Walking out of school, I was looking for Henry, so we could head to my mom's office. On Thursday's we always eat dinner at Granny's, before Henry's therapy session. Henry told me he had something he needed to do after school, so I told him I'd work on my paper until it was time to go to mom's office. My eyes were scanning the school playground, where Henry and I meet, when I noticed Derrick walking towards me. I readjusted all the books I had in my arms, so I could give him a small wave.

"Hey!" Derrick said, with a smile, as he walked up to me. "I looked for you at lunch today, but I didn't see you," He continued.

"Oh, sorry. I was in the school library working on my history paper." I said, trying to adjust the books more.

"I see that," he replied with a laugh, as he indicated to the books in my arms.

"Yeah, I ran out of room in my backpack, so I have to carry these ones." I responded, as I finally found Henry. Henry was walking towards me, with a contemplative look on his face. I'd noticed he'd come from a direction, other than his classroom, but I'd ask about that later. When Henry caught up to Derrick and me, he gave me a knowing look, but simply smiled at the two of us.

"Well, we better be going," I said, indicating to Henry and myself. "Our mom is waiting for us. See you tomorrow."

Henry and I had only taken a couple of steps, when Derrick called my name. "Maddie!"

He jogged the couple steps to us, and then paused looking at Henry and I. Henry let out a short sigh, "I'll tell mom you had to grab a book from the library, but are on your way." With that Henry kept walking, so I turned my attention back to Derrick.

"Are you okay?" Derrick blurted out.

"What was with these random questions today?" I pondered to myself. "Uh, yeah. I'm fine," I finally answered.

There was an awkward silence between us, as I looked at him waiting for him to respond. "Oh, good. I just wanted to check…" He replied, half heartedly.

"Okay, uh, thanks," I said just as lamely. When Derrick made no efforts to respond, I started to turn.

"Okay, I'll see you tomorrow then." I hadn't even taken a step when Derrick grabbed my arm, causing me to drop my books.

I instantly bent down to grab them, as did he. When we were both squatted down he grabbed my hand, making me look at him. "Maddie… I… Ugh, this isn't how I wanted this to go," He huffed.

"Wanted what to go?" I asked, confused.

"Asking you out," he confessed, looking at the ground.

Suddenly, I fell back on my butt and started laughing. Derrick gave me hurt, puzzled look. I tried to talk, but all that came out was, "We… *laughing* are… *more laughing* so… *snort* aw.. awkward!"

I was laughing so hard; tears were in my eyes. Derrick gave a few forced laughs as I tried to get control of myself, but mostly sat silently, with a confused look on his face.

"Sorry, I think I'm a little sleep deprived and crazy," I tried to explain, once I was better able to talk. He gave me a weird look. "Things have been a little stressful," I admitted. "Plus, all that was going through my head is that we look like a cheesy romance comedy. The boy reaches for her arm, but she drops her books. They bend down to retrieve the books, and gaze into each other's eyes." I tried to explain but paused as a few laughs escaped, and Derrick still look hurt.

"I'm also terribly rude and socially awkward when I'm nervous," I mumbled out. I finally managed to close my mouth and kept it shut.

Derricks face finally broke out into a smile. "I personally think you're pretty adorable when you get flustered and are caught off guard," he said, finally laughing.

I smacked his arm and narrowed my eyes. "You were playing me?" I questioned, in a fake hurt voice.

"I'm pretty sure you were making fun of me asking you out, so I think we're even." He said, getting to his feet, my books in one arm and a huge smile on his face. He held out his hand to help me up.

"I was making fun of both of us," I emphasized.

We both stood there for a second before Derrick finally spoke, "so want to.. you know… go out with me?" His voice was hesitant, but hopeful.

"I'd love too!" I said a little too eagerly. "Oh, wait. No… I can't" I trailed off.

"Oh, no worries then," Derrick responded, sounding bummed.

"No, it's not that. I want to go out, but I'm grounded for two weeks… I want to go out though…," I tried to explain.

"Really?! Okay, two weeks isn't long. We can plan for after you're no longer grounded." He said, sounding excited.

I smiled, "perfect! I really do need to go though, if I'm any later my grounding will in indefinite and neither of us want that." I held out my hands and Derrick handed over my books.

"See you tomorrow," Derrick said his smile somehow even bigger.

As I hustled to my mom's office, I was struggling to suppress the smile on my own face. I'd just had the most stereotypical moment of my teenage life, but I'd loved every second of it.

I had just made it down hall and was about to enter the first set of double doors to my mother's office, when Henry shoved past me. He looked distraught and on the verge of tears.

"Henry?" I tried to question, but he kept running. "What the hell happened?" I thought to myself, as I proceeded to find my mom. As I approached her office door, I could hear voices.

"How long was he there?" I'd only heard Emma's voice a couple times, and always from a distance, but I was pretty sure that had to be her.

"Long enough." By the tone of her voice, I could picture the satisfied smirk on my mother's face.

"You knew he'd be here…" Emma sounded exasperated and betrayed.

Suddenly, it dawned on me that Henry must have overheard them talking about him. "Poor kid," I thought. I was considering "breaking up" the fight until my mother continued talking, sending a chill down my spine with her heartless tone.

"Did I know that my son comes to my office every Thursday, at precisely 5pm, so I can take him to dinner before his therapy session? Of course I did. I'm his mother…. Your move."

I'd never heard my mom speak like this… Talking about Henry, as if he were a game, or a simple possession.

