Hey guys! So I have some news. Basically, I have so many stories to write that it would take me about a year to write them all, and that is if I didn't have homework and assignments and all the other crap teachers like to give me, so I've made a decision. On my bio, there's a list of stories with their summaries under the title 'Stories up for adoption'. They're what the name suggests - they're ideas for stories that I've had but I just don't have the time to write. Now, if you guys want the rights for any of those stories, just throw me an inbox (not literally, that would be painful) saying so. I'm not playing favourites with this, so it's first in, best dressed. I can tell you know that the stories up for adoption are called Beating Hearts, Voices and Head Trauma. When I get the reply saying which story you want the rights for, I'll give you a more in-depth description of what my plans for the story was. Okay, now that's done, on with the story!
Over the next few days, Zoe settled back into a routine similar to the one she'd had before she left. She was ecstatic when Dan told her that Melissa had left and her jaw had dropped to her knees when he told her that the new vice headmaster, Ms King, was Aneisha's auntie.
Although Zoe's routine was similar to her previous one, there were some additions. After her and Dan's declaration of love in HQ, the two had started dating and they weren't particularly discreet about it either. Before Zoe had left they might have been more private in their affections but they'd been without each other for over half a year.
Although Zoe was quite occupied with Dan, she did make as much time as she could to spend with Keri. The fact that Zoe was purposely taking time that she could have been spending with her boyfriend made Keri warm up to her sister incredibly quickly. Before meeting her, Keri had imagined Zoe to be a two-faced bitch who cared about no one but herself. The more time that Keri spent with her sister, the more she saw that that was as far from the truth as possible. Zoe was possibly the most selfless person Keri had ever met and in no way was she two-faced. She was one hundred percent genuine with everyone she met. And Keri could see from simply the way that she looked at Dan that she was ridiculously in love with him.
"I wish I had the strength to do what you did." Keri told Zoe one day, when they were sitting on one of the benches in the schoolyard. With anyone else, Zoe was would have feigned ignorance, but she didn't bother with Keri. She knew that her sister wasn't stupid.
"I don't know why you think it was strong." Zoe told her. "I think it was the weakest thing I've ever done, leaving him like that."
"I don't know why you think it was weak. You left to protect him."
"But I couldn't bring myself to tell him." Zoe said. "I made him think that I didn't care about him."
"And now he knows different." Someone said as hands were placed on Zoe's shoulders. Zoe screamed and got up, turning so that she could see Dan, standing behind the bench. Zoe crossed her arms over her chest and Keri erupted into laughter, pushing her auburn hair out of her eyes. Zoe looked from her sister to her boyfriend, who was leaning on the back of the bench and laughing.
"Screw you, Daniel." Zoe said, pouting. Dan stopped laughing, but amusement still twinkled in his blue eyes as he walked around the bench to Zoe, whose annoyed expression melted into something else as she looked up at him, a smile playing at the corner of her mouth. She kind of wished he'd kiss her, even if they were right in the middle of the playground, but instead he just tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. She flushed and ducked her head so that her hair fell forward to conceal her face.
Even through loving Dan, getting to know her sister, struggling to catch up on her schoolwork and focusing on her spywork, Zoe couldn't keep the story of the original M. team out of her head. Dan had told her the story of how they became agents, how they'd noticed something off about their head teacher and taken the initiative of MI9 agents by investigating. What made them stick in her head, always bothering her, was the uncanny resemblance between Dan and Billy Backshaw. Finally she couldn't take the wondering, her own burning curiosity.
One day after school she went down to HQ and sat down at the computer. Before she could stop herself, she typed in 'Billy Backshaw'. She didn't find much – a lot on him was kept classified. Whatever she did find was useless.
Zoe looked up when she heard footsteps, her mouth curving into a smile when she saw Dan. "I thought you'd gone home."
"Nah." Dan said, standing behind her and kissing the top of her head. "What are you doing?"
"Looking up Billy Backshaw." Zoe said, sitting back in her chair as Dan's arms fell from Zoe's head to her shoulders. Zoe felt him smile against the top of her head and then he asked, "Are still onto this because I look like him?"
Zoe bit back a smile. "Maybe . . ."
Dan grinned as he pulled up a chair beside her and sat down. "Have you found anything?"
Zoe shook her head and sighed. "Everything's classified."
"You know it doesn't really matter, don't you?" Dan asked. Zoe glanced over at him as he continued, "I mean, he was recruited seventy years ago. We can't be related because we don't even have remotely similar last names, unless I'm adopted. And I find the probability of that to be highly unlikely."
"So is the probability of being recruited as an MI9 agent." Zoe said.
Dan shrugged. "I suppose you're right."
"Of course I'm right." Zoe said with a smile.
Dan smiled at her. "Just . . . Just don't get upset about it if you don't find anything, alright?"
Zoe nodded. "I won't. But it's not just a coincidence, Dan. I'm sure of it."
Over the following days, Zoe tried desperately to find any information about Billy Backshaw. After two days of obsessing over it, she enlisted Tom. Together, the pair would sit at the computer as Tom hacked into classified file after classified file. And while they did it, Dan sat behind them, growing more and more worried as the days passed. Zoe had just spent months worrying about him and now she was working herself to the bone trying to figure out his connection to Billy Backshaw. It wasn't healthy.
After a week of watching Zoe and Tom work to figure out his connection to Backshaw, Dan had had enough. They had pulled several all-nighters in that period and both had looked like zombies the following day.
"Zo." Dan said while they were down there at lunch one day – Tom was stuck in detention after Ms King caught him listening to music in class, so Zoe had been left to the research on her own. When she didn't answer, Dan tried again.
"Zo."
Still nothing.
Exasperated, Dan shouted, "Zoe!"
"Dan!" Zoe shouted back with a smile, swivelling her chair around to face him. Her smile disappeared, however, when she saw the look on Dan's face. "What's wrong?"
"Maybe . . . Maybe you should just leave it alone." Dan said. "You're obviously not finding anything."
"Yet." Zoe said. "We haven't found anything yet. And why do you want me to stop? You were all for it the other day."
"I never objected to it." Dan said. "But I was never 'all for it' either."
Zoe crossed her arms over her chest. "Well what's the problem then?"
"It's just . . . I think you're wasting your time. I just don't want you to be disappointed when you don't find anything."
Zoe's eyes narrowed as she studied him. Dan, who knew she could read him like a book, looking away.
"Or," Zoe said, getting out of her chair and leaning against the table. "You could tell me the Morgan Family Secret that you don't want me to know about."
Dan turned back to Zoe. "Why do you think I'm hiding something? You used to trust me."
"I do trust you! I just want to know why you obviously don't trust me enough to tell me why you don't want me looking into Billy Backshaw."
"I can't believe you." Dan said. With that he got up and walked out, glaring at Zoe as the lift doors closed on him. Zoe sighed and sat back down, letting her head fall into her hands as she forced back tears.
