Model in Disguise

9. Amateur Agent

Dedicated to: Amazing2000

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      September 1st
      Agent R. Harris and Agent A. Nichols encounter their next and final partner.

    Ch. 9: Amateur Agent
    Date: September 1st

The first thing I seem to have learned about Smile Academy is that everyone here looks the same.

      Not literally; it's more in the figurative sense. Every teen here is good-looking and confident and completely clueless to the world around them. They laugh, play-fight, pose for pictures. But none of them are aware that they're in the presence of two trained agents.

      As I observe how careless these teens are, I convince myself that it shouldn't be too hard to point out our last partner.

      But I then realize that really, it should be extremely hard. If this new partner is a Special Operations operative they should be able to blend into their surroundings so well that I don't know who they are at first glance.

      But I'm willing myself not to miss them the second time.

      I maneuver my way around campus with Adrian in tow, our hands intertwined securely. My palms are sweaty at the contact with his and my heart beats irregularly inside my chest but I don't dare take my hand away. I have an image to uphold with Adrian, regardless of what I'm feeling.

       If I were to look at the two of us from someone else's point of view there is a specific picture that I should see. Two attractive teens, a couple, new to the school and testing out the waters of Smile Academy.

      And I can tell we're portraying this image perfectly because the students camping around the premises are turning their heads to stare at us as we walk past. It's awkward. But I pretend I don't notice.

      It does help that I've learned exactly how to portray myself as Rachel Williams. I've learned the walk, the talk, the hair flips, and even the dreaded laugh.

       Wardrobe is an important factor as well.

      In Whitehaven, New York, research shows that the fall usually comes with lots of leaves and wind. That being said, I was required to prepare myself for the abundance of leaves that I'd have to dodge while I was walking - especially if I was wearing pumps.

      The warmth of Adrian's hand is the only thing that keeps me from glaring back at the meddling eyes of the students of Smile Academy.

      As if they've never seen two seventeen-year-olds before.

       “Adrian . . .” I pause, my eyes secretly scanning over the school's campus. “Should we be drawing attention to ourselves?”

       “No idea,” he responds, “but it makes things a lot easier.” Adrian stops us both and turns to me. I smile up at him slightly, letting my green eyes connect with his and drink in the emotion within them - supposedly. In reality I want to tear myself away from the good-looking boy in front of me. But I don't. Because I can't.

      We're stopped right next to a shrub that lines the separation of grass and the entrance road. The school buildings are approximately five hundred meters away from where we stand. Behind me there are at least one hundred and forty seven students enjoying themselves near the entrance, I notice. I come to the conclusion of thirty-two blondes, fifteen redheads, and a hundred brunettes.