crescent by dayanara patapat

8/8/2019 CRESCENT by Dayanara Patapat

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Whats in a name? That which we call a rose by any otherword would smell as sweet.

-Act 2 Scene 2 Romeo and Juliet


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'VIWGIRX 1

1. Call

FIRST MONDAY OF JUNE WAS THE beginning of school year in Lawrence Academy. It wasearlier than any other first day of school at thisclassified place. Why? It was, strictly, because it was aschool for very special students. There are only threeways to know how exceptional students of LawrenceAcademy are: be somebody who works here, be one of the students, and be an excellent slayer of spiesallkinds of spy. Most importantly, the subject that youhave to think about before entering this school, there isno way get out from here and expose its secretswithout being killed.


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'VIWGIRX 2

I arrived two days ahead of time at the LA, meaningLawrence Academy not Los Angeles. (It was not aschool at Los Angeles; I did not think that they wouldgive that much of a clue to others.) I had nothing to do but sleep. Those two days were the only chance I had

to rest my busy eyes. It was Sunday and I was waitingfor the others to arrive. I was on my third year here inLA and I got used to this life between fun and danger well, without using euphemism it was between fun anddeath. Although we were only spy students, we alreadyput ourselves at this very perilous situation. I was aspy since birth so I had no choice but to follow thedeath-defying footsteps of my parents and ancestors;and besides this was the life I was good at; and the life Ihad always wanted and enjoyed.

I looked up at the clock that was hanging against thepink wall of the room that I shared with my two BFFs:Keiko and Alleyya. The clock indicated that it wasunbelievably just six-thirty early in the morning.

Keiko and Alleyya were still on their vacation,making sure that they would not waste any nanosecondof our fifteen-day vacation. My way of spending my lastfew days of vacation was entirely different.

Keiko was probably either shopping somewhere inParis or observing some historical sights. I wasnt sure because she hadnt called me yet. Last time I got a callfrom her, she was in Venetian Hotel.

It wasnt difficult to guess what Alleyya was doingduring our vacation. Theres two easy ways to describe


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Alleyya. She loved books. Secondly, she loved to buy books.

My way of spending the last few days of our breakwas completely different.

Before the vacation, I had already planned what Iwas going to do every hour of it. At the unluckythirteenth day of my vacationI was in Palawan,Philippineswith my parents, the spy agency called.

There was a covert operation for my parents. Theyhad insisted that I should continue my vacation withoutthem but Id said no.

And here I was, coolly listening to Bob Acris SleepAway using my mp4throwing away the time they

gave me to enjoy the smallest piece of my existence specifically, ordinary teenage years.

Death threats, unsuccessful gunshots, and otherways to kill a human consumed all my years here in thiscrazy world called Earth. I literally travelled theworldI was just a baby back then so I was just gettingall my secondhand information from my parents.

My amazing race started when I was only fourmonths old. My parents were in a mission and

unfortunately, the opposite side found out that theyhad a daughterme. They once got a chance to kidnapme. The bad people contacted my parents and orderedto give back the microchip that contained their secretoperations; and in return, they would give me back.


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'VIWGIRX 4

In the end, my spy parents successfully got meaway from those baddies; and at the same time, theyhad passed over the microchip to the intelligenceservice.

Of course, that was not the only mission my

parents were in; consequently; my dangerous butexciting adventure never ended. Thanks to theextremely advanced security system here in LA, I wasfinally free from assassinshowever I was notcompletely free from near-death experiences, which Iliked. I was safe. I was totally safe from outsiders butspy teachers not included. Though they mean no harm,our lessons still hurt.

So if a girl used to blow her thirteenth birthday

cake in a helicopter because their temporary house had been under gunfire, would she label herself ordinary?Would a girl, who was always in so many precariousconditions, consider herself a normal teenager orsimply just a teenager? I did not think so.

K nock!K nock! I automatically got out of my bed andopened the unlock door. My earphones, stillconnected, to the mp4 fell on the floor.

I saw Mr. Cliff standing stiffly in front of me. Heseemed problematic dissimilar to his very confidentattitude that made many females here giggle. Certainly,


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I was not included to that group of female. I was notthat feminine to fall for his looks and stance.

Whats wrong Mr. Cliff? I asked him tensely.Oh no, w hat did I d o w rong?H a cking is not a ga inst th e rule, isit?

Ms. Lawrence wants to talk to you I could notconcentrate much on his words.Did I a ccid enta lly put a

poisonous ch emica l in th e cookies I ba ked f or th e h ea d mist ress?

Okay, thank you Sir. Ill be right there. Just giveme a minute please, I said after a moment.

I closed the door and staggered toward the mirrorto see if I look decent. I brushed my black-and-brownhair then I smoothed my dress. When I supposed that

my appearance was prim enough, I walked swiftlydown the stairs and headed for the headmaster office.

As soon as I caught a glimpse of the signHeadmasters Office, my pace became sluggish.

The already open door was nerve-racking; Ms.Lawrences uptight expression was nail-biting. When Ientered her room, she smiled a smile that seemedlikepity?

You want to discuss something Maam? I askedwhile my heart hammered fast and hard.

Have a seat Ms. Cassandra, she tried to be formalas she could but she was still on edge like a cat on a hottin roof that I didnt need my spy skills to know whatshe felt.


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'VIWGIRX 7

What happened to my parents? I cut her mid-sentence, my voice raising an octave. Panicky ruled mymind and broke my firm composure.

