Will You See Me?

Roseville

We finish eating at 2000. Mr. Solomon comes past our table as we are dismissed and tells us to meet him at the van in 10 minutes. We all exchange a look. I pull out the 5 of clubs and my friends nod, and then communicate the message with the rest of the class without speaking too loudly, and then go back to our dorms.

We laugh, walking into our room. I look at my unpacked suitcase. Hmm, civilian clothes. Yes, I think I'll wear some light jeans and an across the shoulder cream top with frills, knowing that tonight will be a fair and that people will be dressed up and I need to blend in. We meet the others down the hall at 2005 exactly and I tell them what they need to know about the mission. We brush up on our counter surveillance techniques for the next 5 minutes and then Joe arrives. He looks a bit shocked to see us studying and looking bored. Well, guess we should be excited because this is our first CoveOps mission. But I've told all the girls to look and act bored. It's working.

I look up at Joe from the floor. "Just because the Fair is in town, it doesn't make counter surveillance test any more fun." Everyone nods. Joe's jaw hits the ground. Oops, we weren't supposed to know any of that. My bad.

He leads us to a van and we get in. There are blindfolds sitting on the floor but Joe just looks at them dejectedly and then tells us to sit. Poor Joey. We ruined his plans. He leans in to the driver and says something to him. I don't know what, I haven't learnt lip reading yet.

Bianca looks at me expectantly. Shake my head and pull out the Ace of Hearts. She looks a little disappointed as she shakes her head at the other sophomores, but they understand, I can't know everything.

We stop outside Roseville and I hear that the fair is in full swing. Mr. Solomon opens the van door, hands me and the rest of the sophomores a set of comms and a camera attatched in earrings, necklaces and all sorts. Perfect.

"What's our mission?" I ask, eager for the challenge, and wondering what is going to happen. Mr. Solomon smiles at us, and then says two words;

"Make me." And then he's out, lost to our eyes in the fair atmosphere. I watch as a piece of evapopaper falls to the ground. 'Tag', it says. 'You're it.' And I understand completely what he is asking us to do. The evapopaper disintegrates once it hits the wet bottom of the van, and I turn to my sophomore class, smiling.

I grab Bianca by the hand, and then say loud enough for the rest of the class; "We're it." And we disappear just as Joe did into the fair. The rest of the class slowly starts to understand and soon there are Gallagher Girls in groups of 2 all throughout the fair, doing counter surveillance techniques wherever possible. I switch out my comms for the ones that say IT on them and speak into them.

"I've got eyeball, Tiff and Steph."

"I'll be backup, they're heading 43.3 degrees east." Good Bianca. And then we hear Joe Solomon's voice. "Very good ladies, I'll be reserve."

I quickly head in to the nearest changeroom and change my clothes and I watch Joe reverse his jacket and take off his hat. Good. Bianca changes her shirt and puts on a hat. I nod. This will be quick.

"Rotate." We do as we're told and I stop to look in the shop window at a mannequin wearing a cute outfit. I watch as Bianca passes me by, and then continue to trail her. We stay like this for 15 minutes, following Tiff and Steph and then Bianca whispers into her comms;

"10 of clubs." We both keep our head down and then take off our comms, getting ready. We "accidentally" bump into them, switch our comms, put a tracker on Steph and then leave, now hearing the girls in our ears instead of Joe. I smile at her. She smiles back. I report into comms;

"Tiff and Steph are now it. Watch out."

We do counter surveillance techniques, with no real need, as we're tracking them.

"Steph heading towards the Bear games." I listen as Diana quickly says;

"So, K, meet you and Bee at Starbucks in 5?" and then pretend to wat for a response. "Yep, meet you there, luv you, bye." Oh, I love pretend phone calls. We agree to meet at Starbucks and swap partners there to be less inconspicuous. I'll be paired with Diana.

I spot Diana at Starbucks, though not easily, as she has stained her pants and is now wearing a coat that has black and white patterns on it. Nice. Jessie, her partner, has put on a different shirt and shorts. We talk for a bit, check the trackers, have some hot chocolates and then swap partners and go our separate ways.

We walk around aimlessly for the next hour, turning, going back, double-crossing, checking trackers. And that is when I see Joe. He is talking to a person who seems like a civilian, though she could be a spy. You never know. I stop walking to watch as Joe's face pales and he starts to look scared. He switches comms with one that's in his pocket and says;

"Girls! I need you all back to the van! Now! Quickly and covertly, if possible." I'm worried. Joe looks at all of us as we climb into the van, counting heads. Once he gets to 20, he takes a big sigh of relief, as if he was expecting one of us to go missing or get captured. Not good. I look at my friends and pull out the 3 of clubs, because something is not right and we need to find out what it is.