Agent Atlantis

Chapter 16--To Steal Confidential Information

Luke didn't have the best luck in the world—by any means. He'd thrown live grenades into fake air vents several times before—and had to dive into cover to not get his legs blown off. He'd also had teammates who had used the "Q" word during missions—and then when the terrorists started firing through the walls, he didn't even have time to say, "I told you so!"

But his luck only reached an all-time low after he joined the EAUD, mainly because of Jerry.

Luke had him in all of his classes. Every. Single. One. Whoever had thought it'd be a good idea to place the new student and the third year whom he'd bruised the ego of in the same classroom for hours at an end needed to be fired.

In reality, Collins had probably placed them together so Luke could observe Jerry, but the amount of glares he received from the bully and his cronies in a class as chill as The History of Artenian Firearms (the professor was so old and his spiels were so boring that even he himself sometimes fell asleep during his own lectures, but Luke was too hardwired with adrenaline to follow suit) to Advanced Firearms 505 (the class was so easy that Luke didn't even need to look to hit the bullseyes, to the chagrin of Jerry) made him start regretting his life decisions.

Yeah, these were all advanced third year classes—apparently Collins didn't really know the meaning of a "covert operation."

That's it, Luke thought as Jerry finally relented from their twentieth staring contest of the day—and the ninety-ninth of the week. After this class, I'm turning in my resignation letter to Collins. But wait—can I even resign if I'm a student? Do I have to get expelled?

Before he could puzzle over this dilemma further, Arcadia leaned over his desk to whisper, "Hey, you okay? Do you need me to do something?"

There was one reason why Luke hadn't already gone crazy: Arcadia. Despite Luke's first impressions, he couldn't help but grow closer to the boy. They had less in common than an elephant and a mouse, but the classes he had with Arcadia seemed to go by in a blur.

As the month grew clsoer to an end, they'd figured out a deal—Arcadia would help him with acclimatizing to the EAUD, and Luek would help him in the shooting range when he was free. The boy had seen his exceptional skills during the admissions test—and, unfortunately for him, Arcadia needed help. A lot of it.

"I'm okay," Luke murmured. "I'm used to it."

Arcadia didn't seem convinced. "Jerry's just getting used to your presence. He'll stop bothering you soon."

Luke wasn't too sure about that. It was his third week here—and Jerry didn't seem like he was going to change his behavior. But he just nodded.

A few minutes later—and one more glaring contest with Jerry—Luke felt a tap on his shoulder. It was the girl with the straight black hair that sat behind him. Arcadia had introduced Luke to her a few weeks prior—Zohai. She was part Indian, part German, but she liked to joke, "I'm all Indian and all German—fifty percent can round to a hundred, right?"

As she leaned forward to whisper in a voice that only Luke and Arcadia could hear, the boy couldn't help but admire her sparkling green eyes that complimented the rest of her face brilliantly. "How is it living with Jerry?"

Hesitating, Luke looked back at the board, where Professor Jason Jiblet—the other co-head of the EAUD—was heading the Foundations of Covert Operations class. Jocelyn had told him to never call him "Jason," but Luke thought "Professor Jiblet" wasn't any better. With his brutish build and a hat sporting stitched rifle insignias on each side, Luke really didn't want to get on his bad side.

"He doesn't care if you talk," Zohai reassured Luke, as if she knew what he was thinking. "Look."

She dropped her pencil. As she leaned past Luke to grab it, he couldn't help but catch a whiff of something sweet—maybe pine? Arcadia yelped softly as she punched him on the shoulder.