Dont be alarm, sweetie. The agency told me thatthey had lost their connection with your parents but

theres also a possibilityDont be alarm! I shouted and I instantly felt

guilty for that. Ms. Lawrence was just trying to sootheme. But shes saying that everything would be okay andI know it would not be that way.

That instance, I imagined myself without myparents. How bad it would be. I saw myself looking atchildren with their complete and normal family. I alsosaw images of my father and mother. Our last vacationtogether, our last conversation, my sixteenth birthday,our shopping together, baking with Mom, swimmingwith Dad, my first graduation, my first day in theAcademy with them. Everything with them was veryfun, memorable. Perfect. But now

I started to cry. Ms. Lawrence sat beside me andthen hugged me, patting my back.

Claire, dont worry. They had probably just losttheir communication device or something wentwrongDont think of any bad conclusion.Everythings going to be okay. she said maternally,making me cry harder.

Ms Lawrence continued to soothe me with herimpeccable words. Though she was very kind to me,


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'VIWGIRX 8

her kindness could not decrease the confusion anddistress that I was feeling. I sobbed until we both heardfootsteps.

I slowly wiped my tears with the back of my handthen she gave me a white silk handkerchief.

Thanks, I whispered while trying very hard tofake a smile.

As soon as the footstep came to a stop, we heardloud knocks on the door. Ms Lawrence applied powderon my face. Even though I hate using makeup, I couldnot argue with her; it was not to make me look pretty;it was to hide the shade of pink on my face.

Come on in, Ms Lawrences voice was uneven.

I heard the confirmation that they were indeed afaculty member. Though I was thankful that I lockedthe door, I felt a spasm of guilt for doing it. I knewexactly how hard it was to undergo profile check.

The door opened and I saw Mr. Grayson and MsPerez.

Good morning Mr. Grayson and Ms Perez, I greetthem politely, my voice not breaking.

They both nodded and smiled.

May I ask you sir if the other students havearrived?

Ms Perez was the one who answered, Yes, finally.And also, I saw Ms Garcia and Ms Lawrence having


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'VIWGIRX 10

Before the time I get to the lines of Juliet in the

end, I saw my two best friends. Keiko was carrying a big box; and, Alleyya was pushing an average size boxwith her back.

Need help? I asked.

No, thanks. I can handle this. Keiko assuredme.

And you, Alleyya?

Obviously, I do she said sheepishly not caring

about my sarcasm. I loved listening to her alto voice itwas calming.

Instead of just helping her on carrying it,I carried all her bags and boxes. Surely, it wasexhausting but it was gratefully distracting. I helped the both of them by organizing their stuffs.

At the middle of our tasks, Alleyya alarminglysaid, Its not working! She was referring to ourcleaning robot.

Why? Keiko and I asked the same question.I unintentionally spilled this chemical, Alleyya

admitted guiltily. It was an accident. I didnt mean it,her tone was defensive.


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'VIWGIRX 11

Its okay. Maybe we can try to fix it; and if wecant, we have to beg Ms Lawrence to give us another. I had mentioned Ms Lawrences name and I, myself, brought me up to the unwanted poignant topic that Iwas avoiding.

That machine isnt a dime a dozen, so we reallyhave to fix it. I could help fixing it but I would not beg, Keiko stated, undetermined.

A lot of work, Alleyya muttered.

Well, its your fault, Keiko said in a normalvoice.

After opening the cleaning robot that used to beso helpful, we confirmed that fixing it was impossible;

therefore, we had to kneel down in front of theheadmistress in order to own another cleaning device.We needed it so badly because it was difficult to cleanwhile doing our homework and studying for bothpractical and written tests.

Can we go to Ms Lawrence now? Alleyyalooked around our room; it was messy. It was theirmess, not mine.

You two go ahead, I must do something

important, sometimes I hate being a good liar.Okay, thank you for helping us. Alleyya

smiled before walking out.

Keiko didnt say anything. She just smiled.


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'VIWGIRX 12

Hey, Mona Lisa, Keiko called Alleyya (MonaLisa was her codename). She folded her arms on herchest and said, Y our mista ke, your responsibil it y .

Because Alleyya was completely guilty, sheagreed to Keiko.

Keiko closed the door and her words surprisedme, Cry.

What? I wondered, better play innocent.

Alleyya doesnt know it; but I know it.

I didnt want to cry in front of my best friend but I did. She hugged me saying nothing but twowords: Just cry.

Keiko and Alleyya were my best friends; but forme Keiko was more like a sister to me. We had one-tracked minds. Two strings tuned alike. Sometimespeople thought that we were twins and we only staredat each other then laugh aloud after. For us, we reallywere twinsmaybe not biologically but spiritually.

Keikos parents died in a mission. Her motherdied when she was twelve years old, then her fatherafter almost a year. At first, the agency informs thefamily that they lost their connection with the agent. Aweek after, they tell that the agents cover was blownand the most unfortunate thing happened. It alwaysoccurs this way.


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'VIWGIRX 13

By the time I was finished with my sobbing, I satdown on the floor. I wrapped my arms around my legswhile looking at the empty space.

I had felt what you are feeling right now, shesaid looking down. Its not easy; but, I know you

know that you must put this behind you. Yes, I understand that. A leopard cant change

its spot. My mother frequently explained that to me before going to Lawrence Academy.

Lets start to clean now. Waiting for Alleyyawill take a year. She said, changing the topic.

