A/N: We continue to wind down and just enjoy our time with these characters because they deserve all of the happiness.
This is a short chapter, but my schedule shifted a bit, and my writing time is more geared toward the end of the week, and I didn't want you to wait longer than that for an update! So here is a short one and a longer, proper one will follow next week.
The chapter after this one...whoa baby! Can't wait to share it with you!
Hollywood Arts, Tuesday following lunch:
Alice was sitting on the floor, leaning on the wall across from where locker was.
She stared at the grey metal door. It was mocking her.
"Wat'cha doing?"
The girl looked up to see Jenna looming over her. Being this close to the ground exaggerated the statuesque teen's height.
"I'm thinking," Alice sighed.
"About what?"
Alice focused back on her locker.
"There's only a few months of school left, and I still haven't figured out how to decorate my locker!"
"Dude, it's okay."
The dark-haired girl banged the back of head against the cold metal behind her.
"I guess I can't be too mad. Yours must be hard, too."
Jenna pursed her lips, breaking eye contact.
"What?" asked a suspicious Alice.
"I actually did mine a few weeks ago."
The petite one stood up, eyes wide.
"WHAAAAT!"
Minutes later, they were standing before Jenna's locker, which had a mirror adorned with little round bulbs giving the look of a vintage makeup vanity.
"See, my whole life lockers represented gym class and practice. But I thought if I'm going to embrace this new side of me, I need to take this old image and glam it up. Now it looks like the dressing room of an actress about to go out and wow them!"
Jenna opened the door and flicked a switch, illuminating the bulbs.
"I originally used LED's, but they were way too bright. So, I had one of the tech boys from the play to help me rig up these bulbs to a battery pack right here," she pointed to a black box on the other side of the locker door. "Neat, huh?"
Alice pouted as she backed into the wall.
"That's so cool," she groaned. "Why can't my locker be that cool?"
Jenna shook her head.
"It's not about being cool, exactly. It's about making your locker a reflection of you."
She grabbed Alice by the shoulders.
"Now come on, what would an Alice Doyle locker look like?"
The smaller girl squirmed as her brain came up with absolutely nothing.
"UGGHHHH! I HAVE NO IDEAS!"
Jenna relinquished her friend and looked down the hall to her next class. She didn't want to be late.
"Listen, Alice, don't get discouraged. You will come up with something eventually."
"You don't understand!" Alice huffed. "I don't want to be a failed freshman!"
The tall teen looked confused.
"Something I heard one of the seniors, Len Wisher, saying to us when we were leaving Mr. Shapiro's class. If you go into your sophomore year with a blank locker, it's considered bad luck at Hollywood Arts."
The brown-haired girl snorted before giving into a full-on laugh.
"What?" Alice asked with a raised eyebrow. "What's so funny?"
"Come on, Alice!" chuckled Jenna. "Don't tell me you believe in that superstition!"
The petite folded her arms.
"I'm not making fun of you," she told her. "I'm just saying you need to relax, take a break. You can't force inspiration; it just happens..."
Jenna stopped mid-sentence when she became distracted by a man with a beard and wild hair. He wore a black suit and necktie. The strange-looking guy took off his sunglasses and observed the passing doors, paying attention to the numbers. He was looking for someone.
"Who's that?" asked Alice.
"No clue," replied Jenna.
Rob was stapling some papers together when he looked up at a visitor.
"Sinjin?"
"Hey, Rob."
The man in black grinned and walked over to the teacher where they hugged.
"It's been a while," Rob said. "They're keeping you busy?"
Sinjin made a chuckle and sat on one of the empty desks.
"You look good," Rob said. "When did you grow the beard? That's a good look."
He shrugged.
"Just a side effect from longer hours," Sinjin said, stroking his chin. "I might just shave tomorrow. She doesn't like..."
Rob's eyes widened.
"I've already said too much."
Sinjin then took out a sealed manila envelope and handed it to Rob.
"Is this...?"
"Uh-huh," he nodded. "I found some...interesting revelations."
Rob looked at the solid Sinjin did for him and smiled appreciatingly.
"So, tell me..." Rob began. "You like a secret agent now? James Bond dude?"
Sinjin crossed his arms.
"Sorry, civilian, but I'm not at liberty to discuss that."
Rob gave him a glare.
"Alright, fine. But level with me, Area 51 is totally a thing, right?"
Sinjin covered his eyes.
"Yes, Area 51 is real. No, nothing weird happens there. You've been watching too many movies!"
"Okay," Rob said, eyes squinted. "I'll buy it."
Sinjin checked his watch and made a grimace.
"Need to run. This was a quick meet-up, unfortunately."
"Sorry to see you go, man."
Rob shook Sinjin's hand and he gently but firmly smacked his friend in the arm.
"Great to see you, though. We have to do this again sometime."
Sinjin nodded.
"I'd love to," he said. "Kate still makes that incredible shepherd's pie?"
"You know it," Rob nodded.
"I'll have to come over for dinner sometime."
Rob walked with Sinjin as he was leaving.
"Maybe bring a plus one?" he offered.
The bearded man cracked his knuckles.
"If things turn out, that would be nice. But duty comes first."
"Alright, Agent Van Cleef."
He put on his sunglasses.
"That's Special Agent Van Cleef!"
