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

Chapter 18: Spies Freak Out A Bit Too Much

"I knew this was going to happen," Mom shrugs, like it's no big deal. IT IS A BIG DEAL.

"WHY MUST YOU RUIN ALL THESE SURPRISES?!" I howl loudly. Every time we try to surprise Mom, she always ruins the surprise for us. I decided to surprise her because I forgot how she ruins surprises all the time. Well, next time, remind me not to surprise her.

"Well next time, Stef, don't try and surprise me, because I'm going to use logic to figure it out," Mom reminds me.

"Why must you rub it in my face?" I mutter. Everyone starts to gather around the dining table, and Aunt Alicia and Uncle James turn on the lights.

"How did she know we were planning to surprise her?" Maddie asks, as we grab seats next to each other at the table.

"She figured it out by using logic," I grumble. "She uses logic too much."

Everyone eats dinner quite happily, and Maddie and I giggle about Percy's imaginary girlfriend. We secretly predicted his future, especially specific parts of his future.

"If he doesn't follow the future we created for him, we can just tell him we created his future for him and that he has to follow it or else," I say, and Maddie giggles even more. We look at Percy, and we laugh so hard that I almost choke, and Maddie nearly drops her spoon on the floor.

"Serious what funny?" Jonathan sighs. Sometimes, he tries to act more mature than Maddie and I, and he tries to boss us around. Well, he can't boss me around, cause I'M OLDER THAN HIM...by a year.

"Zip it, you nitwit," I say to him, and Maddie and I continue laughing until Percy looks at us for an incredibly long time. Oops.

The rest of the night is spent trying not to laugh at Percy, and Jonathan tries to tell us to shut up (hint hint, he fails). Jenny wants to know what's so funny, but Maddie and I will never tell her. It's between Maddie and I only.

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I suppose I should talk more about our Triple S classes (our Spy Survival Skills classes). And so the following Tuesday, we meet back in room 4B with Katrina.

"Now what do you do if you think you're being followed?" Katrina quizzes us.

"You don't panic and you walk faster?" Maddie says.

"Yes, and you're missing one important detail..." Katrina says thoughtfully.

"You try and stay alert of your surroundings?" I suggest.

"That's right!" says Katrina. "Then what do you do if someone is actually following you?"

"You walk faster and keep looking behind you!" I exclaim. Man, this is getting boring.

"I said last time that you should call headquarters if someone's following you and it gets serious, but I realized that instead of doing so, you should be fighting off the person following you as much as possible," Katrina says quickly. Maddie and I give each other the scared look.

"But what if it gets really really bad?" Maddie says anxiously.

"You should only notify the agency if it gets so serious that the same person is stalking you wherever you go. That's when we'll investigate," replies Katrina confidently. I don't get how she can be so confident about it. "Now, when should you confront the person following?"

"Only if you have to and if there's no other way to escape!" chimes in Maddie.

"That's right," Katrina says. "Also, avoid travelling alone, and make sure you have a buddy or two with you. If possible, try and travel with a group of people. Some people may follow you because you two are young kids and they think you're very vulnerable."