Whats about me, huh? Alleyya asked,appearing out of thin air. We could lock the door but

we couldnt delete Alleyyas access to it. The door wasprogrammed to let the owners in, and to let visitorsallowed by the owners.

I said Keiko started but when her eyecaught the new and more advanced cleaning device, shesaid, What it can do?

Alleyya gave us the users manual. We all readit simultaneously. After we had memorized the parts of the machine and knowing all the functions, we

immediately used it.Keiko and Alleyya were against the clock; they

hadnt seen our schedule, rooms and they hadnt bought school materials.


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'VIWGIRX 14

I already done all of those on the first day sincemy arrival.

Keiko was her usual self. Sometimes I envy herfor being strong emotionally. She didnt seem like sheknew something unpleasant. There were times whenshe patted me softly and that was comforting butunwanted.

Knowing someone that knows youre in painwas not what I like especially when it is someone whofelt it too. Its a wretched thing unintentionallysharing your pain. Its wrong I couldnt take it.

I would put this misery behind me. I had to. Itwas not a piece of cake like my language classes but Iwould. For my friends and for my future. And besides,the agency hadnt said that my parents were no, Iwould never say this word in a sentence with myparents names.

This situation was the only reason I couldpossibly hate to be in a spy family. You had to sufferinside a lot. You had to keep the throbbing sensation inyour heart. I couldnt accept this fact. It wasnt fair.

Spies save people but there are some instanceswhen we couldnt save ourselves from this clandestineworld.


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'VIWGIRX 15

Sure, I could speak many languages; I had black belt in every martial art I knew; I was advanced onacademic subjects; I could play piano, guitar, violin,and flute; I was a good liar; and I could do so muchmore. But being a sixteen years old daughter of spies,

on my opinion, was the hardest thing to do.

Before falling asleep, Alleyya wondered, Whenwill I finally see my parents again? I just had an hourwith them. Ouch. That hurt.

I didnt want to tell Alleyya what happenedearlier that day. I didnt want her to feel guilty for

having two parents who were both alive.When I thought that my roommates were in a

deep sleep, I turned my back to them then I coveredmy face with a pillow. I secretly cried without a sound,my tears that fell down on Ms Lawrence and Keikos blouses were not enough to drain all of it. I cried until Ieventually fell asleep.

* * *

Running was easy for me but not this time. I wasrunning awkwardly as if I was being pulled withsomeone. My feet were lethargic, minutes or maybe an


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hour slower than the person whom I was with. It waslike watching a slow-motioned movie; but the otherside was fast-forwarded.

We were running away from something Icouldnt recognize. When I looked at the face, my eyes

flew open.

I glanced at the clock; it was only past midnight.I tried to sleep again. Finally, I did fall asleep after half an hour of counting sheep.

I dreamt again, it was completely different fromthe first one. It was not me. It was a girl who lookedlike mebut not me.

First of all, she was not in LA; second andforemost, she was a normal girl, studying at a normalschool, and living a normal life. So no, it was not me.It was impossible.

The girl I would not consider her asmyself looked around and saw nothing but me. It wasmyself, wearing the LA uniform. It was CassandraPrescott.

We walked toward each other. We walked butinvoluntarily, as if we were magnets.

The girl and I looked at each other. Our eyesfull of horror. We were shouting the word dontagain and again before the proximity between us was acentimeter. Then, I woke up, catching my breath.


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It was not a nightmare but I was unexplainablyfrightened. I didnt know if I was afraid for the girl orfor me; or for the both of us; or because I didnt haveany idea what would happen if our skin touched.

The instant I woke up, the clock alarmed. It was

already five in the morning. My two roomies woke uptoo. No distress on their face. No hint of havingnightmares.

It was time to rise and shine. I was a spy nomatter what. It was already difficult to be a spystudent. What more if you would not put yourproblems behind? I would look straight ahead. It wasmy dream. It was my destiny. I wanted to be a spy. Iknew it was not something I could change. But, even if

I could change my life or choose different parents, Iwould not replace what I had. I had chosen my path, both ways free will or not. If I utterly hate thisclandestine life, with my stubbornness I was quite sureI might want to be killed rather than be someone Icould never be.

After changing to our uniforms a simple white blouse and a three-inch-above-knee plaid skirt , werushed down the wide time-consuming flight of stairs.

We forgot to get our vacation projects (Alleyyascommunication device, Keikos translation of a book Ihadnt read yet, and my video of myself in my ownlittle covert operation) and we had to get back to ourroom. Fortunately, we were still less than a minute


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early by the time we finally settled to our seats with theother junior students in Lawrence Academy.

As soon as the hour hand of the big clock in thefoyer pointed six, the school bell rang.

I was astonished. I was home. LawrenceAcademy was irrefutably my home and the students,and the faculty members here were my family.

The twenty-seven teachers walked in with MsLawrence at the front. As always, they were wearing a business-like mask of composure. It bothered me alittle before. However, I had more trouble watchingtheir face now. Perhaps because now I knew that behind that perfect faade, there were secrets secretsinside secrets. I knew that there were grieves. I knewthat some of them, or maybe all of them, had lostpeople they loved. And I greatly knew how that hurt.

I said that there could only a reason for me tohate belonging to a f a mily of spies. On the contrary, Inever hated anything on being asp y. But that was before. Before the day I didnt want to remember but I couldnt no matter how hard I try. Now, I hatedtwo things about a spy.

