With two days to go until basic training started, the twins and their friends were really starting to feel the pressure. The twins woke up at six thirty every morning and did a half hours' running on the athletics track.
They had been fit when they arrived at CHERUB anyway, but now they were the fittest they could possibly be. Both kids felt that it was important to be as prepared as possible so they had the best chance of passing basic.
Megan had yet to find out about her brother's obsession with making sure they passed first time; little did she know that it was only that determination, that drive to succeed, that kept him from completely breaking down.
Megan and Max both had to attend counselling sessions; they did this separately, and Max was grateful. He didn't want his sister to find out the extent of the guilt he was suffering, because he knew she would only blame herself for not realising sooner.
They were both looking forward to becoming qualified agents greatly. Over dinner one day, Rosie started talking about missions, and the twins listened with interest.
"Well, my brother Josh got his navy shirt on his first mission, but it took my big sister Tiffany three big ones till she got hers." Rosie nodded knowledgeably. Max looked interested.
"So you don't all get them around the same time?" he asked. Rosie shook her head.
"No way," smiled Rosie. Max looked worried. What if all his friends went on to achieve higher rankings then he did? What if he was the last one left? Megan saw Max's puzzled expression and squeezed his arm under the table.
"But you can't worry about it," smiled Reuben. Max felt better. Reuben was a lot quieter than most of the other kids, but he meant what he said and Max was grateful for the encouragement.
"So how many brothers and sisters do you actually have, Rosie?" asked Megan. Rosie grinned.
"Well, there's Josh, Tiffany, Harry, me and my little sister Georgia," she said. Seeing the slightly surprised look on Megan's face, she laughed.
"I know, that's a lot of kids, right?" she grinned. "You'd think, considering Mum looks after all the kids at CHERUB, she wouldn't have that many of her own, but I guess she just wanted a big family." Freddie grinned.
"Or she just kept trying until she got a normal one but it never happened…" he said under his breath. Unfortunately, Rosie heard, and pretty soon Freddie was limping out of the dining room with a large red lump on his shin.
Despite all the laughter and jokes with her friend, Megan was worried about something herself. Since they'd arrived a CHERUB a couple of weeks ago, she and Max had been inseparable. Although before Lauren and Jamie had died, they had each had their separate friends, but now it seemed different.
Somehow Megan felt different about this. She was getting closer and closer to some of the girls in their little 'gang', especially Rosie. Somehow Megan felt sort of 'connected' with Rosie, because her mother had worked with Lauren.
But she wondered whether Max would feel even more rejected about this; she knew that he already blamed himself for Jamie and Lauren's death, and she didn't want him feeling like she didn't need him.
Megan didn't know what would happen if she was paired with Rosie instead of Max in basic training. She knew that Maddy and Cara would be paired together; the two were joined at the hip and hadn't been paired with any other people since they'd arrived at CHERUB when they were four years old.
Megan knew that she would be fine with whoever she was paired with; Max would make sure he passed if it was the last thing he did, and Rosie was the toughest person she'd ever met. She was just worried about Max, and how he would react, because at this very moment she loved her brother more than anyone in the world and would not do anything that may possibly harm him.
The friends were somewhat comforted by the fact that as there were eight of them entering basic training and the maximum group size was ten, they would be amongst good company and they would all be there to support each other. In fact, it was Ella and Connor, the two younger ones, because there would be only two of them together.
Despite all the minor worries that were playing at all their minds, the biggest one of all was the 100-day-ordeal that lay ahead.