Spies In Disguise: The Skills and the Spies (#2)

Chapter 4: Spies Get Excited

"How was your day?" asks Mom. She opens the door for me when I get home from school.

"Exhausting," I grumble. "We have a group project, we're in groups of three, and the two other girls in my group aren't talking to each other cause they probably had an argument or something, I don't know, and now I don't know what to do, and whenever I try to get them to talk to each other, the plan backfires, and-"

"Get settled down," says Mom. "and then you can continue explaining...more slowly."

Several minutes later, I continue explaining to Mom about the Nadia and Serena problem.

"...and we didn't get anything done today, and I'm pretty sure I'll be the one doing all the work...again!" I finish.

"Wait and see, maybe those two girls will talk to each other again later on," suggests Mom. "All they need is some time."

"Some time to get even more angry about each other," I mutter. It doesn't look like Nadia and Serena will ever make up. If they don't, this person has to do the entire project on their own. And by 'this person', I mean me.

"But if it cheers you up, we're having pizza for dinner!" announces Mom.

"YYYYYEEEEEAAAAAHHHHH!" I shout excitedly, shaking back and forth. That's what I do sometimes when I get excited. Oh, and did I mention that I like pizza? Correction: I don't like pizza. I LOVE PIZZA.

"Wait, why are we having pizza today?" I frown, turning back to Mom.

"Someone from the agency's going to come and install a peephole for the mechanical room door," explains Mom. "We don't want Ryan seeing us enter or exit the room. So, we have to make sure the coast is clear before we enter the mechanical room. Then, we can use the peephole to check if he's nearby, before we exit."

"Smart!" I exclaim. "When's this person coming? And who is this person?"

"Some guy named Peter from the agency," replies Mom briskly. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have something to do."

When Dad and Ryan come home, Ryan immediately dumps his backpack on the ground and runs upstairs to his bedroom. Mom beckons Dad and I over, and whispers something to us.

"Peter's coming at around 7. Stef, make sure you keep Ryan out of the basement. He can't find out about the peephole," whispers Mom. "Peter may be here for a long time, so Stef, just make sure Ryan's busy, and don't let him go anywhere near the basement as well."

"Got it!" I say. Dad nods in agreement as well. Mom nods, and heads off to the kitchen, while Dad heads upstairs. Then there's me, just standing there, not doing anything in particular. I realize I'm just standing there, so I sprint off to the basement to watch TV. I watch TV there instead of the family room if I want a bit more privacy, because Mom and Dad are more likely to be in the family room.

Ryan runs downstairs, and sits next to me, watching me flip through the channels.

"No, don't watch that, meh, that channel gets boring after a while...no, not that channel too..." comments Ryan.

"Do you mind?" I scowl at Ryan, who sighs in response.

"Fine..." he grumbles. I continue to flip through the channels, and Ryan's just sitting there, watching me. However, Ryan tells me to stop at a certain channel, because-

"YES! That movie has Ansel Elgort in it! YES!" Ryan exclaims.

"Fine, go watch it," I grumble, putting down the remote control. "I'll go do something else."

I head back to my room to check my email on my laptop and my text messages on my phone. Nope. No new emails or texts. I continue thinking about solutions for the Nadia and Serena problem, but I just can't seem to think of any.