Disclaimer: Alex Rider is not mine. Neither is James Bond or Casino Royale. I also doubt that I own any form of Ute or Brookland School. Although, I think I still have that decaying marshmallow somewhere...
Reviews from: Ember-1331, I read not write, Battlecry4ever, Phantom of MY Opera, SharkiesGirl (Rabbitohs Vs Sharkies on Sunday...bring it!), Jousting Elf with a Sabre, Wolfie91, rid3r chick, icyslumber, jessiepotter11390, Swordbearer174, and Mrs. Jones.
A/N: Wow! What a turn out. Since I've wiped the debt clean, I've had a lot of reviews. Best reviews yet! So, the word count I was supposed to reach was 2900 and I made it to 2994. I think that was pretty good seeing as I had my half yearly tests. Okay, so this chapter goes right up to the first day of school. There were some pretty...odd suggestions for Laura's new haircut. I hope I didn't disappoint anyone with my final decision. Enjoy!
As Alex walked through the front door, his heart started beating much faster than before. He assumed it was from the suspense of finding out what Laura looked like. He somewhat doubted blue was her colour. The three walked into the lounge room and Eagle called out for Jasmine.
"Hey, baby? What date it is?" he yelled, flipping through a note book.
"Not sure, just a minute!" she sung, her voice sounding distant.
Alex sat on the couch, running a hand through his hair. He had just had a rather disturbing image of Laura with violently orange spikes on her head. Jasmine sat next to him, making the couch creak.
"She'll be out in a minute," Jasmine said quietly, noticing his anxious behaviour. "And don't worry, she looks good. No green mullets or anything."
Alex swallowed as the new image passed through his brain. Eagle and Wolf had a small and silent pillow fight as Jasmine turned the television on and started flicking through the channels. Alex heard footsteps and immediately turned, knowing it was Laura but not knowing what to expect.
"Wow!" Alex said, taking in her new do.
Laura was standing on the rug, beaming. Her hair had been cut much shorter and now only reached halfway down her shoulder blades. It was curled tightly, flowing around her head. But what had seriously changed, was the colour. Instead of being a dirty blonde, with whitish highlights, it was now a rich, chocolaty, brunette colour with a very small tinge of deep purple.
"Whoa!" Eagle yelled, grabbing Laura's hand and twirling her around. "Somebody looks different!" he said, Laura giggling madly.
Wolf smiled cheekily before tickling Laura until her legs were too weak to hold her up any more and she fell to the floor on her knees, still cackling. Alex grinned at the situation and threw his prize – the one he won at Laser Quest – down on the floor next to her. Laura looked up and smiled at him before ripping open the little package. She held it up to the light as the wrapping flew lazily to the floor.
"James Bond!" Laura squealed. "I think it's a video!"
Eagle took it from her and looked at for a while. "No, it's a DVD."
"A DVD?" Laura asked, frowning.
"Yeah, a new-age video tape," Alex answered, seeing that the movie was a newer version of Casino Royale. He smiled, knowing she would want to see it.
"Can I watch it?" Laura asked, her eyes brightening.
Wolf nodded. "Yeah, let's all watch it together."
That night, the five of them all sat down around the popcorn, preparing themselves for the movie. Eagle and Wolf set up the DVD player, Jasmine turned the lights off and Alex and Laura stole the best seats – on the rug right at the front.
Laura thoroughly enjoyed the movie. So did the rest of the gang. Laura ducked and winced a few seconds late, but she rather got the hang of the action radiating off the screen. She loved the theme song, singing it at the top of her lungs as everybody went to get ready for bed.
"Nightey night, Mr Bond!" Laura giggled from Alex's bedroom door.
"'Night!" Alex said. "What's with the new nickname?" he asked jokingly, raising his eyebrow and throwing a pillow at her.
"Well, you look like he is supposed to. You are blonde for a start. I miss being blonde..." she trailed, fiddling with her hair.
"Don't worry, you look fine."
Laura blushed. "Really?"
Alex nodded. "Don't go getting a big head," he added, throwing his shoes into his wardrobe.
