Chapter 2
Ben's POV
I just sat there. None - moving. A silence filled the room. I took a look around, I wasn't the only one who was greatly disturbed by Bill's death. The man smiled. More people filled the room.
The man turned, "This school is now under SPYDER's control." He then murmured to himself, thinking that we couldn't hear it. "That was easier than I thought it would be."
It was at the point Erica acted. She pulled out her gun and shot the man.
Everyone once again stopped in disbelief. Then a full on battle broke out. In the confusion, Erica grabbed my hand and raced to the exit, dragging me along with her. I struggled to keep up while dodging the bullets that were constantly fired upon me.
We made it out of the lunchroom, yet that was only the start of our troubles. Even though we knew that most of SPYDER's agents were fighting the student body, we weren't naive enough to assume that no SPYDER agents were out in the halls.
The hallways were clear, save for a few discharged bullet cells and knocked down books. As we crept through the hallways, the screams of the scene in the lunchroom grew quieter. It was then when the full weight of our situation crashed down upon me with the weight of a skyscraper.
"W-we left them." I whispered.
"We had to." Erica repleid. I winced, she wasn't supposed to hear that.
"But still, I mean, we could've tried. Couldn't we have?" I asked. My gut dropped.
"This is why we can't have friends in this business." She looked at me accusingly. We entered into the underground tunnels beneath the school. "You can't care for anyone in the world, ever. That's it. End of story."
"You care for me, a little, right?" I said, it came out making me sound like a creep, but I had to know. Erica stopped walking for the first time since we sat at lunch. She slammed me into the wall.
"What in the WORLD?" She said accusingly. She walked close enough for me to smell her breath. As usual, along with everything else about her, it was perfect. She pointed her finger at me. I told myself to savor the moment, at least until the flavor turned sour.
"I've got two things wrong with that. 1. I've never liked you, and I never will. 2. How could you be saying these things, you've got a girlfriend." She said. She started walking to the exit.
The words stung. Not only because she said she'll never like me, or care for me at all. But also because I realized that I had completely forgotten about Zoe.
We were silent as we exited the school campus. Boom! I turned around. Spy school exploded in flames. The Hale building collapsed and the school dormitories were non-existent. The surrounding forest was on fire, as well as the mess hall. My eyes started filling with tears, yet the heat evaporated them even before they exited my eye.
I snuck a look at Erica. She showed no emotion. "What are you waiting for? SPYDER could be anywhere. We have to keep on moving."
I reluctantly followed her to the sidewalk. We walked down for a few miles before we hailed a cab.
"Where's the farthest you can drive?" Erica asked.
"Ronald Reagan international airport." The driver replied. Erica sighed.
"Guess we can take a flight then." She murmured to me. My phone started ringing. I picked it up.
"Hello?" I asked.
"H-hi Ben." I slipped down. My gut dropped as well as my jaw. My stomach did backflips. Zoe.
"Uh, hi." I replied. Erica noticed my body language.
Zoe? Erica mouthed to me. I nodded.
"Where are you guys? You just kinda left." There was a trace of anger in her voice. I dreaded my response.
"We're going to Ronald Reagan International." I replied.
"Ok, We'll meet you there." She said.
"Who do you mean by we?" I asked.
"Mike and I." She said. "You're not with Erica, are you?"
"I am." I replied. There was an uneasy silence. "Don't worry, I've had enough of her since last mission." Even though Erica was in the taxi, I had to say it. It was true. And If she's annoyed by it well then that's her problem.
"Ok, bye."
"Bye." I hung up. I slumped back into my seat. Looking through the window, I could tell we were close to the airport.
"Well that went well." Erica said. I didn't reply. Instead, I pieced myself together as best as I could and stepped out of the car. We had made it to the airport without being spotted by SPYDER. A taxi pulled in right next to us. Out popped Mike and Zoe. Zoe ran up to me and hugged as tight as she could. I took a glance at Erica. She looked the tiniest bit jealous.
Mike walked up to me. "Good to see you got out."
"Same" I replied.
"We're not here to catch up, we've gotta get out of here." Erica said, coldly. I gave her a dirty look. She responded with another cold stare. I sighed. I did want Erica, but she's just so cold. And she is manipulative. She tricked me the last mission. I was tired of it.
We went into the airport and passed through a security check. We went to buy tickets.
"Wait a minute, you're that jerk who broke up with Jemna." The woman said. She started a Mike.
"W-what? No, can't be. You have the wrong person." Mike said. Even though he did have a head start, he was still bad at lying. Heck, I was bad at lying and I've been at spy school for two years.
"Just give us our tickets." Erica said. It was clear that she was dangling at the end of a long line. The Woman gave us dirty looks, yet she gave us the tickets. I took a look at them.
"California?" I asked.
"Yeah." Erica replied. "Our plane's in a hour. We have gotta hurry."
She led us to the gate. A feeling of remorse took over me.
"Spy school! We have to go back." I said. I was going insane.
"There's no going back." Erica said. Her voice was as tough as diamonds and it sliced through my skin. "There's no going back," She repeated, "Because spy school's gone."
