Chapter Twenty-Nine
ANGEL SINCLAIR
The one bright spot in terms of physical fitness was my time in the pool. Hala and I were the fastest swimmers, though I was faster for shorter races and Hala had better stamina for longer distances. Unfortunately, my performance in the pool didn’t help me with the ups—the pull-ups, chin-ups, and push-ups. Our trainer, Mac, got me started on weights to strengthen my upper body. Everything hurt after one session. Subsequent sessions indicated I was weaker than a wet noodle.
Frankie was delegated to the treadmill, rowing machines, and working with some stretchy band things. All of us had a group yoga session on Wednesday that confirmed I had the flexibility of a sheet of steel.
Ugh.
Slowly we got into a routine with our classes, testing sessions, workouts, and each other. Frankie and Hala started foreign language testing—Frankie in Mandarin and Korean, and Hala in Arabic. The only foreign languages Wally and I knew were computer ones, and they were testing us out on them. I didn’t know what everyone else’s capabilities were.
Everything seemed fine until Thursday, when all of us—except Frankie—started to stress out about the upcoming trial on Friday.
Maybe in an attempt to distract me from my anxiety, Frankie started talking to me about Jax out of the blue.
“I like Jax,” she announced Thursday when we were on our way to lunch. “He’s smart and tough, but I bet he’s a softie beneath that rough exterior.”
“Why are we talking about Jax?” I asked. “The next trial is tomorrow. We have to pass it or we’re toast. That’s what should have our focus right now.”
“Oh, forget about the trial for a while. I’d rather talk about Jax.”
“I don’t want to talk about him.” I glared at her.
“Stop being so grumpy. You never want to talk about anything. Come on, you have to admit he’s super cute.” Frankie slipped her arm through mine and smiled. “And he does seem to have his eye on you.”
I had no idea how to respond, because I wasn’t even sure what she meant by that. Asking for clarification would only encourage more discussion on this topic. The truth was I didn’t want to talk about anything. I wanted only to embrace my sky-high anxiety and shut everything else out, but Frankie wasn’t going to let me.
She wiggled her eyebrows at me. “He has that bad-boy vibe.”
“That’s not a vibe, Frankie. It’s real.”
“Ooh, is it? Well, I like him anyway.” Frankie gave an exaggerated sigh. “Too bad he’s not my type.”
“You don’t have a type. You like everyone.”
“Of course I like everyone.” She looked at me in exasperation. “That doesn’t mean I want to date everyone.”
“See, what does that even mean?” I said. “This is exactly why I don’t like to talk about boys with you.”
“You don’t talk about boys with anyone.” She laughed again. “But don’t worry. You’ll get better at it. I promise.”
“Happy birthday, Angel!”
It was Thursday evening and I’d just walked into the cafeteria for dinner to find Frankie holding a cupcake with a candle on it. Bo, Mike, Wally, and Hala stood around her clapping and smiling. Jax and Kira were missing, as usual.
“You remembered my birthday?” I said stopping in the doorway.
“Of course we remembered. Come on and blow out your candle.”
Embarrassed by all the attention, I walked forward as they sang “Happy Birthday.” After they finished, I blew out my candle. Everyone wished me a wonderful birthday and then Frankie brought out cupcakes for the rest of the group.
“Where did you get these?” I asked Frankie, biting into the cupcake. Chocolate exploded on my tongue.
She took a bite and sighed, closing her eyes. “Oh, I conspired with Suzanne a week ago. She was so kind and agreed to make some for me. Wasn’t that sweet?”
I frowned, puzzled. “Who’s Suzanne?”
“What? You don’t know Suzanne?” She looked over her shoulder. “She’s the sweet girl over there who serves us dinner every evening. She’s twenty-one years old and studying forensic anthropology. She works part-time here, helping to pay for school. She has three younger brothers and a dog named Rex.”
“Do I need to ask how in the world you know all that?”
“We see her every day, for heaven’s sake, Angel. Why wouldn’t I talk to her?”
“You really do talk to everyone,” I said, sighing.
I looked over my shoulder at Suzanne. She noticed me staring, so I pointed to the cupcake and mouthed Thank you.
She grinned and gave me a thumbs-up.
Although we’d eaten our dessert first, we got our dinner and sat at the tables. This time Bo pushed together a couple of tables so the six of us could eat together. Other than Jax and Kira, the rest of us were becoming a solid unit.
Frankie whipped something out from underneath the table and handed it to me. “Happy birthday, Angel. I hope you like it.”
It was wrapped in tissue paper. I unwrapped it and pulled out a blue T-shirt that read Have you tried turning it on and off?
I held it up against me and everyone laughed. “Thanks, Frankie. I love it.”
She gave me a hug just as Wally passed me an envelope. “It isn’t much, but I know you’ll like it.”
I ripped it open and found he’d bought me thirty dollars of credits on Hidden Realm. Whistling, I gave him a high five. “Sweet.”
“Thought you’d like it.”
As we ate, the conversation turned toward tomorrow’s trials.
“What do you think the trial will be this week?” Wally asked around a mouthful of fried rice. “Skydiving? Fighting terrorists? Playing poker?”
Mike snorted. “I hope it is poker. I’m unstoppable at poker and even better at chess.”
Wally dipped his head toward me. “If I were you, I’d be scared of Angel. To her, everything is a mathematical calculation. She’d be formidable in a game of cards.”
“No way could Angel be formidable,” Frankie said. “She has a terrible poker face.”
“Hey!” I said in mock outrage while everyone laughed.
“Yeah, and she’d still have to get the cards.” Mike speared a piece of sweet and sour pork and ate it. “Luck does play a role, you know.”
