"This is it" Ethan said as we braced ourselves in the hallway. We were standing in a line, all huddled close together, ready to conquer the world, as if we hadn't already. Our catsuits were absent, our gadgets were gone, but we were still a team.
"Can you not turn this in to a dramatically cheesy moment?" Britt complained. "It's really no big deal."
All four of us turn to stare at her like she's just said that she can communicate with sharks. Britt Sanders saying that what we were about to do was not a big deal, was totally a big deal.
"This time last year it was your life" Kiwi said giving Britt a look of derision. "You're telling me you're not going to get any fun out of it at all?"
"I guess I just have different priorities this year" she said matter-of-factly, looping her arm around Zeke's waist. He draped his arm around her shoulders protectively, kissing the top of her head.
"This year is definitely different" I said, squeezing Ethan's hand. He squeezed mine right back. It felt right, for us to be together. There's just no avoiding cliches, is there? "Will you do the honours Kiwi?"
She stepped forward, putting her hand on the door. We all tried to ignore the fact her hand was shaking. Kiwi never got nervous. Ever. "I most certainly will" Kiwi pushed against the doors to reveal the bustling cafeteria on the other side.
As predicting, everyone in the vicinity turned to look at the five of us like we were the stars of some teen movie. Our summer had certainly felt like a movie, and it wasn't like we were undeserving of the attention. Britt thrived in the spotlight, used to the eyes of the student body following her like a shadow while the rest of us walking indecisively further into the hall.
When we were about to sit down together it felt like there was a collective intake of breath, as if all the oxygen had been sucked out of the room at once. We all sat down. The lunch crowd went back to their own business.
It didn't matter as much as we thought that the once most popular girl was sitting with social rejects. Britt was one of us. It didn't matter that she and the not so new kid were now holding hands under the table. Zeke was one of us. Kiwi, Ethan and I? Well, we'd always been here - just not how we are now.
"Did you feel like celebrities walking in?" Kiwi giggled.
"All we needed was a red carpet and a wind machine, seriously" I laughed with her, the sound rippling around our group.
"We ARE famous. I have twenty minutes of taped TV footage to prove it" Zeke smiled confidently. Once we'd escaped the clutches of the police station a news crew were right outside, ready to hound us about how we'd managed to stand, stall and stop the heist and defeat an army of robbers and thieves. Not bad for a day's work.
"We're super" Ethan high-rived Kiwi.
"Yeah, super spies" Britt added.
"No, no" I grinned. " Super market spies!"
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