Spy School: Danger is my Middle Name

Some Alone Time Will Do

---POV Switch to Agent James---

To be honest, I wasn't really into the mission.

Since the little encounter I had with Jade, I'd been pretty much down in the dumps. I had a done a good act of hiding it from the others, though, since they haven't caught on yet.

Funny thing was love does to you. You get high on it, you ride it, then suddenly, it leaves you, shattering your heart, taking all hope away, and virtually ending your will to live. Not that I wanted to commit suicide, though. It's just that I miss Jade.

After calling a Taxi to bring us to the beach, I called the window seat enthusiastically. It was all an act, though. On the inside, my real intentions were to just make sure I could hide my solemn expression by staring out the window.

My brain flashed me memories of how we met. That night I had snuck out, decided to catch some breeze, then found the love of my life. But sadly, it looks like I'll never see her again.

I silently tapped my nose against the window, eyes glazing out with the memories. The rolling landscapes could only do so much, nevertheless calm me down. After playing out all of the fake persona of 'enthusiastic James' for a few days, I was prepared to crash onto my bed and deposit all of my trash memories into the pillow. Maybe punch my blanket a few times too, though nothing could do to stop my depression.

I may sound like I'm exaggerating this a bit, but all of this is true. You don't know it until you experience it, after all. You meet the most beautiful person, your soulmate, and the love of your life. Then you leave them unwillingly. It's not like they broke up with you- you kind of broke up with them. It was the worst pain in the world, after the death of a relative.

Suddenly, the bump of the car onto a rock on the road jerked me back to reality. Behind me, Jayden, Dylan, and Kylie were playing some kind of thumb-wrestle tournament. Guess I should join in, since, if I didn't, then that'd virtually blow my cover.

Forcing a smile onto my face, I tilted my gaze to my most flattering angle and gave Trixie a look. "Can I join?"

Trixie nodded, then held out her hand. It took me a second to process that she wanted to thumb-wrestle with me, rather than hold hands- and I wouldn't hold hands with her anyway, since Jade's my crush, not Trixie.

Tensing up my fingers, I engaged in a brief match with Trixie. I decided that the best choice in this situation was to go for pouncing on her thumb in different angles, hoping that at some point I would manage to gain an edge on her.

I didn't. She won in a heartbeat.

"Alright, alright," I admitted. "I lose."

Yep, I lost. And then I lost five times in a row after that. Then the losing streak turned to ten. Then twenty. Then thirty.

I sighed, turning back over to the window and setting my elbow onto the seat railing. My eyelids were already sinking, but I had to keep myself going. I couldn't fall into sleep now.

"Let's cut to the chase," Dylan abruptly said, turning my face around and revealing my depressed look. "James, what's going on? You could easily win against Jayden, and me sometimes, but you've gained a losing streak of...what? Thirty now?"

"Yep," I mumbled, poking at the seat cushioner. "What about it?"

"What about it?!" Trixie said. "Last week we had a thumb-wrestling contest, and you won! What's with it now?"

I couldn't even poke a hole in that. If I had a full potential of winning against all of them, then I wouldn't be able to contradict the fact how I wasn't even able to gain a victory against one of them now. After all, it was about time that I told them what was happening.

Before I could get a sound out of my mouth, Dylan interrupted me. "Does this depressive state have anything to do with Jade?"

"I-it...yes," I finally said in a heave of sighs. "It does have to do with her."

---Timeskip to a few minutes later---

"We're arrived," the Taxi driver said in a heavy Indian accent, holding out a hand to accept the money. Since Dylan had vouched to pay, he flopped the expected stack of cash onto the driver's hand. Satisfied, the cab driver unlocked the doors and let us out.

Not that he needed to lock them in the first place. We all knew how to pick those things in less than five seconds. He didn't know it, but we easily could've scammed him by ditching the car before payment.

Dylan was the first person to step onto the white, smooth silky sand of the beach. Sighing in relief, he threw off his shoes and socks, running directly into the ocean.

"C'mon, guys!" he yelled back at us, waves lapping against his feet. "It's beautiful out here!"

It surely was, indeed. After the brief explanation about my state to the others, I had tooken a great and long look out the window towards the beach. There was nothing that could beat the soft moonlight on the glistening waves of the shore.

The remnants of the past visitors stained the sand as I strolled over to the refreshing waters. I could make out footprints, collapsed and drowned sandcastles, forgotten items, and an occasional empty sunscreen bottle or soda can.

"Y'know, you don't have to be so depressed about it," a soft voice came from my right.

I jerked up and immediately fell to the sand, landing on my butt. "Geez, at least warn me before you sneak up again, Kylie!"

"Sorry," she said, taking off her shoes and settling down next to me. "But I'm just too sneaky."

"You can put it that way, or you're just a total creep," I said. "And don't settle down next to me in this position while staring at the moonlight, it makes people think we're some kind of couple."

"But this position is relaxing," she countered. "And you're suffering from what I call 'Love depression'. It can't be cured unless someone, especially someone of the opposite gender, heals them from their past."

"But I don't want to be healed from my past!" I said a bit too loudly. "If you're going to make me forget about Jade, you might as well kill me!"

Kylie sighed. "No, not about that. I'm not making you force-date some other girl you have no interest in. I'm just making sure that you're aware there still is hope in the air."

"This is starting to sound like some sort of cringey resolution in a movie," I noted. "Just cut to the chase and tell me what to do. And you're right, I'm not going to let anyone force-date me with someone other than Jade. She's my soul mate."

"Did someone mention force-dating?" Dylan said, strolling up beside me. "Please don't tell me you're shipping me with Trixie. If you make me date her, I'm going to translate all of my future Wattpad parts to Hindi. And you don't want that to happen. Don't you, readers?"

"I'm sure they don't," Kylie said. "Anyway, I've come up with a plan for you to heal yourself, mentally and physically. It looks like your beaten state also effected your stamina, performance, and strength. After all, Jayden beat you in a thumb-wrestling match."

"Jayden!" Dylan yelled. "Kylie's calling you weak!"

"She what?!" Jayden yelled back. "Oh, it is so on. That girl wants to compete with me in the insult category? Holy poop, she is crazy."

"Hey!" I yelled back. "Stop stealing my catalogue of curse words. 'Holy poop' was my idea!"

Kylie giggled, placing the palm of her hand on mine. "See? You're getting along pretty well. You just have to forget the fact that you're suffering on the inside and start living on the outside."

"Jeez, that sounds complicated," I groaned. "And now this is sounding even more like a cringey Disney movie."