We threw out a couple more ideas until Hala held up a hand. “Guys, I think we’re on the wrong track here. I bet it’s going to be an intelligence test of some kind. Strategic thinking or teamwork.”
“Reaction and response,” said Mike, nodding. “A series of events we have to react to and respond.”
“How we react in dangerous situations,” Bo offered.
“We already did that in the laser maze and the active-shooter scenario,” I pointed out. “I think Hala’s right. It’s going to be something totally different.”
“Like what?” Wally asked.
“I don’t know,” I said. “I just think the attacking-and-avoiding-the-adversary thing may have played out already.”
We guessed for a while longer until we split up to finish homework and turn in early so we’d be rested for the trial.
Later, after all the lights were out, I lay in bed staring at the dark ceiling and working myself into a nervous wreck. After tossing and turning for about an hour, I climbed down from my bunk, put some clothes on, and grabbed my shoes, a coat, and a flashlight. I needed some fresh air to clear my head.
The lights were dim in the hallway. Instead of going out the back toward the basketball court and garden maze, I decided to go out the front door. The moon shone brightly in the clear sky. I took a breath of the cool air. I zipped my jacket to my neck and strolled around the grounds, finally sitting on a bench under a tree to the side of the building. Clicking off my flashlight, I sat looking at the stars. I sat in peace, revealing the solitude when I suddenly heard a cracking sound.
Without thinking, I slid off the bench and behind a tree. After a moment, I saw what had made the noise. Someone was creeping through the forest, trying to approach the building as inconspicuously as possible.
There was something familiar about the way the figure was shaped. When it passed closer to me, I clicked on the flashlight.
“Jax?”
He jumped. “Whoa. You scared the crap out me, Red. What are you doing out here?”
“I could ask the same of you.” I looked over his shoulder at the direction from which he’d just come. “Were you just at the UTOP campus?”
He leaned one arm against the tree and grinned, his teeth gleaming white in the moonlight. “You going to tell on me?”
“Don’t you know UTOP is off-limits?” I glared at him. “We’re confined to the KIT compound.”
“Yes, Mother.”
“Knock it off. What were you doing there?”
“Oh, I never kiss and tell.”
I rolled my eyes in exasperation. “Do you want to get expelled?”
“Of course not. I’m just pushing the envelope. No harm, no foul. Unless you tell on me, of course.”
I sighed and sat down on the bench. “I’m not going to tell.”
“Good.” After a moment, he sat down next to me. “So, why are you out here?”
“I couldn’t sleep.”
“Worried about tomorrow?” When I nodded, he tapped my head. “Quit overthinking. It will be fine.”
“It won’t. One more misstep and I’m pretty sure I’m out.”
He laughed. “You? Girl genius? I don’t think so.”
“I’m not a genius,” I said. “Well, my Mensa scores say I am, but a high IQ doesn’t necessarily translate to real-world knowledge.”
He chuckled softly. “Red, I’m going to let you into a little secret. Every single one of us is trying to figure out how to get ahead of you. You, of all people, have the least to worry about.”
“Me? I’ve already lost two trials. Mr. Donovan said the scores are weighted heavily toward those who finish.”
“Yeah, they say a lot of things. This is spy school, remember? Deception, trickery, evasion. They’ll say whatever they want, manipulate us in ways we can’t imagine, until they get or see what they want from us.”
“Which is?”
“The makings of a good operative. That’s endgame, right?”
I studied him, considering. His voice had lost its cockiness, and those amazing green eyes were looking at me in a way that seemed different from how he usually looked at me. Was he right? It was hard to know exactly what they wanted or expected from us.
“Just keep being yourself, okay?” he murmured.
The intensity in his gaze made my breath catch. Slowly, he lowered his mouth to mine and stopped just short of my lips, as if waiting for me to do the rest. For a moment, I just froze. I’d never kissed anyone before. Then, throwing caution to the wind, I lifted my mouth and pressed my lips to his. He kissed me back, far more tenderly than I ever would have expected from him. Warmth, dizziness, and softness curled through me.
He finally broke the kiss and leaned back on the bench, blowing out a breath and pushing his fingers through his hair. He looked like he was already regretting the kiss. I flushed as he abruptly stood and took my hand. “Come on, they do a check around midnight.”
I didn’t know what to say or do so, still holding his hand, I followed him across the lawn. Jax didn’t head for the front door. Instead, he tugged me toward the side of the building.
“Where are you going?” I whispered.
He led me to a side window that had been propped open with a book. “Girls first,” he insisted.
He held his hands together and told me to put my foot in his hand. I did as he instructed, and he boosted me so I could grab the sill and pull myself up. I straddled the windowsill awkwardly before falling inside. Seconds later, he hopped in easily, like he’d done it a dozen times.
Maybe he had.
He shut the window behind him. “Let’s go.”
We sneaked down the hallway, stopping where the hallway split with the girls’ room down one hallway and the boys’ room down the other.
“Night.” His cool hand touched my cheek. “Happy birthday.” He gave me a heart-stopping grin before disappearing down the hallway.
He knew it was my birthday?
Before he turned around and saw me staring like an idiot, I quickly returned to my room, careful not to wake anyone when I came in. As I climbed up into my bed, I thought about Jax’s kiss. It had been…amazing. But what did it mean? He’d probably kissed dozens of girls like that.
Did it mean he liked me? Was trying to manipulate me? Confuse me? It was hard to say. I was at spy school, after all. Every action, every word, seemed to be part of a larger game.
But as I snuggled under the covers, I couldn’t erase the smile on my face.