Listen Between the Lines - A Gallagher Girls Story

Chapter Ten

Chapter Ten

The sophomore CoveOps class, foyer, seven o’clock.  I was wearing blue jeans and an old t-shirt that used to be my dad’s before an unfortunate incident with the dryer.  According to the clock that was constantly ticking in my head, I wasn’t late, but Professor Woods was about to be.

At least, I thought she was, but that was before I heard her voice right beside me.  Her hands were tucked into her leather jacket and I wondered just how long she had been standing there.  “Glad you could all make it.  Thank you, Cross.”

Across the crowd, Erin was beaming.

“Ladies,” our professor said, taking a step towards the center of it all.  I couldn’t help notice that everything she did was so definitive.  “We have spent a whole lot of time training in Sublevel One.  I imagine that you’ve grown pretty comfortable around those holograms.”  Around me, a few of my classmates nodded confidently.  “Good.  I’m glad.”

Except she didn’t sound glad.  She sounded mischievous.  She stood at the front of us all, hands clasped behind her back, wearing that seemingly permanent smirk that assured us she knew something we didn’t.  “But when you graduate, you will not be faced with holograms.  Therefore it’s about time we get some real fieldwork out of you.”

Woods swung open the heavy doors, revealing a big windowless van waiting for us in the main driveway.  I didn’t wait for orders.  I didn’t have to.  I was ready.  Prepared.  For once, it seemed like I was one step ahead of Charlotte Woods as I ran out to the van and hopped in the back. This was the van, I knew (despite the fact that I wasn’t supposed to), that was taking us to Roseville. This was the van taking us on our first real CoveOps mission.

Wait.

My first real CoveOps mission.  Oh my god.  Was I even allowed to go on missions?  Didn’t I need more training?  I mean, what if I blew it?  What if I ended up breaking an arm somehow?  Oh my god.  What were we supposed to do if civilians approached us? What if that civilian was of the boy variety?  I didn’t even know how to begin handling that situation.

The flame in my heart died down as quickly as it had sparked.  I began to feel less like I wanted to throw something and more like I wanted to throw up.

“I admire your ambition, Goode,” Woods said, next to climb into the back of the van.  It had almost been a compliment except then she added, “but you lack caution and that’s going to get you killed.”

The rest of the class piled in after her, all taking a seat on the hard metal benches.  The back of the van was dark when its doors were closed and I could only make out the silhouettes of the people around me.  Blair sat across from me, her leg bouncing up and down.  Faith kept clearing her throat over and over.  Next to me, Alice couldn’t sit still which was pretty terrifying considering that Alice always won freeze tag when we were kids.  Always.

Hesitation floated through the air while it danced with its good friend named doubt.  I found myself wondering if anyone in that van really felt ready to be there.

The sudden sound of our professor’s voice in the silence almost made me jump.  “Over the past few weeks we have covered two basic subjects of the Covert Operations track of study.  Name them, Anderson.” 

“Surveillance and countersurveillance,” Alice named, not pausing from her continual movement.

“Correct.  Jackson, I trust you can tell me which of these two we’ve covered more extensively.

Debbie Jackson tentatively answered, “Countersurveillance.”

“And why do you think that is, Bateson?”