Operation Opossum

Secret Admirer?

Ryan watched her leave the house, closely trailed by the other four men. The largest of the men held the little boy on their back, faces grim and overwhelmed.

Her eyes were bright and full of excitement, and Ryan couldn't help but hate who she was. He hated the fact that she was the Skyler. The Skyler who'd taken down an entire group by herself, only at age 12, and brought down the fourth largest gang last year.

She was supposed to be dead.

But she wasn't, and now it was up to him and his family to get rid of her.

For good.

He didn't want to though. It just didn't seem right. She was just like him; same age, same life, same situations. Plus, she was fun. She knew how to enjoy life, unlike his own friends. She was interesting, amusing, and extremely wierd. 

"Where are we going Skyler?"

Ryan felt his ears perk up in interest as the little boy spoke.

Skyler didn't stop as she said, "The zoo!"

I hate the zoo, he thought, before continuing to follow them around the block and across the street, where the Johnston Park Zoo stood in all it's glory.

~~~~~~~~~~~~AT THE ZOO~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ryan couldn't help but feel overwhelmed, as he followed the odd group around the zoo thirty minutes later. Skyler hadn't done anything out of the ordinary yet, neither did he think she would. 

He could only hear bits and pieces of what they were saying now and then, but none of it was of any use to him. 

"...birthday?" 

Ryan flicked his gaze over to them again from where he sat behind the Dip 'n Dots station, suddenly interested. 

"Yeah!" he heard Skyler say excitedly. "One that you missed too!" 

"How old are you now?" the curly haired kid asked, equally enthusiastic. 

"Thirteen!" she stated proudly, and Ryan grinned, finally finding some information from them. He thought it was kind of odd that they were the same age. It made him feel a bit anxious. 

"Look! There's a food stand over there! It could be part of our happy birthday present!" 

Ryan panicked, ducking down lower behind the woman running the mobile cart parked in front of him. He was so close to them now that he could see the color of Skyler's nails glinting in the sunlight. 

"I love Dip 'n Dots!" she cried, happily skipping over to the counter. 

Not knowing what else to do, Ryan dived to the floor, face planting directly about a foot away from the woman's shoes. Luckily, no one had noticed him yet, and he tucked his face into his folded arms to cushion himself from the hard concrete. 

"....have a Banana Split, please?" 

He lay there for what seemed like ages until they finally paid and left, leaving him alone there at the poor woman's feet, who after all that time, finally noticed the strange boy on the ground directly below her. 

She let out a high pitched shriek, and attempted to kick him in the ribs. 

Already seeing it coming, he swiftly jumped to his feet and scurried after them, easily outrunning the outraged and flustered staff member to catch up with the oblivious group. 

He quickly spotted them all sat down on two benches side-by-side, eating their Dip 'n Dots contently while watching the lions stalking around their habitats in the large fields across from them.