• -Episode 5-

    There he was, on the edge of the building as if he was going to jump off the edge. Adrenalin and fear spread through Joey’s body like wild fire. Why would he jump? What is wrong with him? Joey thought. She didn’t really have time to think rationally, he was on the other side of the roof. Joey dropped her flashlight and yelled for Ethan. She wanted to get Ethan’s attention and whoever could hear her from inside the school. She ran to him while yelling his name. He did not look back or recognized her. It was as if he didn’t even hear her. Then when she yelled his name for like the hundredth time, he turned around too fast and he slipped.
    “Ethan!” Joey yelled as she threw her body to the ground, getting cuts and bruises everywhere, and reached over the side of the building to grab his arm or something. When she did reach out over the edge, she got a hold of Ethan’s wrist.
    “Joey, help me!” Ethan cried.
    “Can’t you see I’m trying? What were you doing out here in the first place?” Joey asked Ethan, trying to hold on to him the best she could.
    “I don’t know. One minute, I was in my room going to sleep and the next minute I heard you yelling my name and I saw you running to me,” Ethan replied as he tried to hold on to Joey’s wrist. “Joey, please hold onto me. I don’t want to fall. Please.”
    “I won’t, I promise you that,” Joey said coming close to tears, but if she started crying, she probably wouldn’t be able to hold onto Ethan any longer and he would fall. Joey heard running footsteps coming from the staircase behind them, “Don’t worry Ethan, help is on the way. Apparently someone heard me.”
    Joey’s grip on Ethan was slipping and she was afraid that she might lose him. Then she heard people running toward her. It was Mr. Whillington, Scott, Bradley, and some of the other students and teachers.
    “Joanne, what is going on here?” Mr. Whillington asked his eyes wide.
    “It’s Ethan Collins, sir. He’s over the edge,” Joey answered.
    “What!?” Mr. Whillington, Scott, and Bradley yelled.
    Mr. Whillington threw himself next to Joey and reached down to grab Ethan’s other hand. “Alright, on the count of three we pull him up.” Joey nodded and Scott came up behind her and grabbed her waist to help. And Bradley went behind Mr. Whillington to help him. “One…two…three.”
    All four of them pulled Ethan up and over onto the roof.
    “What in the seven seas where you doing out here, Mr. Collins?” Mr. Whillington asked getting back to his feet.
    “I don’t know, sir. I think I was sleep walking,” replied Ethan as he wiped the sweat off his face with the back of his hand.
    “Sleep walking?” Scott asked as he got up.
    “Yeah, it’s when you do stuff in your sleep, like walking,” Bradley explained getting up like the rest of them.
    “I knew what sleep walking was, thank you very much. I meant something else when I said that. I didn’t know Ethan slept walked. He never did it before that I know of,” Scott said.
    “Well thanks to Joanne, Ethan is now safe and out of harms way,” Mr. Whillington said to Joey, Scott, Bradley and Ethan. To the rest of the students and teachers that were outside with them, he said, “Everything is fine, now everyone get back to bed!”
