CHAPTER 2: RECRUITMENT

Three Years Ago

"You ready to join the Teens Next Door, Miss Supreme Leader?"

The older blond leaned on a secret entranceway of the main office with his arms crossed, watching her clean out her desk for a final time.

He was doing the very same just last year, under his fresh, new façade as a traitor. The Moonbase and Sun thing wasn't his finest moment; he could admit that much. It made him cringe actually.

The preteen in front of him only scolded him for a month when she assumed the position of Supreme Commander. He knew she suffered from anxiety related to long-term stress, but she still did it anyway.

She had no idea how much he appreciated her.

Rachel looked up at her former superior, shaking her head and stifling a snicker. "I will be once you take that dumb bra off. For the love of kids everywhere, Chad, seriously?"

While he huffed under his breath and defended his battle ready armor, she packed an old picture of herself, Numbuh 274, and Numbuh 100 away in a box.

Her thirteenth birthday was tomorrow, and she embraced the feelings of excitement and fear of the next chapter of her life. As long as she had the idiot in front of her fighting by her side, the Teen Ninjas wouldn't know what hit them.

The dream team would be back at it again, but not before she tied some loose ends.

"I still have one more thing to do today. After I talk to a certain someone, you and the rest of the TND have me."

:

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Present Day

"All I'm saying is you've been going out a lot lately, doll," her father stated, cutting a piece of chicken on his plate on the dining table. "Your mother and I just want to spend some quality time with you. Before you know it, you'll be leaving for college and family time will become a rare occurrence. Time is so precious. You'll understand one day when you have your own children."

How unfair was it that Harvey was out right now with his friends doing God knows what? These lectures never applied to him.

Careful not to raise her voice at her parents, Rachel took a deep breath. "But I'm not even leaving for another two years, dad! I'm still following the rules and I come back at nine on the dot, don't I? It's vacation is all. Once the term starts, I know I won't be seeing Fanny and Virginia until that one weekend before winter break. You know how my schedule is. Mom?"

"Let Rachel do what she wants for now, George. I remember what it's like to be a teenage girl, needing time with the girls. She's old enough to make decisions for herself and I take pride that she's very responsible and behaved, just as we raised her." Her mother gave her a sharp smile. "We know you wouldn't do anything to break our trust."

"Thank you!" Rachel's eyes moved from her mother and caught the stern gaze of George McKenzie. It was an expression she was very well used to, an expression she also utilized when she was in school.

Virginia called it her 'famous' resting bitch face.

"You can go out tonight, as long as you're back at or before curfew as per usual, but tomorrow you have to stay home and have tea with the Maroney sisters," he propositioned. Returning his focus on his dinner, he waited for her answer.

The 'give-and-take' was a common negotiation tactic he fancied using on her and Harvey. She assumed it was his favorite thing about parenting them.

Rachel looked at him with a grimace, but quickly switched to a neutral expression when he looked back up at her. The Maroney sisters were absolutely horrible people, but if bargaining was the only way out for her parents to stop grilling her for leaving the house, then so be it.

"Okay. I accept your proposal. Thank you, mom and dad." Rachel jumped up from the dinner table to kiss them goodbye. She looked at her small wristwatch. "I'll be back in three point five hours."

George reminded her of a few things. At this point, she wasn't sure if he had the intent to joke or he was still completely serious. "Remember! No boys, no parties, no tattoos."

"… no boys, no parties, no tattoos," she said simultaneously, wearing an overly sweet grin.

One out of three.

"Say hello to the Fulbrights for us."

"Will do!"

:

:

'How is recruitment goin?' was a text Chad received on a weekly basis since the beginning of the break. While it was something he replied to regularly in the first two weeks after the end of junior year, it was now a text he was currently ignoring, deleting it as he shoved it down the cupholder of his car.

Give me a freaking break.

Waiting for Rachel five blocks away from her house was a common practice since forming this type of unlabeled relationship of sorts a month and a half ago. He started to get the gist of the intensity of her parents' hovering when she told him to park somewhere further; he often joked about her paranoia.

Despite what she thought, he had a fun time showing her what regular teenagers did for fun. She wasn't kidding when she said she didn't go out a lot.

