A/N: I tweaked some of their ages so their ages won't be the same as in the books JP wrote.
"Max! Come down! I've got great news!" my mother shouted from the kitchen over the sound of boiling water.
I half-smiled. Maybe some good news would help me out of my slump. I had spent the last hour attempting to find a way out of attending Angel Academy. I had various ideas, but they were quickly obliterated due to the consequences of the actions.
"Coming!" I yelled back.
I quickly jumped out of my thinking chair-an ancient black chair covered in holes-and rushed out of my room and towards the kitchen.
"So, what's the good news?" I asked as I slowly approached Mom.
"Max, you would not believe it! I just got a call from the Headmaster of Angel Academy! He said that you were personallyselected to attend! He even said that they were willing to pay for your fees!" Mom exclaimed.
I inwardly groaned. So they got Mom, too.
"Mom, do you even know what kind of school that is?"
"Sure do. Do you know how prestigious it is? Even rich kids can't get in with just their money. Come on, Max. You just have to attend!" she continued.
Oh my God. My own mom was on the dark side.
"You know, if she doesn't want to attend then you shouldn't push it," a voice from behind called.
Ella popped out of her room, with an extremely annoyed face. My savior!
"Ella, I'm sure that Max wants to go. I mean I've always wanted the best for the both of you. I really hoped that you guys would put in your best effort in whatever the circumstances," Mom replied.
Great. The guilt trip. It was the same thing Mom used to convince me to dress up in a completely hand-sewn Abraham Lincoln costume last Halloween. I mean what kind of sixteen-year old girl dresses up as a guy president? Seriously.
"Umm…Mom, sorry to say, but I kind of don't want to go," I replied, struggling to find the right words.
"Max, you don't even know much of the school. You can't just say no without even taking a tour of the school!" Mom replied, "Why don't you take a tour of the school tomorrow? I'll even give you a ride. It's not that far away."
Hell to the no.
"Um...Okay, I guess," I sighed in defeat, my voice totally betraying my utter resentment toward evenspeaking the words "Angel" and "Academy."
Then a brilliant idea flashed into my head.
"But, Mom. It's a boarding school!" I whined, knowing that my mom never liked having her children out of her sight.
My mother began to consider what I had said. Then she spoke.
"Dear, I know. The Headmaster informed me of it. And I know that I've been rather overprotective of you and Ella, but I think I'll let this one slide. For education, you know."
Okay. So choosenowto loosen up. But no, don't let Max go to the movies without adult supervision.
"Fine," I muttered under my breath, knowing she would hear me either way.
"Yep. I've still go it in me," my mother said, laughing in triumph.
Ella just rolled her eyes and stomped her way back into her room. I followed suit.
"Don't forget, Max! Be ready to go at 8:00 A.M," Mom called out, just as I was slamming the door to my room shut.
Wow. So not only do I have to tour the suicide school, but now I have to tour the suicide school in themorning? Things really were looking great in California. If only I could tell Ella about the whole spy thing. I'd like to see how she'd react to that.
I began to get ready for bed. It was definitely going to be a long day tomorrow, and I would need the most sleep I could get. If only we didn't move. Other than Creepy Dylan, life in Washington was perfect. I liked the weather, the people, and how humble everything was. However, I needed to stop being such a sentimentalist if I was going to survive for even a day in sunny California.
I lifted the covers off of my new blue bed and tucked myself in. It was only a matter of minutes before I drifted off into dreamland.
A/N: Haha. I was going to end here, but I decided to be nice and continue. I feel bad for updating so late today. Omg! I really want to hurry to all the action and FAX. I know you want it too!
Beep. Beep.The sound of an alarm woke me up at exactly 7:30 A.M. I didn't even remember setting up my alarm. Weird, but whatever.
I quickly got up from my bed and began to get ready for my approaching tour of doom.
"Max? Are you awake yet?" my mother called out softly from outside my room.
"Yeah, I'm just changing," I replied, quickly pulling on a pair of faded jeans.
"Okay, breakfast is ready, if you're hungry. I would understand if you don't have an appetite at the moment. Angel Academy isa huge deal."
