Maria's eyes widen when she saw me.
"Dios Mio Elizabeth! What had you done to Gabriela?" Ellie grinned naughtily beside me scratching her head.
"Call me Bella," I corrected. Maria's mouth hanged open.
"You young lady. I know you are in the rebellion stage, but I promise your parents that I will take care of you. I and your mother had been friends since childhood, and you're like my daughter,"
"It's just a dye ma. It's not a big deal. Everyone coloured their hair nowadays," Ellie trying to lighten up.
"It's not my point," she looked at me and continue as her eyes shimmered with tears.
"Your mother Ysabelle, you look like her. It's like she never left us when you are around. Our sweet Ysabelle," she cried.
I remembered Mom, she was breathtaking. I love her so much and people around her love her. She was sweet and kind. She was a ray of sunshine in the middle of the storm. But I'm not mom, we are exactly the opposite. I'm the storm in the middle of sunshine.
"Maria, I know how you feel. But I cannot live like this anymore. I cannot hide forever. As long as the criminals are out there, I cannot just go freely as myself. I want to continue my life, even it means that I need to make a new identity. Please help me. You promised Mom and Dad that you will take care of me. Now is your chance to prove it."
She looked at me dubiously. Minutes passed and finally, she nodded.
"I will help you girl. But promise me, don't get yourself in trouble," she replied and I embraced her tightly.
"I promise," I said as I crossed my middle and index finger at my back. Ellie shook her head at me.
Everything runs smoothly, through the money I have, I was able to create a new identity. I go by the name of Bella Miller. My mother was Belinda Miller, the second cousin of Maria. I was an orphan, which is true.
I continued my studies with my faux school records. I got a hard time adjusting, into popular to nobody. For the people who know me as Bella, I'm a nice and shy girl wearing eyeglasses with brown hair. It's difficult to pretend, especially for being nice to everyone. But I have to keep it up, for the sake of my image.
On the bright side, Maria, was more like a mother to me than a nanny, Ellie and I? Well, we became closer. When I'm with her, I can be myself and be the Gabriela Sullivan I know. She is my sisters in crime. We are inseparable.
One day, after our class, I decided to do one thing that I really want.
"Where will we go Gab?" asked Ellie.
"You will see," I replied as I put the eyeglasses into my bag and changed it to black tinted sunglasses.
We are walking now in the secluded area. As we walked further, my eyes light up as I saw the sign.
"Shooting range," she read aloud and looked at me with wide eyes.
"Dios Mio Gabriela! Are you insane?" she asked.
"Yes, I am. And please Elizabeth, stop imitating Maria," I replied.
She chuckled and pulled me towards the place. This little vixen was more excited than me.
A man was guarding the entrance and he eyed us.
"No minors allowed," he firmly said.
"I'm nineteen," I replied. But the truth is I'm still sixteen.
"Me too," Ellie added with a toothy smile.
He narrowed his eyes and slowly shook his head. This is my last resort.
"Are you sure?" I queried.
I opened my bag and get a bundle of money as I fanned it to myself. His eyes widened.
"Ok, bye," I dismissed, but before we can walk out, he stopped us.
"Wait! Hmmm, you can go inside," he said as he snatched the money from my hand.
"Gracias," I replied with smugness.
"You are a fox," Ellie grinned.
"You know me very well Ellie," I chuckled.
The man guided us inside and we followed him. There are only a few people, and their eyes were staring at us. We ignored them and followed the old man named John.
John thought as everything to know about a gun, the part of it, how to handle it safely and how to shoot it. He was a good gun instructor.
"Gun is for men. It's dangerous for women," John lectured.
"What if we are in danger? Is it bad to use a gun to save our lives?" Ellie debated.
"I agree. We need to learn how to use it so that we will not be a damsel in distress if ever we are in danger," I pointed out. John shook his head.
"You girls give me a lot of reasons and I bet, I cannot argue anymore," he resigned.
After a lecture, he guided us to the indoor shooting range where we will shoot a gun. He gave us an earplug and safety goggles for protection. A target was set, and I pictured out that it is the man who killed Dad. The six feet man with beard and dragon tattoed at the arm. I loaded the gun, steady my stance, while I straighten my arms. I took a deep breath and held it as I focus on the target and clicked the trigger.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
"Wow, it's a bull's eye!" Ellie exclaimed.
"You are good at it girl," John said in amazement.
"Yes, I know," I replied.
Ellie and I drowned ourselves in our new found hobby. Every Saturday we will go to John and practice our gun shooting skills. On the other hand, Maria was kind of suspicious, but we managed to cover up by bringing her favourite ice cream every time we got home.
Later on, we got bored and we level up to a new hobby. The airsoft, John introduced it to us. It is more fun 'cos you can actually shoot people, but not killing them. He brought us up one day which disapproves by the team.
"Are you sure, you want to join these niñitas? We may lose our team or worst they may get hurt," the guy disapproved.
