Friends, Feud, and Federal Agents

Chapter 1

I sit at the conference table with my head in my hands.

 “Miss. Parkerlei,” he pauses, “Athena,” he coaxes, “Athena Claire Parkerlei!” My head jerks up as he smirks and I glare at him.

“You know I don’t like when you use my middle name,” I say viciously.

“But it got your attention, did it not, Miss. Parkerlei? Now stop wallowing in self-pity and listen,” he says with diction.

“Fine, fine, I’m listening,” I state with exasperation.

Moorlyn rushes in as she always does during a meeting.

“Am I late?!” She calls out of breath.

“No, Shipwreck, you’re early and we’re all late,” Carter says with dripping sarcasm, “That’s why we’re all here before you.”  

Shipwreck is Moorlyn’s nickname and it refers to her love of the sea and her consistency in breaking something other than her computer.

“Oh yes, Carter’s absolutely right. The time space continuum has now backfired and early and late are now opposite,” Jordan says with a roll of her eyes. Marissa snickers and Moorlyn looks crestfallen for a moment but then continues.

“Thanks for the info, Katniss and Fawkes! I’m glad I am now aware of this,” she says brightly and takes her seat at the table.

Jordan’s nickname is Katniss because she looks exactly like the character from the series. Carter’s nickname is Fawkes because of her love of Harry Potter and her obsession with phoenixes.

“Marissa, anything to add,” Moorlyn says questioningly.

“Nope, nothing, nothing at all,” Marissa says as she flushes a little.

“What did I just miss,” mutters Avery as she glances up from her sketch pad.

“Nothing, Sketchy, just the clever quips of every meeting,” whispers Iris, or Cupcake, under her breath.

“Whatever, let’s just get to work,” says Scarlett impatiently.

“Okay then, so what’s the problem and why did the lights go out? Did we “black out” on the case,” Cecilia says with a cheesy grin and a wink.

We all groan and ignore the terrible pun. Now we all realize that we need to start discussing the actual villain, Smeegle.

Mr. Landake smiles wryly and says, “Now that we’ve finished acting like children, let’s act like adults and find the two most wanted cyber criminals in the country.”