"You have no soul. How in the hell did you get like this?" I heard Emma question, followed by footsteps. She stopped just outside the office, pausing to look at me. I gave her a sympathetic look, and she looked like she was about to say something, but instead she just shoved her way out.

I stood there, trying to decide if I wanted to follow Emma, when I heard more footsteps and looked up to see my mother coming to her office doors. "Madelyn, there you are," she said in a happy tone.

"She doesn't know that I heard them," I realized. It took a lot of will power, seeing as all I wanted to do was yell at her, but finally I said, "Hey, yeah, sorry. I needed to grab a few extra books for my history paper. We ready for dinner?" I asked, plastering on a fake smile.

"Actually, Henry went to see if he could start his session with Archie early, but you and I can grab some food." She replied, as if life were grand and normal. The way the lies rolled off her tongue sent another chill down my spine, but I realized two could pay that game.

"Oh, ummm, if it's alright I think I'll just head home then… I'm beat, and really want to keep working on my paper." I tried to keep an innocent look on my face, even though my head was screaming.

"Of course, dear. I'm proud of you for working so hard." She said, coming over and kissing my forehead, and then turned back towards her office. "I have a bit more work to complete, but I should be home in a couple of hours."

I watched her retreat to her office, my mind still ablaze with thoughts and questions. "Henry's right… You are evil," I thought, as I turned to leave. The conversation I'd heard between my mom and Emma was replaying over and over in my head. I need to figure out how all these pieces added up. I mean, I still don't really believe this "curse" idea, but Henry was right, things weren't as they seemed and I was now determined to figure out what was going on.

When I'd gotten home, I had no idea what to do next. My brain was too full of questions, so I'd just gone up to my room. When my mom got home later, I pretended to be asleep. I couldn't deal with her anymore today.

It was now 12:53am and I had been sitting on my window seat for a while. I was exhausted, but sleep just wasn't happening tonight. I was staring at the clock tower, the only thing I could see across the dark town, when there was a soft knock at my door.

"Maddie?" Came Henry's voice in a whisper, as my door slowly opened. His eyes landed on me by the window, so he shuffled in quietly, and closed the door.

Henry walked over, and climbed up next to me with way too much energy. "Henry, it's the middle of the night, why are you awake?" I questioned, slightly concerned.

"I could ask you the same question," he said back, with a smile. I rolled my eyes, but looked back out my window. I had my arms around my knees, when Henry scooted up next to me. I was a little surprised, seeing as how he hadn't tried to cuddle with me in a long time, but I quickly repositioned so he could snuggle in. We both looked out the window for a few minutes, when I asked softly, "You okay after today?"

Henry pulled away to look up at me briefly, but then cuddled back in. "Yeah, Emma came and found me at Archie's. Operation Cobra is officially a go!" He said, the excitement evident in his voice.

I pulled him away from me, so I could look at him this time. "Operation Cobra?" I questioned, amused at the name.

"Yeah, it's the code name for breaking the curse." He said with a shrug. He was trying to sound nonchalant, but I knew if I could see his face, he'd be beaming.

"So does this mean I'm part of Operation Cobra?" I tried to ask in a serious voice, but a smile spread across my own face.

Henry sat up, and turned to face me. "Well duh! You're my best friend, I can't do it without you," He said, his voice 100% serious. I felt tears burn the back of my eyes, but I quickly tried to blink them away. "But you can't tell mom," He said, giving me a hard look.

A small laugh escaped my lips, as I held out me pinky. Henry quickly gave me his, as we shook our hands up and down two times, pinkies interlocked, followed by a fist bump, and exploding it. "Trust me, I have no desire to tell mom," I tried to reassure him.

"You say that now, but even if the curse tries make you tell her, you have to fight it. This is top secret, okay?" He stated, still completely serious. I wanted to scoff at the curse comment, but knew I needed to be as serious as possible.

"I promise; operation Cobra is safe with me... And you know, if I'm part this top secret mission, I should probably get to know Emma, too. I mean, it's important to know your fellow spies." I said, giving him a soft look with a smile.

Henry's face broke out into another smile. "Really?" He questioned.

"Yes, really. It sounds like she's sticking around so…," I trailed off has he threw himself on me, in a hug. I laughed, as he broke the hug and cuddled back into me.

As we sat there, both looking out the window, my mind was still trying to process everything. I had no idea what all of this meant, but I did know that I had just promised my 10-year-old brother that I'd help him fight our mom. My stomach did a summersault at that thought, but I swallowed and tried my best to push my doubt and fear aside.

I looked down and realized Henry was starting to doze on me. "Alright kid, we both need sleep. You going to your bed, or you sleeping in mine," I asked, as patted his arm to get him to stand up.

"Yours," he mumbled as he dragged himself off me and shuffled the five steps to my bed, and flopped down. A small laugh escaped my lips, as I walked over and tucked him in. My brain was still way too wired, so I returned to the window seat, my eyes locking on the clock tower in the distance. I just wanted life to make sense again, but I had a feeling that wasn't going to happen anytime soon. My hand automatically went to my locket, grabbing the small trinket between my thumb and index finger. I ran the locket back and forth on the chain, and finally let out a sigh, deciding I should try to go to bed. I needed some sleep, plus, I just wanted my brain to shut down for a while.

I climbed in my bed, being cautious not to disturb Henry. As I laid down, I looked over at him. He looked like your typical, innocent, ten-year-old. And yet, he was so determined to take on the world. I let out another sigh, as I turned on my side. Slowly my brain started to cloud over, the thoughts and stress of today slowly disappearing, as I finally drifted off to sleep.