We'll Survive

Chapter Fifteen

Chris

"Is it true she punched Landon's face?"

"Possibly. I mean those two hate each other."

"She's such a flirt."

"What's her problem?"

"Why'd she punch Landon, anyway?"

"She's such a bitch."

That statement completely ticked me off. I banged the stall door open, surprising the three gossipers, and left. Leaving them looking horrified and surprised.

Well, they should be.

When I got out of the bathroom, Jess was leaning on the wall beside the door. She looked at me with a worried expression when she saw my scowl.

"Hey, what happened?" she asked.

I sighed before looking at her. "People think I left a bruise on Landon's cheek," I said through gritted teeth.

"Did you?"

"No! As tempting as that sounds. But no. I didn't do it. He got it on a mission. The Teddy Lewis case?" I snapped.

She nodded. "Yeah. But why would they think that?" she asked rhetorically.

"Who knows? Maybe jerk face decided to let it spread." I mumbled.

"What are you going to do?" she asked.

"Nothing."

She looked surprised. "Nothing? That doesn't sound like you," she said.

"Well, I haven't exactly sounded like myself lately, have I?" I said.

~ o ~

"Your new mission will be... um... well... technically... it's not exactly a mission... it's more of a... uh... a favor... we-" my mom babbled before I cut her off.

"Just get to the point." I snapped.

She took a deep breath. "I need you to find someone for me."

I raised my eyebrows. "What's this about?" I asked.

"It's just a little favor," she answered.

"Okay, wait. Hold on. You're sending us out in the field because you want us to find someone for you? I'm sorry but I think you guys can handle that." Landon said.

"No, kids. You don't understand. I can't let them find out about this." my mom said.

"So you're sending us out on a secret mission?" Lucas asked.

"Yes. I believe so," she said.

"Okay. So, what is it?" I asked.

"I need you to find this man," she proceeded, showing us a picture of a man on the screen at the center of the room. His back was facing us. And he's with a girl. "I need you to find him, I.D. him, locate him and catch him."

"What are we going to do when we catch him?" Lucas asked.

"Leave that part to me." my mom said.

If you guys haven't noticed, my mom is our... boss. Or our general. She tells us what to do, how to do it, when to do it, and what we do after. She's like our mentor of some kind.

"Why would you want us to catch him?" I asked.

"I will answer no questions." my mother snapped.

"What's in it for us?" Landon asked.

"No training for a month," she said with a smirk and Landon's eyes visibly lit up. "But if you guys fail, I will suspend you from fieldwork and assign you to the recruiting." she threatened.

My eyes widened and so did Landon's. Lucas seemed to look oblivious. "And I'm talking about the whole year," she added.

Landon and I groaned like little kids who just had their video games shut off by their mom.

"I don't see what's bad about handling the recruiting. I mean... wouldn't it be fun?" Lucas said.

Landon and I turned our heads to look at him as if he had just grown a second head.

"Are you crazy?" Landon said in disbelief.

"Nothing, and I mean nothing, is fun when you're recruiting a bunch of lame and skinny teenagers who doesn't know a thing about fighting." I spat with a disgusted face.

"Is it really that bad?" Lucas asked.

"Yes," Landon and I said in unison.

"Dude, we have got to stop doing that." I snapped turning to Landon.

He nodded quickly.

"So, are you kids up for it?" my mother said.

The three of us turned our gaze back to her before exchanging hesitant glances. And just by looking at their expression I immediately knew what the answer would be.

I sighed. "Do we have a choice?"