"A big head? I didn't know they grew too much."
Alex sighed and shook his head. "Don't worry."
Laura threw the pillow back at Alex. "Okay..." she smiled and walked back to her room. Soon enough, the apartment was still and silent.
The next morning, the adults were all too busy to amuse Laura and Alex, leaving the teenagers to find some form of entertainment by themselves. They quietly cleaned up around the place as Wolf and Eagle sat down to go over some paperwork. Jasmine left the apartment to go to a 'Girl's Day Out' with a few friends down south at a fancy resort.
After lunch, Wolf and Eagle had to leave for the office. They had to file some work and pick up a few important documents for their next assignment. The men walked out, leaving Laura and Alex sitting on one of the couches. As the door slammed behind them, Laura turned to Alex grinning.
"Wanna play a game?"
Alex smiled. "Sure! What game?"
"Spies!"
Alex didn't feel that it was a very safe game.
"Err...how do we play?" Alex asked, hoping it was nothing Laura couldn't handle – of course.
"Well, it's a bit like 44-home."
"44-home?" Alex asked, confused.
"Yeah. It's tag only you have to get to home and the person who is in has to count to 44 before opening their eyes and chasing."
"Oh."
"Yeah. So we have to pretend we are spies and tag the badies."
"But we are spies!"
"So?"
Alex felt it completely ruined the purpose – pretending to be spies when they were. Never the less, he went along with it. They ran around the apartment for a good few hours, toppling over things, almost breaking an expensive vase, ripping pillows off the couch, throwing things around, and climbing over tables.
"Look out!" Laura yelled, laughing. "There's one behind you!"
Alex turned, pretending to shoot an imaginary evil person behind him. They both laughed, Laura tripping over the edge of the kitchen tiles and almost falling into the wall. They chased each other around for a while, still chuckling like fools.
"Mercy!" Laura exclaimed, being cornered near a lounge.
Alex took a step closer and she took one back. Alex looked around for possible escape routes she could take. She could both dive over the back of the couch, duck around the bookcase and meet a table or she could run straight at him. Alex didn't like the sound of the last one.
"I give no mercy!" Alex said in his deepest voice, it being his turn to be the evil man trying to kidnap her.
Laura shrieked and made a break for it. She headed towards the bookcase but turned at the last second. In Alex's feeble attempt at avoiding a collision, he took a step back, leaving Laura free to run. She dove over the couch and landed on her feet near the rug. Just as she went to stand up straight, Jasmine walked in and frowned.
"Kids, I told you to stay off the décor."
Laura and Alex grinned at each other from different sides of the room.
"Where are Jackie and Jamie?" she asked, looking around and failing to spot them.
"Out...somewhere," Laura answered, sitting on the blue lounge next to Alex.
Jasmine nodded and walked away to put her bag down. Alex and Laura sniggered as soon as she was out of earshot. Within hours, the end of day four of Alex and Laura knowing each other came to an end. There was still five days until the start of the school year. Alex wished it wasn't coming up as fast as it was.
Over the next few days, the new 'family' became closer, learning more and more about each other. They now all had nicknames. Laura was just cut down to Laur, Alex was occasionally Al, Jasmine was Jazzy or Jazz, Jackson was just called Eagle by the kids and likewise with Jamie – Wolf.
When she had time, Jasmine would teach Laura etiquette so to impress the right people at her new school. She called up MI6 and asked for more details on the mission. All she ever was told back was 'That information is confidential. Please hold.' She didn't take it too well, starting to throw things around the room.
Alex tried his best to answer all her questions without blowing up – from 'Do people really use computers for fun?' to 'What do you mean, crunchie? They didn't put chocolate on my hair, did they?' and when he tried to explain, things like 'So a crunchie is somebody who is blonde on the inside but brunette on the outside? How does that work?' were asked.
Wolf and Eagle taught her all the rules to French cricket, after she told them Australians play 'normal' cricket all the time and that they should 'grow some skills'.
