Chapter 3
"Oh yeah. That mission was a total success. The Kids Next Door are going to be begging us to join now." Numbuh T was slumped on the couch. Numbuh 363 threw a pillow at him.
"Our next mission is really good." His team remained unmotivated. "It's really important guys. This sicko adult is using his daycare center as a cover for what he's actually doing. He's strapping kids down in chairs and forcing them to eat medicine!" There was a collective gasp. "Let's go team."
They all got on the S.C.O.O.T.E.R. Lee stared at Numbuh 83. He would make her feel uncomfortable. There. He saw her starting to swing her feet, then tucking an imaginary hair behind her ear, and then biting her lip. He smirked. Good, she was getting nervous.
"Stop staring at me!" Her vehemence surprised him. He recovered quickly.
"I know something you don't want me to know." He replied brazenly.
"Ooh! A secret!" Numbuh 85 is poking his nose in someplace he shouldn't be poking it. Sonya thought, irritated. What is it that Numbuh 84 knows? He can't know I'm a girl.
She would give them a secret then. Okay, it wasn't really a secret, but it would do.
"I'm," Sonya wrung her hands, embarrassed, "I'm scared of the dark."
Numbuhs 84 and 85 stared, then erupted into laughter.
"What?" Sonya tried to keep her temper in check, but her eyes blazed with fury.
"Sorry," Numbuh 85 wiped tears from his eyes. "Most kids outgrow it when they're babies."
"Nuh-uh."
"Uh-huh."
Sonya glanced at Numbuh 84 out of the corner of her eye. He wore a satisfied smile, but when he caught her looking at him, he smirked. He mouthed to her. Wrong. Oh great. Now he knew she was scared of the dark too. Actually, the whole sector did.
Numbuh 363 rolled his eyes. "Boys shouldn't be scared of anything, especially boys in my sector."
"I know." Numbuh T nodded vigorously. "I'm not scared of anything."
--
"No! No!" Numbuh T screamed as he sat helpless, strapped to a metal chair. "I don't want any medicine!"
"It's good for you, silly boy." A man came out of the shadows with a huge vat of pink liquid. "It's freshly made from down the lane." He grinned in a sinister way. "Have a spoonful. Then two! Then three!"
He dropped a ladle into the vat. It came up dripping, and it dripped all the way to Numbuh T's mouth.
"Say aah," said the man.
"AAHHHHH!"
From elsewhere in the daycare center, the rest of Sector W was having their share of troubles.
"That was Numbuh T!" A huge robotic arm crashed down from the ceiling and plumped Numbuh 83 into a chair.
"AAHHHHHHHHH!"
"Numbuh 83!"
"Numbuh 84, Numbuh 85, regroup and enact emergency plan A123 and - "
"DOOOOOON'T TOOOOOOOOUCH MEEEEEEEEEEEE!" Numbuh 363 was slammed into another chair. He struggled uselessly as the metal straps locked around him.
"Numbuh 363!" screamed Paddy.
"Do we even have an emergency plan Numbuh 363?" yelled Lee desperately.
"Contact the Kids Next Door!"
"That's the emergency plan?"
"Yes!" Paddy and Lee raced toward the S.C.O.O.T.E.R., if they could reach it, they could hit the distress call button. Boom.
"Numbuh 84, there's a robot behind us!"
"I know that!" The robot jumped, sailed over their heads, and landed in front of their escape.
"AAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" The two were lifted simultaneously and carried back to the daycare center.
"Time for your medicine!" said a sweet lady with a nurse's cap. "Here you go…"
"Kids Next Door, battle stations!" In a dramatic sweep of events Sector V stormed the daycare center, saved the kids, and most importantly, freed Sector W. It was over.
--
"Another failed mission." Paddy shook his head sadly. "My Irish luck must be running out."
The team was back at the treehouse.
"No." Tommy disagreed. "If this hadn't been Sector V's mission originally, we would have been in really big trouble."
"Oh, save it!" Numbuh 363 crossed his arms angrily. Angrily, he uncrossed them. "Where are Numbuhs 83 and 84?" he finally demanded. "I'm calling a meeting. Let's find them." He left abruptly.
"Where are Numbuhs 83 and 84? I haven't seen them since we came back." Paddy nodded in agreement.
--
"You said you needed to talk to me."
"Yeah."
"Is it about the thing you know, but something that I don't want you to know?"
"Yeah."
"What is it?" Sonya asked warily. She watched him as he stepped closer, and stared at her face, hard. "Um…" Her feet began to shift nervously.
"You're a girl." Sonya gulped.
"No, I'm not!" Lee swiftly reached over to pull off her cap. Her yellow locks immediately tumbled down, framing her face. He scoffed.
"Sure you're not." She tucked a piece of her hair behind her ear.
"Are you going to tell everyone now?"
"I…" Lee paused. Was he?
"Numbuh 83, Numbuh 84, are you here?" Numbuh 363's annoyed tone penetrated the silence. Sonya bit her lip.
