Spy School Revolution

Chapter Four: Betrayal? Or is it?

Academy of Espionage; The Box

Washington, DC

June 29th

0900 hours

Ben's POV

Before I went back to sleep last night, Catherine un-cuffed me. My wrists still hurt from the friction, but at least they work now. The worst part of the deal- I had to spend the night in The Box. I've already been in The Box before, but this time was much worse. Yes, I am afraid of a 15 year old girl more than an assassin. In my defense, Erica Hale is deadly.

 If you don't know what The Box is like, let me explain. Our dorms are trashy old garbage. Try to imagine The Box. It's 10x worse. Despite all the camera's and security, it was harder to fall asleep. Because I knew Erica was after me.

How'd I know, you might ask? Well, after I was un-cuffed and locked in The Box, I opened my book to read. (Yes, I read before I go to bed too. Don't question it.) I I reached out to remove my bookmark, but as I removed it, something caught my eye. On the back of the bookmark, "I'm coming for you, Ripley," written in beautiful cursive. I knew it had to be Erica. 

At that point, I may or may not have screeched like a girl. This set off 3 security guards, who ran into my room, armed. "Woah, geez! It was just umm.. a mouse." I lied. I still didn't believe Erica was an enemy agent, and I didn't want to rat her out. "Hmph," one the guards said. They all glared at me and turned around to shut the door to The Box.

I was bewildered. How the heck did Erica manage to get into The Box and write on my bookmark? I never took this book anywhere.. except- in my dorm. Did she write it in my book when she broke in to tie me up? How'd she know I was gonna rat her out? I sighed. Did she think I'd be a traitor?

Why had Erica betrayed me? Or had she betrayed me at all? Was it all just an act to get the "enemy agents", whom I still hadn't identified, to believe her? Was she being blackmailed? 

I was left with all these questions spinning around in my mind, but all I really wanted was some sleep. 

(Time Skip)

I woke up the next morning and crawled out of my bed. I walked cautiously down to the "cafeteria", which was just everyone's first and third period classroom. My first period was Self Preservation. I groaned. 

I grabbed a tray of food and walked into the classroom to find a bunch of my classmates staring at me. I avoided their gazes and slid into a seat beside Zoe. "Hey, Zoe." She shot me a worried look. "Hey, Ben. How was The Box?" I took a bite of my "mashed potatoes". It tasted like old stuffing. And not like the wonderful stuff you get for Thanksgiving, but the gross stuff you put into your stuffed animals. Gross. "Awful," I replied. "I didn't fall asleep until 4 in the morning." She gave me a sympathetic smile and went back to eating her lunch.

"Do you really think Erica set off that bomb, Zoe?" I asked. She looked over to me and her smile turned into a glare. "Of course she did! She told you she was about to set of a bomb, and next thing we know, a bomb explodes in the cafeteria. Do you actually think that's a coincidence? "

I shook my head. "Of course not, it was obviously her. What I meant was, do you think somebody blackmailed her into doing it?" Zoe sighed and avoided my gaze. "Ben, I know you have a crush on the Ice Queen, but that's just it. She's the Ice Queen. She doesn't care whether or not people die, as long as her plan clicks into place."

That really ticked me off. Erica lived to save people's lives, not to take them. I glared at her. "You know that's not true! We've been on more missions than I can count, and every time she puts her own life at stake just to save other people! How could you say that?"

She was silent. She picked up her books and started to stand up. "Hey, wait, we have Self Preservation!" She shot me a look that I don't even want to describe, and replied, "I've decided I don't want to take this class today. Goodbye."

I sighed, exasperated. First, Erica betrays me, and then Zoe gets mad at me for trying to figure out what's going on? This day can't possibly get any worse, can it?

Oh, how wrong I was.

Hey guys! I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Please comment on things I can improve on, or what you'd like to see more of! More action and suspense coming soon!