First, a spy can lose people he or she loves, spiesor not. Second, a spy has to suffer, not only physicallyand mentally but emotionally, too. Moreover, theworst part of it, was I more willingly be tortured than being trapped in misery.


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My spy instinct told me that someone wasstaring at me. I saw the headmistress glanced at mydirection. I automatically looked away from herworried eyes.

It was a good decision that I did not tell Alleyya

about the bad news. It was already uncomfortable tohave two pairs of eyes watching you. Though Keikowasnt obvious with her surveillance, I knew her thatmuch to knew what she was thinking. She was quietand that was very unlikely when she was with me;however, there were few times when my assumptionwas wrong.

The head mistress stood up and all of usfollowed her lead.

Good morning, students of LawrenceAcademy, we simultaneously greet her and sat again.She then continued with her speech. It was quite longand my stomach was growling.

At last, Ms Lawrence ended her address for thefirst day of school. Mercifully, she ordered us to eatanything we want but watch our weight.

There was a lot of food. I gorged. It was a verylarge banquet and it was eat all you can so I couldntcontrol myself. Well anyway, I was certain that Iwouldnt gain weight; instead, I wouldlose weight.

Usually the first day of classes lasted until thewhole orientation thing was over. Sorry to say, therewere no time limits. I pursed my lips every time I felt I


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was about to yawn. I regretted eating greedily; it mademe want to take a nap. Just a five-minute nap

I was about to sink asleep when the irritating,tall, brunette girl on my left side pinch me hard enoughto wake me without making me shout.

Oh. Sorry, I mumbled to Keiko. I felt horriblyguilty for what I had thought about her. It wasannoying me when someone tried to stop anything Iwanted to do.

No problem. You do it to me, too, shesmirked.

The exasperating orientation finally ended ateleven-eighteen, giving us forty-eight minutes before

lunch. But I had no plan to have lunch. I didnt want astomach pain before PE class.

Alleyya and Keiko wouldnt eat lunch too. Wedecided to pass our projects first then go to LAs ownshopping mall.

We were not allowed to go outside so they builta mall. The mall was outside the academy but therewas an underground passage in able to go directlyinside the mall. A student couldnt get to the mall

unless they had the card for it (All the facilities of LAcouldnt be access without a special card designed foreach of them). Obviously, we had to pass a test forevery access card.

The three of us got a ccess to all the facilities. Itwasnt that easy. But it was worth it. Alleyya was lucky


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that it there was two options: try out as a team orindividually. She passed the team assessment but notthe individual test. Alleyya couldnt go to the mallwithout me and Keiko.

WeKeiko and myselfmake the grade on

the individual test. So, the both of us had authorizationto shop alone. But we had more fun shopping together.

The cover story was the Lawrence Academywas a school for rich girls so theres no need to changeoutfit if youre used to the looks the villagers here giveto LA students. More often than not the people whodidnt know the true story meaning, normalpeople give LA students the glare that was loudlydescribing us as people who doesnt know anything butto spend money. On the other hand, what they thoughtof us was exactly the opposite of what was real.

The mall looked like any other normal mallexcept for the fact that it was missile proof, couldnt bedestroy by fire and most importantly, the workers herewere spies acting like they werent.

Alleyya had excitedly gone to the bookstore andleft Keiko and me in our favorite shop. We wouldmeet each other at the passage back to the school, tenminutes before PE.

When Keiko and I had finished shopping girlsstuffs, wed decide to go buy books as well in ourfavorite bookstore where Alleyya was.


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We were currently at the ground floor, and the bookstore was at the same floor. It wasnt hard to find but Alleyya was.

There were more normal people here than I hadexpected. Maybe early shopping for the next school

year. I couldnt approach them to know why becausewe were not allowed. We were allowed to speak tothem only if they ask first. But we had to give a directanswer. Though, I didnt have the nerves to do thateven if it was not against the rule.

Alleyya was so small. Her height was lower thanthe height of the people passing me and Keiko. Thecrowd was blocking little Alleyya.

But thanks to her black curls, we found her infar corner of the wide store. She was carrying loads of books with her tan and delicate arms while scanninganother set of books.

Keiko grinned at me. I grinned too. Alleyya.

You can buy the whole store, you know, Iteased.

Alleyya rolled her eyes.

Did you found something worth reading?Keiko asked her, examining piles of fictional books.She was scrutinizing some book series.

Nothing you prefer, Alleyya answered. Ithought we would meet at the passage, she added.


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I havent read anything new for the last fewweeks. And Claire told me she knew a book with agreat review. Then Keiko went beside her, with mefollowing behind.

Well, I found something here, Claire, she

called out. Claire was another name for me. Keiko saidthat it fits my code name which was Luna. She meantClair de Lune.

I left the book I was planning to buy. I stood beside her.What? I asked.

Something very fictional, she commentedscornfully.

I took the book from her hand. It was a novel

about spiesabout all the invented and far-from-truthstories of spies.

It was funny for us, though. Many books andmovies about international spies were quiteimaginative. Some included jetpacks, a gun pen (Thepen thats actually a gun is true), and other coolgadgets. Several of them never tell anything aboutstudying the art of spying. The funny things were howcould a spy learn all the methods without studying foryears?

Why spies could disable nuclear bombs? If a spywent to a mission in another country with a differentlanguage, how would a spy gather intelligence? Whycould spies hack, encipher and encode? Why they were


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good at fighting? The answer was simple: years of learning and training.

So, are you going to buy it?

Of course not, she snorted.

