Spy School At Sea FOLLOW-UP

Never Underestimate the Hale

 I slid the glass balcony door closed, taking a giant deep breath in.

I had just won the lottery. Not the real lottery, but the lottery every teenage boy would roll in their minds. After all, Erica Hale had just kissed me.

The walk back to my king-sized bed in the Emperor suite was slow as I thought about this. I ignored the voices around me and shut the door, staring at the wall in front of me, which was budded with a material that looked suspiciously like diamond.

"Wow," I breathed. "I never knew Erica's breath smelled like mangoes.

"How do you know what Erica's breath smells like?" a voice poked from behind me, hinting with mischievousness. I whirled my head around to find Mike, who was propped up next to my door as casually as possible.

"Can I get 5 minutes of privacy around here?!" I groaned. The answer was obviously no, but that was implied.

Mike smirked in response and waved to the wide-open door. "You should remember to lock your door at all times. Actually, scratch that-- I could still pick the lock. How about just not talking to yourself out loud? It tends to give away private thoughts."

I was about to respond, but Mike's feet suddenly went out from under him. "Woah!" he shrieked, head hitting the ground with a hard knock and shuddering the wooden floorboards underneath us.

"And you should not let your guard down," Erica Hale stood at the doorway of my room, somehow appearing out of nowhere. "It tends to let others get a jump on you, which I just did."

"Mercy," Mike groaned from the floor, voice hoarse. "Please don't hurt me."

"I won't hurt you as long as you listen to what I have to say next," Erica plucked a stray hair from loose wallboard and flicked it at Mike. "Ben knows what my breath smells like because we were testing the side effects of benzodiazepines on a human. One of the categories was body gas, and Ben took a quick whiff of my breath as a result."

"What did you just call me?" Mike said from the floor. "You were testing the side effects of Benzonia?"

"Benzodiazepines," I cleared my throat. "They're a common ingredient in sedatives used on the general population. You should know this, Mike. Weren't you listening during the Liquids unit in Weaponry 101?"

"I was asleep," Mike said sheepishly, standing up from his position on the ground. "And I thought you were too. Looks like Benny boy has outdone me again."

Erica brushed some dust from her shirt, then took a look around my room. The fact that she was avoiding eye contact with me said that she was probably still embarrassed from the kiss-- and I was too, for sure. Eye contact was the last thing on my bucket list after such an event.

The awkward silence was penetrated by Mike's voice. "Alright! Now that we're done with the mission crap, we can have fun! Ben, want to come with me over to the laser tag arena? I've tinkered with one of the guns long enough to figure out how to get infinite ammo. We can go destroy some kids over there."

"I'm kind of famished," I said, hand moving to my stomach. "Could we stop by the Chinese food section of the buffet first? A hot bowl of Chao Mien could do well right now."

"You two do what you want," Erica waved at us. "I'll be dealing with the profit swipers in the Casino. If you need me, just listen for the screams of mercy. They'll come soon after I reach the lido deck."

"Yes, ma'am," Mike saluted for extra respect. "We'll be stuffing our faces at the buffet."

After Erica left the room, Mike checked the hallways for any other people. Save a few room service members, it was empty. He swung his head back in the room, then shut the door as quietly as he could.

"What's with the clandestine moves?" I asked, watching as he locked the door and rummaged through his pocket.

Mike took out a tiny remote control, then fingered with it for a while. "Isn't it obvious? We're going on a mini-mission."

And with this, a bullet exploded against the edge of my bed.