Spy School: Danger is my Middle Name

Mission

I literally have writer's block again 😒

kill me now 😶

Don't blame me if this chapter sounds unidealistic or off topic, I can't think of good ideas righ tnow.

Four in the morning was her target time of waking up.

When I opened my eyes to the first daylight, I didn't even take much of a glance at the clock. I was only when my mind flashed a temporary threatening-looking picture of Erica to me that I finally jerked up from my sleeping position.

One look at the clock told me that I was dead meat. I cursed silently under my breath and slapped on my clothes as quick as I could before I could waste any more time. Brushing my teeth took me a record of nineteen seconds, my shower was a minute, and my hair? Let's just say that I came out of my room with a bird's nest on my head.

I ran across the hallway, completely unaware of the fact that everybody's doors looked untouched. After reaching the Ice Queen's place, I stopped and quickly grabbed the door. Surprisingly, it swung open easily.

"Erica!" I said in apology, bursting into her room. "I'm la-"

"Ben!" Erica suddenly snapped from under her sheets, pulling up her blanket in embarrassment. "I'm in my underwear! Why are you in my room!?"

I doubled her tomato-red color, then zipped out of the place as quick as I could, trying to erase the stupid imaging my mind was making. "Sorry!" I said weakly through the door. "But didn't you say I had to wake up at four the next morning?"

"I left a note," Erica said. "Can you not see?"

"Note? I didn't see any note when I left my room," I said. "Why didn't you just stick it on the ceiling so I would see it when I woke up?"

Erica's eye roll was so intensified, I could hear it. "I did stick on the roof. You just didn't see it."

"What do you mean?" I questioned. "It's not like you know what happened this morning to m- oh wait, you're Erica. Why am I surprised?"

"I don't have any cameras in your room, Ben. But I'm guessing that this is what happened this morning: You woke up, pictured an image of me threatening to torture you, jerked up, immediately skipped looking at the ceiling and glanced at the clock, then went through your morning routine at top speed. Proceeding this, you sped to my room and burst in without care."

I hesitated. "This sounds unusually suspicious. You're completely sure you haven't hijacked the cameras in my dorm?"

Erica scoffed. "That sounds like something a perver- Jayden would do. Also, mind if you go to sleep again? You don't realize you're talking to a girl in her underwear, right?"

"You're right," I mumbled. Taking a glance down the hallway and sighing, I walked back towards my room. "I have to go."

I took a few steps down the hallway and chided myself for not looking at the ceiling. If she had left a note there, then how did I not see it? Or maybe Erica just wanted me to run over to her room and- no, she's not like that. Is there really a note on my ceiling?

I crashed into my roof and immediately looked up at the fan. Sure enough, a note large enough to act as my pillow was stuck on the roof.

So she had snuck in my room while I was sleeping. Not only that, but I sleep only in my underwear-and occasionally, on hot summer nights, I sleep with nothing, but let's not go there. If she had written such a note on my ceiling, then why didn't she just notify me and wake me up? Ah, I'm thinking too much.

I collapsed onto my bed and blew out a few unnecessary breaths. Life couldn't get more boring than this. When you're part-timing as a spy, it's pretty much just action every single day. Not once had I had a whole 24-hour period to myself, despite my personality being an introvert, and I'm not exactly proud about the excessive social communication.

Three minutes into my boring stare-into-space state, my phone buzzed, jerking my focus from the dust floating in midair to my device. I quickly pulled it out and read the message from Mike:

Come over to my dorm. I'm over here with Zoe, and we want to show you something.

I sighed and texted back:

Show me what? Does it have to do with the mission?

Mike replied within ten seconds: 

No, but you need to see this.

I slipped my phone into my pocket and fumbled with the doorknob, strolling over to Mike's room. If he wants me to see something, I better see it. At least it's better than doing nothing over there on my bed.

I could hear some distant voices a few rooms away echoing from his dorm, so I'm expecting they were arguing or watching some sort of television show. I couldn't make it out much, but I could hear some sort of commotion going on.

"Harder!" Zoe's voice shouted. "Harder! Ah, there we go!"

My mind roared in a battle against my passive side against my dirty side. I quickened my pace and sprinted across the hallway, ears picking up the sound getting louder and louder by the step.

"Yesssss!" Zoe yelled in satisfaction, which was followed by a disgruntled noise from Mike. I grabbed the doorknob and turned in a swift motion, laying my eyes on the scene. I slammed the door behind me and took in everything the light touched.

"What in the Ice Queen's name are you guys doing?" I stomped my feet to get the two's attention. Eyes narrowing at Mike and Zoe, I watched as they shifted their position on the bed. Eventually, my eyes caught sight of a phone between them, and Zoe's fingers tapping relentlessly on the screen.

"Mike insists that I can't beat the fifth level of Pac-Man!" Zoe shouted in fury. "It's too easy, and it needs to be harder!"

Mike tightened his lips in frustration. "You don't have to shout it out loud, though. You realize screaming 'harder' isn't exactly the best way to get an impact on our hotel neighbors."

Zoe ignored Mike and tapped the screen again. "Look at the look on Wolf Boy's face! I beat level eleven already!" This was followed by another "Yesssss!" when Zoe clicked something on the phone again. Mike groaned and snatched the device away from her.

"Hey!" she complained. "I almost beat level twelve!"

"We called Ben here for a reason," Mike snapped. "Ben, take a seat. Zoe, shut up and go with the act."