Spy School Party Failure

Chapter 9

A/N
An early chapter!!! I was bored, and had no school, so here you go! And I'm going to be writing through different point of views kinda frequently (at least until Ben rejoins the group), so just a heads up.

Earth
Dark, (kind of scary) room
Definitely March by now
??? Unsure of time

Zoe's POV

Erica dispersed the group, and went to talk with her "friends." Probably to brag about how smart she is and how clever her plan is and how everyone likes her even though she's mean. No, now I'm being mean. It wasn't her fault people were drawn to her--she obviously went through several measures to make sure people didn't like her--but could someone please explain to me why they were? And Ben? Why did he like her so much? She never smiles at him, or talks to him, or helps him. They aren't even in the same grade! But for some reason, he really likes her, and I don't think it's just for her looks. What was I doing wrong?
I trudged over to the corner and slid to the ground. I was tired, and I was hungry, and I was pretty upset with how Erica was treating everyone. Yes, I understand she's usually cold (I'm the one who named her Ice Queen after all), but she had told me that she thought of us as friends before. And I remember on the ski lift back in Colorado when we had our "girl talk." And then she invited me to a party (yes, it was just a scheme to get us on a mission, but she chose me for the mission.) I was so sure she liked me.  I couldn't help but wonder if maybe she didn't like me because I liked Ben. That would explain why she told me she was my friend, but now she's treating me like I'm nothing. But Erica was a fantastical spy. I'm sure she knew about my crush on Ben way before it was announced. Of course, my assumption was based on the assumption that Erica liked Ben too. Which I'm pretty sure is true--at least a little bit true--but you could never be sure with Erica.
"You okay?" A voice asked. I looked up. It was Mike. He and I had become great friends since he joined spy school.
"Yeah I'm fine," I told him, "I just wish Erica would have warned us before she thrust us into a mission and got us captured."
"Ahh, yes, well Erica's not really one to share her ideas with people. But I'm sure everything will be fine."
"Why do you think she's so mean?" I asked him.
"I thought you guys were friends."
"So did I."
He sat against the wall with me and over to where Erica and her friends were talking. She seemed angry at them. Even her friends couldn't be saved from Erica's death stare. But the girl who she was obviously mad at (Valerie I think is her name) didn't seem phased by it. She was just trying to calm her down.
I realized Mike was talking to me, "-but it reality, I have no clue why she's icy. You've known her longer than I have, Z."
Oh right, I asked him a question.
"Yeah, I get that she's always distant, she's always been like that. But now she just seems... mean. Like before, she just ignored you when you tried to talk to her, but now she stares you down and tells you to keep walking. Why do you think she's like that now?"
"You should ask her. Or I could," He offered.
I laughed, "C'mon Mike. I know you're new, but I think you would have learned by now: never question Erica Hale."
He began laughing too, "Hey, it was just a suggestion!"
The door opened again. This time, because for some reason he must of forgot that the plan didn't work, Chip tried to run out the door, only to be pushed back on his butt by a tray being pushed by Emily.
"Hey," Mia, the pink haired girl, called, "We don't want you here!"
Emily rolled her eyes, "Trust me, I don't want to be here either, but I was forced to bring you food."
"Oh perfect! I like food."
Emily walked out the door, leaving the tray behind, and locked it.
"Thank God," Mike said, "I'm starving."

Emily's POV

"You, stay put," Joshua told me as he dragged Ben away, "Let me know if anything happens."
Ugh. Why did I always get the boring jobs on missions? Well mission since his was my first one. I was way more competent than Murray, and this was his like 17,000th mission. That's probably not right, but I'm not good with numbers. I decided to make tmyself useful and put my ear up to the door, being as quiet as I possibly could. I could hear them chatting, just as I had before, when I learned about how Ben and Erica were going to escape. Or, evidentially, how just Ben was going to enescape.
"Why are you just standing there, ifstone-faced?" I heard one of the kids yell. They were only making it easy to hear me.
"To get SPYDER off our backs," another one said. I had to walk away from the door, with my hand covering my mouth, so they didn't hear me laughing. They definitely got SPYDER off their backs, I giggled to myself. I stopped giggling when I heard them talking about how they thought we didn't really need the money, and had other plans. Now, I crept away from the door, and ran down the hallway.

When I found the room (these hallways are confusing!) Ben was all readied tied to a chair--using duct tape.
"They've changed their plans," I painted as Joshua swiveled his head around to face me, "And I think they're on to us!"
Joshua stood there for a second before turning to me and yelling, "Well what are you doing here! Go find out what they're planning!" I was about to run back, annoyed, when he called, "Actually, Murray, when you brought them food, was it actually food? Or something else."
Murray started laughing, quite over dramatically if I do say so myself, and said, "It was plastic!"
He stopped laughing when Joshua snapped, "Why would you do that? We need them alive! Not starved to death! Go make them some actual food."
"But," Murray was about to complain, but decided against it. He sighed, "Does it have to be good food?"
"No," Joshua told him, "Just make it edible. Oh and-" He pulled a vile of something out of his pocket, "-put this in it."
"What's that?" Ben called out from his chair. Poor, concerned Ben. Tied up to a chair. Unable to escape.
"Don't worry about it," I told him, and I followed Murray to the kitchen, knowing that I was going to have to run the food back.

Ben's POV

There was probably poison in the vile. Or something else nasty enough to kill you. My head was jumping to the wildest conclusions. I calmed myself down and asked Joshua, "So what are your plans. Must be pretty lame if my friends already figured it out." I was trying to sound confident.
He hesitated, but said, "Well, since you're not getting out of here, I guess I can tell you." The first part of the sentence made me gulp. "We don't actually need money. We have plenty of that. What we do need, is power. We're going to send a video to the CIA, and we're going to hypnotize them into doing what we say. And you're going to help us."
"You plan's not going to work," I told him, "And I would never help you."
Joshua laughed eerily, "Maybe not yet, but just you wait." He put a TV in front of me. It was playing a video of baby ducks. I was confused. Did he think bribing me with cuteness was going to get me to work for him? I pondered this as I began to feel very sleepy, and shut my eyes.