Spy School: Camp, it's complicated

C'mon, let's go to camp

(Ben's POV)

I was brushing my teeth when Zoe walked into my dorm room. "Ben, wake up!" Zoe yelled as she walked into the tiny dorm room. "It's time for camp! C'mon, they're loading the buses! Last one there is a rotten mole!" she finished yelling as she immediately darted back out of the room. I spat out my toothpaste as I grabbed the handle of my suitcase, and tore out of my room to go get to the buses.

Of course, I was last. Well, second to last. Warren was last. I know, I thought I had seen the last of him too, but apparently, the CIA had thought that Warren deserved another chance.

As I stepped onto the bus, I scanned the seats for Zoe and saw a blond boy around our age asking if he could sit in the booth with her in a charming Irish accent. She blushed and accepted. I felt like ripping my hair out in anger, but I had to find a seat first. The only seats left were beside's Erica and Warren. The decision was obvious. I slid into the booth next to Erica and was immediately hit with the intoxicating scent of lilacs and gunpowder. "Trouble in paradise?" she asked me, pointing her chin at the blond boy next to Zoe. They were now eagerly chatting away.

"Who is that kid anyway?" I grumbled to her. "Sean McGregor, a 2nd year, extremely talented at hand to hand combat, he's new because his parents were undercover in Ireland, and he was born there. His parents finally came back and sent him to this camp to develop his skills more," she answered immediately. "How do you know all of this?" I asked her. "I'm a spy. It's my job to know things," she replied with her standard response.

"Just make her jealous Ben, it's not that hard. Look." She gave a very convincing laugh at something I didn't say and gave a discreet look at Zoe, who still wasn't looking our way.

"We have to ramp it up," she told me, and placed her hand on my shoulder, and laughed even louder. I felt chills in my body when she put her hand on my shoulder. Wait a minute. I'm with Zoe, I can't be thinking these thoughts!

Zoe heard Erica's very, very loud laugh and gave a weird look at us because it was unusual for the Ice Queen to have physical contact with someone outside of the dojo. I pretended I hadn't seen it, and then also laughed very loudly. "Is someone watching cat memes?" a first-year hollered up from the front of the bus. "No, it's just Erica and Ben flirting up a storm!" shouted another first-year near us. Erica quietly told them "If you say anything like that again, I will personally find you and kill you." I grinned. This was the Erica I was used to.

An hour later, the bus was still rumbling on the highway to the camp, and  I was supremely bored. The film the camp showed on the bus every year wasn't very captivating. It was titled: The Art of Eating Low-Quality Food and Surviving. Yeah, it was a real snooze-fest. "More like the art of making someone fall asleep in 10 seconds," I muttered. I heard a little laugh from beside me and saw Erica giving me a small smile. My heart fluttered. Dammit Ben, snap out of it! You're with Zoe! Don't focus on Erica's stunning ice-blue eyes! The ones that sparkle in the light, but are able to see right through you. Don't focus on her incredible attention to detail, or how her smile makes you instantly feel better when you're down. Don't focus on how incredibly perfect one Erica Hale is.

(Erica's POV)

Was it bad that my heart secretly skipped a beat when he sat down next to me on the bus? Is it bad that, no matter how many times I've tried to deny it to myself, no matter how many times I put up the wall of ice, that I still like one Ben Ripley?

Is it bad that that one Ben Ripley is the one who dates Zoe, one of my close friends? Is it bad that even though I hide my emotions, I can't hide this one from myself? Is it bad that sometimes I find myself staring at his gorgeous sea-green eyes? Or wishing that my hand is combing through his thick sandy brown hair? Or the fact that I liked him even before his face turned even more handsome, and he started working out? Or that I sometimes wonder if his chiseled jawline was carved from stone by God himself because no one's that perfect? Or that I find all his jokes funny, and am constantly amazed at how sweet, and kind, and loyal he is? Yes. It's wrong.

And it's also wrong that even though my plan really was to make Zoe jealous to help Ben ended up making me feel jealous that Zoe gets to be with Ben. It's my fault, really. I practically pushed him into her arms. Every time we got closer, I told him that relationships were liabilities and that I couldn't be with him. But no one will ever know. The only ones who can get through my wall of ice are Ben and my mom. And there is no way either of them is ever finding out about these particular thoughts. Especially Ben.