Only The Goode Spy Forever

Chapter 38: The Fight

   Annalise thought that recruiting Adalind and Amelia was the best plan that they'd had in a long time. The twins were juniors, meaning that they had far more experience than them.
   Anna continued seeing Cason. She slowly heard the voices on her comms go down. Caroline was the first to quit listening. She got caught up in her school work. Diana always listened intently. Amelia and Adalind got tired of just sitting and listening, so (despite Anna's protests) they followed her into town and tailed her. Cason, being untrained and unaware, never noticed. Bree quit listening. Anna knew that it wasn't because of her. Anna noticed that Bree's smile was fading and she didn't make her jokes as much. Something was wrong, but Anna didn't pry.
    Anna was on her 5th official date with Cason. It was their 3 month anniversary. He took her to the arcade. She knew she could beat him at any game, but she pretended that she was no good. Her and Cason laughed together all the time. After playing games for a while, he grabbed her hand and they strolled through town.
  "You look beautiful tonight," Cason said. She smiled.
   "You're not so bad yourself," she teased. Cason laughed. Anna saw a man walking towards them. The man was old with crazy white hair and wild eyebrows. Anna squinted at him. She couldn't help but think that she had seen him before. The man passed them and bumped into Anna. She stumbled a bit.
   "Excuse me," the man said in a thick southern accent.
   "Hey," Cason said in frustration. He kept her upright. "That was rude."
   "Yeah," Anna said, extremely confused. That man had gone out of his way to bump into her. Her and Cason continued their walk. His face turned extremely serious.
   "Anna," he said seriously. She held her breath. Isn't this the part where the girl gets dumped? "I know you've been lying to me." This was it. He was going to dump her, or kidnap her. Anna tried not to cry.
   "Cason," she began. He shook his head and shushed her.
   "Please just tell me the truth. Tell me the truth about 1 thing. Let me see the real you," he whispered. He closed that gap between them. Anna felt utterly safe and exposed.
   "I go to the Gallagher Academy!" She blurted. She heard her friends shouting through her comms. She ignored every sound.
    "What?" Cason said. The yelling in her comms proceeded.
   "I wanted to tell you, I just didn't think that you'd like me if you knew the truth. Please don't be mad. I'm sorry," she rushed. Cason shook his head.
   "Anna why would I care what school you went to? I know this town thinks Gallagher Girls are spoiled princesses, but you know me. I'm not like that," he replied. "I don't care where you go to school. All I care about is you." Anna was shocked. She had been dreaming of a boy saying that to her for her entire life. Her eyes welled with tears. She kissed him. She wasn't thinking about the wrath of her friends.

    She entered her suite to see Bree, Caroline, Diana, Adalind, and Amelia staring at her. She shivered. 3 highly trained operatives were scary, but 3 teenage girls that were mad? That was absolutely terrifying.
    "You're breaking up with him!" Caroline shouted. "You're breaking up with him the next time you see him! How could you have been so stupid?" Anna's heart dropped.
   "He was going to have to know sooner or later! Besides, I didn't tell him anything about the Academy. He took it well, he cares about me regardless," Anna protested. Caroline shook her head.
   "Don't you understand what you've done?" She snapped. "What are you going to do when he comes to the Academy trying to see you? What happens when he sees the wrong thing? What happens when you get even stupider and tell him the whole truth?"
   "Hey, calm down, Care," Bree said. Caroline shot her a glare.
   "Don't tell me what to do, Bree. You can go around and act like you're an innocent sweet little farm girl, but I see right through that! I know about your sister and your search. You're crazy!" Caroline shouted. Bree's face fell. She looked like she had been slapped in the face.
   "Hey, you don't know what you're talking about. Don't take your anger out on the rest of us," Adalind snapped.
   "Are none of you seeing the problem here?" Caroline raged. "Anna told him! She told a townie! Our whole school is at risk!" Anna turned to the rest of her friends. They all looked like they agreed.
   "Diana?" Anna asked, looking to her best friend in the world. She needed her support.
   "Sorry, Ann. Care is right. This has gone too far. I'm sorry," she whispered. Adalind and Amelia agreed. Anna was about to cry.
   "Fix this," Caroline snapped. "Or I will." She stormed out of the room. Diana gave Annalise an apologetic look and followed Caroline out. Adalind put a hand on her shoulder. She gave her a weak smile and walked outside the room.
   "They'll get over it. We'll follow you into town on Friday. After that, this is over," Amelia told her. Anna nodded. The second they left Anna broke down and began crying. Bree was up and hugging her in an instant. Anna had forgotten that Bree was in the room. She was so quiet.
   "Hey, don't cry. It's okay, everything is going to be alright," Bree soothed. Anna shook her head and continued to cry.
   "No it won't. I have to break up with the only boy I've ever cared about! All of my friends left me!" She cried. Bree turned Anna to face her.
   "Really?" She questioned. "Because I'm right here." Anna hugged Bree tightly. She was grateful for Bree, she truly was a great friend.
   "Why have you been so upset lately?" Anna asked. She didn't know why she asked, she just did. Bree sighed.
   "It's like I can be surrounded by tons of people and still feel all alone," Bree whispered. Anna was surprised that she didn't know how that felt. She always had someone that made her feel like she wasn't alone. She always had her family. "I'm sorry I haven't been on the comms. It's kind of hard for me. Don't get me wrong, I love seeing you happy. It's just, hearing you with him makes me realize how alone I am." Anna nodded.
   "You always have me," Anna said. Bree gave her a squeeze.
   "I know, and I'm grateful. Love from a sister and love from a boy is just different," Bree replied. Anna nodded, it was true. "And hey, I'm serious about things working out. They really will get over it. We're Gallagher Girls, we're sisters. Sisters fight, but at the end of the day they always have each other's backs. Keep your chin up, angel." Anna smiled.
   Being comforted by Bree once again made her think of Chase. That night Bree wasn't talking to her as a friend, colleague, or fellow Gallagher Girl. She was talking to her as a sister. Anna knew because she  would have said the same thing to Jaycee. Anna hugged Bree one final time. Bree told her goodnight and went back to her own suite.
   Anna lay back onto her bed thinking about how she was going to have to break up with the worlds greatest guy. She was too tired to change out of the clothes that she had worn with Chase. She slid her hand into her pocket and her fingers brushed a small paper. She bolted up. A paper in her pocket! Someone had performed a brush pass! Her mind flew back to the man with the white hair and wild eyebrows. It all made sense. She pulled the paper out and read the note. Her face went white.

                                      Be smart.