"My apologies," Rob smirked. "Later."
"Bye."
Sinjin ignored the double-takes he was getting from the students as he exited the school.
(Some things never change.)
Once outside, he was met with a woman dressed in a black suit similar to his. She was leaning against a silver BMW.
"Are you ready?" she asked.
Sinjin nodded and got in the passenger seat while the lady went behind the wheel.
"How was your old friend?"
"He's good," he replied. "And as a twofer, I helped spreading Operation Shell Game."
The woman sighed.
"Don't tell me you brought up Area 51."
"Actually, he brought it up and I told him nothing is going on there."
She looked to him.
"He believed you?"
Sinjin chortled.
"Nope."
"Good man."
In the mid-1990's when conspiracy theories exploded and we were on the cusp of the Internet, the CIA grew concerned that this military base was now public knowledge. It was even becoming known to foreign countries. Can't have that. So, they decided to embrace the Area 51 phenomenon and use it to their advantage. The government tried to be as sus as possible with all of the over-air restrictions and high security and staunch deniability.
Now the whole world was watching the empty buildings in Arizona, while the real work was being conducted elsewhere. This sharing of misinformation was deemed Operation Shell Game. Area 51 stands as the biggest distraction on earth, meant to lure conspiracy nuts and threats to national security.
"If I invited you to a dinner with my friend and his wife, would you accompany me?"
The lady started the car and sped off.
"How long has it been since either of us had a home cooked meal, Dakota?"
"Long enough," she huffed.
"So...yes?" Sinjin asked.
"Let's sort out this business in Copenhagen first and we'll talk later."
Dakota turned the corner and got onto the main road.
"I take it I'm posing as your significant other?"
Sinjin grinned awkwardly.
"Possibly..." he whispered.
"If we do this, your hands must remain to yourself during dinner, or I will hurt you."
"Yes, ma'am," he stiffened.
"And one more thing, Sinjin."
"What?"
Dakota glanced over to him with a glint in her eye.
"Shave."
Mia sat on the couch, propped up by a bunch of pillows.
With her busted ribs, laying down was impossible so she spent most of the day elevated like this.
"Hey, mom?"
Tori looked up.
"Yeah, babe?"
"Couldn't help but notice my suspension is up on Thursday. Would it be alright if I went to school?"
Tori was surprised to hear that.
"Sweetheart, you're still healing!"
"Honestly, it doesn't hurt when I sit or stand..."
"Only when you got from one to the other," Tori smirked. "I don't want you to overexert yourself."
Mia sighed.
"I love you and I love how you're worried for me. But I...I dunno...I miss school."
"Really?" asked Tori. "You don't want to just finish off the week and start on Monday?"
The teen blushed.
"I miss everyone, alright! I can't...I can't wait for Saturday."
Tori got up and hugged her girl gently.
"Okay, but you better ask for help when you need it! You do too much, and you'll miss a lot more school."
She lifted Mia's chin.
"Aaaaaand...I'm driving you to and from! No bus, nu fuss."
Mia conceded and smiled up at her mom.
"Fine, you win."
Her eyes went toward the table. Tori was scrawling in a notepad that was just out of sight.
"What are you doing?"
Tori noticed that she eyed the notepad and walked over to pick it up.
"Since we were both given a lot of down time, it also gave me a chance to think as well."
Her mom sat on the coffee table, so she was as close to Mia as possible so she could show her notes.
"We've got the party this weekend and I thought...next weekend, when you're more on the mend, we could go downstairs and start dusting off the old store."
Mia blinked rapidly, ushering in some tears.
"You're serious?"
"You're absolutely right, Mia. It's been too long. For The Record needs to make a comeback."
Tori flipped a page and showed some crude sketches of the music shop.
"Sorry, I was never much of an artist," she shrugged. "But basically, I wanted to revive most of the store as it was, but I have a few ideas I would like to try."
She handed it to Mia to see closer.
"Think dad will like this?" asked Tori.
"Dad will love this!" replied Mia.
Tori leaned in and kissed her one and only on the cheek.
Rob long since opened the envelope and read over the report.
He couldn't believe what he was seeing, then he noticed the screen shots.
"Damn he's good," Rob said to himself. "How did he get these?"
The black hat responsible for this hack thought they didn't leave fingerprints, but they did.
"Got you!"
Rob scrolled through his phone contacts and found a saved number for the old principal.
"Hello, Helen?"
He smiled.
"Happy retirement by the way...I... yes, yes, I heard. It's a lot of crap. Listen, Helen, I called in a favor, and they found who did this."
He heled the phone away from his ear. That woman's voice could carry.
"But I'm going to need help making these findings stick. I need evidence so they don't try to get away with this."
Rob brought the phone back to his head.
"Still got your contacts with the board?" he asked. "Uh-huh...uh-huh. Let's meet after school...erm, at the coffee shop nearby."
He tapped his fingers.
"No, no, I don't want anyone catching on. They think they got away Scott free and I can't wait to burst their bubble."
He smiled.
"Hey, Helen? It's good to work with you again..."
(Man, word gets around!)
"Of course, we would love to have you over sometime!"
A/N: I don't usually do phone conversations this way, but I thought it would be comical to imagine what Helen Dubois sounded like on the other end by Rob's reactions.