Spy School: Life After Graduation

Chapter 24: Panic

Updates should be more often and sooner! Those are what the bridesmaid dresses look like. Thank you for all the views, votes, comments, and of course advice. It help me make my story better or makes me proud of my writing. Thanks! K, here we go!

The Mall
David's Bridal
8:00 AM
Saturday
June 20th

Erica's POV:
I woke up laying on the couch next to Ben once again. I'm not even startled anymore, because I loved waking up to see his peaceful, muscular body next to me with his soft but strong arms wrapped around my torso, pulling me close. I loved his messy golden hair flopped over while he sleeps. I loved running my hands through and and saying, "Hey baby." Gently shaking him, and continuing, "Wake up sleepyhead!"

"Ohhhh... What time is it." He asked groggily, like clockwork.

"8:00 am. Get up. I'm gonna make breakfast to eat with you before I go out with the girls and my mom to go get our dresses for the wedding I'm most excited about."

"Who's?" Clearly he was still half out of it.

"Ours you doofus!" That seemed to wake him up.

"Oh yeah! Yesss!!!! That's right! I'm really excited too!"

"I'm making bacon and fried eggs. You want some?"

"Yeah but can I help? I'm really good cooking and baking! WAIT! Can we make pancakes!?!"

"Of course you can help, and obviously! I love pancakes!"

"I thought all you ate was salad."

"That was at Spy School cuz all their other food was plain SLOP. After I left I ate other stuff too, just usually healthy stuff still."

"Oh, that makes sense. Remember when I started to get salads mid-third year because I wanted to be just like you and I didn't want the garbage Spy School food? And the guys never let me hear the end of it!"

"I do! That was hilarious! To be honest, I thought that it was really cute that you looked up to me so much." He blushed and looked down.

"How could I not idolize you? You were, are, amazing and the best spy I've ever met. I thought that acting like you and training really hard might... I dunno." I blushed but what had he been about to say?

"Might what?"

"Might make you see how much I cared about you and loved you." I felt like there was still more though.

"And?"

"I thought it might make you like me. I know it sounds stupid, but I figured if I trained hard and did really well, it would impress you. No matter what I pushed myself to be better for you. Whenever I hurt or got tired, I remembered how much I loved you and wanted to make you proud, and I kept going until I was literally unable. Every time I was bruised and broken, it was because I felt you couldn't like me as the weak, incompetent, ugly nerd I was. I knew we weren't together and that you said we couldn't be, but I made sure I was the best I could be in case, no, in hope, you might change your mind. Everything I did, I did for you. I thought you would be embarrassed if some weak little shrimp liked you, and I wanted you to see me as more than just a mission partner and a useless weakling, who was only recruited as bait. I wanted to be the best I could in hope it would make you proud. I texted you every day because I missed you more than you can imagine. I was crushed when you didn't reply. I eventually gave up hope and assumed you had forgotten me and everything I did was a waste. I got depressed for a few days, but soon I realized it was most certainly not a waste. I said to myself, 'Sure the love of your life hasn't responded to your 700 something texts, but you're valedictorian and doing amazing. And she might just be really busy since she's so amazing. You're in the best shape you've ever been in, and you no longer look like a shrimpy nerd. Now you're strong and relatively cute, I think.' I was feeling better until I realized none of that mattered if you weren't in my life. I needed you and once again I was depressed. I had lost all hope a few days before graduation. But then you were there and I was happier then than I'd ever been in my life. You had remembered me and cared enough to come to my graduation."