How To Become A Spy

Chapter Four

When I woke the next morning, my thoughts were immediately brought back to what had happened in that park. Part of me wondered if it had all just been some weird dream - but I knew that it had been real. 

I could still picture it all perfectly. The conversation. Eric. The bike ride home to where I had to convince my two friends that my sudden departure had been due to remembering I needed to return a textbook that I borrowed from someone. Luckily, they didn't ask me who. 

Yet, I'd still seen the suspicion on their face. But as the night continued, it faded away and things resumed to normal. But my thoughts had stayed in the same state of confusion. 

I could barely focus on a single word spoken by Kevin and Debby as I thought back to my encounter with Eric. Trying to process everything and make sense of it all had proven to be impossible. I'd wondered if I should simply tell my friends to get their perspective on it, but my first instinct had been to keep this to myself. If I wasn't even supposed to tell my own mother, friends were probably out of the question too.

Noise from downstairs caused me to stir, slowly sitting up on my bed. I groaned as I felt the ache in my limbs - the aftermath of my gymnastics training session yesterday. As I realized I had another one today, my groan grew louder. 

Rubbing at my eyes, I looked around at the empty room. The talking I could hear from outside my door was likely Kevin and Debby who had already gotten up and started eating breakfast. They'd slept over enough times to develop a ritual and if they woke before me, they would sort themselves out in the morning. They always let me sleep in, probably out of respect for the lack of it I got in the first place. 

Realizing I had a moment to myself, I quickly hopped out of my bed to grab the laptop resting on my dresser. Returning to the warmth of my sheets, I opened the screen and impatiently waited for it to start up. From downstairs, I could hear the distant sound of laughter and the urgency inside me grew. 

When I was finally faced with my internet browser, my fingers hovered over the keyboard and froze. I had so many questions and didn't even know how to ask them. It seemed inevitable that I wouldn't even receive any answers, but it also didn't mean I wasn't going to try regardless. As Eric's words played back in my head again, I hunched forward to face the screen and began to type.

Regal Undercover Agency

I immediately frowned as my eyes scanned the search results. There was nothing directly related to the agency. My first results had been a Wikipedia page on undercover agents and some random article about undercover agents in Jamaica. I sighed, closing the lid. 

I didn't know what I'd expected. Of course an operation that worked under the radar wouldn't be available by a quick Google search. But it also could have meant they just weren't real in the first place. There was still a chance that Eric had lied to me - if that was even his real name. But any reason for him to do something like that still was yet to occur to me. 

My door swung open with such an unexpected force that it made me jump. Kevin emerged, vibrant with energy that had me wondering how any person could be so energetic in the morning.

"She has awoken!" He declared dramatically as he spotted me sitting upright on the bed. 

"Shut up Kevin," Debby rolled her eyes, entering the room behind him. "You're going to wake up the whole damn neighborhood." 

In her hands, she held two plates of pancakes and the delightful smell hit me in an instant. She greeted me with a grin as she moved closer.

"I swear, your mother's party planners are like cleaning fairies," she told me, handing me a plate of food. "Everything downstairs already looks spotless."