Cleo Hart: Intelligence by Default

Wake up call

"Cleo!" A voice screamed from outside my room. I jolted up, thinking we were under attack, and reached for something to defend myself with. Before I could stand, Luke ran in holding a massive black duffle bag, with a panicked expression on his face. He rushed over to me, lifting me to the ground and throwing some clothes at me.

I looked at my watch in confusion, it was three am. "Are we under attack?"

He laughed in a kind of manic way. "I wish. Your social worker is doing a surprise check up on your new adopted parents, in 6 hours. My phone says it takes us five and a half hours to get there in good traffic, so basically, we're fucked."

"I doubt the traffic will be bad at this time Luke," I sighed, watching him flitting round my room like a moth, hauling random, and largely useless clothes into the bag.

"Where's J?" I murmured, stripping to my pants and trying to uncrumple the outfit in my hands in the dark. After a few seconds of struggling I turned to Luke in search of some help, but found him frozen, mouth gaping. I stared at him confusedly, trying to figure out what was wrong, and a second later my mind clicked. I swore, moving my hands to cover what I could.

"Buh.." Luke pointed to me.

"Yes, I am mostly naked, do we have time for a teenage hormone moment Luke? No. Where's Jason?"

Luke's gaze repeatedly wandered from my eyes and then snapped back up desperately. I sighed and eventually got the jeans and t-shirt on, snatching the suitcase from him and dragging him out of the bedroom door, still in a daze.

We sped down the country roads at a borderline murderous speed, Luke's brain working to full capacity. He looked as if he was analysing everything in sight before, during and after it rushed past the car.

"So Jason?" I asked, taking out my phone and sighing at the lack of social interaction I had with anyone, ever. I only had about six contacts, and three of them were Luke, Jason and Alice.

"Technically I'm assigned as your keeper, or mentor if you prefer, in that I'm the one that is responsible for you. Jason gets to sit this one out." He murmured, seemingly concentrating most of his energy on not crashing.

"Why don't I get someone to be keeper of?" I frowned, Luke chuckled.

"Only newbies get keepers, for the first six months of employment," he glanced at me, "in most cases."

"Most cases?" I grabbed the dashboard as Luke swerved a corner, chuckling at my flinch.

"In special situations keepers may have to accompany employees on missions for longer than that, if they have a history of violence or mental disorders or trauma... I got nine months."

"And me?" His grip on the steering wheel tightened as the speed of the car jumped 10 mph.

"A year." He smirked at me through the rear view mirror.

I sighed and smiled meekly back at him.
"Must be some kind of record." I laughed and he smiled at me, his eyes crinkling at the edges.

"So, going over your information. You are..."

"Mary Harper, born again." I drawled, unamused with being given three different identities in the last six months.

"And your parents?" He drilled, tapping the steering wheel with his finger expectantly.

"Adam and Christina Kingsley. We love swimming and taking walks."

"Other information?"

"Urgh, I'll improv, this is boring."

"Cleo."
I sighed at his warning tone.

"On Fridays we have fish and on Sundays we have a roast. Our dog is called Matilda. We're planning to go on an 'exciting fun packed holiday' to Spain with my new cousins Mark and Catherine. My room is up the stairs on the second right but we still haven't redecorated because I haven't decided on a theme. The school is boring but my friends are kind and it's nice that Adam can pick me up in his car to take me home. The behaviour management classes have been doing wonders and going to the gym on Saturday mornings has done well at letting me soothe my anger. Drawing and swimming help too. Anything else, sir?"

Luke gawked at me. "uh, no..." He cleared his throat, "good memory."

"Well yes, I assume I was hired for a reason."

He laughed, "Sleep Cle, you need to look alive when the inspector comes."

-

"Oi you."

I grunted and turned over, willing my dream back to me.

" C'mon Cleo, please? For me?"

I was storming a castle with my thousands of troops and my annoying goblin accomplice kept begging for a snack.

"No crackers for you stupid goblin." I growled, readying my forces.

"Come on sleepy, we don't have long."

The castle and the goblin fell away, leaving me in a car with a certain boy, rain splashing off the windows.

"Tired." I moaned, looking up at him, I realised I was wrapped in his black jacket and smiled slightly. He got out of the car and seconds later opened the door on my side, offering me shelter under his hoodie. I put his jacket on and crawled from the car to the shelter of his hoodie, and wrapping his arm around me, he led me to my new 'house'.

I dragged my feet along the floor at a snail pace. Sighing, Luke picked me up bridal style and ran up the stairs, acting as if I weighed less than a cucumber.

"You can sleep again now, I've got you."

I murmured some gratitude and dozed off to him untucking my bed with me in one arm, my head in his neck.