A/N: Boy, I'm surprised how much Hope is like Jake. Josh is a bit too much like Marco and not enough like Cassie. Sarah is supposed to be a female version of Marco. I'm going to try and fix this a bit.
Disclaimer: I think that everyone knows by now that K.A. Applegate owns the Animorphs and I own Sarah, Bade, Hope, Josh, and Alexandria.
~~Hope~~
I wasn't the first to arrive at the food court. Actually, I was last. Kind of weird for the leader of the group who planned the meeting to be the last one to arrive, isn't it? Stupid step-brother slowed me down trying to get me to join some stupid club called C.A.R.E. Not only is that the stupidest name I've ever heard, but it gives me the willies. Remember the Sharing? This has a corny name too, trying to promote love and other stuff.
"Hey Ho-Julia." Alexandria said while chewing on a French fry.
"Hey Mel. Hey Mike. Hey Sammy. Hey John. How are all of you doing?" I replied.
"Hmmm…well," Sarah answered, "I woke up in an orphanage, got adopted by strangers, and am in morph and fighting Yeerks just like the originals only this time we have to worry about more than one morph-capable host. I have one question to ask: ARE WE INSANE OR WHAT???"
"Mmmm…well, we might have one more thing to worry about," I announced.
"What? Now we have to worry about a club called the Caring?" Sarah joked.
"Actually, it's C.A.R.E."
"You jinxed us Sam, you jinxed us! Are you happy?" Alexandria/Melinda said sort of snappishly.
"No! I'm insane!" Sarah yelled gleefully.
Josh was sort of considering the situation, "This could be a problem."
"Well, duh." I said.
"So, what kind of name is C.A.R.E. anyway? And what the heck does it stand for? Controller Are Returning to Earth." Sarah asked.
"Probably," Bade said grimly.
"Okay, I've got an idea." Alexandria said.
"Okay, but let's use thought-speak again. And make sure we can only hear it." Sarah said, taking up our security issues.
Fine, we'll use thought-speak. It's safer this way. I thought-spoke.
What's your idea, Alexandria? Whew, it's such a relief to call each other by our first names! Josh said.
It is. I agreed.
Wait a second! How do we stop from looking like we're high? Sarah pointed out.
Shoot! I don't have a two track mind. Bade said.
The movie theater! I exclaimed a little too loudly. A couple other people looked around for the source, but then dismissed it.
Shhhhhh! Controllers are everywhere. So what's your idea? Josh asked.
"Why don't we go to the movies?" I said in regular speech.
"Why?" Josh said, starting to catch on.
"Because there's this great movie: Christina's Adventure." I replied. Actually, it was the stupidest movie I ever saw, but we needed to be somewhere where they wouldn't notice us spacing out.
"I saw that! That movie sucked!" Sarah said. Okay, Sarah so needed to get a clue.
Look, I said in thought-speak so they could finally get what I was saying, If we go to the movies, we can thought-speak all we want and no one will notice.
"Sammy, let's go. I've never seen it." Alexandria asked to play the part.
"Yeah!" Bade exclaimed.
"Okay, fine." Sarah sighed.
* * *
We were going to the movie theater to watch Christina's Adventure. Let me tell you something, when you watch a really bad movie, it does not get better the second time. But we were there for a reason.
It took us about half an hour to get there. It turns out Alexandria really hadn't seen the movie so it took us a while to convince her on our way over that it wasn't worth seeing. That and we had to do a quick demorph and remorph. Still, we had plenty of time before we had to go home.
"Anyone got a cell phone?" I asked.
"No. Anyone got money?" Josh said.
"Spent it all." Bade answered.
"We could yell really loud." Sarah said.
"Screw them, they're not our parents. We're not even orphans." Alexandria pointed out.
"Fine, we screw them." I said.
"What would you like?" said the guy at the snack counter.
"Uh, three bags of popcorn, two boxes of Good & Plenty, a bag of gummy bears, M&Ms, and two Cokes, a Sprite, a Pepsi, and a Root Beer." I said.
"Wow! You sure do eat a lot." Sarah said.
"Nonsense, it's all for you. I still need to order for me and everyone else," I laughed.
"Yup, makes sense, except you didn't order enough."
We all laughed and piled into Christina's Adventure.
Okay, everyone pretend to be watching this horrible movie. Let's go in the back, away from everyone else. I ordered.
We all got into seats in the back where no one would notice us.
Why don't we space out so we don't look like a group? Sarah suggested after we got comfortable.
Geez, why didn't you suggest this before? It could have helped. Alexandria said sort of annoyed.
I am not getting up. Bade added.
Okay, Sarah and I will move to the opposite end. Everyone else stay where you are so we aren't caught. Sarah, grab some snacks. I got into my leader role.
Sarah and I got smashed between some high teens so it wasn't to hard to blend in.
You guys settled yet? Josh asked.
Yup, how are we doing on time Sarah? I said to the group.
Fine, we'll get one at a time to demorph. No one will get suspicious that way. She was starting to sound like Marco.
What was your idea Alexandria?
Oh! My idea was that we spoil C.A.R.E.'s good name by planting something like drugs. Alexandria explained.
Good plan, Josh complimented.
Unless… I started thinking.
What? the four others said at the same time.
This isn't the only weird club. Back at the last town I lived in, they had a group L.O.V.E, I explained and then added, I don't know what it stands for.
So, this time they're trying to infiltrate society by multiple groups to throw off suspicion. Josh summarized.
So we can't wreck the names of hundreds, plus what about groups like the YMCA and Girl Scouts. Their names are like gold. Plus you have to take promotions and celebrities into account. Sarah concluded.
This could be a problem, Bade said.
I think my step-bro is a controller. He's part of C.A.R.E. I confessed.
That sucks. He might be able to tell if you're an Animorph. They'll be expecting humans this time. Josh said.
Yeah. So, how do we stop the Yeerks? Sarah asked. We don't have any informants, they think we're dead so we have to be extra careful, and we have no battle morphs.
I smiled, which is kind of a new experience. I'm not really used to being able to express emotion with my face so easily. We'll just have to get some battle morphs, won't we?
Yeah. There's a major zoo nearby. We could go there. Any animal we want. Josh said. Ever since the war, almost every species of animal is considered endangered.
Sounds good. So when do we do it? Alexandria asked.
Now. I answered.
You know, this movie isn't so bad. Sarah commented.
Sounds good, Bade said.
We need battle morphs to beat those slugs and now is as good a time as any to get them. Josh said.
I'm in. Alexandria exclaimed.
I don't like this but…okay. Sarah agreed.
Let's do it! I yelled in thought-speak.
A/N: Like mother like daughter. I wonder what morphs they're going to get. Mwahahaha!