Spy School Joshua's POV

Chapter 1: Recruitment

I was "the" Joshua Hall. The kid all over the school who got perfect grades without lifting a finger, the kid who got away with all of the pranks pulled on teachers and the kid who always won basketball and karate matches. Yes, I was "that" good. When I was three, I got into a fight with a bulldog—an ugly one. While normal babies were probably in their crib, chewing on their milk bottles, I was training. After getting in the fight with the bulldog, I learned that life wasn't fair. You can't pick your opponent when you're fighting. You could get a skinny nerd fighting you or a highly trained ninja fighting you. And so I started taking karate classes. Before I even turned five, I was a black belt. I could lift things three times the weight me and be highly skilled in throwing knives. Life was good; no one bothered me because they were all just too scared, and I kept on training. Until one afternoon when I was 15 years old.

I was shooting hoops in my backyard when I heard my doorbell rang. I first thought it was the annoying crowd of cheerleaders that always followed me, but I was wrong. The doorbell kept on ringing until the person got crazy and nearly ripped off my doorbell. I quickly darted over to whoever was disturbing me.

"What?" I demanded. A skimpy man in a suit stood there.

"What the hell are you doing dressed like that when it's 80 degrees? Stop pretending you're James Bond and get the heck off of my doorstep," I said, annoyed.

"Wait!" He yelled before I was going to push him off of my doorstep.

"What?" I asked, annoyed.

"I work for the CIA, and I need to see you," he said.

"So? What do you want? A lollipop for that?" I asked sarcastically, starting to snort.

"I have an offer with you for you to join the CIA," he said and nearly fell off of the staircase.

"Me? Why me out of everyone out there?" I asked.

"Because you're extremely talented. You can beat up five people at the same time and can do twenty backflips at the same time," he said. This got me curious.

"Here, let's talk inside my house instead of talking on the staircase," I said and then grabbed him inside my house and locked the door behind me.

"Splendid idea! Do you have any coffee as well?" He asked with a smile.

"Don't push your luck; you're here to talk, not get yourself invited to a tea party," I said with a laugh. "I'm kidding; I'll get you some right away." He smiled and sat on my couch. I walked towards my kitchen and turned on the coffee machine, and walked back.

"Now I'm Joshua hall, although you probably know already, who are you?" I asked.

"I'm Alexander Hale," he said proudly, and then I scrunched my face.

"You're the guy that keeps making up lies about yourself on Facebook?" I asked.

"Lies? Those are real things! I did once run for three days trying to catch a mole," he said, offended.

"The longest someone had ever run only 80 hours," I said.

"Uh, well, that's because I'm a spy, and the genius world record book couldn't put a spy's record in the book," he lied his face beet red.

"Really? Then how come you proudly told this on TV and specifically asked to get put in the "Famous Spies" book?" I asked.

"Um, well, you see, that was different-," he rambled but was cut off by me.

"Look, I don't care if you lie your whole life, just one thing, don't lie to me, or you will regret it," I threatened, and he went pale for a few seconds.

"Now, enough depressing things, the coffee's ready!" I said and then darted to the kitchen and grabbed a cup of coffee from the machine.

"Here you go, now tell me the real reason you came here today," I said, handing him the cup. He took a long sip and then answered.

"Well, we're here to recruit you today," he chirped, although I could tell he was still a bit frightened from my last comment. And so I could tell he wasn't lying.

"So when do I start?" I asked.

"Well here, for starters, take a look at this," he said and handed me a vanilla envelope. It was a "for your eyes only" stamp. I quickly peeled open the envelope and started to read it.

Dear Mr. Ripley: It is my great privilege to accept you to the Academy of Espionage of the Central Intelligence Agency, effective immediately. . . .

"So when do I start, and exactly where is this school located?"

"Well, that's classified, but this school is somewhere, let's say, in the US," he said with a grin.

"You could have just not said anything. That is the opposite of useful," I said, rolling my eyes.

"So this is a training academy?" I asked.

"Yup, you train till you're 21 when we send you off to the field," he replied.

"Now enough talking, let's get going!" He chirped, rubbing his hands together.

"So, what's the official name for this school?" I asked.

"St. Smith's Science Academy for Boys and Girls," he replied. "So, you in?" He asked.

"Well, duh, yeah, I'm in," I replied cockyily with a grin.