    As the rest of the students and teachers went back to their rooms, Mr. Whillington, Joey, Scott, Bradley, and Ethan went into Mr. Whillington’s office. “Everyone, please sit down,” Mr. Whillington said as he sat behind his desk. Joey, Scott, Bradley, and Ethan sat in chairs that were placed in front of Mr. Whillington’s desk. “Now, if this wasn’t an emergency, both Ethan and Joanne would be serving detention with me. But because it was a life or death situation, I am glad that Joanne went out to look for Ethan. Ethan, are you doing okay? Do you need the hospital wing?”
    “I’m a little shaken up, but I’m fine for the most part. I don’t need to go to the hospital wing,” Ethan replied, as he looked over at Joey. She was very pale and she looked sick. She was curled up in a small ball in her chair.
    “Joanne, dear, are you okay?” Mr. Whillington asked Joey.
    “Um…yeah, I’m fine,” Joey lied, her voice a little shaky. “I would like to go back to my room now, if you all don’t mind?”
    “Yes, go right ahead, Joanne,” Mr. Whillington said, his voice kind and gentle.
    Joey went back to her room and the first thing she did was throw up in her bathroom. I never want to do anything like that ever again, she thought as she changed back into her pajamas and went back to bed. She didn’t go straight to sleep; her mind was replaying the night’s event over and over again.
    Mr. Whillington wanted to talk to Scott, Bradley, and Ethan a little longer before letting them go to their rooms.
    “Sir, I had no idea what was going on,” Ethan said as he combed his hair with his hands.
    “What were you dreaming about?” Mr. Whillington asked Ethan, putting his chin in hands.
    “I think I was dreaming about diving out of a plane or a mission I was on doing something like that,” Ethan answered.
    “Well don’t have dreams like that ever again,” Scott said, putting a hand on Ethan’s shoulder, “I don’t think Joey could handle it.”
    “What do you think is wrong with Joey?” Bradley asked, looking at the office door that Joey just walked out of.
    “What?” Scott asked, looking over at Bradley. He hadn’t seen anything wrong with Joey.
    “She looked like she was going to puke all over the place,” Bradley said.
    “Well, if you had to throw yourself over the edge of a five-story building to save your friend, you would look the same,” Mr. Whillington said. “It’s time for you three to go to back to bed.”
    “Good night, sir,” Scott, Bradley, and Ethan said together.
    The three boys went back to Ethan’s room and talked for a bit longer to try and clam down before trying to fall back to sleep.
    “I owe Joey my life for this now,” Ethan said as he sat down on the edge of his bed and putting his head in his hands.
    “Who in the world knew that that little girl could hold a guy the size of Ethan for however long it took for help to come?” Scott asked.
    “Maybe she’s more than meets the eye?” Bradley suggested sitting next to Ethan on Ethan’s bed.
    “I just can’t wait to see her in Combat Practice,” Scott said sitting on the floor in front of Ethan and Bradley.
    “Me neither,” Bradley said, “She could probably kick Mr. Hardass’s butt.”
    “Without a doubt,” Scott agreed with a smile, “And she’s cute, too.”
    After their little talk, Scott and Bradley went to their own rooms and went straight to sleep. Ethan, on the other hand, didn’t go to sleep too easily. He was afraid of sleep walking again and putting himself and his friends in danger.

