*Gives you all CYBER COOKIES! to eat* Thanks for all the reviews, my awesome readers!

~Chapter 2: Things Go Wrong At the Bookstore~

The next morning, I woke to the morning sun streaming in through the windows, casting it's golden glow on most of the room. I rolled over, trying to get the light out of my eye, and saw that Morgan was still shrouded in shadow.

Meanie.

Yawning and stretching my arms and legs, I sat up. Across the room, the vanity mirror made my eyes widen, and I blinked a few times. My hair was a complete rat's nest, with hair spiking out of my used-to-be braid. I fell back against the pillows again, not wanting to move. Glancing at the clock, though, made me jump right up.

"Mor, we're gonna be late!" I announced loudly, throwing my pillow at her.

Batting it away expertly, Morgan rolled out of bed. She seemed wide awake already, whereas I was still feeling drowsy. She smirked at my obvious discomfort and gathered her clothes up.

The thing that really got me? Her hair was almost the same as it had been last night: Curly and cute.

Double Meanie.

Gathering some jeans and a t-shirt, I rushed to the bathroom before she could. "I call dibs!" I called lamely, snickering since I was safely in the bathroom.

"I'm gonna get you later," she threatened.

And I really believed her.

After taking a long, hot shower, I came out of the steaming bathroom with my ripped-at-the-knees jeans and my 'Geek-Girl' t-shirt. Gliding past me, Morgan took her turn using the shower. During that time, I found my sweatshirt from my would-be high school and pulled it on over my head, and then looked around for my checkered black and blue Vans sneakers. After I was fully dressed, I gathered anything that I might need and put it into my backpack: a note book, pens and pencils, bobby pins (good for escapes, trust me!), money, and my iPod. After having done that, I moved to the small vanity on the other side of the room.

Combing out my tangled hair was a bit of a problem, since my comb wanted to jerk out of my hand and stick to my head. I eventually got the frizzy puffball to sit straight before pulling it up into a high, messy ponytail. By the time I was done with that, Morgan had come out of the bathroom.

Almost wearing the same thing as me (minus the sweatshirt and Vans), I found myself wanting to go through the whole changing process again. Even though dressed casually in jeans and a t-shirt with scuffed up Converse, Morgan looked great. Her curly hair had been blow-dried, making it look all wavy and soft, and her green eyes were bright.

Great. Looking in the mirror, I noticed how average I looked. Average. The only thing I would ever be, and that was okay.

"Lets go get something to eat," Morgan stated, jerking me out of my reverie.

"I can't wait!" Lexi said excitedly in perfect Spanish as soon as we entered the dining hall.

I smiled and nodded. "Same here," I replied.

"I wonder what Mr. and Mrs. Goode have planned for us this time?" Kat wondered aloud, her accent perfect.

Most of the girls looked down the table at Morgan, fully expecting her to explain. Ignoring the looks, Morgan continued to eat her eggs and bacon, showing that if she knew anything, she wasn't telling. Me and the rest of our friends already knew that, even if her parents worked here and her grandmother was the headmistress, Morgan didn't get special privileges. She was just another student, even if she was kind of a widely-known person in the spy world.

"Probably something simple like finding a tail or passing something," Charlie replied, looking down at her meal.

Kat smiled wryly. "Cheer up, Charls," she said. "Just 'cause you're not going doesn't mean you can't do anything. You'll see our every move, and you'll be watching the entire thing like a James Bond movie!"

Charlie smiled. "Yeah, I guess," she said in English.

After loading into the vans, I found myself swelling with excitement at the thought of going into town. It had been about a month or two since our last trip, and it was often good to get out of the walls of Gallagher Academy. Don't get me wrong; I love it there. It's just good to get out into the open, with other people that might want to harm/sneer at/kill you.

What fun!

"Okay, ladies," Mrs. Goode said, "today your mission is simple. You will be paired up, and then you will have to get to the other side of Roseville."

"Sounds kind of easy, Mom," Morgan commented.

Mr. Goode smirked. "It'll be anything but that."

I exchanged looks with the rest of my friends, wondering just what exactly we were about to get ourselves into. I looked at Mr. and Mrs. Goode, deciding that they wouldn't put us in extreme danger when we were technically only spies in training, and Morgan and I were among two other girls on the trip that were only in their third year at Gallagher.

We'll be fine, I told myself, knowing inside me somewhere that it wouldn't turn out the way I hoped.

"Alexis, you will be with Adorabelle," Mrs. Goode announced, reading from her list. "Ashton, you will go with Allyson. Katarina, you will be with Morgan and Miranda, since there are an odd number of you." And from there on I just kind of blocked out the rest of the names and waited for the instructions, knowing that I would be fine with Kat and Morgan.

"Okay, so you know what to do," Mr. Goode said. "Get to the van on the other side of town without any tails. You have to be out for at least two or three hours, so find something to occupy yourselves with until then."

"Good luck," Mrs. Goode added as she climbed into the car with her husband, driving off and leaving us alone.

The comms unit in my ears buzzed with static. "So, I suggest you guys get started on the walking," Charlie's voice came in. "It's a long walk back."

"Okay," people murmured quietly.

"I suggest we split into our groups and then go separate ways to get back," I said. "Avoid tails and such."

People nodded and started walking off in groups of two until I was left with only Kat and Morgan. I looked over at them, gesturing with my hand that they could suggest anything they wanted.

"I saw a sign on the way here that said something about a school carnival today," Morgan commented.

