The Young Spy (Book One)

Chapter 17: You Know Him?

"If you confuse talent with mixing sounds of scraping metal and cows mooing, then whatever you say." Swift chuckles.

"Ryan." The voice of Audrey suddenly appears behind Swift, and he turns around quickly to greet her.

"Oh, Audrey. Hello." Swift greets politely.

Dane points at her confusedly, "Audrey?"

"Hey, Dane. Iggy." She greets the remaining party. Iggy replies to her with a slight wave.

"Wait, you know her? And you know him?" Dane keeps pointing back and forth between Swift and Audrey.

"We've met. And the talks we've had are just... delightful, I should say." Audrey takes a seat next to Swift, over to the left. While they sat next to each other, Dane couldn't help but glare at them.

"So, no Tom?" Audrey takes note of Tom's absence.

"Not right now, he's in the bathroom," Swift says, not breaking the eye contact.

"What encouraged you to talk to Ryan here?" Dane questions her like he's interrogating her.

"We didn't. We bumped into each other, even before I walked into Northview." Swift says, raising more questions in Dane and Iggy's minds. Audrey, on the contrary, didn't think he'd tell that story. She thought he was going to craft another impressive lie to mask their encounter. But she didn't mind. Instead, she just nodded.

"Yup. The first time we saw each other, we went to go and get Starbucks because he was lost trying to find one."

"I wasn't lost! I was merely... unacquainted with the area, that's all. My family just moved in that same day, remember?" Swift argues.

Audrey finds his short temper to be funny, so she giggles at him. "Whatever."

"So, um... What's the relationship between you and these guys?" Swift asks Audrey with sincere curiosity.

"There's nothing much to say besides we're friends," Audrey says.

Iggy intervenes and adds, "Close friends."

"Yeah, exactly." She says.

"All of us knew each other since middle school," Dane notes.

"Interesting," Swift replies before he starts drinking his drink. His drink is empty once he's finished.

Suddenly, Audrey stands up from the seat. "Hey, Ryan. Can I talk to you for like, five minutes?" She noticeably grabs him by the arm.

"Sure," Swift says after a second of doubt, not knowing what's the deal. But he quickly accepts it and exits his seat. "A moment, gentlemen." He says so glibly before he walks with Audrey away from the table as Dane observes the two suspiciously. Once Swift and Audrey are out of the cafeteria, they near closer to each other for a conversation.

"So, what did you get?" Audrey whispers.

"Barlowe?" Swift mutters, and she raises her eyebrows as a yes. "Well, we found out one of Matt's big plans is to sell his weapons out to different private military companies and security contractors overseas."

"Wait, what? The military? Wouldn't that-"

"I know, I know. Increase in international conflicts. What a world we live in." Swift then sees a student walking across the hallway. "Speak of the devil." It was Matt, conversing with an unknown girl. She talks to him ceaselessly, whereas Matt looks like he is busy looking at something else entirely, ignoring the girl. Then it's proven by Matt who pulls out his phone. Audrey shares a short glance as well before he disappears out of sight. As he did, the two of them notice Tom walking down the hallway after being in the bathroom for so long.