I studied the guy's face. He is about the age of twenty. Had dirty blonde hair, has very well-defined and visible muscles and had a marble jaw that was ragged and muscular. He had sea rover-blue eyes. Overall, his face is pleasing to the eyes.
"Says the niñito," said Ellie with a piercing look.
"Enough Adrian! These girls will join us. No further discussion," John said firmly. Ellie stuck her tongue out to Adrian, and he glared at us.
We wore our complete battle gear and held our airsoft gun. The game was held in the forest. There are two teams, the red and blue. We belong to the red team. Each team composed of ten members, and each member has a role to obliged.
First, the runner, he or she must make it through the entire course without getting hit.
The protector is heavily armed to aid in protecting the team especially the runner.
The soldier, armed with full ammo and must fight with no limits.
The Sniper, need to be knowledgeable of their surroundings and be effective stalkers. Snipers must be masters of camouflage and have speed, patience and stealth to take down an enemy.
And lastly, the medic, is unarmed or may be armed with a pistol, but has no extra ammunition on him at any time and must be protected by the team at all times. If the medic is hit he is down, and out of the game. He cannot be healed and put back into play. The medic is notified if a game player is down and rushes to "heal" the downed player to put him back into gameplay.
"Jason, you will be the medic," John assigned. The man nodded.
"I will be the sniper. Danny, Robert, Mike, Steven, Philip and Ellie you will be the soldiers." The men nodded and Ellie was wearing her usual toothy grin.
"Adrian, you will be the protector."
"And lastly Bella, you will be the runner," I raise my brow. Runner? what the heck! I want to be a soldier! But I remembered, I was Bella. A nice and shy girl, so I nodded obediently. Ellie gazed and me with a smirk. This little vixen!
Then that's it. The bell rang and the battle began.
"You little girl, you go with me," Adrian ordered.
We were now running in the forest.
"What if, I say no," I replied, taunting him. He glared at me.
"You have no choice. If they shoot you, then we're gonna lose our team!" he hissed.
Then a guy from another team appeared in front of me, I instantly charge and shoot him.
Bang!
"F*ck!" said the guy and I smirked.
"Then, they can try," I stated.
Half a minutes have passed and the game went on. Adrian and I were sitting on the big tree, resting ourselves.
"Water?" he offered. It's awful to share a drink with a guy, but I felt parched. Better to share than to be dehydrated.
"Thanks," I said as I grabbed and drank it.
He smiled and got up while offering his hand to help me. If I am Gabriela I would not accept his help, but I am Bella, so I gladly accepted.
"Thank you again," I gaze at him smiling. I was fulfilling my image.
We stride into the forest with inaudible movement. Like a predator hunting its prey. We were hiding behind the trees when I heard the harsh sound of the leaves. I looked at him, and he nodded. I gazed at my prey, he has a cross sign, their medic. In the blink of an eye, I attacked him and shot.
"What the f*ck!" the man growled.
"Nice moves," Adrian complimented and patted my head. He's getting to my nerves, but I smiled at him instead.
Our path continued, the forest was humid and I was sweating profusely. My armpits were already wet, and it felt disgusting. It's been an hour but the game still went on.
Then we saw the rest of our teams. It was John the sniper, Jason the medic, Steven, Philip and Ellie the soldiers. I observed Ellie and she was having fun. The smile on her face never vanished.
"Find their runner," John instructed, then the team split up.
"See you later sissy," said Ellie and jogged away from me wearing that silly grin. That girl, I thought she wants to team up with me.
I sighed and glanced at Adrian, I have no choice but continue to be with him. We ran in the east direction.
"I will cover you," Adrian spoke behind me as we go further. I nodded.
Then I noticed a man, hiding behind the tree. He doesn't notice our existence yet.
"There's someone over there. Their runner," I whisper.
I concealed myself at the long grass as I lie prone. Adrian was behind me, hiding at the tree, guarding me.
"Can you shoot him?" he questioned while keeping an eye around us.
"Yes," I affirmed. I position myself as I narrowed my eyes to the target, focusing on him. My heart was beating hard in my chest because of the excitement I felt. I took a deep breath, as a drop of sweats trickled at my forehead. I loaded my gun, took a final deep breath, and instantly clicked the trigger.
Rrnnnnngggggggggg.............
The bell rang at the flash, signalling the end of the game. Adrian was grinning at me and help me to stand up. The rest of my team went to us, and Ellie was jumping with joy.
"We won! We won!" Ellie exclaimed.
"Congratulation team," John said happily. Everyone was doing a fist bump, then Adrian walks towards me.
"Bella Miller, you're one of a kind," he praised.
Yes, I am. Thankfully, I didn't say it out loud. I remind myself that I'm a NICE and SHY girl
"Thank you," I replied as I bit my lower lip and smiled, then we did a fist bump.
~End of Chapter 2~