We found some interesting books. I bought aclassic novel and the book I saw on a book site I knew.Keiko bought the same books that I got andthoughshe told that she wouldnt buy itthe book aboutspies.

Alleyya had a hard time deciding which booksshe would buy; and, if she had decided which, she wasthinking if hardbound or not. In the end, she boughtfive books with different genres and all hardbound.

Exactly ten-minutes before PE, we made it backto LA. We rushed back to our room so that we couldchange into our PE uniforms.

Wed been expecting that today wouldnt bemuch of a school day as it is. The past first days of school that we had experienced were not hectic. We barely had classes. I guessed its different during junioryear.


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2. P arty WHEN WE FINALLY MADE IT TO THE OVERSIZEGym, I felt a pang of relief when Ms Brown hadntarrived yet. I heard Keiko and Alleyya exhaled besideme. We didnt like to do a hundred push-ups. It was awaste of time and its a bit envying to watch the othersenjoying the training.

Today was free running. I broke a nail but itsnot just me. It was a little embarrassing on my partthough, because I got the highest grade last year.

Keiko got a scratch; Alleyya had a bruise on herleft arm; the others obtained the same. If we were nottrained well, we could have broken our bonesorskull.

We had jumped from a platform to another.Each platform was approximately twelve feet high and


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fifteen feet apart from one another. We climbed sometoo. We had also skidded and hopped on every stairswe passed. We run freely.

Basically, the obstacle was very challenging; but nothing that could kill teenage spies.

After the PE class we took off to change to ourschool uniform and continued to our next classes.There werent many lessons to discussthey were allintroductions that was interesting as what we haddone in PE.

Our next and last subject was Literature. It wasnot boring but not enjoying. Literature was one of myfavorite subjects until I met our teacher, Ms. Massey. Ihad always like writing and reading but it wasntamusing at all when the teacher started to talk aboutherself.

It shouldnt be called Literature. It should beT h e Lif e o f th e Bi gh ea d ed T ea ch er: Ms. M a ssey .

During dinner, at long last, we had time to chatwith our girl friends. Mostly we talk about ourvacation. I couldnt say anything that would hurt meinside. So I kept my mouth shut and listen as myfriends describe their short break with animation.

Morocco is beautiful but I like Japan more because of Disney Land, Grace Campbell commented.


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Child-like, I heard Hazel Thomas mutteredunder her breath. Grace and Hazel were rivals stupidly because of a boy.

I ate silently and frustrated. Saturdaybeforethe longest Sunday of my lifeI had been visualizing

how I would reenact what happened on my ownvacation.

Youre so quiet Claire, Alleyya noted.

I just shook my head. She turned to JenniferWilliams, a girl whos as tall and as bookish as she.They were discussing about a book.

Unintentionally, Keiko mirrored my action.Were both eating wordlessly, our left hand under our

chin. I repositioned myself and faced her. I didnt knowwhat my expression was but it made her chuckle.

What? she asked. It was pretty clear on herface that she was confused.

I answered her with another question, Whatare you thinking?

Nothing interesting, she said in a monotonousvoice.

I want to know, I pressed.

She looked around to see if someones listeningthen turned to face me. Have you seen Ms Lawrence?

Not after our classes.


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Then she saw Hazel who seemed likeeavesdropping. Keiko glared at her. I was so luckyKeiko was my bestfriend and not my enemy. If lookscould kill

Maybe later, she said sourly, still eyeing the

eavesdropper.I nodded. She didnt want anybody to know it

so it must be confidential.

Keiko was always updated with all the newsinside and outside the academy. She was one of theLawrences. Keiko never addressed the headmistress asher sister. Her uncle was the headmaster before hersister was; but th eir uncle never got married and neverhad a child. Rightfully, Keikos father should be theheadmaster but because he died, Ms Lawrence replacedhim. The academy should run by blood.

Ms Lawrence was very compassionate andmother-like to Keiko. Every Saturday, Keiko ate withher and sometimes shop in the mall.

Keiko told me, when I asked her why shes notcalling her sister casually, that its because she wantedto be treated like any other Lawrence Girls. She saidthat it was already unfair that she knows every secretpassagesof course I knew it too because of herandevery news about spies from Lawrence Academy.

I was sure Keiko as a friend was the best; but Iwas almost uncertain if having Keiko Lawrence, as a


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friend was the best. Sometimes it bothered me a littleknowing she knewa lmost every th ing about everyone.

I completely failed to remember that therewould be a party that night. Keiko forgot it too.Alleyya didnt remind us. She was saying, You twonever forget about the dance, repeatedly. It was funnyand embarrassing at the same time. Alleyya was right.

Keiko didnt have a dress for the party;however, the two of us had a lot of cocktail dress. Shecouldnt decide which she would wear. Her closet wasfull of clothes still with their tags. Her closet was verysimilar to mine.

If I could choose sisters, I would want Alleyya asa ba b y sister; but, for a twin sister, never doubt I wouldselect Keiko.

It took a very long time for usKeiko andmyselfto decide our dresses. In addition, it took anhour for us to get our hair done. We were fifteenminutes late. Thank God that the dance was out of therule.

Alleyya, as usual, picked a monochromaticgreen dress. Green was her all time favorite color. Shelooked like Tinkerbelle.

Keiko was gorgeous in her red one shoulderdress. She had her thick brown hair gathered into a


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neat ponytail. She was wearing a black round pumps.Keiko appears like a rockstar.

