I exit the room as quietly as I can, but the whoosh of the door is still louder than I hoped it would be. I stand and wait for a moment, making sure that the person wandering around doesn't come down here. When it stays silent I make my way back to my room - making sure to avoid the creaking step on the way up.

I'm inches from my room, my legs shaking under me and my eyes drooping closed when the person shows themselves. I jump back as my door opens to reveal Sam sitting on my bed. "What are you doing in here?" I whisper, checking over my shoulder to make sure I'm not being ambushed.

"I got up to use the bathroom," Sam shrugs. "And I thought I heard someone down there. So I went to look and there was no one."

"And how does that lead to you ending up in my room?" I ask a little louder now that my door is closed.

She goes to brush a strand of hair behind her ear before stopping because her hair isn't hanging loose. Her hair is rolled up in curlers, making her look like a little old lady. Her hand drops back to her lap. "I knew that if anyone would be up it would be you. Jax sleeps through the whole night and when he doesn't get up it's for a nightmare. So he would go to my room."

"And what about your parents?"

She rolls her eyes. "This is their rest hours. They don't leave their room at night. So, I came in here looking for you, because surely you couldn't be looking for the bathroom since you have one."

I gulp. There goes my the lie I was going to use. "I got hungry."

We both see through the lie. "I looked in the kitchen. No one was there."

"I got lost?" I shrug.

She sighs and pushes off my bed. "Alright. Next time you need a snack, come to me, okay? I don't want you to get lost in this place. Especially not the basement."

"Why not the basement?"

Her eyes widen. "It's a maze down there." She chuckles.

This time it's her lie we see through.

She brushes past me and to the door. It slides open before her, soundless. "Goodnight, Emma."

"Goodnight, Sam."

We don't break eye contact until the door closes and forces us to. That's when my beating heart grows so loud it's the only thing I hear. I collapse onto my bed as a huge burst of breath escapes me.

She's onto me.

***

Thankfully it's a quiet day at school. No Blake, no confrontation with Sam, and all the teachers leave me alone.

It's not until the end of the day that I get a notification that my pants are in. A little squeal escapes me when I see the messages.

"What's got you so excited?" Sam asks, sliding up beside me.

I show her the pop up from my screen. She grins.

"I can finally stop feeling the breeze after someone walks by me!"

She laughs. "It's not that bad."

I roll my eyes. "You're used to it. Plus, everyone would be disappointed if you stopped wearing a skirt."

She frowns.

I shut my locker. "If you stop-"

"I know what you mean." A smirk grows on her face. "I just didn't realize you noticed the view."

My cheeks grow hot as I duck my head and start walking away from her. But her laughter follows me all the way to the office. When I walk in the front desk lady looks up at me. Her brows lowered as she tries to place me.

"What can I help you with, dear?"

I place my hands on the desk separating us. "I got a notification that my uniforms pants where in."

Her eyes light up with recognition. "You're the exchange student, right?"

I nod.

"Alright dear, I'll go grab those for you. But I do know that when you came down here Principle Valatina wanted to see you."

I lower my brows and take on an act of surprise, which isn't all that hard. "She did?"

The lady nods. "She did. You can just head through that door there and I'll be waiting with the pants for you." She leans her head to point towards the door to the side of her desk.

"Thank you," I smile. I move around the front desk and to the door. When I open it I'm more surprised by how bright it is in the office rather than the decorations my aunt has chosen. Her walls are lined with mottos of positivity, while her bookshelves are covered in bright books and little figurines of famous people.

My aunt sits behind a desk that moves up and down. Her hair is held up in a bun, and she wears a blouse with a v-neck line and a skirt. Her eyes flick up to me, a small smile turns the corners of her lip. "Emma. How are you?"

"I'm good. How are you?" My fingers itch to pull up the photo I took.

"I'm doing wonderful. Are you enjoying the staying with your exchange family?"

I nod. "I am. They all seem mostly kind. Though Sam is..." I don't want to tell her that Sam might be onto me. "Sam is a little hostile towards me."

Her one brow flies up. "Oh?"

"Not like that!" Even though it is like that. "She's just not warming up to me well."

She sighs in relief. "That's not a big deal. But do try to win her over."

I nod. "Of course."

"Now lets get down to why I really called you here for."

My hand flies to my wrist. "So I-"

"Sit first please."

I grit my teeth but sit.

"Have you found anything."

"I went looking in their office last night. I wasn't able to find much beside this." I bring up the picture of the blueprints that were hidden in one of the desks.

My aunt leans forward. "And you're sure this is the new robot?"

I nod. "I haven't seen any product of theirs that would look like this. It's so close to looking like a human that it's creepy. Plus-" I zoom the picture into the bottom corner. "It has the robot's product name."

My aunt leans back, a satisfied grin on her face. "Lovely." She bends over as she pulls open a drawer and fishes around in it before producing a flash drive. "Put this into your chip and send the image into it. Then delete the image."

I nod as I reach across and take the flash drive from her. I plug it into a slot in the chip and send the image over to it.

"How are you liking the school?" my aunt asks as we wait for the image to send over.

I shrug. "It's not bad. Some of the classes are kind of interesting."

She nods and grins. "Which classes are you enjoying?"

"Eco mythology." I take the flash drive out as it flashes green and my screen says 100%. She holds her hand out as I give it back to her.

"Make sure to delete the image."

I roll my eyes before deleting the image. "I know. I know."

My aunt folds her hands into each other and places them on the desk in front of her. "Now, tell me you're next step to finding some information."

"Sam keeps mentioning the basement and how it's off limits, so I'm guessing there's something down there. I was thinking of exploring down there next."

She nods. "That sounds like a good idea. Have you thought about trying to downloading anything from their chips?"

I shake my head. "Even if I had, I don't think that'll help. The only ones I get close enough to to do that would be Jax and Sam."

Her hum feels the room. "Jax wouldn't have any information, but Sam might."

"I don't think she would though. She has no interest in her parents job."

Her eyes narrow. "That doesn't matter. She could be faking it."

"But-"

"Try to download some information from her chip. And I'm sure you can try to get some information from Mr and Mrs Mars too."

I sigh. There's no point in fighting her on this. "I'll try."

A grin breaks onto her face. "Lovely. Now I believe Bridgette should have your pants ready for you."

I nod and stand up. "It was nice seeing you."

Her face softens, showing some of the family love she has for me. "It was nice seeing you to, Emma. But please do be careful."

I nod. "I will be." With that I leave the room.

Bridgette waits at her own desk, a plastic bag sits on the desk. She turns around as the door slides shut behind me. "So, what did you think of your Principal?"

"She was nice." I walk over and point at the plastic bag. "Are these my pants?"

She nods. "Yep! And if they don't fit make sure to bring them back here and we can get them hemmed for you."

I grin as I pick it up and tuck it under my arm. "Thank you."

"Anytime," she calls as I leave the office.

I swing my bag around and try to shove the pants into it. I'm so distracted trying to do that that I bump into Sam. "Oh, sorry," I say as I rub my head.

She grins, her blond curls bouncing around her head. "That's alright. What took you so long?"

"The Principal wanted to introduce herself to me."

Her brows lower as her gaze flicks over my shoulder. "That was nice of her."

I gulp. "It was." Please don't see through my lie again.

"Are you ready to get going?"

"Yep!"

She grins. "Great."