But apart from just Alex and the adults teaching Laura things, she taught them a lot of things they never knew they didn't know. She taught the boys to play Australian Rules and taught Jasmine how to use a barbeque to cook sausages (which she called throwing some snags on the barbie) the Australian way. Laura introduced Vegemite to the group – only Alex and Eagle actually liking it enough to take another bite – and told them all about living on farms near the outback and near deserted beaches.
Alex came to realise Laura was taking a big effect on him. His language became much more...colourful and he was quickly picking up and understanding Australian slang. He also noticed that Laura trusted him more and even started to follow him around the apartment quite often. He couldn't say that he minded, he liked the extra attention, but it was probably not a good idea since the mission involved a lot of change on both of their parts.
On the day before school started, MI6 called Laura and Alex in once again just to check up on things. Mrs Jones was very surprised to see the teenagers getting along much better than she had first thought. Mr Blunt and his assistant were even more surprised to see Laura's new hair.
"Now, I understand you both have read the folders we have you. Is that correct?" Mrs Jones asked, popping a mint into her mouth and staring down at them as they sat in the new chairs she had ordered for Mr Blunts office.
Laura and Alex avoided her eye. She frowned and gave them two new files. They thanked her and quietly flipped through them. Mrs Jones walked over to Mr Blunt and they had a small whispered exchanging of words before they parted again. Mr Blunt shuffled a few papers before meeting Alex's eye.
"Now," the cold man said, looking between Laura and Alex, trying to piece together what he was going to say. "Would you like a brief run through on your mission?' He continued when they nodded. "So, it has recently come to MI6's attention that accidents have been happening more then usual at building sites than normal now that Mr Rogers has taken over as director of construction in a few different companies that branch off all over the place. As you know, we don't think there is such thing as coincidence."
"After his appointment as director, Mr Rogers has moved to London and has enrolled his children at a local school," Mrs Jones continued for him.
"Brookland," Alex said, closing the file and listening more closely than before. "My school."
"Yes. Unfortunately, that can't be helped," Mr Blunt said rather coldly, staring at Alex. "Joseph and Josephina Rogers aren't very nice people. We want you to get as close as you can to them, using their greatest weakness."
"Jealousy," Laura answered, sighing.
Mrs Jones nodded. "You two need to pretend you are...together...and be as popular as you possibly can. Now, as those files tell you, Joseph and Josephina are very different. Joseph goes for the very loud, curvy, ditzy, attractive girls. Laura, you should be able to pull it off with a bit of help." Alex scowled as he realised that Laura didn't even notice she was being insulted mildly. "And Josephina likes more of the shy, quiet, popular...err...smart and built kind of person."
Alex and Laura sniggered as Mrs Jones started to look a bit embarrassed about the whole ordeal. She unwrapped another mint and placed it on her tongue, trying not to catch their eye. Mr Blunt seemed to enjoy seeing her embarrassment and motioned for her to continue.
"Alex?"
"Mmm?"
"I hope you don't mind, but we put you down for the junior soccer team and Laura, you are now on their cheerleading team."
Alex smiled. He had always wanted to just be normal and be on the soccer team like a lot of the other boys. He would never admit it, but Alex was actually very good at it. He could definitely dodge, he could more than successfully kick and block and he was pretty good at planning and scoring.
"Cheerleading?" Laura questioned.
All the pairs of eyes in the room turned to her. Mrs Jones patiently explained to her that a cheerleader was somebody who was 'a support group' for the soccer players and they 'get the crowd pumped with adrenaline'. Laura soon understood the basic jist of it and Mr Blunt continued, happy with the level of embarrassment Mrs Jones had reached.
"So, I want you to get to school, become as popular as you can, make the Roberts jealous, get close to the twins, get to their house and take some important documents. We will give you further instruction and gear once you start getting close enough. Understand?"
Alex and Laura nodded. Mr Blunt dismissed them and they left, walking over to that café they had visited before. Strangely enough, they ordered the same thing – a garden salad and a white chocolate mocha.
On the first day of school, Laura woke up early from nerves. She ran into Alex's room and shook him awake.
"Come on Mr Bond! It's wakey time!" she chirped, snatching his blanket from him.
