room, and it revealed a surprised expression on Keith's face.

"Amy! How are you?"