I groaned again. Seriously. The name Angel Academy was totally contradictory. What kind of angel learns to dodge bullets? None that I've heard of.
"Umm..Actually I might have to take you up on that offer. I'm not really that hungry right now."
"Sure, honey," she replied.
I quickly chose a random outfit, I wasn't much of a shopper-or a snappy dresser. I liked everything nice and simple. Not too plain, not too shabby, not too loud. I liked to blend in, go unnoticed. Hmm. Maybe I would make a good spy.
I shook that thought out of my head. If I had even one optimistic thought about Angel Academy, they would be sure to use it and manipulate me into joining. They already had Mom bursting with excitement at the thought of sending me away to a boarding school. No, let me rephrase that. Aboarding school ofdeath.
My mother's car began to roar to life and the engine began to spur. It was time. I quickly grabbed a jacket off the wooden hanger near the door, and entered the garage.
"Hurry, we're running late on time," my mother urged me as I slowly worked my way to the car.
Upon entering, the familiar fragrance of cookies and a floral perfume calmed my nerves down.
What seemed like hours were minutes. The trip to Angel Academy seemed excruciatingly long as I resisted my urge to fling myself out of the car. It seemed like the only word my brain knew at the moment was eject. I considered ejecting myself out of the car but thought better of it.
When we actually arrived at the parking lot of Angel Academy, I was literally sweating buckets. My mother took this as nervousness and brushed away any thoughts of me actually being terrified of enrolling in this school.
I couldn't blame her. What kind of mentally stable adult would consider the fact that they were enrolling their perfectly normal child into some school designed to torture students. I, for one would never guess that a school like Angel Academy even existed.
"Max, don't be nervous. It'll be all right. Do you want me to drop you off at the front office or do you want me to go with you?" she asked, concerned.
Well, I didn't exactly want to drag her to her death.
"Umm. I'll be fine. Just drop me off at the front office, please."
"Okay."
The car slowed down to a stop. I quickly opened the door and began to walk towards my doom after exchanging farewells.
My face twisted in confusion after I finally took a glimpse to what Angel Academy looked like.
It seemed…normal.
Or as normal as a fancy private school could get.
Each building was carved out of white marble. Countless statues of historical figures and plaques surrounded what I guessed was the main office. A fountain lay in the middle of a statue of Lincoln and Lewis and Clark.
My jaw literally dropped at the sight before me.
It was so fancy that I began to wonder exactly how much the tuition was. Maybe it was worth losing my life if I could live here. I was seriously losing my resolve.
I took slow steps toward the doors to the office and began to take deep breaths, appreciating the lovely floral scent that decorated the air.
Upon reaching the office, I was greeted by a spunky-looking brunette.
"Hi! My name is-oh! Oops! Never mind. I can't tell you my name. I mean I wish I could, but you know, this is a spy school so we can't exactly reveal our identities to anyone. You know, the whole "don't trust anyone" thing. Not saying that I can't trust you. I mean I do. I mean I don't know you or anything but you look trustworthy. I think. Well anyways, my agent name is Nudge. I don't know why though. Everyone called me Nudge and it stuck so I guessed why not? And I chose my agent name to be Nudge. So what's your name? Oh, wait. I'm not suppose to ask you that. Never mind then! Well anyways, I'm your tour guide so basically I'll show you around the school!" she said.
Wow. Did she seriously say all of that in one breath? Okay, she might not know exactly why she was called Nudge, but I'm pretty sure I knew exactly the reason why. I seriously just wanted to nudge her and tell her to shut up. Which I assumed was rude.
"Wow. Well, thanks," I said, clearly looking bewildered at how much she said.
"Okay! Just follow me!" she replied, urging me to follow her to different buildings. "So basically that's the lab. We use it to do experiments and learn about different types of antidotes and poisons. You know, this one time we were learning about slipping chemicals into tea when this one person put aphrodisiac in this other kid's tea. It was sofunny! That kid who drank the tea began to grope all the girls! He got beaten up so much! Poor kid. As for the prankster, he didn't get in trouble at all. I'm not sure why though. Maybe because he donates a lot of money to this school."