I was nothing compare to my bestfriends. For asecond, Id planned of changing my outfit. But it was just an acquaintance party. Moreover, I had never

wanted to be the center of attraction; instead, I justwanted to be like a chameleon. To blend in, like spiesdo.

I was wearing a plain black long-sleeved minidress matched with a pair of gold-trimmed sandals from my mother. My hair was boringI didnt doanything about it. My face was the same because Ididnt like cosmetic products. I didnt wear anyaccessories either. I looked liked someone whos

supposedly heading toward somewhere except here;however, accidentally opened the door by some ill-fated circumstances. I focused more on the wordparty that I didnt bother to ask Alleyya whats thetheme. Not that I remember there was always a theme.But why didnt Alleyya told me?!

The other LA third year students were dressedaccording to the theme. The boys were wearingdifferent styles of tuxedos. The girls were very

elegantit was obvious that theyre from tip to toeprepared for the party. Few girls wore long gown; andmost of them wore cocktail dress.

It was a bit comforting that this was only a partyfor the juniors and the school party was on weekend. I


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would not forget about the next dance and that I would buy an outfit for it.

I stopped on our way to the round table at thecenter of the hall.

Ummgirls, cant we just sit there? I urged,pointing a finger to the corner of the foyer.

They agreed. They never wanted to be on thespotlight, too.

I just wanted these stupid parties because sittingon a chair was the closest thing I could get to resting. Ihadnt recovered yet from my sporty vacation. Goingto a school dance was better than having a teaceremony.

Why Id never forgotten parties of LawrenceAcademy was utterly a different thing.

Nobody asked us to dance and that was good.Id never hated dancing but I never liked it either. Inaddition, boys werent included on the list of myspecialties. I had never taken classes for honey pot not that I would. I was no Mata Hari.

Boys sometimeswell, most of the times irritated me. For me, they were a bunch ofI hadntyet seen much of the outside world before, so I wasntin the position to give my opinion on the matter.

I had to admit; Id never been in love oranything close to that, so what? I wanted to be a spynot an infatuated teenager, period.


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I danced with Keiko. Wed been doing that forthe last few years. Alleyya was a party pooper.

When we were exhausted, we spent some timesconversing with our batchmates. They might knowsomething we didnt.

Im tired, a tall girl wearing a midnight bluegown complained. Her name was Celine Carter.

Were allowed to leave, Marian simply stated.

Celine sniffed then mumbled somethingunintelligible.

Theres still fifteen minutes remaining, I toldthem. Lets just enjoy. You know, great things comewhen you least expect it.

They rolled their eyes but nonetheless followedme to the dance floor. All twelve of us gathered andformed a chain. I fall behind; I was afraid to be tickled by the girl in front of meKeiko. Spies 101: learnfrom your mistakes. She had tickled me two times in arow.

We were in the middle of having fun whensuddenly all the bright lights of the party were turnedoff.

T h is is it , I thought to myself. This was why Idnever forgotten about the danceexcept now.

I sensed that somebody was behind me. Iautomatically fought back and made contact. I


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crouched down and I laid my hand onto something. Aleg.

The lights turned on.

When my eyes adjusted to the bright lights, Isaw big men lying on the polished black floor of the junior hall. Some of the men were bleeding, includingthe one in front of me.

Looking around, I realized that Alleyya wasnowhere to be found. Celine was gone, too. Therewere only ten girls in the hall and twelveboy s threewere missing.

Wheres Alleyya? I searched around but Icouldnt find her.

Keiko was looking for her, too. I didnt know if shes joking, but she was trying to find Alleyyaunderneath the tables.

Hello, students, a menacing sound said. Icould easily tell that it wasnt a voice from one of ourteachers. Welcome to your darkest nightmare. No, Ididnt think so.

Keiko and I looked at each other with a largegrin and did our complicated high five, low fiveitwas complicated.

We were ordered to fall in line. Keiko was behind me at the end of the line. I could see Hazeltwitching now and then.


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Boys, and girls, this is your fir st covertoperation, the ominous voice begun. Your mission isto retrieve your missing operatives. Treat those menyouve just beaten as deadyou couldnt ask them.Two of them had a CD for each group.

You have only till sunrise to do your mission.Everyone can use all the facilities and all of your owngadgets. Do what you wantuse minibomb, dontchange your clothes, go shoppingtheres no schoolrules now. Then the voice theatrically stopped.

Boys and girls, students of Lawrence Academy, best of luck to all of you. I felt the voice smiled. Butthats not what you need, is it? Well, you know whatto do... the voice trailed off. I was so irritated to that

voice that I tried to remember it as much as I could.You would never know, I might encounter himsomeday

Wed stopped looking for Alleyya and Celine,and started searching for the CD.

I slid my hands inside the pockets of the jeans of every corpse that were nearer to me. I foundnothing.

Girls I found it! Grace called out, waving theCD that she was holding.

Hey, Grace. Here, Id brought my laptop. Sothats what inside Hazels bag every time we had aparty. Whats more fascinating was she wasnt making


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a face when she said Grace. When youre a spy, youreally have to put your personal life behind.

We drew together. Hazel clicked the play button and all eyes were on the monitor. Everybodywas so still. I wondered if it was because of fear or

because they couldnt wait for some action. My reasonwas the latter.

The video was nothing but black.

Weird. I thought this is the clue.

We all looked at each others eyes, thinking thesame thing. The boys were not far enough that theywouldnt hear us, so we didnt say a word.