    -Episode 6-

    A few days after Ethan’s little situation, school started and Joey was the first one to get up. She made her bed and then changed into tan shorts, her long-sleeve black shirt, and black combat boots. The big guy said he didn’t care how we arranged our uniforms as long as we wear them, she thought to herself as she tied her bootlaces. After she was done, she went to Scott’s room first to wake him up. She knocked on the door and five minutes later Scott opened the door.
    “What do you want?” he asked rubbing his eyes sleepily; he was only wearing his pajama bottoms.
    “It’s the first day of school and if you don’t get up now and go up for breakfast, you won’t get any and we have to deal with you,” Joey replied putting her hands on her hips.
    “You’re a fast learner, Wright,” Scott said with a little smile, it was too early for him to be his whole self, apparently.
    “Just get up and meet me out here, okay?” Joey said pointing over her shoulder into the hallway.
    Scott nodded and closed his door. Once Scott had fully shut his door, Joey went to Bradley’s room next. This time when she knocked on the door, it only took Bradley maybe a minute to open the door.
    “I’m up and getting ready,” he announced wearing only his tan pants and socks.
    “How did you know it was me?” she asked him looking up at him.
    “I heard you get ready and knew you were the type of person to make good morning rounds to get everyone up,” Bradley replied leaning against the doorframe.
    “Good, meet me out here. I have to get Ethan up, next.”
    Bradley nodded and closed his door while Joey went to Ethan’s bedroom door and knocked. When he answered the door, he was already fully dressed with the exception of boots.
    “Good, it’s you. I need to talk to you,” Ethan said.
    He moved aside to let Joey into his room. Joey went over to his unmade bed and sat on the edge of it. Apparently, no one makes their beds anymore, she thought to herself, Scott’s and Bradley’s beds are the same.
    “I never thanked you for saving my butt the other night,” Ethan said kneeling in front of her.
    “Don’t mention it. I bet you would have done the same if it were me, Scott, or Bradley,” Joey said.
    “Just listen to me,” Ethan said putting a finger on her lips to shut her up. “I owe you my life now. If there is anything I can do for you let me know. Oh, and this is for you…” he kissed her on the cheek.
    Joey blushed and ran to his door and opened it, but before she left the room, she said, “Hurry up or we’ll all miss breakfast.” And she went into the hallway to wait for him.
    In the hallway, both Scott and Bradley were waiting for her to come out of Ethan’s room. And a few seconds later Ethan met up with them and they went to the cafeteria together. After they ate their cereal, they went to the third floor. Joey and Ethan both had a class on this floor. Scott and Bradley had a class together on the second floor.
    “Alright, do we all have the same lunch?” Scott asked with a grin.
    “Of course, Scott wants to know that,” Joey said, “We just finished breakfast and you’re already thinking about lunch.”
    Scott glared at her and they all looked over their schedules.
    “I think we do,” Bradley said as the others nodded.
    “Good, we’ll see each other later then,” Ethan said as he stuffed his schedule into one of his pockets.
    They all said goodbye to each other as Joey went to her math class, Ethan went to his history class, Scott and Bradley went to their science class, using the only set of elevators in the school that connect only the third and second floors.
    When Joey entered her classroom, she felt very alone. The past month she spent most of her time with the boys and now they weren’t with her. But just as she was about to get a seat, a girl, with wavy blonde hair that went to about the middle of her back and blue eyes, tapped her on the shoulder. Joey turned around to face her.
    “Hi, I’m Kara Phillips. I saw you all around school with those older boys and I just thought you were the coolest,” the girl said with a country accent.
    “I’m Joey Wright. Yeah, they’re my friends,” Joey said.
    “Could I sit with you? I don’t know any body and I’m actually afraid of meeting new people,” Kara said.
    “But you’re meeting me,” Joey pointed out.
    “Yeah, well I don’t normally do that. So could I?”
    “Yea, I guess just follow me,” Joey said.
    The girls went to the back of the classroom and sat down together at a table. More and more students about their age walked in and sat down at every available seat. There were about thirty-five students all together that had sat down. Then the bell for class to begin rang and Jenny walked in with a cart filled with textbooks for her students.