"Oh man!" Lee shoved the cap on her head, and frantically tried to stuff her hair under it. Her hair was going everywhere except under the hat. "Ugh! You do it!" Wide-eyed, Sonya did what he said.
Seconds later, the rest of Sector W entered the room. Immediately, everyone noticed the tension in the air.
"What's going on now?" Numbuh 363 crossed his arms annoyed. "I wanted to call a meeting, but we couldn't find you guys anywhere. We've been looking for like, a half hour." He paused. "Well? Numbuh 84?"
"Numbuh 83 is actually…" Sonya looked down crestfallen; the rest of Sector W looked at "him" curiously. Lee swallowed hard. "Is actually infected with cooties," he finished quickly. Sonya looked up in disbelief.
Dead silence.
"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!" The panic was greater than it was at the day care center.
"Numbuh 84!" screamed Numbuh 363. "You've had your cootie shot, now get Numbuh 83 into the medical room and cure him now, before we all get infected. Most importantly, don't let him touch me!" Paddy and Tommy had also disappeared.
"Come on Numbuh 83, to the medical room." Sonya followed him, her head spinning. They walked into the medical room, and as soon as they did, Lee closed the double doors, and bolted them. He turned to face her, his hands twisted behind his back, so that she couldn't see them shaking. He had knowingly hid the truth from his friends. He felt awful.
"Thanks, Numbuh 84." Her green eyes stared into his, full of sincerity. He felt uncomfortable as well as awful. What next? Would he start liking girls now? He began to feel even worse.
"Who are you anyway?" He began mixing liquids together, cherry coke, 7up, milk, and orange juice…
"Numbuh 83. Your teammate." She smiled shyly. "And I guess, your friend." So that's why he had protected her identity. Of course, friends kept each other's secrets. He wiped his brow. He felt much better.
"No, I mean, you're not Sonny, so who…"
"Sonya." She smiled. "I live down the street."
He smiled too. "I'm Lee. I live around the corner."
--
The moment had gone. Now, it was back to business. The whole cootie business.
"Really, Numbuh 84, thanks so much for not telling! But do you guys actually believe in cooties?" Lee held a bubbling green concoction in front of her.
"Yes. Now drink it." Sonya turned green.
"Are you kidding me?"
"No." Lee rolled his eyes. Pouring some onto a spoon, (the medicine was syrupy enough, it wouldn't spill) he lunged. Sonya dodged.
"Look, Numbuh 84, nobody in the whole entire universe can make me eat that, not even you." Lee groaned as Sonya ran out of the room.
"Numbuh 83, get back here," he said, running after her. Sonya ran through the entire treehouse, using tables and couches as obstacles for her pursuer. This really irritated Lee. It's not as if he had help, with Sonya on the loose, the rest of Sector W lie quivering under their covers.
However, she eventually ran down a hallway that led to a single locked door. Darn! If she knew the treehouse better, she wouldn't have gotten into this situation. She whimpered, and tried to run back out of the dead-end, but Lee had already dramatically slid in front of the only exit. He menacingly stepped closer, the green medicine bubbled steadily.
Sonya squeaked. "But I don't actually have cooties."
Lee answered solemnly, "You're actually a girl, so you automatically do." Seeing Sonya's stance, ready to run, he sighed, exasperated now. "No more running okay?" He used his yo-yo to tangle up her feet, and Sonya fell down with a thud. By the time she frantically tried to get up, he was already trying to shovel the "medicine" down her throat. No way that was going to happen.
Even in her desperate situation, she took the time to glance at his face. He was concentrating only on getting that spoon in her mouth. Although she struggled violently, he had her pinned down, and it was only a matter of time, before she would be force-fed the medicine. Then, Sonya had an idea. No! Don't! She couldn't possibly…She thought about it again. It was foolproof - all she had to do was kiss him, and he would back off.
It was foolproof. For sure.
She bit her lip, hesitating. The spoon moved a little closer. Do it, you dummy! She coached herself. It's not like I'm doing it because I want to; I have to! She leaned forward and kissed his cheek. She felt him freeze. She pulled back. See, that wasn't hard at all. She began to flush with embarrassment.
Don't think about that, I have to get out of here! Sonya pushed back Lee, the movement knocking the medicine spoon onto the wooden floor. She hastily untangled her legs from the yo-yo strings and bolted down the hallway, before Lee could function again.
Watching Sonya rush away, Lee slowly got up from his position, on his back, on his elbows, and proceeded to stand up in the same slow manner. He realized she did it to get out of swallowing the medicine, but nevertheless, the fact remained, she kissed him.
He felt it. The blush that he was fighting to keep down was starting to spread from his neck to his face to his ears. His face became a flaming inferno.
"Not cool," he mumbled. He cautiously touched his cheek where she had kissed him. His face became even redder. He buried his face in his hands, and then stumbled off toward his room, the spoonful of medicine lay on the wooden floor, completely forgotten.
You know me, if there's Sonya...and Lee...in one story...eventually something's going to happen.