Chapter 2: Alex the Guilty (Special thanks to Incrediblesfan1 for the request!) (Also, special thanks to Boris Yeltsin for the previous chapter!)
At the spies' beach house, one of the trio was feeling a little low. Alex sat on her bed, feeling bad about her past mistakes.
She first thought about how she kept blurting out secrets due to her inability to keep them, which was the reason Clover and Sam got mad at each other, Sam lost extra credit, and Clover lost a potential date to Mandy, not to mention embarrassing Gladis.
She also remembered when she quit the team because she kept messing things up, not to mention she also grew jealous of and acted harsh towards Britney because she felt inadequate compared to her, who seemed to be perfect.
"What if I'm not a terrible spy, just a terrible friend?" Alex asked as tears formed in her eyes.
She mulled this over for a while, realizing that she may very well be a terrible friend. She tearfully found a bag and went up to her room.
Later, Sam and Clover returned to the house after they finished shopping and Sam called out, "Alex, we're back!".
They heard no response.
"Alex, are you napping?" Clover called before she and Sam noticed a note taped to the fridge.
"To Sam, Clover, and Britney,
I've been a terrible friend to you guys. I kept messing up our missions. I caused Clover to lose a date to Mandy. I also treated Britney like an outcast just because I thought she was my replacement. I'm sorry for how terrible a friend I've been. I've decided to leave and go where the road takes me. You might not see me for a while. Sorry for being a lousy friend. I hope you guys can find it in your hearts to forgive me.
Your friend, Alex.
Sam and Clover looked alarmed, "OH NO!" they said before bringing out their compowders.
"Jerry, emergency WHOOP right now, and bring Britney too!" Clover said before they were WHOOPed.
"What seems to be the problem, girls? And where's Alex?" Jerry asked.
"Alex has run away! We need to find her right away!" Sam said.
"My word, why in the world would she do that?!" Jerry asked.
At that moment, Britney landed, "What's this about Alex?" she asked.
"Alex thinks she's been a terrible friend to us and has run away!" Clover said.
Britney gasped, "We need to find her!" she said.
"There's no time to waste! I'll provide you with your gadgets! You'll need the pull-cable eyeshadow, the jetpack backpacks, and your net mascara. Now, go and find Alex!" Jerry said.
A few minutes later, Sam, Alex, and Britney had split up and were flying above the city searching for Alex.
"I can't believe Alex just ran away like that!" Sam said as she scanned the rooftops.
Elsewhere, Clover was searching any shops Alex might be at, but no luck.
"This doesn't make sense. If she's not at the Groove or the mall, I don't know where she'd be." Clover said, worried.
Meanwhile, Britney was searching the streets.
"No sign of her anywhere." Britney said, sad.
The three met up at an alley.
"How goes the search, girls?" Jerry asked.
"No luck. We can't find Alex anywhere!" Clover said.
Then, an idea clicked in Sam's brain.
"Jerry, can our compowders track each other?" Sam asked.
"Yes. Perhaps that can help you find Alex. Just push the purple button. Good luck, spies." Jerry said.
The spies pushed said button and saw a yellow dot moving on a radar-like map.
"That must be her! Let's move!" Sam said.
Meanwhile, Alex was walking towards a bus stop with a backpack on her back, when she was suddenly caught by the pull-cable eyeshadow and had a net shot over her by the net-shot mascara. She looked and saw the other three.
"Guys?" Alex asked.
"Alex, we've been so worried about you! Why would you just run off like that?!" Clover asked.
Alex just looked at the ground as Clover pulled the net off her.
"Come on, Alex, please tell us." Sam said.
"(Sigh) I'm a terrible friend." Alex said.
"Why would you think that?" Britney asked.
"One reason, because I treat you like trash. I just always get the feeling you're meant to replace me because you can do everything better, not to mention Sam and Clover think you're much cooler. I just feel bad for thinking you're trying to take my friends." Alex said.
Britney gasped.
"Not to mention, that same time, I kept messing up missions and making an idiot out of myself." Alex said.
Sam looked sad.
"And to top it off, I'm terrible at keeping secrets. We had to cancel a party because I told the neighbors about it. Sam lost extra credit. Clover lost a possible date to Mandy and got an F for downloading her essay. Not to mention the one about Gladis. I just felt like you guys were better off without me, so I was on my way out of town for a while." Alex said.
Clover looked sad as well.
"Alex, listen. You're not a terrible friend at all. Some people just have a hard time keeping secrets. All those things were our faults. We should've been more honest, at least then, we wouldn't need secrets. I could've just as easy asked for extra credit." Sam said.
"Yeah, besides, I'm over that date now, and I did get a chance to make up that essay, so I learned not to download my essays anymore. If it wasn't for you, we might not have learned these things." Clover said.
"Besides that, Alex, I never meant to steal your friends. You, Sam, and Clover are like three peas in a pod. I may have more experience, true, but that doesn't make me perfect. I have my shortcomings too, but I always find a way to bounce back and learn from them, just like you did. In fact, I actually think you may be better than I am in certain points. I understand your jealousy, and I'm sorry I made you feel that way. I'm also forgiving how you snapped at me." Britney said.
Alex took all this in as the three girls crouched in front of her, "Alex, no matter what, we think you're the best friend anyone could ask for." Sam said.
"The best teammate too." Clover said.
"No one, especially me, could ever replace you." Britney said.
Tears welled up in Alex's eyes before she launched herself at them and cried on their shoulders and they shared a group hug.
"You guys are the best!" Alex said.
Once they separated, Britney said, "So, what do you guys say we head home?".
"There's no place like home, with you guys. Let's go!" Alex said as they lifted her onto their shoulders.