    “Good morning, my new students. I hope you have settled down well and are ready for the new year,” she said walking to her desk, “I’m Jenny Sanderson and before anyone calls me Ms. Sanderson, it’s Jenny. Now, today we will be talking about the rules of this classroom and you all will be receiving your math text books.”
    Jenny went around the classroom handing out their math textbooks. “I want you all to write your names in the inside cover of this book, not all over the book if you please. That book with be with you for three more years, so do not ruin it because you are not getting a new one but you will have to pay for it yourself at the store in town. After those three years, you will be getting a new book. That book will be with you for three more years. For your last year, you will get the chance to choose what kind of math you want to take that year. My rules are quite simple. There is no cheating on tests, no chewing gum, no talking over me, no food or drinks in here what so ever, and no rude behavior. You all are probably wondering what you can do in here, right?” She looked at all her students in turn. Some looked away from her and others just stared at her, “You can ask questions, do your school work, and listen.”
    The students wrote their names on the inside cover of their textbooks. The book was a thick one. It had algebra and geometry work inside it. Most of the students were not happy about that, but they had no other choice. They got a bit of time at the end of class to talk to one another once Jenny was done talking.
    “You’re friends are kind of cute,” Kara told Joey.
    “Really, I haven’t noticed?” Joey said sarcastically.
    They started laughing, and then Kara said, “Do you think you could introduce me to them?”
    “Well, of course, silly,” Joey said smiling at her.
    “Cool,” Kara said with a smile.
    The bell for their next class rang and Joey and Kara went out into the hallway.
    “What class do you have next?” Kara asked taking her schedule out of her front pocket.
    “Let me check my schedule,” Joey said pulling her schedule out of her back pocket and looking at it, “I have English next.”
    “Cool. I have the same thing. What classes do you have for the rest of the day?”
    “History, then lunch, then science, then Technology, and then Combat Practice. Whatever the last two are,” Joey said waving her schedule in frustration because the boys wouldn’t tell her where or what those classes were.
    “I have the same thing. I think,” Kara said.
    Joey looked at Kara’s schedule and said, “You do have the same classes as me.” And she smiled at Kara. This girl is going to be a headache; she thinks I’m the ‘coolest’ because I hang out with Scott, Bradley, and Ethan. She’s such a suck up right now it’s not even funny, she thought keeping her smile, she is more of a suck up than Bradley is and he’s got a really bad case of it. “Well, let’s get to English before we get in trouble. Hey, did you know that only the third and second floors are connected by stairs and elevators?”
    “Really?”
    The girls went to the second floor for their English class and by the time they got there, though, almost all the seats were taken. Joey grabbed Kara’s sleeve, pulled her to the very back corner of the room, and sat down. The teacher was already sitting at his desk and when the bell rang, he stood up and walked around his desk to stand in front of it.
    “Good morning, I am Dominic Willis. You may call me Dominic, I will be your English teacher for this and every year you are here,” said the teacher.
    Dominic had short brown hair and green eyes and was in his early thirties. But he was tall and very muscular. He explained the rules for the class and handed out the textbooks to every student.
    “Now before you go, I want you to write your names in the front covers of your English Literature text books. Also due in two days a two page paper about your self,” Dominic said.
    The class groaned as they wrote their names in the front covers of their textbooks.
    “I know you all don’t like homework, but this homework is going to be the easiest homework you’ll get for the rest of the school year,” Dominic said as he sat down at his desk.
    A boy with short black hair and brown eyes, who was sitting towards the middle of the classroom, raised his hand.
    “Yes, what is you’re name?” Dominic asked.
    “My name is Tanner Stewart. Why is it that in every class we are learning hard stuff this year and every year we are here?” the boy asked.
    “Because Mr. Whillington would like to have the feeling that he is sending well educated students out in the real world when you graduate,” Dominic replied.
    “But we would learn the same thing in a regular school, but at a slower speed,” Tanner said.
    “Just deal with it. That’s how Mr. Whillington would like to run his school, okay? I don’t question him and neither should you,” Dominic said as the bell rang for their next class.