Our team silently but quickly moved toward the

forensic laboratory.

Unsurprisingly, the laboratory was a state of theart facility. Its walls were all white and the ceiling wasvery high. Looking from the outside of this room, itlooked like any other laboratory room. Inside, it wasvery odd in a way. It was the room alien movies show.The kind that makes you made a wow sound but, at thesame time, you want to hide because aliens mightarrive.

Even though I had been in and out of this roomfor several years, I was still amazed by this room. Itwas my dream to have this kind of laboratory.


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Grace and Hazel worked on the fingerprintswhile the others gather their do-it-yourself gadgets.Marian and her bestfriend, Lily Jonson, brought outour spy wear.

I tried to decipher anything from the compact

disk. Keiko helped me too. We let the other girls dowhat they could do; after all, we would have ourspotlight when it would come into fight.

After a couple of minutes, we found twofingerprints: from Mr. Grayson and Mr. Cliff. I shouldhave known. They were both our Covet Operationteachers.

After some more minutes, I frustratinglyannounced that I didnt find anything significant. Nociphers, codes or anything. Nothing but an ordinary blank CD. So I guessed we would have just stick to thefingerprints as the main clues.

But why its so obvious? Moreover, why wouldMr. Grayson and Mr. Cliff let themselves leave theirown fingerprints? Was it accidental or they onlywanted this operation to be so easy for us? Hardly.

It was quarter after one, when we gathered intothe drawing room of third year girls. While the otheryear levels were partying, here we were, doing acovert operation with our two teammates missing.


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Okay. So, we found two fingerprints, I began.Mr. Grayson and Mr. Cliff. But theres somethingsuspicious about those fingerprints, dont you think?

Youre right. Hazel agreed. And the othersnod too.

I think its best to conduct surveillance on bothof them. Who wants to do this? I suggested. No onewas brave enough but Keiko. Cmon girls, theyre justMr. Grayson and Mr. Cliff!

They all gave me an unconvinced look.

Youre good at surveillance, you do it, Mariansaid.

I nod then turned to Keiko, You okay with

this?Oh sure, she answered confidently.

What should we do next? Rosebud, the-always-asking girl in our team, asked. Rosebud never been in top of the class but she was the bestinterrogator and the most honeypot-looking girl.

You, you and you. Do you want to be the onesto check where could Mr. Grayson and Mr. Cliff have been right now? Youre the best in this aspect. I asked because I wasnt sure if they want to do the researchingthing; and also I didnt wish to give the impression Iwas a leader wannabe. I admit I was good, but notgood enough to be a leader in an operation. Nor a


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leader of this sweet-looking teenage girls! I looked soaverage.

I had pointed Marian, Lily and Anaya.

I included Anaya in the research team, an angel-faced orphan from France. Shes so fragile and well,angel faced, I didnt want her somewhere dangerousthat I assigned her to the researching. Shes almost assmart as Alleyya.

Her parents died week after she was born. Shetold us her family was her maids, cooks, gardeners andother helpers in her house. We tried not to laugh atthat. She was really an angel. She was the mostinnocent girl I had ever met.

Anaya wasnt really weak though. I just felt veryprotective toward her. In fact, shes the third inranking. Shes next to Keiko and me and a rank higherthan Alleyya. She might not be as smart as Alleyya butshes almost as good as Keiko and I.

So Amelia, we have to plan everythingperfectly.

I know Luna, no room for mistake. We didour friendship handshake that was so complicated

Alleyya couldnt follow.Suddenly, I sensed that someone was watching

me.

Anaya was looking at me intently, as if she wastrying to read my mind. I looked away awkwardly.


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Umm its okay if you dont want, I blurtedout without looking.

Its fine with me, its just thatnothing, shesaid shyly. Her voice was a ringing bell.

It was two-thirty; we were in front of Mr.Graysons room. We could try the windows butneither breaking them or making holes on the glasswasnt the best nor the only options we had. Andwhats with the fifty-feet high building for the teachers.Mr. Cliff and Mr. Grayson belonged to the UndercoverDepartment, which was on the highest floor of the building.

The door was password protected. Thankfully,we still got some computer wizardsalthough not asgood as Alleyya and Celine. Nevertheless, they couldsurvive this.

Luna to Isis, I whispered, are you finish?

Finish, Luna. I could hear Theas proudness inher voice.

Besides me and Keiko, the team was hidingsomewhere inconspicuous. It was for sure that a bunchof teenage girls wearing over-all suits, using very

advanced technology andon top of the listtryingto open their teachers computer-locked door would be eye-catching. Not to mention that there weresecurity cameras all around; but the girls got it allcleared. I would not compare them again to Alleyyaand Celine.


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Its very bador should I say hell?when thesubstitute teacher is young and knows how hard to be aspy student yet worse than Ms. Massey. This type of teacher always has the line:Thats so easy, I did thattoo when I was your age. Didnt even break a sweat

Or something like: Teenagers now Like they werenever been once a teenager. Irritating, bigheaded andignorant subst itute teachers.

I tried to concentrate again to our mission.

Mr. Graysons room wasnt a room. It was amess! Everything was scattered on the floor. His usedclothes, gadgets, papers, books and even his collectibletoy cars were cluttered all around. It was like he nevercleaned his room for a yearwhich was impossible because we all had our cleaning gadgets. This room wasimpossible. Impossible in every ways I know.

