Spy School: Why did you leave me? [EDITING]

[Chapter 13]

By the way, today is my birthday! Happy Birthday Me!!!

McDonald's

May 16

0730 Hours (7:30 AM)

Ben POV

After Erica left the table, we all finished our meal in silence. After we had finished, I started to get up, but then Cyrus put a hand on my shoulder and lowered me back down. I shot a confused look at them, and his eyes moved inconspicuously to the corner table. I slowly sat back down and nodded.

I knew something was off about those people!

I felt something in my back pocket buzz. It was my phone. I took it out. I had received a text from Cyrus.

Cyrus Hale: The only way for them to know we're here is a tracking device. It's probably on one of our clothes, but we'll deal with that later. In 5 seconds, all of us will get up and go into the back alleyway behind the McDonalds. They'll follow us there, and then we'll attack them there. 3, 2, 1, go.

We all got up and exited through the doors. Sure enough, the people in the back corner also got up and started following us. Instead of going to the vehicle, we curved around the edge of the building until we found ourselves in a dark alleyway. Zoe and Mike hid behind the trash bin, and Cyrus and I hid in the shadows. After a few minutes, I heard footsteps.

"Where'd they go?" said a gruff voice.

"They're probably hiding somewhere here. Search the area," said another voice.

I glanced at Cyrus to see what we were going to do next, and he sent a text to us.

Cyrus Hale: Attack in 3, 2, 1, go!

We all sprung up from our hiding spots. But there was no one to fight. Cyrus had already taken out both of them. For some reason, we weren't surprised.

Leave it to Cyrus to take out Spyder Agents for us, I thought.

Then I remembered something.

"What about Erica? She's in the car!" I shouted and started running in that direction.

Cyrus's eyes widened, and he turned around and sped towards the vehicle. I reached the door ten steps before him. I swung it open, and Erica was there, locked in a fight with Joshua Hallal. They were moving so fast they were a blur as they fought. I had to help somehow. But how? I had an idea, and I did the most logical thing possible. I just shoved my fist out and hoped I hit Joshua. I felt my fist connect with something, and I opened my eyes. Joshua was kneeling on the ground, his hand covering his face, where I probably hit him. His eyes darted to Cyrus, who was about to enter, and then back to me.

"We will finish this next time," Joshua said as he started towards the door. I tried to block him, but he just kicked me aside. Then he sprinted away and hopped in a car, which sped off before I could see the license plate. Then I looked at Cyrus. He was just leaning against the car, like a typical teenager would do. I gawked. How could he act like everything was normal when we had been attacked by Spyder Agents? And how did the find us? None of us were double agents, none of us would do that. Until one of us would... It was at that moment that I realized the reality of how cliché my life was. I sighed. I was just going to have to accept it. At this moment, Zoe and Mike arrived, panting heavily.

"Where have you been? We were here 2 minutes ago?" I asked Mike and Zoe, realizing I was sounding a bit like Erica.

"Sorry... not everyone... can run as fast as you... when you hear that Erica... could be in danger..." Mike said, struggling to finish the rest of his sentence without putting his hands on his knees.

I blushed slightly at the comment. I was about to say something, but then I remembered Erica.

"Erica, are you okay?" I asked, turning around in a 180-degree spin. My eyes drifted up to her face, which had a growing red mark like she'd been punched. I tried to touch it, but then Erica slapped my hand away.

"I'm fine," she said in a voice colder than I had ever heard before.

"Oh. Okay," I said, trying not to sound too hurt.

"Everyone, get in the car," Cyrus said. I placed my hand in front of me, indicating Erica could go in the back first, but she didn't move. I tilted my head, confused.

"I'll just sit in the middle seat," Erica mumbled while sliding into the middle aisle. Zoe sat next to Erica, leaving Mike to sit next to me. As soon as the doors had closed, Cyrus turned around.

"They knew we were here. There's probably a tracking device on one of us. Do any of you go outside campus frequently?" Cyrus asked us. I looked around at the rest of us, and I saw no reaction from any of them besides Zoe, who's eyes widened.

"Zoe? What's up?" I asked her.

"I think the tracking device may be on me," Zoe revealed.

"How?" I asked.

"Every day in the morning before classes, I go for a run to a nearby gymnastics area where I practice," she continued.

"Did anything suspicious happen?" Cyrus interrogated.

"Now that you mention it, there was one thing. It was yesterday night, and I was just going for a little jog. There was nobody on the streets except me, which made sense because it was almost midnight. But then I saw one person walking in the opposite direction of me. They bumped into me, and I dropped my phone. They handed it back and then walked away without a word. And this was a huge sidewalk, mind you. Around 10 people could fit side by side on the sidewalk." Zoe finished.

"That's how you got the tracking device attached to you. Please give me your phone." Cyrus further questioned.

"Okay?" Zoe said, handing Cyrus her phone. Cyrus opened the car door, but before he could throw the phone out, Zoe caught his hand.

"No!!! Please don't throw it out!!!" Zoe begged. Cyrus pulled her hand off but didn't throw it yet.

"Give me one reason not to throw your phone," Cyrus said.

"Because there's Tik Tok on there!!" Zoe exclaimed. Cyrus thought for a second, then slowly nodded his head.

"That's a good reason. Tik Tok is very important. Let's see if I can find the tracking device and pull it off your phone..." Cyrus said, turning Zoe's phone around and pulling the case off. My jaw dropped.

"Cyrus, are you okay? You're sort of acting like a teenager," I said to him.

Without looking up from his work, he responded, "Catherine and Erica both dared me to act like a teenager for 24 hours."

"Ohhh. That makes sense." I said, nodding my head. I knew he would do anything Erica asked.

"And, done!" Cyrus exclaimed, pulling out a circular device. He places the phone case back on Zoe's phone and handed it back to her. Then, he crushed the device under his fingers and threw it out the window.

"Now that's out of the way, let's go!" Cyrus said, putting his foot on the accelerator pedal.

For about 10 minutes, I looked out the window at the nature around me. After that, I decided to talk to Mike. I turned around just to see Mike, fast asleep, his head leaning against the window. The rest of the way I tried to think about the mission, but I couldn't. All I could think about was Erica and how she'd been acting lately. I didn't know what to do. I made a mental note to talk to Mike later, but for now, I let the sound of the motor and the snoring of Mike lull me to sleep.

Hope you enjoyed the chapter!

- Cookie