Love at First Fight - A Gallagher Girls Story

Chapter Nine

As time when on, talking to Phineas got easier. When girls came to see him, he'd have us help clean his cluttered office, which ultimately resulted in a lot of cleaning for me. I didn't mind. We talked while we worked. It made us equals—not doctor and patient, but rather two people with our sleeves rolled up.

There was a lot of small talk. I learned a few things about him and he learned a few things about me. He asked me what my favorite books were, and when I asked him the same question, I discovered that he spent the majority of his days reading war memoirs. We burned straight through favorite colors and favorite animals. There had even been an entire day dedicated to favorite jokes. We talked. Just talked. I couldn't remember the last time someone had just talked to me.

I felt good when I left his office. I felt relieved, almost. The walk between his room and mine didn't feel quite so long without all that weight on my shoulders, and so I usually took my time. I liked being able to float across stone and smile. In fact, I was just in the middle of one of these walks when someone grabbed my collar and started pulling.

Alice Anderson is so very small, but she is also so very, very strong. "She says we need to be there in twenty minutes," she stated, dragging me along behind her.

"Umm..." I said, because what else was I supposed to say? Spy training or not, having your best friend come out of nowhere (and I do mean nowhere) and yank you out of school was something that elicited at least a little bit of shock. "Who? Said to be where?"

Alice grinned back at me, but she didn't stop pulling. "Woods," she said. "Roseville. It's time to Capture the Flag."

THINGS YOU REALLY, REALLY, REALLY, REALLY, REALLY, REALLY, REALLY DON'T WANT TO ENCOUNTER AT YOUR ANNUAL CAPTURE THE FLAG GAME

(A list by Morgan Goode with assistance from Alice Anderson)

- A banner hanging above Roseville Town Hall that reads Roseville 77th Annual Town Carnival in big, orange letters, because it means that there are going to be a lot of people and a lot of the Gallagher Glare.

- Clowns. Because clowns.

- A Ferris wheel. Seriously. The worst blind spots are born on Ferris wheels.

- At least half of the Blackthorne Military Academy Security Staff.

- Macey McHenry, chatting with Zachary Goode.

- Both Joe Solomon and Rachel Morgan, chatting with Aunt Liz.

- Let's just go ahead and assume that you never want to see anyone I'm related to.

I knew a solid sixty percent of the team opposite us, but there were only a few people who made sense in that specific environment. Dad and Woods, certainly—the CoveOps teachers running the show. Martin the Security Guard was there, giving me that sideways smile he liked so much, and Macey was at his side. Roseville has seen stranger sights than Gallagher Academy security guards, so they almost made sense, but something told me that their presence was not going to work out in my favor.

That was it. Those were the only people who made sense.

My grandparents—Headmasters of their beloved schools—belong behind a desk somewhere, and yet here they were, looking at me like they were ready for a fight. Looking at me like they knew they were going to win. Even Aunt Liz wore the look of a challenger, although hers was really more directed at Alice than it was at me.