These activities, however, did not involve fighting annoying brats nor trashing the Delightful Teens' mansion. Maybe he could show her those things another day if this plan actually sets in motion.

While the occasional ice cream dates, movie dates, and boardwalk strolls were outings usually for the enjoyment of established couples, Chad took more pleasure in her overall company and banter. She may have thought he figured her all out, but he wasn't near close at all.

His background search on her yielded practically nothing. There had to be more to her than some oppressed private school girl.

Regardless, she was interesting.

He admired that she had a certain honesty that kept him on his toes. Everyone else had their head up in the clouds and expected too much from him, but she didn't.

Honesty was a rare find these days, with the one other person who could be that with him away on vacation.

Maurice wasn't even his type.

Summer would've been a hot, blazing drag without someone like her around.

Most of all, Chad appreciated the fact that she had no idea who he was at the get-go. At this point, he still had control of the playing field that allowed him to show her the best parts of him that he wanted. There were some things he was just not ready to tell her. It wasn't technically dishonesty from his part.

But eventually, if he wanted her around…

He had to answer one question. Would Rachel McKenzie follow him into the life and stylings of the Teen Ninjas?

He would probably look like an asshole for leading her on these past few weeks. And for what? To join a teenage cult?

Even with her helicopter parents around, she had the potential to be amazing at undercover stuff during the weekends, recruit her private school peers during after school meetings even.

Chad shook off the long term thoughts when she appeared in his vision through his rearview mirror. He had to regain composure; this was a decision he could save for the end of August.

Father could wait.

For now.

"Hey boy scout," Rachel greeted him with her personal nickname for him as she entered his car, before being attacked with quick, fluttery kisses on her neck. "I take it you're excited to see me, though you just saw me yesterday. Funny how you thought I would be the clingy one, right?"

Chad detached himself from the nape of her neck. Clingy? No one had ever used that word to describe him before, not even as a joke. He had to get a grip, but damn. How did she get past her parents in shorts like those? The high-waisted denim did a good job of showcasing those very nice, very toned legs.

"Not clingy," he replied. "I just happen to think you look different today."

"… bad different?" She wasn't sure what she did out of the normal to be deemed that. Her ponytail couldn't have made that much of a difference, could it have? Was it her face? Virginia had given her a Korean moisturizer that she would immediately stop using if that was the case.

He looked at her incredulously. "What? Seriously? I'm all over you and you think that different means bad? You still have so many things to learn."

She laughed. "Isn't that what you're here for? To teach me to be cool and knowledgeable like you?"

"You're so inconsiderate," Chad said, shaking his head in mock disapproval. "Using me for your personal gain and milking me for all my street smarts. I don't know about the 'cool' thing though. I'm not a miracle worker. I'll have to send sympathy cards to Red and Pigtails."

Rachel learned early on to take him seriously only half the time.

"Aw. Anyone ever tell you that you're cuter when you don't talk sometimes?"

:

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Pete's Putt-Putt Mini Golf was littered with people of all ages: mothers, fathers, teenagers, and children.

Whether it was family time or date night, the range was completely booked for different occasions. From an aerial view, the area was all too much green with random littering of bright colors to liven up the courses, the big volcano at the center being the landmark.

While Chad noticed the background noise of the Kids Next Door shooting the yellow condiment from their M.U.S.K.E.T.s at some of his comrades, he decided it was nothing they couldn't handle on their own. It occupied only a quarter of his attention, while at the same time not wanting his date to be suspicious.

"My dad is making me play hostess to these God-awful twin sisters tomorrow," Rachel said as she struck a golf ball with her club. Past the windmill, it went. "So don't say I never make an effort to hang out with you, boy scout. I basically made a deal to sign my soul away. For the afternoon anyway."

He set himself into position to strike his own golf ball. "And tell me how that correlates?"

"My dad loves to make deals with me and my brother when we want to do something he doesn't want us to. And since I've been going out a lot, I have to stay in tomorrow and entertain Satan's daughters. I wish he would stop trying to force a friendship between us. They shot that opportunity to hell when they ruined my Doctor Time Space comics."

She watched Chad steady his club, as he muttered nerd under his breath.