Kat's eyes lit up. "Ooh, we should go!" she said. "It's new, it's different... lets go!"

And with the events that have come to pass, I'm starting to wish that I had made up some sort of lie, like being allergic to fun. It would have been a corny, feeble attempt, but at least I could have tried something to stop the tragic events from happening.

I have to admit, even though it kind of ruined my school year, the carnival was freakin' amazing!

The lights, even though it was bright and early in the morning, illuminated every nook and cranny, casting reds and blues everywhere. It was just amazing to see the twinkling lights, floating in the air, attached to thin wiring.

The first ride we got on was the roller coaster, where Kat screamed her head off, laughing and giggling the entire way as Morgan and I laughed right along with her. We then got on the Merry Go 'Round, even though it was a total kids ride. It was still fun to get on, going around in circles for no reason. Not only was it kind of fun and brought back some good memories of my dad, but it also gave a great view of everyone around it, meaning tails.

"That boy in the red baseball cap was on the roller coaster with us," Kat whispered to Morgan and me.

When I casually looked over my shoulder, I saw that she was right. He was standing with two other boys who had also been on the roller coaster. The thing that made them stand out was the fact that they had changed from one thing to the next really gave them away too.

"Creepy and dark at your right," Morgan whispered to me.

Kat and I peered around, noticing the bald guy with sunglasses and a dark coat. How much more obvious could he get, honestly?

"Allyson, you just passed a man. Without turning around, tell me what he was wearing," Mr. Goode's voice came through the comms, buzzing in my ear. AJ rattled off what he was wearing.

"Alexis, you just passed a grocery store," Mrs. Goode soon came in. "What was it called?" Lexi replied with a correct answer.

Kat and Morgan got off as soon as the ride stopped, me trailing along behind them. I casually glanced over my shoulders a few times, noticing that the boys were also 'casually' following us, along with tall-dark-and-creepy.

Kat glanced at her watch. "It's been three hours," she told us. "I think we should split up and head back. We'll divide and conquer, okay?" Morgan and I nodded. Kat looked over us, and then hesitated. "On second thought, lets stay together." She glanced back nervously at the four tails. "I don't like the odds. Four of them, three of us. Even if we beat one each separate, there's still the last one to worry about, and he looks strong."

Morgan nodded in agreement. "Then it's settled," she said. "Lets head back."

As we started to walk back to the Gallagher van, the tails did a better job at hiding themselves. They now had to sneak around out in the open instead of among other people, so they would look more obvious if they got too close.

We soon passed by a certain store, and I just knew I had to go in. "Please?" I begged. "It's a bookstore! You know how much I love books!" I could almost see Mr. Goode smirking, amused with my love of books. I could see the same smirk on his daughter at that exact moment.

Kat sighed, finally caving in. "Fine," she said. "You have ten minutes, and then we split, go it?"

Nodding eagerly, I rushed into the store. Morgan smirked some more as Kat grinned, trailing behind my over-excited self. I quickly scanned the rows of books, looking for anything that seemed remotely interesting. I picked up a copy of a book about a teenage spy, about our age, and I skimmed through it, trying to see how many pages it had.

I went to the desk, bought the book, and stuffed it into my backpack.

Looking cautiously around the store, I saw Kat and Morgan chatting by a back wall. No sign of our tails.

Feeling relieved, I started to walk towards them, but my foot caught on the corner of a bookcase. I started to fall face forward like the really coordinated spy I am, but I felt arms wrap around me, pulling me upright. Surprised, I jerked back a little, noticing that it was the boy from the carnival, wearing the red baseball cap, with his two other friends standing behind him.

Kat and Morgan were suddenly alert, watching us out of the corner of their eyes while still pretending to chat with each other. Sure, they actually were chatting, but they also knew that something was up and they kept a close eye on me. Kat especially seemed attentive, her amber eyes gleaming and her body tensed as she readied herself for any sort of fight.

"Thanks," I murmured quietly, tugging on the hem of my sweatshirt.

The boy smiled, showing really white teeth. "No problem," he said. He pulled away from me, and I noticed for the first time as I looked at his face that his eyes were a deep, almost ocean blue. "I'm Aidan. That's Gavin and Ben."

'Gavin' was the dark haired, older pale guy, and 'Ben' had brown curls all over his head.

"Randy," I said cautiously.

His smile widened. "Nice to meet you."

I forced a smile. "Same here," I replied. "But, you see, I gotta go. My friends hate books and then want to haul butt and get out of here, so if you'll excuse me..."

I swerved around them, heading straight for Kat and Morgan as the boys behind me smirked. Jerking my head to the bathroom, my friends got the message and followed after me. Once making sure that the stalls were empty and the place was clear of any cameras or bugs, I told them about what had happened. Well, the parts that they hadn't seen or heard, which was very little.

Kat shook her head, looking around. "Lets sneak out the window," she suggested, peering out. "It leads into a wide alley, but we should be fine."

Each of us climbed through quickly, coming to stand among trash and other junk. The entire alley was dark and we stayed tense, but there didn't seem to be anything wrong.

That is, until Charlie came through our comms, screaming, "Green-Eyed, Fox, Magician! Get out of there, now!"

Taking too long to react, we started running towards the exit of the alley, only to have a black van pull up behind us and the sound of tires screeching from behind.

Hey, Karma? I hate you. A lot.

Whoo, cliffie! Please, please, please review! I love hearing anything and everything that you might have to say about my story!

~Dreaming