Making the Grade (The Model Spy #2)

Chapter 5 - Changes

The hotel Fred and I were staying in that night was in Georgetown, among the hustle and bustle of the college students going out for the night. I could hear their excited shouts to one another as they walked up and down the streets, ready to go out for dinner or hang out at a club. Their laughs and chatter filled me with aggravation and I stormed over to the sliding balcony door and slammed it shut, causing the glass to wobble dangerously in the doorframe.

I was jealous of them, jealous of them for so many reasons. They were so carefree. Their minds weren't plagued with national security issues or the mug shots of murderers. They didn't know that at that very moment there may have been a student in a boarding school across the Atlantic, hanging on to his or her last breath. They didn't see bodies when they closed their eyes.

They weren't alone either. They had each other. They could go out with their friends on Friday nights. There were no rules about who they could talk to or see. They were completely free. I envied them.

I sat cross-legged on the sofa, a bowl of ice cream in my lap. I hadn't touched it in a few minutes and it was already melting, the cold condensation dripping onto my legs. I stirred the melted ice cream until it looked like a bowl of thick, vanilla soup.

"You're taking your breakup with Will rather hard, aren't you?" Fred said as he entered the suite and tossed the room keys onto the table. He and Billy went out for drinks after the meeting. I never thought Fred would have a crazier Friday night than me.

I refused to acknowledge him, even as he sat down across from me.

"Laura," he started anxiously. He wasn't ready for these kinds of conversations. "Do you want to talk about it?"

I slammed the bowl of ice cream on the table and Fred jumped. "This isn't about Will!"

"Then what is it Laura?"

"Oh, I don't know!" I began sarcastically. "Maybe it's the fact you lied to me all so you can impress so girl you've been crushing on for twenty-five years!"

Fred's face reddened instantly. "Laura that isn't true-"

I wasn't done yet. "And then the impossible! I'm partnered up with someone who may actually be a bigger loser than me!" I thought of Agent Spencer and the water and his Converse and cringed. I grabbed a pillow and clutched it to my body and lowered my voice. "And Zach won't even talk to me."

Fred leaned back in the chair and nodded knowingly. "So this isn't about Will. It's about Zach."

I knew what he meant and I grew angrier. I wasn't in love with Zach, this wasn't some puppy-love high school crush on a football player who wouldn't give me the time of day. This was a guy who was supposed to be my friend, a guy who no longer wished to talk to me and told me so in a closet that smelled like a dirty bathroom!

"Laura," he continued, "things change."

"Fred you don't have to tell me that!" I argued. "I know more than anyone that things change!" My arm swept around the room and ended at him.

Fred looked away. He knew too.

"I think about how everything has changed every day and no matter how many days go by, I won't ever get used to it!" Tears burned my eyes. As hard as I tried, I couldn't subdue them. They ran down my cheeks and dripped from my chin. I used the arm of my sweatshirt to wipe my face, but all it did was smear my makeup on the gray fabric.

"Laura-"

There was a soft knock on the door of the suite.

"Someone's at the door," I said, stating the obvious, just wishing to end this conversation with Fred.