"Oh shut up. I just never appreciated maple syrup the same way ever again. Also, they're the reasons why I don't chew gum. Ever. When I was six, they put a wad in my hair and I rocked a bob for the longest time. You probably couldn't imagine it."

He chuckled, swinging his putter. "I need to see a picture of that."

"I'll show you mine if you show me pictures of you in your boy scout uniform."

Chad snorted. "Good luck with that. I made my mom put away all of that nonsense up in our attic. You'd have to ask her personally if you want one of those."

"Right," she replied with a flat tone. Unsure of what to say, Rachel didn't really know how to mask her sudden uneasiness.

Even if her knowledge in relationships was still lacking, she knew enough to determine that meeting the parents of someone you were casually seeing was a pretty serious deal, not that what Chad said was an invitation. They weren't even together in the conventional sense.

She acknowledged their friendship developed rather quickly and intensely, and sure, they probably should've used their lips for kissing less that first night.

It didn't change the fact they didn't have a 'what are we doing?' conversation.

Even then, when they found a way to slow it down, getting to actually know him just made her like him. It had gone past infatuation level and it annoyed her just a bit, eventually making her a different type of nervous from what she felt initially. It was frustrating and confusing.

She finally understood what her friends meant.

It was impossible not to like him, with the way he looked at her and read her mind at times, though she couldn't help but play hard-to-get, too. Guys liked mysteries as well, didn't they?

Rachel found calling him a friend as a loophole to the no dating rule, sort of. It didn't exactly justify that he was a boy that her parents had never met and approved of, but she decided it wasn't worth it to make him go through that unnecessary and embarrassing torture.

An unfamiliar voice broke her train of thought.

"Chad? Yo Chaddy!"

A classmate of his? The voice belonged to a boy with messily quiffed brown hair, freckles scattered on his pale complexion. Skipping the line of people ahead of him, he left their complaints ignored.

The blond boy turned around and internally cursed.

Damn.

It was Cavallero.

He didn't feel like dealing with ninja politics at the moment, especially with Rachel here.

"Oh, hey dude. What's up?"

"Didn't expect to bump into you here. You haven't been replying to my texts lately. How's recruitment going?"

"We can talk about that later," Chad said, as he signaled his head over to his date, who decided not to mind the boys and steady her putter to continue the game. "Kind of in the middle of something here."

"Oh."

Cavallero stared over his shoulder, wiggling his eyebrows when he understood the situation. "She's a pretty little thing. Your new project? Where'd you find her?"

He answered nonchalantly, in hopes that short answers would get rid of him. "Friend of a friend."

"I wouldn't mind seeing her around the hangouts. Mind if I introduce myself?" He was already halfway to Rachel, not waiting for a reply at all.

"Yes, I mind," Chad growled under his breath. Like the complaints of the mini golfers behind them awaiting their turn on the course, he was ignored.

"Hey hey!" Cavallero approached the girl. "Are you Chad's new girl?"

"Um, depends on what you mean," she responded, unsure. "I'm a girl, and I guess I'm a new friend?"

"You're totally pulling my leg here. You look like his type," he said as he looked over to the scowling boy and back to her. He laid out his hand for her to shake, a gesture she accepted. "Trying to hide her away from me and convincing me she's just a friend. Pssh. Anyway, I'm Justin, Chad's right-hand man, and best friend, though he hasn't been treating me like it lately. Your name is?"

"Rachel."

"Pretty name for an even prettier girl. I just came over here to say hi. I better get back to my own date over there. She's pissed about the mustard all over her clothes. Damn kids. You know how they are. And dude, I'll talk to you later when you decide to text me back. Good luck with recruiting."

Chad rolled his eyes.

Cavallero could have walked around not throwing that word around so liberally. He was probably going to spread rumors now; his hope of Rachel unexposed to the McClintock chapter of the ninjas went down the drain with that possibility.

:

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The car ride from mini golf was silent and slightly uncomfortable, with the exception of the car radio playing a Taylor Swift song.

He parked his car on a cliff, the view overlooking the city absolutely breathtaking. Even with the lights of the buildings stealing the twinkle of the stars, there was no doubt it was aesthetically pleasing.

