The Hijinks War

2. Hurricane Katia

It was so early, the morning hadn't woken yet, and there was a knock on our window. Jess grunted and rolled over, pulling her covers tighter around herself. A second knock followed, not too much louder than the first but with an air of urgency.

"Who in their right mind?" I flung my blanket off and ripped the curtain aside, only to yelp and close it right away. Blindly pulling on the first item of clothing within reach, I peered back out, wondering if there were really boys out there who'd just seen me in my tiny sleepwear.

Balancing on the flower box window sill was Jackson; above him, looking into my room upside- down, was Kellen. He looked perplexed and irate. What were they doing hanging around outside my third floor window at 2 am?

It wasn't an entirely uncommon occurrence for them to rappel when they needed to avoid being caught by curfew enforcement and Hellhounds that might be in the hallways. Hell, I'd done it before. They claimed it was the easiest way to get in and out of rooms when executing a mission. But what they were doing outside my window; what did my bedroom have to do with their mission?

Jackson gestured at my outfit—a large sweater and fluffy slippers—much better in my opinion than the tank top I had been wearing seconds earlier. I pried the window open, "Yes?"

"Why aren't you ready?" I blinked at them in blank confusion. "Jess!" Jackson barked, exasperated. "What the hell? I told you to be ready!"

I rolled Jess out of bed as Jackson told us to hurry, tossed our harnesses in the window, then slid down the lines, leaving them for us to use. Rushing to get dressed, we harnessed ourselves quickly, clumsily bounced down the side of the building and ran for meeting point.

Slightly self-conscious under Kellen's gaze as he watched us approach, I slipped amid the group of Thunderbirds under the arches at the north end of the parking lot. Looking around I noticed only girls—fair, I guess, given what our materials were. "Good. You're all here...dressed and ready."

Heat crept onto my face; just how much undress did he see in those few seconds? 

Jackson snorted, looking mildly amused as he asked his sister, "You have the provisions?"

Jess pulled Katia's bag from the dark pillowcase we'd stuffed it into. With a very serious tone and completely straight face, Kellen addressed us. "Your mission is to decorate the common areas with the materials Private Kida and Private Kemper will provide."

While the others solemnly nodded acceptance of the mission, Jess giggled uncontrollably. Though I wanted to laugh with her, I bit my lip to hide my grin, and jabbed her side to shut her up.

"This is a stealth mission." Jackson glared at us. "It's why we chose you. There will be no giggling or laughing, or you might alert the Hellhounds. We trust you to complete your mission without incident. See you all tomorrow."

Some of the girls, despite being chosen for their ability to be discreet, echoed after them, "See you tomorrow." Giggle, giggle, hair twirl, eyelash flutter. Gag! The guys couldn't even see them anymore. 

"Alright, Privates! Fall in!" Our Sergeant, Camille barked. Having obtained everyone's attention, her voice dropped to a whisper, and she eyed Jess and I. "So what do we have, girls?"

Jess unzipped the bag and flipped it over, letting all of Katia's underwear flutter to the ground. The gathered girls all gasped, some with silly smiles and some with an awkward reverence that said they felt bad for what they were about to do. I kind of did too. If I had underwear this gorgeous—which I guess I did, somewhere in my room—I would probably die of embarrassment knowing everyone knew exactly what kind of scandalous undies I had. It was both genius as an opening move and disgusting.