My name is Kaira Storm. I'm sixteen years old. And I'm one of the deadliest spies in the entire world. It sounds like I'm bragging but really it's just a fact. I had no choice. The moment my parents died a few days after my fifth birthday, and my ma...
Mark leaned in towards my face. I would be lying if I said I hadn't thought about kissing him. But I had always pictured it to be this perfect, calm, romantic moment. I imagined it would be smooth.
But as Mark closed his eyes and moved towards my lips, a million thoughts bombarded my brain. Do I even know how to kiss? Will he laugh at me? His lips look so smooth but mine are so rough. What if Eva finds out I'm ditching her to kiss her brother? What if I don't make it in time to bug Nikolaev's office?
It was all too much. I froze. Mark was less than an inch away from my lips. I could smell his body wash. Then, without thinking, my hand came up and slapped him on the face. Not hard. But definitely not what he was expecting.
Mark opened his eyes. Confusion has never looked so adorable. I retracted my hand and covered my reddening cheeks.
'I'm sorry,' I said. 'I didn't mean to do that. I panicked.'
'It's okay, Kaira.' He took my hand. 'Just relax.'
I let go of his hand and stood up.
'I can't,' I said. 'Just let me think. I should go.'
I moved towards his bedroom door and clasped the handle.
'Kaira.' Mark called out. 'Don't you like me?'
I closed my eyes and turned around slowly. When I opened my eyes again, Mark was on his feet and moving towards me.
'Yes, I do,' I said. 'It's just too fast.'
'Let's take it slow then.' Mark took my hands again.
'I have to use the bathroom,' I said. 'You know, girl problems.'
'I understand,' he said. 'Go and come back.'
'I've got my period.'
That killed the mood. Mark blinked a few times and then went back to his normal expression to show that he was cool with what I had said.
'It's totally fine,' he said. 'I'll be here when you come back.'
I nodded and let go of his hands. Which is more embarrassing: bad stomach from crappy Chinese food or getting your period?
I left Mark's room and closed the door behind me. I tried to calculate how long I could get away with pretending to be in the bathroom.
Eva already thought I had been in the bathroom for two minutes. Maybe I could push it to a total of ten or fifteen minutes before she wondered what was wrong. As for Mark, he would probably wait a lot longer. Boys are afraid of girl issues.
I padded towards Nikolaev's home office. Let's do this. In, plant the devices, out. Ten minutes tops.
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