    As Joey and Kara were walking to their history class back on the third floor, they ran into Scott and Bradley.
    “What’s going on?” Scott asked giving Joey a high five.
    “Nothing much, we’re going to history now. What are we suppose to do with these books? I don’t want to carry them everywhere I go. And if I get anymore books I think I’m going to fall to the floor,” said Joey, pretending to fumble with the books in her arms.
    “Before you guys go to lunch, smarty pants, and stop by your rooms and drop your stuff off from the morning in there and then go to lunch,” Bradley replied.
    “Who’s your friend?” Scott asked Joey, looking Kara up and down.
    “We don’t have time for you guys to meet right now, you will meet her at lunch,” Joey said as she and Kara pushed past the boys and ran to their class before the late bell rang. They had to sit more to the middle of the classroom this time because everywhere else was full. When the late bell rang, a man with black hair and cold black eyes walked into the room. Joey could tell he was going to be the toughest teacher she will ever have; he had that feel about him.
    “My name is Mr. Smith. You will call me Mr. Smith. I will be your history teacher for the next seven years. I don’t take crap from no one and I better not catch anyone messing around,” he said sitting at his desk, “The rules are quite simple: you will do nothing but work. Am I clear?”
    Some of the students nodded.
    “I said am I clear?”
    This time the whole class said, “Yes, sir.”
    “Much better,” he said walking over to some cabinets to get their textbooks for this year.
    For the rest of class he handed out textbooks. This year they were going to be learning about World History. He also told them to write their full name on the inside cover of the book and to talked about the whole first chapter.
    “Tomorrow I want to see a three and a half page report about this chapter and the same amount of pages for chapter two as well. Which means you have to read chapter two,” Mr. Smith said as everyone packed up their stuff.
    The bell rang and Joey and Kara headed up to the fourth floor to their rooms. They reached Joey’s room first. Joey put her math, English, and history books on her desk and went to the bathroom. While Joey was doing all that, Kara went to her room and did the same thing. They met each other in the hall along with Ethan.
    “How’s it going, Sweetheart?” Ethan asked as they went into the cafeteria.
    “I want to go back to bed. I already have a ton of homework to do,” Joey complained as Ethan pushed the button for the fifth floor inside the elevator.
    “Just wait until later. You’ll really be sorry that you were put in here,” Ethan said.
    “Thanks for cheering me up, Ethan,” Joey said sarcastically.
    “No problem,” Ethan said with a stupid grin on his face.
    They entered the cafeteria and joined Scott and Bradley in the lunch line.
    “Having fun girls?” Scott asked Joey and Kara as Joey, Kara, and Ethan walked up to him and Bradley.
    “Oh yeah, we’re having loads of fun, Scott. I was just telling Ethan how much fun homework we already have to do,” Joey said in a fake, cheerful way.
    They all got their food and sat down at their usual table.
    “Well, who’s your friend?” Scott asked nodding at Kara.
    They all looked at Kara and she froze. Her eyes went wide and her mouth hung slightly opened.
    “Oh yeah, she’s a bit shy. This is Kara Phillips. She’s my new friend,” Joey said realizing what the problem was.
    “Hi, I’m Ethan Collins.” Ethan waved at her and gave her a genuine smile.
    “I’m Scott Brewer.” He waved his fork at her.
    “Sorry about him, by the way, he has no manners,” Joey said to Kara as she gave Scott a sideways glare. He just smiled back at her.
    “And I’m Bradley Porter. Scott and I are fifteen.” Bradley smiled at Kara, shyly.
    “And I’m eighteen. Welcome to the group of misguided teens,” Ethan said.
    “Hey, I didn’t know this was a support group,” Joey laughed.
    “Well now you know,” Ethan replied.
    “Where are you from, Kara?” Scott asked Kara.
    Kara leaned over to Joey and whispered in her ear. “Kara’s from Tennessee,” Joey translated for Kara.
    “Cool, I’m from Washington,” Scott said through a mouth full of food.
    “See, no manners what so ever,” Joey said to Kara.
    “I’m from Wisconsin,” Bradley said clearly ignoring Joey and her comments from the peanut gallery.
    “I’m from New Jersey,” Ethan said doing the same thing.
    “I was born in Florida and raised in Washington,” Joey said.
    “Of course, she has to be the complicated one out of all of us,” Bradley said.
    “She’s a girl. I don’t think they can help that,” Scott said.
    “Hey, we’re sitting right here,” Joey said defensively. Kara started silently giggling and the others laughed along.