"Five more minutes..." he groaned, throwing his arms over his head as Laura opened the blinds to let light in.
Alex eventually woke up properly and glared at her. She ignored it and attempted to force him to have first shower. After a well-used twenty minutes, Alex was showered and dressed in his school uniform. Laura wasn't too far behind. All she needed to do was put her shoes on and do something with her, now straight, hair.
"Jassssssmiinnnnne! Jaaaaasssssssminnnnnnne!" Laura called from the bathroom mirror where she was standing next to Alex, trying to get help with her hair. Alex certainly wasn't going to do much good.
Jasmine popped up in the doorway yawning. "Yes, Laur?"
"I need help with my hair," she pouted, slamming her brush down. "It's not working."
"What's not working?" Jasmine asked, taking the brush from Laura and getting to work on her newly brown hair.
Alex slipped away, deciding to pack his school bag in case Laura needed any more help. There was still an hour and a half until school started and Alex had no doubt they would still be late if things kept going the same way they had for the last ten minutes of Laura's whinging. Once he had finished packing, he felt very kind and packed for Laura too, making sure she had her lucky charm (a kangaroo badge) and her MP3 player designed by Smithers.
"Okay, I think I'm ready," Laura said, staring at her self in the mirror as Alex walked back into the bathroom. Her hair was done simply in two braids. "How much time do we have left till school?" she asked, turning to face Alex properly and flicking him in the face with her hair as she did.
"Just under an hour until the first bell goes. We have a meeting to organise classes and have a bit of a talk first so we won't miss much if we are a tiny bit late."
"That's good. Jazz, Eagle and Wolf are all busy so we have to walk."
Great, Alex thought. Now I have to watch her the whole way there so she doesn't get hit by a bus.
Laura and Alex walked out to the kitchen together and started trying to make some form of breakfast. No such luck. Eventually, Jasmine came to the rescue and made them some pancakes. They scoffed them down and Eagle tried to explain how to walk to Brookland School from the apartment blocks.
"So you go down the main road, across from the lights and back through the plaza."
Wolf raised an eyebrow. "Cub, you aren't seriously going to take Eagle's directions, are you?" he asked.
Alex shook his head. "Don't worry. I know the way pretty well."
The teenagers walked to the door after saying goodbye to Eagle and Wolf.
"Bye, my precious pumpkins!" Jasmine said, giving them both a very big hug. "Now Al, keep Laur safe. I don't want to have to get out of work to duck around to the hospital to sign forms or anything."
"I'll keep her safe!" Alex said, putting a spare key in his bag. "Bye!"
"Bye!" Jasmine called as Laura and Alex walked down the stairs. They heard the door close behind her and the stairway became eerily silent.
The kids walked out of the apartment block and down the street. Laura was fiddling with her skirt. Alex gave her a sideways glance and frowned. "What?" he asked.
"It's too short," she answered.
"Just ignore it. You'll get used to it. Plus, I reckon some of the other girls will have skirts even shorter."
"Really?"
"Really."
The two continued weaving through the streets and came to a crossing at a set of lights. Laura automatically grabbed Alex's hand (she read 'A Student's Guide to Walking Safely' and it told her to hold somebody's hand) as he pushed the button. After a few minutes, the green man flashed and they walked across with a few other kids wearing the same dull grey and blue uniform.
"Well, this is it," Laura said as they came to a stop at the school gates.
"Yep," Alex answered, swallowing.
"Bloody Hell."
Word count (without notes): 2994
A/N: Sorry for the last comment. Australian slang is very...colourful. Trust me, Australians use the word bloody in almost every second sentence. It isn't a swear word over here and it can be used anywhere. It doesn't even have to make much sense. Like 'Bloody oath' is the same as 'I agree'. See?
This chapter's question (worth 25 words each): What is the first thing that comes to your head when you think of Australia?
My answer is: BBQ's, Kangaroos, beer and a little blob far away from everything else.
I am going to bribe reviewers even further by saying you can all take your pick from Sirius Black, James Potter, Alex Rider and 'The HOT Guy From the Bus Stop'. Come on...you all know you want one!
RG
xox