Birthday shoutout to my amazing friend, @nicoleetan88 ;) < ~: Happy birthday, my friend :) Hope this chapter satisfies your expectations! (You didn't have to threaten me for it, ya know)
**
|| Erin ||
The court found them guilty.
**Three weeks later**
That's it. The papers--signed. Contracts--validated. My promise to Theo--almost done.
"Are you sure about this, Agent West?" the President asks, her ballpen inches away from the final draft of our letter. "Adopting a child--be it technically or not--is a huge responsibility. On my part. I need to see your utmost dedication."
"You will have it, ma'am," I say, nodding firmly. My friends and their boyfriends, Mcneil and Shane, stand supportively behind me. My best friend of all my friends, Nikki, squeezes my hand in anticipation.
"Well then," she sighs, putting pen to paper and writing her name down in elegant Edwardian script. "It's done. Now, do you want to have this photocopied and framed or folded and mailed to your frie--"
"I'd like to show it personally," I say firmly, breaking into a smile. The look on Theo's face when he sees this--awesome!
"If you say so, Agent West," she replies, unable to sustain a knowing grin as she replaces the pen back in its cup and straightens her blazer. "I'm going to a quick meeting with the other agency presidents. When I come back, it will probably be with your next mission, girls. So I recommend you all to do whatever you want within five hours."
"Aye, ma'am," we chorus and break into laughter. She smiles, pins up her bangs over her forehead and leaves the room.
"Now that that's over," Mcneil says, "Who's game for Vikings?"
"I am!" Alicia exclaims, grinning. For someone her built and weight, she sure eats like a... viking. "How 'bout you two, Hana and Shane? Wanna go on a double date?"
"Sure," they reply. "What'll the rest of you do?"
"I'm visiting Theo," I announce, swiping the adoption documents from the President's desk and stashing it into my messenger bag.
"We're coming for moral support," Sara and Nikki offer. My best friend adds, "But don't worry; we'll only stick by until we reach the gates. Afterwards, he's all yours, girl."
**
"I'd like to speak with the man in Cell 548, please," I say to the police officer at the front desk of the HSO.
He looks at me and my friends from the top of his reading glasses. "Miss, this is the High Security Office. Our prisoners aren't your everyday pickpockets or car smashers--and those guys are already bad enough. Our prisoners are highly-trained murderers. I don't think you have the right level of cleara--"
"Allow us to properly introduce ourselves, sir," Nikki cuts in. "I am Agent Connor or the Maroon Jackets. These are my comrades, Agent West and Agent Williams."
"Oh." He clears his throat and looks down at the floor directory tacked to his desk. Then he speaks to a small microphone. "Ahem, Mr. Barnes. Yeah--three girls from the Maroon Jackets are here to pay Prisoner 548 a visit."
The man on the other end mumbles a reply, and then he turns to look at us. "Third floor; twenty-second door to the right. Hard to miss. You girls have fifteen minutes. Here's the key."
He tosses us a common-enough-looking keycard and I catch it in midair. I turn to my friends and they trap my in air-squeezing hugs. Nikki grins and whispers, "This is as far as we go, yeah? He's all yours, Erin."
YOU ARE READING
The S.H.A.N.E. Game (editing)
Action[ highest ranking: #43 Action ] Sara Williams, Hana Minami, Alicia Denver, Nikki Connor and Erin West – can you guess their acronym? – are not as girly and gentle as their names give away. They are the Maroon Jackets. They are the equivale...
