Spy School: Codes, Moles, and saving the world

The ride home

Jan 10, 2019
School
5:06 pm

I walked quickly to the after care room. I wanted to run, but I couldn't. I would be breaking a school rule if I did. The last thing I needed was another detention notice from the principal.

I glanced at my phone again. It was now 5:09 pm. Mom should be here now.

As I rounded the corner, I caught a glimpse of three figures running through the back exit. That must be Levi and his friends, I thought. There were all moving quickly. They were heading towards the... school vans?

A shocking thought occurred to me. Are they going to steal a school van!?, I thought worriedly. If they get caught, this whole mission might be a bust. But, they all acted like it was completely normal. Except for Ben. He had the same worried look I had.

I hurried down the hallway wanting to get home as fast as I could. Mostly because I wanted to find out more about the mission, but also because I need to get some rest. My head feels like a thousand hammers are pounding on my brain! I rounded another corner just in time to see mom pull up to the curb. She was in her standard uniform for work. Black pants, a baby blue shirt, and a name tag with the word WALMART on it.

When she saw me she asked, " Where were you just now?" I couldn't tell her the truth so I just went with the first thing that came to my mind. " The bathroom?" I said with a little less confidence than I expected. I suck at telling lies. I've lied about broken windows, broken lamps, stealing cookies before dinner, and a lot of other things. My parents always saw past the lies. But this time, mom bought it. " Ok. Just making sure you weren't up to any trouble." She said. And with that, we rode off to home.

XXX

The ride back took longer than I expected. Mostly because of the rush hour traffic. It was also Monday so traffic was not looking so great. But then, traffic never looks great. The lines of cars stretched for miles. And worst of all, everything was going slow. A snail could move faster than this.

I kept an eye out for any white vans. That was the color of the school van that Levi, Erica, and Ben took. But of course, there was more than one white van in the everlasting lines of traffic. So I couldn't tell which one they took.

" How was school honey?" Mom asked.
" It was... interesting." I said trying to keep the worry out of my voice.

" How so?" She asked.
" Well...um...I met new people." I said. It wasn't the full truth, but it still was the truth.

" Really? That's great Jacie!" She said. She always gets excited when I meet new people because I usually don't like to meet new people. I'm more of an introvert. I'll only focus on what I need to and what I want to. I don't usually start a conversation or talk much at all during school. My teachers and Levi are the only exceptions.

" Yeah. It's very great." I said trying to sound a little more confident.

" Well I'm glad that your making new friends." She said. We were silent for the rest of the long, slow, and boring ride home.

Then I saw the van. Erica was at the wheel. Ben was sitting beside her and Levi was in the back. I gasped upon seeing them. Mom noticed this. " What's wrong?" She asked. " Nothing!" I said a little too quickly.

Mom gave me a wary glance. Then she focused on the road. I chanced a look back. They were a few lanes away from us. But I could still see them clearly. Levi saw me through the window and waved! How could he wave at a time like this! If mom saw this she would start worrying for real. Three teenagers were following us home and they were all spies! That topic alone was terrifying. Knowing that I was about to get involved in a top secret mission from the CIA and possibly die was horrifying. I tried to keep mom from looking toward my direction.