Rachel thought their first date would be the most awkward situation they'd ever have to experience, but she was wrong. This was it.

The current view almost made her forget that she had questions to ask him regarding the tense 'hello and goodbye' from Justin. He seemed nice enough.

She bit her lower lip, avoiding looking at him. She chose to focus on the view instead, from the comfort of the hood of his vehicle. She decided to break the silence, sounding blunt with the words that came out. "… so what are you recruiting for?"

Chad figured she would eventually inquire about Cavallero's choice of words.

"Football." An automatic response. "He's been hounding me all summer about it since practice starts in a couple of weeks. He's being really anal about it since I haven't gotten back to him. Who has time to keep up with that when you have a job? Geez, I wouldn't take the crap coming out his mouth seriously," he reasoned.

When she finally turned to face him, she raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms. "Like how I'm your new project?"

He allowed a flow of air to escape his lips, really wishing she didn't hear any of that. "Look, Rachel, I mean it when I say not to take him seriously. Cavallero lives for locker room talk, but I'm way beyond that now."

She wasn't entirely convinced. "I've had fun the past few weeks, Chad, but I told you on the night that we met I was never the type to indulge in all of this. I thought we both established I wasn't a… what did you call it? A floozy."

"Of course, I know you're not that!" he interjected. "Have I ever treated you like one?"

"No, but–"

"And you know why that is?"

"Why?"

"I like you, Rachel McKenzie, if that isn't obvious," Chad finally admitted, grabbing her hand. "I like hanging out with you. The only thing that Cavallero was right about is that you're my type. I honest to God wish you went to McClintock just so I could have met you sooner."

Her facial muscles were threatening to transform into a beaming grin. She wanted to see what other kinds of things she could get him to confess. Her curiosity outweighed whatever doubt there was about him previously. "What… else do you like?"

"Now you're just trying to get me to stroke your own ego, huh? And you tell me I'm cocky," he said as he smirked at the small influence he had on her. Removing himself from the hood of his SUV, he stood in between her legs. "I like that you're honest with me. No one has ever fought with me about my music taste before."

Rachel gasped humorously. "I'm sorry I don't like making out to The Scum Bucket Punks! Cool local college band from town or not, they suck."

"Debateable," Chad responded, before continuing the list of her best qualities that he fancied. How could he make himself sound less whipped? He found himself caring less with the way her twinkling, curious eyes looked at him. "I like that you're always up to have fun and try new things, for someone who's a hermit. I like that you're smart and dorky. I like and dislike at the same time that you could maybe, possibly kick my ass. I really like the way your legs look in these shorts right now–"

She quieted him with a kiss, one that had enough effort to be heated. In her becoming quite adept at that, it left him wanting more. "I knew from day one that you would get me in trouble. You're really good at appealing to girls and getting them to like you."

His hands found a way to her hips, while at the same time, his eyes were filling with want. Rachel took note of how the quality of his voice would change when they entered one of these flirtatious moods.

"So you like me too."

Giving Chad the benefit of doubt, she opted for using her hard-to-get persona. "Well, let's just say the other boys I sneak out for are… nonexistent. If I had to choose someone to spend my summer nights with, I'm glad it's you, boy scout."

He chuckled, placing his forehead against hers. "Good."

"I guess we should just ride the summer out and see where this goes then, yeah?"

"Yes ma'am," he agreed, hoping the vacation would end on a great note. There were just so many factors to determine that. He took a peek at his watch. 8 o'clock. "So Cinderella, how do you want to spend your remaining hour with me before you come back out again?"

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"How has your new protégé been comparing to your previous, Benedict? Cree Lincoln was her name, if I'm not mistaken?"

A man in his forties stood in his client's office, waiting for updated documents and contracts to be signed. He looked outside the window to come into view of the Wigglestein children having tea out in the sun. How delightful.

"Correct. To address your question, he was doing just fine the last time he reported to me," the man in the silhouette suit responded. "Too many kids are on vacation right now, old friend. I won't really be able to provide you with an honest answer until everyone is back in school and I can judge his full potential.

"What did you say his name was?"

"Chad Dickson."

"If he's as talented as you say he is, I'm sure Mr. Dickson will serve you just fine."

"Indeed."