Spy School: Danger is my Middle Name

Skydive

As we stared down at the island, I quickly took a few pictures and sent them over to the CIA. It was typical agent procedure to report to the headquarters where you were at all times. After clicking them through, I faced the distance below us again.

I gazed down at the island. Settling comfortably into position, I took a look down at the place we would be staying for the next day. 

"It's a bit windy out here, don't you think?"

I turned my face to the right and almost fell off the helicopter. Trixie was in the same relaxed position right next to me, and I hadn't known for the past fifteen minutes. As my feet stumbled in surprise, she caught me by the hand and pulled me up next to her again.

"You really are like your sister," I muttered as I regained my balance. "A pair of cats. Always creeping up on people and scaring the poop out of them."

Trixie didn't seem to be affected by the comment. Hair flowing through the wind, she was also staring off into the distance, but she looked much more regal than me.

Silence followed.

"Have you ever learned how to skydive?" she suddenly said. 

I did a double take. "You realize I've been on missions for the past two years, right? If you want that information, just ask Erica."

"Have you ever learned to skydive?" she repeated again. "I'm asking you a question. Have you ever had a teacher slowly tell you the steps and precautions of skydiving?"

"Well..." I thought about the situation. I had skydived multiple times, that's for sure, but had I ever sat down and listen to a teacher tell me about skydiving? No, since that course wasn't until year four. Erica had taught me some tips, but not completely how to do it, so I guess that didn't count.

"Not exactly," I replied reluctantly. "Why are you suddenly asking me this?"

Trixie sighed. "Look down. Are you expecting to go down that distance with a freefall? And since we have enough parachutes for each person, you're going to have to skydive by yourself. No help from sis this time."

My brain flashed back to when we were flying down to the top of the museum in Paris. Erica was the person who steered, and I held onto her as we glided down. So that didn't exactly count as me skydiving solo. Therefore, this would be the first time I would do it myself.

"You're right. I need help," I stared into the cockpit. "I'll go ask Erica if she can teach me."

"Not so fast!" Trixie blocked my path into the helicoptor cockpit. "Erica is helping the pilot. If you need help, you'll have to ask someone else."

"Alright, then I'll ask Jawa," I said, steering my way to him. Once again, Trixie blocked my path.

"He's not experienced in skydiving," she said curtly. "You need someone who's especially talented in areas that challenge physical skills."

I stared at her. "Jawa is  especially talented in areas that challenge physical skills. Have you forgotten about the fact that he's the number two student at the Academy?"

Having no answer to this, Trixie simply just sighed. "What I'm trying to say is that it's best if you don't ask someone like Jawa or Chip. That way, I won't have to deal with the boys goofing off when they are supposed to be learning something."

"How are we supposed to goof off on a helicoptor?! As if anyone would try something funny when Erica can push us off this thing in one swift move."

"Erica's in the cockpit," Trixie said. 

"She can still hear us," I replied.

"Not with this wind."

"Headsets exist. There's microphones attached in this room that she can tune into."

"That doesn't matter!" Trixie said. "You're going to have to ask someone else! Someone that is experienced in physical activities, and someone you definitely won't goof off with!"

"Then I'll ask Zoe," I bolted as quick as I could past her grip, but she somehow threw me back over to the viewing area again.

"Zoe's got a crush on you," Trixie pursed her lips. "That won't work. And don't even think about Jayden- he's going to end up teaching you the wrong way on purpose so we can watch you fall into the ocean."

"Hey!" Jayden shouted through his headphones. "I heard that!"

Trixie gave him a cold look, then faced me again.

"I'll ask Kylie then," I said after a moment of thinking.

"No," Trixie snapped.

I gripped the carpet in frustration. "What are you trying to pull?! First you say I need a teacher, and now you're rejected everyone that I want to teach me! Aren't you just going against your own point?"

"What are you trying to pull?!" Trixie shouted back. "You've basically ran through half of us without even acknowledging me! Don't you realize I can teach you myself?!"

"What's going on here?!" Erica suddenly burst into the main room, scanning the situation. As her eyes passed Trixie, who was cornering me and preventing me from moving anywhere, her eyes narrowed.

"Get away from him," she pulled her sister away, who pouted and stomped over to the cockpit. "Ben, explain what happened. Why was Trixie trying to corner you?"

"I was trying to find someone who could teach me how to skydive, but she wouldn't let me find a teacher! Every single person I thought of, she just blew them off with an excuse!"

"Who did you recommend as a teacher?" Erica asked. 

"Well, first, I thought of you," I said. Realizing my mistake, I quickly covered it up with an excuse. "I mean- not because you're special or anything. It's because you know a lot about skydiving, and-"

"I was in the cockpit helping the pilot," Erica said. "So it was pretty obvious that I wasn't a choice. I guess my sister had a point in you having a bad choice of teachers."

"But that's not all!" I said. "Then, I recommended Jawa-"

"-you two would just goof around-" Erica interrupted.

"Then I brought up Zoe-" 

"-she has a crush on you-" Erica interjected again.

"Then Kylie, since she's pretty tame-"

"-why didn't you think of my sister as a teacher?" Erica raised her eyebrows.

"Exactly!" Trixie shouted from the cockpit. "This is what I mean! See, Ben, Erica brought up the same points I did!"

"I give up," I collapsed onto the wall. "Just let her teach me. I can't keep up an argument with two Hale sisters."