Returning to school is like being told that your parents have cancelled your Netflix subscription.
In other words, it's horrible. Completely and utterly horrible.
The only nice thing about it is being able to see my friends and of course, Will - but he's arriving later due to spending the day with his family.
After the long duration of time it takes me to carry my belongings up the masses of stairs, I reach my dorm, opening the door to reveal Maddy, lying on her bed in a unicorn onesie.
"Mia!" She squeals, her eyes lighting up as she jumps off her bed to give me a hug. "How was your holiday? Tell me everything!"
I laugh at her outburst, moving into the room so that I can place my bags on the floor. It still looks the same - with our two lonely beds, the large window at the end and the various photos that we each have displaying on the walls.
Maddy's side is obviously messier than mine, considering none of my belongings are out, while hers are splayed across the floor randomly.
"It was good. You?"
"It was alright." She says, shrugging as she shuts the door. "Mum was working for the whole of it, so it was just dad and I."
"That sucks." I say, throwing her a sympathetic glance.
Just as I'm about to unzip my bag, two figures suddenly jump out from behind Maddy's bed, yelling at the top of their lungs.
I, being my mothers daughter, scream as loudly as I've ever done before, getting the shock of my life.
Irritatingly, it's only Amie and Emily, giggling as they watch my reaction, both dressed in pyjamas, looking ready for bed, despite the early hours of the afternoon.
"Gotcha!" Amie laughs, coming over to give me a hug.
Ducking under her arms, I stick out my tongue. "No. You don't get a hug from me after that."
"Too bad I'm here." A voice says behind me, and immediately I'm caught in Emily's arms, due to the fact that she grabs me before I have the chance to turn around. Cackling evilly, Amie joins, hugging both of us as I'm squished in the middle.
"Great." I say, voice muffled. "Just great."
When we all meet in the great hall for dinner that night, just about everyone has arrived. Fred, Zach, Ash and Will are all sitting at our usual table, tucking into our special welcome back meal: succulent chicken breast with gravy and chips.
As I take a seat beside Will, I try not to look at him, but he catches my eye, the smallest of smirks faintly touching his lips. It warms my heart, and suddenly I can't breathe.
As if the sight of him wasn't enough to deal with, and now this? Sheesh! That boy really is something.
He's looking more dressed up today, which is a surprise. With a white polo shirt and black trousers. It immediately makes me feel embarrassed, turning up in my pyjama bottoms and an old cropped tee. Thankfully, the rest of the girls look the same as me: tired, lazy, and half assed to actually wear something decent.
"Went out for dinner." Will says to me, reading my mind. His voice travels down my ear, making me shiver. "Which is why I'm wearing a white shirt that Ash will probably spill something on."
We laugh, but it's clear from the maintained eye contact that there's still some kind of tension between us.
Shrugging it off, I tuck into my plate of steaming food, grinning at Maddy, who's sauce is dribbling down her chin.
Amie and Callum don't seem to be talking at all, much to Will and I's dismay. We'd hoped during the holidays that they would 'kindle their romance' but so far nothing has occurred on either of their parts.
And if there's any awkwardness between them, it's nothing compared to Emily and Fred, who are completely ignoring each other. Emily purposefully sat as far away from him as she could, right at the end of the table. Fred is being just as bad - looking in the opposite direction, not even acknowledging her existence.
Seriously, their PDA was awful, but this is even worse.
I'm about to make some jovial comment to lighten up the generally dull mood, when both Will's and my phone go off simultaneously, alerting the whole table.
"Whose phones were that?" Zach says, frowning. "That was weird."
We all look around, Will and I shrugging it off as if it's nothing. When the conversations resume again, he puts a hand on my thigh, nudging me. "It's from Rivers."
I look down at the phone in his hands. Sure enough, it is Rivers, a message sent from her that says 'IUPA service needed.' Just like what they said in our training. Which means it's urgent.
"You go and speak to her." He whispers, looking around anxiously to check if anyone else has heard.
I swallow. "Are you sure? I mean, wouldn't you be better at this? Wouldn't you rather know what it is first?"
"Vi." His lips form my name so quietly that I'm surprised even I heard. His eyes focus on my face, staring at me so intensely that my cheeks start to redden. "It's fine. Go. I'll keep these guys busy."
