Criminal Activity

Chapter Five

 I woke up to the sound of an alarm, but the noise wasn't coming from my alarm clock. It was the sound of a fire alarm going off. I sit up in my bed quickly. I didn't smell a fire, and I didn't see one either. What the hell is going on?

I hop out of bed, put on a jacket, and put on a pair of slippers. On my way down the stairs I bump into Tom and practically push him down the stairs backwards. Thank god he has fast reflexes because he would have tumbled down the stairs otherwise.

"What is going on?" I ask him, trying not to sound too freaked out.

"This is the signal for a meeting. We have to go now," he says as he shuts off the alarm. "We have ten minutes to get to the secret meeting place." With that he grabbed my hand and pulled me to the car. He unlocks the door and basically pushes me into the car. He goes around the front of the car to get in himself and starts the car. We race out of the drive way and out of the neighborhood to go to meet at a secret meeting spot.

About seven minutes later we pull into the parking lot of an abandoned hotel where there were two other cars parked there as well. We head into the hotel and walk up the stairs to the third floor. Tom walks up to a plant to the left of the stairwell and grabs a key that was buried in the dirt. We walk to room 339 and Tom unlocks the door. Inside the door is a long table with chairs lined up along either side. Six seats are already taken by the rest of the agents. Tom and I take the two on the far right side.

"Now that we are all here, I can let you all know your missions. Tom and Veronica, you two are going to get jobs at the hotel two blocks away. If we are on the right track, Mason should be staying there for two weeks starting on Friday. Sabrina and Tommy, you two can be room service to his room. I will talk with the manager tonight to figure things out for everyone. You guys should all go together to check in at the hotel for interviews tomorrow at 7 pm. Don't be late because it takes a lot of work to pull these kinds of strings. You guys will be getting paid for the two weeks you will be working there. Is everything clear? Are there any questions?" Charles says.

No one asked for clarification, so with that he nodded and wished us luck. I check my phone for the time. It's 4:30. Well, there goes my sleep. I sigh and get up from my seat.

"Hey, Sprint," Tom says. "You and I are allowed to miss the first two periods. I already talked with Charles. We just have to check in with our first and second period teachers at lunch. Let's go home and get some sleep."

"Sounds like an amazing plan. Good thing I actually like doing homework because my English teacher loves to hand it out," I respond and with that Tom slips the key back into the plants soil where he got it from and head back down the stairs to get into the car. When we get there, I slump into the passenger seat. It feels like it took us longer to get home than it took us to get here.

We pull into the drive way and head into the house and up to my room. We set my alarm to 9:20. I crawl into bed and watch Tom as he grabs a few blankets from the closet.

"Tom," I say

"Yeah, Sprint?"

"You can come lay in my bed. It would be comfier, and you would get more sleep," I say hesitantly. I'm not sure how he would react, but I decided to go for it. He smirked and put the extra blanket and pillow back into the closet. He crawls into my bed and settles in next to me. I can feel his warmth as our backs are up against each other. I fall asleep to his steady breathing.

***
I wake up to my annoying alarm. Tom put the pillow over his head and groaned. I sit up over the side of the bed and turn my alarm off. Rebecca walks in and pulls me into the bathroom to get my make up and hair done. I quickly get changed into an outfit she hands me then head downstairs to grab a bite to eat. Tom got to the kitchen quicker than I did because he doesn't really have to do much to get ready in the morning. He made eggs and bacon. He hands me a plate with two over easy eggs and a couple crispy strips of bacon. I immediately accept them and set my plate down on the table. I go to the fridge, pull out the orange juice, and pour it into a glass Tom handed me.

When we are both seated, we eat our eggs without speaking. Out of know where he starts chuckling. I give him a confused look, but continue shoveling food into my mouth.

"Did you know that your nose twitches when you're sleeping? Like every twenty or so minutes?" he said with a giant grin on his face. Oh, my gosh. That's embarrassing.

"No, I didn't know," I said with a slight giggle.
"Well, you do and I find it adorable," he responded and I blushed.

We finished our plates, washed them, grabbed our backpacks, then headed to his car. I put my bags in the backseat. When I stood up and closed the door he tossed me the keys.

"Do I really get to drive this thing?" I asked with excitement.

"I mean I can take the keys back if you want?Yes, you do! So get your little booty in the drivers seat or we are going to miss third period." I follow his orders and hop into the driver's seat. I start the engine and off we go.

It takes us about 10 minutes to get to there and I park the car as close to the front of the school as I possibly can and turn off the engine. Tom and I grab our stuff and race into the building so we would at least be to third period for the last twenty minutes. Charles said he already called us in, so we shouldn't be marked tardy to third period.

The day goes by quickly. Before I knew it, the last bell rang signaling school was finally over. Time for soccer tryouts. I grab my soccer gear, dress out, then start my homework. At 2:23, I finish my homework. I pack up my things and get into the gym.

When everyone had arrived, we start working on footwork. The coaches kept points. If you could perfect a move in five minutes, you got a point. The more points you get, the more likely you are to get on varsity. The coach pulled me aside halfway through tryouts.

"You're good. Do you think you could do the footwork under pressure?" she asked me. I read her name tag. It said Taylor.

"Of course I can coach. I've been doing most these moves since I was a wee kid," I respond in my most confident manner.

"Well, let's try it out with our best player so far. If you can beat her, you can tell all your friends that you are the new captain of the WestView High School Women's Soccer Team." I thought about her offer for a bit.

"Bring it on," I said with a smile.

"Tammy!" Taylor shouts. "You're going to do a one-on-one with Veronica here. Whoever scores first will be captain of the Varsity team. Maddy and Caitlyn will be the goalies. You have to do one move before you shoot. If the other player gets the ball, you have to do another move. Let's do this girls. Ready, set, go!" she finished and she dropped the ball in the air. I pulled the ball back with my right foot and brought it around the back of my left food. I used my left foot to push the ball out a little farther. I take the ball part of the way up the sideline. Just before she can try to attack me, I do a step-over cut around her. The rest of the team cheers. I push the ball out a little farther with my right foot and take the shot. Everyone cheered when Maddy didn't block the ball.

"Sprint! Sprint! Sprint!" Everyone except Tammy was chanting my name. I have a huge smile on my face as they all huddle around me patting my back. The coach blows her whistle and the team stops chanting.

"It looks like we've got ourselves a new Varsity captain. We will be getting you a captains jacket in a few days. Good job, Sprint," Taylor said. With that the whole team goes to the locker room to celebrate.