Okay. I finally got it. Mr. Grayson had Alleyyaand Celine. No doubt. Why else would he make aneffort to mess up with his belongings? He was not thatkind of person. He was one of the cleanest male Idever met. I had thought once that hes an O.C.

Wait, stop there. Theres no need toinvestigate this room. Its just a distraction. A waste of time so that we will be sidetracked. Grayson is a smartdude.

Great. So what are we going to do now?


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I knew how frustrated Keiko was. She enjoysfinding cluesin this situation, it could be calledgarbology.

I checked if my communication device was stillworking.

Luna to Group one and two. Do you hear me?There was a crackling sound. Ouch.

I waited without speaking. Another crackle.

Ouch! I complained.

Sorry Luna. You see were having someproblem here

What problem? I asked tensely.

My group got caught. I Thea broke off.Group two! Anaya-Eve! I shouted silently.

Were fine Luna. Dont worry much. Anayaassured me.

Do you know what happened to Group one?

Damn it! What happened? I was shocked. Itwas the first time I heard Anaya speak those first twowords she had said.

They were blown. I announced.

Do you have any idea where are they now?Anaya asked anxiously.

I have no idea, I began, but I think we have tocheck out Mr. Cliffs room.


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Okay. Im trying to confirm now if hes in. Just a minute.

I glanced at Keiko. She was still scrutinizingsome of Mr. Graysons stuff while listening wordlesslyin my conversation with Anaya.

Got. It. Anaya pronounced the words slowly.What? I asked impatiently.

Hes with Ms. Lawrence now.

This time of day? I wondered. Waithowdid you know where is he exactly?

Ask Keiko. Keiko not Amelia. She let out ameaningful laugh.

Okay. Fine. I would have to wait until thismission end. By then I could ask Keiko. I was totallyclueless whats going on.

Amel ia , we have to go to Mr. Cliffs room. Idont know where that is. I gave an emphasis to hercode name.

Oh, right. I think its at the end of this floor.

Why do you know? I asked suspiciously.Were not allowed to visit our teachers. Of course,Ms. Lawrence was an exception to Keiko; but not Mr.Cliff.

Who are you asking again? Heavy sarcasm.

I love Keiko more than Amelia.


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3. B lown IT TOOK LESS MINUTES FOR ANAYA TOmanipulate the controlling system of the whole building than Thea did. I was impressed. She nevershowed us how great she is.

Before opening the door to Mr. Cliffs room,Keiko chuckled awkwardly like she was holding it for avery long time. And now she finally burst out.

It was very lucky that the walls of the building

were sound-proof. But instinctively and foolishly, Imade ashhh sound with my forefinger on my lips.

She laughed louder. I was confused.

What?! I yelled at her irritably. Is theresomething funny about me? I surmised.


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Dont be silly it w a snt you. Open that damndoor and youll see, she scoffed.

I rolled my eyes and opened the damn door tosee what she meant.

Then I saw the room. I fall down laughing.Keiko joined me.

The room was fine. It wasnt funnyif I didntknow whose room was it.

Mr. Cliffs room was cuteand very girlish.

Mr. Cliff. The very handsome and very mannishMr. Cliff had a pink room. Oh. My. God. What. The.Hell!

H ow ma ny peo ple know th is? Obviously, there wasonly few because there was still a long line of girlssigning up to be his girlfriend.

But still! Mr. Cliff!

So thats why I wasnt attracted to him. Notthat I was attracted to anyone. Of course not.

What do you think we can find in this room?Keiko interrupted my thoughts.

Well, lets see I said childishly. Here, Itook a bear.

Wow, maybe its a camera, dont you think?Keiko played along with me.

Luna! Amelia! Stop fooling around! Mission,remember? Anayas voice woke us up.


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Keiko and I apologized at the same time whilegrinning. We remembered this had happened beforewhen we were freshmen.

Keiko, Alleyya and me went on our own littlemission. As always, I was with Keiko doing the

surveillance. Alleyya was doing the computer stuffsinside our room. Our surveillance team came across amagic shop. Then we were instantly caught up in ourown world. Thats when Alleyya interrupted us withthe same words that Anaya said to us.

Okay, back to work. I stretch my arms andlegs. I was starting to feel sleepy. But then, I started tothink. Why would Mr. Cliff let us know what he is? Of course he didnt know that we would break in. Thatmeans he wasnt in. He wasnt with Mr. Grayson. Butwhat was his finger print doing in that CD! If this setup of his room was just to confuse us, I didnt thinkthat Keiko would know that beforehand.

So, it could therefore be concluded that Mr.Cliff was a honey pot (the real definition of honey pot)and Mr. Grayson was the man behind all this. Andsomehow, he managed to make Mr. Cliff hold the CD

and leave his fingerprint. But I know I was missingsomething obvious. Something that was already in frontof me but I couldnt pinpoint.

Lets go, Keiko ordered, probably thinkingthe same thing.


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Luna to Eve, I checked if shes still there.

What? Anaya responded.

Why the hell you two, I glared at Keiko thenlooked straight ahead again,didnt tell me about Mr.Cliff! Breathe. You should have told me earlier. Inthat way, I shouldnt have wasted my time! Our time!

Sorry, Anaya and Keiko apologized insynchronization.

Its just that I wanted to see what would beyour expression. You should have seen your face!

Ha ha ha, I said without humor. Very funny.

Okay. Fine. This time its serios time.Promise. Keiko offered her hand for our secrethandshake.

I didnt take it. Instead I said, Whatever.


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