It's has been exactly 1 year, 2 weeks, 3 days, 15 hours, 7 minutes, and 32 seconds since I last saw Zachary Goode. My internal clock screamed as soon as I opened my eyes one Monday morning. But who's counting right? Oh, yeah, since I am a highly trained spy that goes to Gallagher Academy for Exceptional Women, secretly known as the best spy school in the world (probably, I didn't know about Blackthorne), I am. And honestly, I missed Zach. I missed everything about him, his cockiness, his toughness, and his sarcastic and snide remarks… I pushed those thoughts aside. I didn't know when or where I would see him again. I focused on the grey stone ceiling above me, studying the familiar cracks, and realized more than felt a strange, fuzzy feeling in my stomach, and somehow knew something big would happen today. A picture of Peter Parker crouching down and saying, "My Spidey Senses are tingling!" popped into my head, and I knew my "Spy Senses" were tingling. I rolled out of bed, and caught Bex's eye. Just one look told me she felt that strange feeling as well. Yes, something big was going to happen.
…
"Is it just me or is Macey acting really weird?" I asked Bex as we walked to Cove Ops later on that day. The morning had passed with no real surprises, other than a COW pop quiz that was too easy. I'd seen Macey come out of the headmistress' (also my mother) office, a look of deep concentration, worry, and excitement plastered on her face. She walked right past Liz, not even stopping to say hi like she normally would have. Since then we'd only seen glimpses of her, weaving quickly through the crowd. That would've been okay, except for the fact she was heading in the opposite direction of her classes, and not meeting our eyes.
"She's been acting really strange. I think something is going on," Bex muttered. We entered Sublevel Two, only to find Mr. Solomon standing at the front of the classroom with his jacket on. I bit my lip. Three minutes and two seconds later, the rest of our Cove Ops class arrived. Mr. Solomon smiled. He held up eight familiar black blindfolds.
"You should be familiar with this procedure, ladies." He said, handing us each a blindfold. "With your blindfolds on, go outside and meet by the helicopter pad. Remember, I'll be watching, so no peeking. That means you, Ms. Walters."
I slipped my blindfold on, and was enveloped in darkness. Quickly and effortlessly, I made my way out of the school. I could hear Bex behind me, and immediately knew she was eight feet behind me. As soon as I reached the field that served as the helicopter pad, I heard Mr. Solomon's voice.
"Well done, Ms. Morgan," he said. I was first. Well, I knew the school like the back of my hand, if not better. Two minutes and twenty-one seconds later, every single member of Sublevel Two had gotten to the helicopter pad. We were loaded into the helicopter, and were flown around for thirty-eight minutes and sixteen seconds. Then we were pulled into a van, and were driving on unfamiliar roads. This trip reminded me of that trip to DC, where I'd first met Zach… I breathed in Bex's familiar perfume, just like a year ago…
"Alright ladies, you proved that you know your surroundings pretty well. Today you're going to have to blend into another surrounding, and at the same time, you have to stop Alexei Zaronsky. Who is Alexei Zaronsky, Ms. Lee?" Mr. Solomon's voice broke the silence, and I felt Bex jolt awake.
"Alexei Zaronsky, one of the CIA's top wanted, unsuccessfully tried to bomb Stanford University seven years ago, a scientist and an inventor, age 46 this year," Kim recited, almost a direct quote from "The Improved and Updated History of CIA's Most Wanted".
"Very good, Ms. Lee. What can appearances can he be identified by, Ms. Alvarez?" Mr. Solomon fired another question.
Evan answered immediately. "He has five irremovable silver teeth that are usually professionally covered up."
"Correct. According to our sources, Alexei Zaronsky has invented a new type of gas, and is going to try it out on the elite teenagers of the Upper East Side in Manhattan. You mission is simple: to find and capture him, disable the bomb and bring it back to Gallagher, where we will have our experts examine it, and then hand the new information to the CIA. And do that without being caught." Mr. Solomon paused. "The fate of New York rests in your hands. We don't know what the bomb will do, but it will be deadly. " I could feel his gaze on us, and he didn't have to say anything else; the message was clear: if you don't bring the bomb or Alexei Zaronsky back, not only will you fail, you will die. I clenched my hands into fists. Not only was Sublevel Two a lot harder than Sublevel One, what we did also affected the world. Great.
"Take off your blindfolds, ladies," Mr. Solomon said. I slid the tight, uncomfortable blindfold off, and blinked in the bright light of the van. Mr. Solomon slid folders towards each of us. "Your legends. Live them. You have one and a half minutes to memorize every single fact about your cover."
The van was silent as each girl read her cover and became someone else. I skimmed my folder, committing every detail to memory.
Name: Cassandra Banks
Age: 18 years old
Date of Birth: February 21st
Characteristics: Loves dancing, snobby, rich, leader of gang, perfectionist, can't keep hands off of boyfriend.
Wait. What? Boyfriend? I stared at the page blankly, questions racing in my mind. Boyfriend. Boyfriend. I, I mean Cassandra, has a boyfriend? Who? Who?
My eyes scanned the page again.
Status: In a close relationship with Luke Gordon
Luke Gordon? I glanced at Bex's folder, my head spinning.
Name: Rebecca Sanders
Age: 18 years old
Date of Birth: January 18th
Characteristics: Loves dancing, calm but with a hot temper, and rich, best friend to Cassandra, in sweet relationship with boyfriend.
Status: Gooey relationship with Geoffrey Landon.
Before I could say anything to Bex, my folder disappeared from my hands, and I looked up to see Mr. Solomon smiling at us with our neatly stacked folders beside him. He still needed to teach us how to do that.
"Time's up, ladies," he said, and the van screeched to a stop. "Use your memory, and everything you need will be in your rooms. Good luck. And we won't see you for dinner tonight." He opened the door, and we were all ushered out. The bright sun burned my eyes, and I shielded my eyes from the glare.
"Oh, and ladies, stay on your toes. The fate of New York rests in your hands. You might see a few acquaintances today. Remember who to trust." Mr. Solomon called, and then the van zoomed off.
I looked at Bex. We stared at each other for half a second, while the rest of my sisters adjusted to the sunlight. In that half a second, I knew we both thought the same thing.
Blackthorne Boys. We were going to see them again. Soon.