Spies Never Die

Announced

Hey Casey!

We just wanted to remind you that the plot for your story needs to be kept private. We would like to use it, but we can't have everyone know about it. It would ruin the surprise. Thank you.

On a happier note, we would like to schedule a video chat with you to talk about our plans for your story. You've shown us a huge imagination and have opened the door to new possibilities with the Spies Are Forever story, so we think it only fair to include you on this project.

Please let us know when you would be free.

Thanks!

Joey, Brian, and Corey

.

Casey stared at the phone in shock.

What?

She stared some more, barely moving.

Sam waved his hand in front of her face.

"Casey? Are you okay?"

Just as he finished, Casey let out a shrill scream of pure joy. Sam covered his ears. The sound echoed down the empty hallway. Sam tried to shut her up, but Casey evaded him. Butterflies were dancing in her stomach and she felt like she was on top of the world.

She ran over to Sam who cringed as she approached him.

"No more screaming, okay?" he said, "I don't ever need to hear that again." Casey grinned at him. Then, she hugged him.

"Thank you." she said. Sam looked confused.

"For what?" he asked.

"For going against me and publishing my story." she replied. Sam smiled at her as she turned to go back to the lunchroom. Suddenly, Casey was struck by a moment of pure inspiration. The timing was too good to pass up. She whirled back around and slapped him soundly across the face. Sam stumbled away from her in shock.

"What was that for?!" he yelled.

"For going against me and publishing my story. You almost cost me my entire TCB relationship."

Sam glared at her, rubbing his cheek.

"And don't forget, you owe me for life."

Sam was about to reply when someone came around the corner. It was the teacher from first period. The one who'd taken Casey's phone away.

When Casey saw him, she made a small squeaking sound and darted around the corner, leaving Sam alone. Casey hid as Sam was confronted by the teacher. She couldn't hear what was being said over the sound of the band practicing next door, but she could tell that neither one was really happy.

When the teacher had finally left, Casey peeked out from around he corner.

"Thanks a lot," said Sam, sounding annoyed. Casey smiled at him sheepishly.

"Are you okay?" she asked, hoping she didn't sound insincere.

"I guess," replies Sam, "Except he took my phone too."

"Omg, twinsies!" said Casey, channeling her inner Lydia Bennet. (She thought Mary Kate was the best Lydia ever, but that was irrelevant.) "I mean, uh, sorry" said Casey, patting Sam on the shoulder. He scowled, but it was half-hearted.

"At least it's only a few hours until I can go get it back," Sam said as he gathered his bag from the floor.

Casey grabbed her bag too and walked with him.

.

At the end of the school day, Sam showed up at Casey's locker as she was putting her stuff away.

"Hey" he said, frowning at the mess inside her locker.

"What?" asked Casey.

"Hurry up." replied Sam.

"Why?"

"Because." relied Sam. Casey turned to frown at him, but he was already walking away.

"Hey!" Casey called after him. He didn't stop. Grumbling, Casey hurriedly shut her locker and stumbled after him.

When she caught up to him, he was standing at a water-fountain. Sam finished drinking, and beckoned to Casey.

"What?" she asked.

"C'mon," he said impatiently, "Let's go get our phones back."

"Oh yeah," said Casey, walking faster.

.

After pretending to pay attention to a lecture about being responsible, Casey finally had her phone back.

She and Sam sat outside the school on the benches scattered around the school's front lawn. Both of them checked their phones for a solid half hour. Casey had no idea what Sam could be doing, but she was checking the Starkids' social media. 

Casey realized that she'd missed a short Instagram live-stream of Joey's, but she figured she couldn't complain. So many fans around the world waited up until the ungodly hours of the morning to watch them, or risk missing them. Casey was lucky most of them happened at a decent hour for her.

Silently sending a prayer of solidarity to other fans around the work, Casey opened her email and read the message again. Then she typed out a quick response.

After she was done with that, she texted Sam.

Don't publish the story anymore. Tell them that it's a secret.

Ok, fine, but you owe me.

Casey glanced at him, but he didn't look up.

A moment later, he sent another message.

How about ice-cream?

Casey smiled to herself.

Fine.

.

An hour later, they walked out of the store with two large cones. Sam stopped to eat his, but Casey hurried home. She wanted to sort out a time to chat with TCB.

Dropping her bag and ignoring her homework, Casey set up her laptop and checked her calendar. She emailed Corey and told him she'd be free any time on Saturday. Then, she fell asleep.

For Casey, life was good. She felt extremely lucky to have a special relationship with people she'd idolized for such a long time. Most people never had that chance. She had been extremely worried about telling anyone about it, so she'd kept it to herself. However, Casey felt horrible and excited all at the same time.

The next few days were torture. Waiting for Saturday to arrive, Casey did everything she could to get her mind off the impending meeting.

She helped her parents, cleaned her room, and chatted online with her friends. She choreographed a new dance routine for her friend, and serenaded her whole family with Starkid and Broadway songs for hours on end. (She was forced to stop when the neighbors called to ask who was being strangled.)

Finally, the day came. The night before, Casey had been to a sleep over with her friends and had stayed up all night. When she got home on Saturday morning, she fell face first into the couch and fell asleep. No matter how excited she was for the meeting/video call, she just couldn't keep her eyes open.

A few hours later, she woke up. She checked her email, checked the time, and leapt up.

Dashing upstairs, she grabbed her laptop and accepted the incoming call.

Finally.

There on the screen, was a pixelated close up of someone's forehead.