My fingers shake as I dial the number for IUPA. It could be anything. What if someone's hurt? What if we're in danger?
It rings twice, and an automatic voice is heard from the other end.
"Information Underwater Pacific Association, how can I help?" The voice is distinctly female. Sharp, clear and monotonous.
My voice however, comes out broken, trembling and jumpy. "Code AA."
"Processing. Please wait while we track your number." The line goes silent as I wait, listening to nothing but the sounds of my breathing, stuck outside, shivering in the cold. The voice eventually returns, and instantly I'm grateful to be distracted from the fact that I can't feel my arms. "Viola Hawkins. You will now be directed to Agent Rivers. Please hold."
Rivers picks up almost as soon as the voice cuts off, sounding relaxed and glad, which is a complete surprise. "Hawkins! Great. Glad you called. Where's Peters?"
"We're in the middle of dinner." I say plainly, annoyed that she used a service needed when it's clearly not important. "What's going on?"
"It's nothing to worry about. But it will definitely need some more explaining, but I had to give you a message before anyone else found out." She clears her throat, hesitating slightly. "This is big, Hawkins. It will be all over the news."
I walk away from a group of girls that are passing by, ensuring that nobody can hear what I'm saying. "Oh. Okay, but how can it be big if it's nothing to worry about?"
"Get Peters, and then we can talk. Seriously, you'll be happy." She hangs up abruptly, signalling that the conversation is over.
I'm about to turn around and head back into the hall when two hands touch my shoulders and immediately I jump, worrying that it's one of my friends. Thankfully it's just Will, with an irritating smirk on his face as he watches my fear slowly transition into annoyance.
"I managed to get away, claiming that I felt ill or whatever. What's up then?" He says, frowning slightly.
"We need to speak to Rivers." I reply, already walking towards the dormitories. "Now."
"He confessed." Rivers says, as soon as the skype call connects. Her hair is tied up into a slicked-back ponytail, smooth and shiny - no wispy tendrils in sight.
Her eyes look tired, however, lit up barely by an emotion of excitement, both draining and nerve-wracking to see.
"Edward Moreau. He said he was the leader of the UFA - and there's information to prove it. Using CCTV cameras we tracked a man who has been behaving suspiciously for the last few weeks. He was one of the men from the UFA in 2010, when their first leader originally died. He stayed alive, remaining under the radar of the police, and therefore when we found him, we tracked him for a while. Believe it or not, he lead us right to the base of their operation. How do we know it was their base? Because there were lots of men coming and going, holding guns and stocking up boxes filled with god knows what. When we raided the base, Edward Moreau was there, as well as hundreds of ammunition believed to be active and ready for the terrorist plot. He then confessed, realising that there was no way he could get out of it."
Will and I are completely silent.
He confessed.
The man who stood in front of us, invited us to dinner.
The father of Sydney.
Confessed, to a national terrorist plot. Confessed to be the leader of a national terrorist plot.
Rivers continues with a smile, taking our silence as a good thing. "Obviously, there are many people in UFA that are still involved - but we destroyed their ammunition, and Moreau is in custody. This will buy us lots of time, meaning that this operation is complete." She grins again, expecting us to do the same. When we don't, she leans back into her chair. "As for you two, your task is over. You may return to your previous schools, if that is what you wish."
I can't think straight. My head is all over the place. We just returned to school - and now suddenly our job is over?
I'll be back to being Viola, going to my old school where I'm known as the pad girl that suddenly disappeared.
But most importantly, I'll have to say goodbye to my friends...the people I've grown so close to throughout these past few months.
"We'll have to check you out, making sure that you're still safe going back to your original identities first, but after that life is the same as it used to be. Well done, both of you."
And she says goodbye, leaving us staring at the screen in complete and utter silence.
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Authors note: Rivers just dropped a bomb. What d'ya think?!
Do you want them to go back to their old schools?
We've hit the thirties guys!! Keep going, there's a lot to come!
Also, I FRIGGIN love Stranger Things. Literally, I've seen all of it and I genuinely can't wait for the next series. But that's like, in a year because they haven't even finished filming. *cries*
Drop down in the comments all your thoughts!!!
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