The Incredible Adventures of Aqua Girl

Chapter 23 - Not Jeremy Jordan

I spent the next few days balancing daydreaming in class, swim practice and packing a suitcase under my bed. I had no idea what to bring to this emergency meeting, nor how long we'd be in Orlando for. Ace and Rach were both thrilled, constantly texting and calling me in the evenings about the sunshine state. One evening, I was halfway through The Empire Strikes Back when Mom burst in the room, reading from her phone.

"Cascade, next time you have a school trip to another state, I need to know more than 2 days before you leave!" She declared, turning her gaze to me whilst I paused the movie. I knew APPSSA were sneaky, but as Mom turned her phone to show an email that genuinely looked like it was from my school, with the logo and all, I was genuinely surprised at the stealth of this whole operation.

"Uh, I lost the letter for it and kinda forgot..?" Questioning myself as I spoke, causing Mom to roll her eyes in response.

"Well, you need to get packing, and on Thursday you're getting picked up at 7:30!" She sauntered out of the room as the oven began beeping from the kitchen. As soon as the door was closed again I leapt over to my phone and rang Rach. She picked up instantly.

"Has your Mom been told?"

"Yeah, Cass. This is so cool. I feel like I'm in an undercover spy operation!" She was practically screeching down the phone. I imagined her bouncing on her double bed in her room, with a random boy band blasting from her Bluetooth speaker. 

"That's because we are in an undercover spy operation, Rach." I deadpanned, glancing at Rufus, who was shuffling around on my messy bed.

"I guess we are...hey, are you taking shampoo? I don't know whether I should or not as there might be stuff in the hotel room but then at the same time there..."

"Rach, bring your own shampoo. We're not staying in a 5-star hotel." Interrupting as I heaved myself back next to Rufus. "Anyway, I gotta go. Luke Skywalker is calling."

"You geek. See ya!"

Dropping my phone, I clicked play on my laptop, Mark Hamill's younger face filling the screen as Yoda tries teaching him the force. As much as I loved this movie, my mind kept wandering back to what Thursday might hold.

"Good morning, sunshine!" Much to my dismay, as the black Range Rover door opened, I was met with a beaming Ace holding a Starbucks cup of coffee.

"Shut up. Need coffee." I muttered in reply, sliding into the car as the mute driver threw my suitcase into the boot. I caught one last glance at my mother through glass doors of our apartment building before the vehicle sped off. Ace handed me the piping cup of coffee before kissing my cheek and turning his attention back to the bustling city outside the blacked out windows. On his left side, Rachael was busy tapping away on her phone, probably messaging her darling Aidan.

"Isn't this nice? 7:30 on a Thursday morning off to save the world!" Ace exclaimed, practically jumping in the seat from excitement.

"You don't get out much, do you?" I replied, raising an eyebrow and feeling my mood lift as the caffeine kicked in. 

"Aw, don't be mean, darlin'." At his words, Rach scoffed and looked up from her phone.

"You guys had better not give me too much PDA on this trip or I'm gonna throw myself off a cliff." 

"I don't think there's any cliffs in Orlando, Rach." I murmured, smirking at her. After flipping me off, she dug around in her handbag for her earphones and ignored Ace and I for the rest of the journey. 

After what felt like an eternity in San Fran's rush hour traffic, the Range Rover arrived around the back of San Francisco International Airport. I furrowed my eyebrows and watched out the window as we pulled up outside one of the colossal warehouses for planes.

"Don't we have to go through security and stuff?" I inquired, leaning forward to talk to the driver. Ignoring me, he stepped out of the car and opened Rachael's door, causing us to shuffle out of the vehicle. Our suitcases were soon deposited with us and the huge door of the warehouse began slowly opening infront of us.

"Are you sure we aren't being filmed? I feel like James Bond waiting for his newest Aston Martin car to be revealed." Ace whispered as we continued watching the door open. Steadily, a small private jet was revealed, with three engines at the back, sleek red stripes up the body, and a man climbing down the steps. Jones.

"Kids! You're finally here! Come on in!" He yelled, causing us to grab our suitcases and scamper towards the ramp up to the plane.

"We're flying in this?" Ace asked, still gawking at the plane. Jones nodded and his smiled broadened. "Sick."

Two hours later, I found myself wiping away tears at the final song of The Last Five Years, my teenage hormones obviously reacting well with the ending of the characters' romance.

"Cass? You good?" I felt Ace's presence beside me in the lush leather seats as he shuffled closer.

"You're not Jeremy Jordan, go away." I sniffled, watching the credits roll and not looking at the silver-haired boy.

"I'm sure I can try and sing like him." Ace muttered, clearing his throat. I slammed my hand over his mouth before he could begin hurting my eardrums.

"Nope! I'm fine!" Protesting, I got up from my seat and stretched, looking around the small but luxurious aircraft. There were only a few dozen large leather seats, meaning Jones and the few APPSSA agents accompanying us were sat around the other end of the aircraft. But this was a whole new world for Rach, Ace and I. As soon as we got aboard, the lavish interior of the aircraft excited us, along with the large plethora of movies available to fill our time in the sky. I noticed Rach sat opposite me flicking through the latest issue of Vogue. 

Only she would bring magazines on a trip to an emergency meeting.

Satisfied with my stretch, I begrudgingly sat back down next to Ace, who was flicking through the comedy movies. 

"Have I ever told you I'm a huge fan of-" He was cut off by a loud ping, indicating for us to put our seat-belts back on. I quickly buckled up before ignoring Ace and turning my attention to the window, where endless lakes and lush patches of forest could be seen.

"Welcome to Orlando, kids!" Jones bellowed from the other end of the aircraft, bringing a smile to my face. 

Let the adventure of saving the world begin.

A/N: hello hello hello! Guess who's back! I had an awesome holiday in the sunshine state, and then I returned back to England to be surprised with more hot weather! This summer is going well :) It's my birthday on Thursday as well! How are you all? Have any of you watched 'The Last Five Years'? And, what's your favourite movie? :)