Chapter Text
Chapter 1
My stomach was doing backflips, for I had just been called to the principal’s office. Now, normally, this is the case for most kids because they would be getting in trouble. However, when you got called to the principal’s office at spy school, you were usually getting activated on a mission. Even though I was walking as slow as possible, I still made it to the principal’s after only a few minutes.
The principal’s “office” was actually a storage closet due to the fact that I’d accidentally blown up his office a few years ago. When I knocked on the door, it wobbled on its hinges and promptly broke off completely. Inside of the closet were six people, all of which I knew. Two of them were some of my fellow spies, Erica Hale and Zoe Zibbel. Erica whom I’d had a massive crush on since I’d met her, but she’d always told me that relationships were a liability in the spy game, and Zoe, who I recently found out has a crush on me and told me she wouldn’t wait for me forever.
Then there were Erica’s parents, Catherine and Alexander, who I got along with quite nicely. They’d had a rocky relationship in the past, but recently seemed to have patched things up. They also both happened to be spies, Alexander for the CIA and Catherine for MI6. There was also Cyrus, Erica’s grandfather, who was a retired spy, and had recently stepped out of retirement several times to assist myself and Erica on missions. Lastly, there was the principal, who sat there with a look of confusion on his face. The principal wasn’t exactly the brightest person.
“Took you long enough,” Cyrus grumbled.
“Where you all waiting for me?” I asked. They all nodded, and I became even queasier. Cyrus handed me an official CIA dossier, and I noticed everyone in the room already had their own, except for Cyrus and the principal. I cracked the seal and glanced at the papers inside. The one on top was a booklet for the cruise the Emperor of the Seas . There were also several pictures of my nemesis Murray Hill, and a fake ID with my picture on it.
“We recently picked up chatter that Murray Hill will be boarding the Emperor of the Seas in Cuba in a few days from now. The five of you will be boarding the ship poised as a family on vacation, with a real goal of figuring out and thwarting the plans of Murray,” Cyrus told us. Zoe looked at me with a big smile, and I couldn’t help but return it.
“This isn’t going to be a vacation,” Erica told us flatly.
“Yeah, but we are going to be on the biggest cruise ship ever made, and we’ll have to blend in with the other kids…” Zoe trailed off. Erica started to argue, but stopped when Catherine put a hand on her shoulder.
“I’m actually looking forward to spending time with you kids,” Catherine said to us.
“As am I,” Alexander seconded.
“I suggest you all go pack,” Cyrus said. “Your plane leaves for Cuba at O’ eight hundred tomorrow, so be ready.” With that, we all shuffled out of the closet and headed to pack our stuff for the trip. Zoe came up beside me and said:
“This is so exciting! I can’t believe I’m finally getting activated officially, and on a cruise ship! Maybe we’ll get to have a jet ski chase! Who knows, maybe it could even be romantic.” As the words came out of her mouth, she seemed to realize how they sounded. She blushed and quickly walked off to her dorm, muttering that she had to pack, and in that moment, I noticed just how pretty Zoe was.
It suddenly dawned on me how amazing Zoe truly was. She’s fun to be with and she’s super smart and funny. Also, she actually liked me. I packed in a daze, my mind kept wandering off to Zoe and Erica. Eventually, I slammed my suitcase shut and shoved it next to my door, before flopping down onto my bed. Sleep evaded me for several hours, before I finally dozed off thinking about Zoe, wondering what in the world I was going to do.