I'm sorry I've gone AWOL! I hope this and more makes up for it...
The ride to school was nerve-wracking. I wanted to throw up with every bump and my head was spinning from all the scenarios I had been picturing for the past hour. My leg kept shaking and I had been clenching my fist so hard, all the blood had left my right hand. My mom had been on and off the phone the entire ride and wasn't paying attention to my fidgety state.
Or so I thought.
"Abigail."
My head snapped up and I gave her a weak smile. "I'm sorry." She gave me a rueful smile and grabbed my knee. "Stop thinking so much, you'll give yourself a migraine."
My mother, Cameron Ann Morgan Goode, was the best in the business. She had more experience under her belt when she was in high school than most operatives get in the field their first seven years. She was calm, cool, and collective all the time. My mother was tough, mentally and physically. Nothing fazed her anymore.
So naturally, she could read me like a map. "You know I went through this too Abby." She leaned back and closed her eyes. "It's completely normal I promise."
I watched her as she took deep and even breaths. Her hair was shoulder length now and still dark at the roots from her last dye-job. She had bags under her eyes; my mom didn't believe in make-up, and her whole aura was tired. She still looked beautiful to me.
"Seriously stop love." She cracked an eye open. "You do realize you're only making yourself sick over irrational thoughts." I stared at her without answering. "The only person you have to prove anything to Abby, is you." My face paled.
My mom may be smart and all intuitive but she was wrong about that; I had everything to prove to everyone, including myself. I turned back to the window and commenced my fidgeting.
That stopped as soon as I saw Gallagher emerging from the hill. Pressing my nose against the glass, I felt my nervousness ebb away and turn to excitement. The grounds were perfectly manicured as always and greener than any other lawn in Roseville, Virginia. The P&E barn had a brand new coat of paint and even from here I could see the giant doors had a shiny new horseshoe added to the giant barn doors. The castle itself gleamed in the sun as if it had been scrubbed over and over. The driveway that extended all the way highway didn't have a single weed in-between its cracks. Limos were backed up the city line and I turned my gaze to the people milling around town.
Even though they couldn't see me, I could see every last one of their glares and sneers.
One of the best covers ever used was by the Gallagher Academy for Exception Young Women.
Every girl at the academy was held to the expectation that they would keep the secret of Gillian Gallagher. We played the rich girl roles; the one's whose daddies were millionaires, billionaires, politicians. We pretended that the weekends were reserved for the Hamptons and that our boarding school was inconvenience to our social lives.
Boy did we play it well.
When we finally got to the circular driveway, I was itching to get out of the car. My mom climbed out first and straightened her skirt. I watched the awe grow in the eyes of my schoolmates as they recognized my mom. I was used to the celebrity-like status my parents held in the espionage world.
I went around to the back and pulled out my trunk and book bag. Out of nowhere I was slammed into by a very thin body. I laughed and wrapped my arms around one of my best friends and fourth roommate Rylee Magee.
"I have missed you so much," she squealed and began to squeeze me around my middle. I laughed and hugged her back. There have only been three foreign Gallagher Girls in the history of the academy.
The first was Aunt Bex.
The second was Princess Amy.
The third was Rylee.
Rylee was born and bred in Ireland. The first time I met her, I couldn't understand a word she said. She talks at a million miles an hour and fresh off of summer…it was a struggle to understand her now.
"Abby, I've missed ya! How's your brother? Did he get any hotter?"
My mom scoffed.
"Two people you don't tell they're attractive: Matthew Goode and Zachary Goode." Rylee hugged her and grinned. "Are you staying for the Welcome Back Dinner?" "No, I have to be at the Washington Mall by six."
Rylee and I stared at each other dreamily. The Washington Mall was our dream interrogation center. My mother was interrogated there when she was a sophomore. Rylee's dad had to go whenever he took down the last Circle headquarters in Dublin with nothing but a ball cap, a piece of Trident gum, and a used maid's outfit.
Rylee grabbed her trunk and turned to my mom.
"I hope my mom talked to you about Christmas break?" "She did sweetie. Everything's all set." Rylee beamed and looked at me, "I'll see you inside okay?" I nodded and turned back to my mom.
Her eyes held a faraway look as she stared at the castle, like she was remembering all of her adventures at once. Her gaze then shifted to me and she smile softly.
"Have a good year Abby. Don't rush it, get good grades, and please don't go looking for trouble. Lord knows this family has enough already."
I nodded. "Yes ma'am."
My mom pulled me into her arms and held me tightly. "I love you Abby." "I love you mom." "Kick some butt this year okay? I'll see you at Christmas break." Reluctantly, we let each other go and she kissed my forehead.
"Be Goode."
"I'm always Goode mom."
When she finally climbed into the limo and pulled away, I felt my throat tighten. I didn't feel ready at all, but now I was here. And I wasn't going to do anything less than my best.
...
When I finally dragged my trunk up the grand staircase and into my room, I was greeted to the smell of a very French and very illegal perfume and classical music wafting from our room.
Although she was nowhere in sight, I knew Kodi was somewhere in the castle. Plus, her designer clothes were organized by season and color and her uniforms perfectly pressed in the closet.
I parked my suit case in front of my bed and sat down.
Rylee's pictures with her cousins back home were already on her wall their red hair flaming. Kodi's scheduling calendar for her beauty regimens and uncle Preston's campaign schedule were neatly written in her perfect calligraphy. Above Gracie's bed were all of the ticket stubs of the free concerts she got into all over the world when Uncle and Aunt Bex were on detail duty for the Prime Minister's kids.
Then there was my wall.
My wall was completely bare and always was save two pictures; one of my immediate family and the other of the "cousins".
As I started unpacking my stuff, Kodi entered the room. She had gotten taller from last year; she was at least 5'7 now. Her arms and legs were even and gorgeously tanned and with her daisy dukes and Michael Kors hidden wedges, her legs looked like they went on forever. Her hair, jet black like Aunt Macey and her eyes were a soft brown, like melted chocolate. Her make-up which was done to perfection highlighted her goddess like appearance. But Kodi looked exhausted.
"Hey Kodi," I said slowly, "Are you okay?"
Collapsing on her bed, she threw an arm over her face and sighed.
"No I am not okay."
Propping herself up on her elbows, she stared at me almost angrily. "Remember the internship I applied for earlier this summer?" "The one with the "ride-along" opportunity with a Secret Service agent?" "Yes, that one." I waited for her to continue.
"Well, I was chosen-"
"That's great Kodi!"
Her eyes turned to daggers. "I was chosen with one other applicant; even though there was only supposed to be one selected applicant." I winced. "That's not okay. Do you know who the other applicant chosen was?" "All I know is that he's male."
I winced.
"Do they not know where you go to school?" "Not enough clearance I suppose." "Well, what are you going to do?" Kodi smiled deviously. "I'm going to break his legs." "Kodi!"
She laughed.
"I'm kidding! But I am going to destroy him." She stood and place one perfectly manicured hand on her hip.
"You can't share an opportunity with a dead man can you?"