Okay I admit that was kind of funny. But I seriously did not want to hear anything irrelevant to the tour. Because after hearing that story, I began to consider attending here. Meanwhile, Nudge rambled on.
"Well anyways, that over there is what normal high schools would call a gym. We learn all different types of fighting skills and moves there. Seriously, the instructors are great. Only one person has ever beaten an instructor at combat."
"And exactly who is that?" I questioned. I was genuinely curious.
"Well, I'm not exactly sure if he really did. Or if he even exists. It's really a huge rumor going on that there's some super agent prodigy named Fang. I mean every time we take any fitness exams or any exams in particular, there's always a blank spot where a person's name should be next to the number one. And of course that led to people making up these crazy theories because Angel Academy wouldnevermake a mistake. Especially more than once. It's like that for all the exams. I think that people named him Fang because, you know, it just sounds like a good name...You know?"
No, I really don't know. Seriously. One harmless question turned into a really long explanation. I mentally told myself to never ask Nudge questions. Oh wait! No! What was I thinking? I wouldn't have to be around Nudge if I didn't attend this horrifically glorious place.
"Well anyways, those buildings are the lecture rooms," Nudge said pointing at a neat row of buildings, "and over there is the lounge."
I looked over to where she was pointing. It was a large building, but it seemed very quaint and elegant. Green vines twisted around the walls and the brown paint was beginning to fade. Unlike the other buildings, this building seemed old. Less modern. Comfortable.
"I'm sure you'll like that place. It's like the only place we can ever relax at and truly let our guard down. Of course we take our turns doing patrol duty, but seriously. If it weren't for that lounge, we would all go insane. Some students here are already on the brink of insanity. Probably due to one of the school prodigies, Angel. The academy is actually named after her. She's practicing in controlling minds."
And just when I thought it couldn't get any weirder. Well, it just got weirder.
"Oh yeah. Speaking of prodigies, I should explain things more. Well basically, this school is made up of ranks. At the bottom of the food chain are the Newbies. Then there are just students. Most people that attend here are put into that rank. After that, there are the Advanced people. They're like really smart. Then, there's like this totally different group. Like they are totally beyond our levels. We call them the Prodigies. It's made up of four people: Angel, the mind controller. Iggy, the explosive genius, he's also the guy who pulled the aphrodisiac stunt. There's also this kid named Gasman, he's the youngest, a Freshman, and he's also studying explosives with Iggy."
I counted that. One, two, three. Hold up. Did Nudge misssomething?
"What about the fourth person?" I asked, confused.
"Umm. Well actually, nobody really knows. Some people are saying that it's Fang, but I really doubt that. I mean seriously. It's probably all in their heads. Rumors just go way too far sometimes."
I silenced myself after that. I began to ponder. Was this Fang real? I barely listened as Nudge droned on, never ceasing to amaze me by her ability to talk so much. This girl seriously had a motor mouth. She and Ella would get along so well.
"Well, that was it! I hope you enjoyed the tour! Please, consider coming here! I could really use a friend. I mean I know that I'm kind of...talkative, so I'm really glad that you didn't tell me to shut up or anything," she said, the corner of her mouth curling upwards.
I smiled back, guiltily. Truthfully, I barely heard half of the things that she said.
"Yeah, thanks for the tour!" I replied, trying to sound enthusiastic.
We soon exchanged goodbyes and I was beginning to think that Nudge wasn't that bad. She had been very helpful and managed to give me a better opinion of Angel Academy.
Suddenly I spotted a shadow moving behind a building out of the corner of my eye. As soon as I turned around to look, it suddenly disappeared.
What was that?
Was my mind playing tricks on me? Or maybe, there really was someone spying on me. I mean I wouldn't be that surprised, this place being a spy school after all. But exactly what reason did they have to spy on me?
I finally made my decision. I was going to find out who it was and why they were spying on me. And how was I going to do this?
Why, I'm going to attend Angel Academy, the high school for spies.
A/N: Oh gosh. Well that's the end! I hope you enjoyed it though! Look forward to my next release of Spy High! Review please! They are appreciated!
**New chapters come out daily. However, sometimes I may not update due to reasons like I might be busy or something.