    -Episode 7-

    After lunch, they all went into the elevator to go to their next class. The girls had science on the second floor. And the boys were scattered between the third and second floors.
    “Before we separate, Joey and Kara, meet me on the first floor for fifth period and I’ll show you where our class is,” Ethan said as they all filed out of the elevator.
    Joey and Kara nodded and went to the second floor for science. And the others went to their own classes. Joey and Kara walked into their science class and sat down in the back of the room. Their teacher was writing something on the board. He had long, grey hair that he tied in a ponytail in the back and looked a bit old. He also looked to be about six foot even.
    When the bell rang, he put down his chalk, turned around, and smiled at the class. When he smiled, his face brightened and he didn’t look so old. Actually, he wasn’t that old at all. He was about fifty or so and very strong for his age.
    “Good afternoon, I’m Henry Adams. You may call me Henry or Mr. Adams. Now on the board are a few rules I want you all to write down,” he said walking back to his desk.
    Everyone took out paper and a pen and wrote down the rules just as he had them on the board.

    Rule #1: No talking when the teacher is talking.
    Rule #2: No food or drinks inside the classroom. Gum is allowed.
    Rule #3: No cheating on tests.
    Rule #4: Turn in all work no matter if it is late. At least you will get points no matter what.
    Rule #5: Have fun in this class.

    Once everyone was finished, he handed out textbooks. This year they were learning about physical science.
    “I know all your teachers have told you this, but I want all of you to write your names in the front cover of your books. Tonight for homework I want you to read chapter 1, write a page summary, and answer the questions that follow,” Henry said, “It’s not that hard I promise you. Believe me you will be getting more homework than that from me in a day or two.”
    Joey could not believe it. More and more homework, I swear if I get more homework, I’m going to call Zander and tell him to take me home because I can’t do this much homework, she thought. The bell rang and Joey and Kara went down to the first floor to meet Ethan.

    ☼ ☼ ☼ ☼ ☼ ☼ ☼ ☼

    Once Scott and Bradley left the girls and Ethan, they went into their own class, math. They sat down together in the middle of the classroom and started talking before the late bell rang.
    “Hey, Brad, do you think Joey’s new friend is cute?” Scott asked.
    “Kind of, why?” asked Bradley as he took out some paper and his pen.
    “Do you think if I can get Kara not to be shy, she would go out with me?” Scott asked.
    “How am I supposed to know? And besides I think you scared her a bit,” Bradley said with a shrug.
    “How could I have scared her? I was being myself.”
    “Exactly, aren’t you too young to be thinking about Kara or any girl like that?”
    “Bradley, do you even like girls?” asked Scott looking at nothing but Bradley.
    “Yes, I like girls. Why wouldn’t I? I just think me and probably you should wait until we’re at least sixteen to be thinking about girls like that,” Bradley said not looking at Scott.
    “Man, what kind of friend are you? We’re guys, we should be thinking about girls like that,” Scott said matter-of-factly. “Or do you like Kara?”
    “No, we shouldn’t. We should be treating them with respect and all that other nonsense,” Bradley said, “And no I don’t like Kara.”
    “It’s Joey then, right?”
    “No.”
    “Whatever, let’s just get through this class and we’ll talk about Kara and other girls later,” Scott said as he got out his things for class.
    Bradley knew it was time to stop arguing about girls. He was actually glad they stopped because he was thinking about girls in that particular way. He actually thought both Kara and Joey were cute. But those girls are only fourteen and we’re fifteen. We are all much too young to be thinking about whose cute and whose not, he thought to himself as their teacher walked into the classroom.

    ☼ ☼ ☼ ☼ ☼ ☼ ☼ ☼

    “Now remember when we said there are two more floors?” Ethan asked Joey as the girls walked up to him in the lobby of the school.
    “Yeah,” Joey said.
    “Well, they’re underground and there is no elevator to get to them. This means we have to use the stairs. Technology is on the first underground floor. So follow me and hopefully we get there before the bell rings.”
    “Hopefully? What do you mean by hopefully?” Joey asked as she put her hands on her hips.
    “I haven’t been down here in like two and a half months and there’s a secret door I have to find to get to the stairs,” Ethan replied, “Does that answer you question, Oh Wise One?”
    “Whatever,” Joey murmured.
    Kara covered her mouth with a hand to hide her smile.
    Ethan went over to a small table that had two chairs around it and a lamp that was in the middle of the lobby and pressed a button in the back of the lampshade. Right next to the table and chairs the wall disappeared and stairs took its place.
    “That is so cool,” Kara said, as her eyes grew wide in amazement.
    “Holy crap, she can talk,” Ethan said as he took a step down the stairs.
    “Don’t be a jerk, Ethan,” Joey said following him down the stairs with Kara right behind her.
    “I’m not a jerk,” Ethan said, “I make really good points.”
    “Oh, I’ll give you a point alright,” Joey said to Ethan’s back.
    Ethan stopped short, Joey ran full force into him, and Kara ran into her.
    “That was not cool,” Joey said.
    “I know,” Ethan said as he continued to walk down the stairs.
    They came to a landing and on both sides of them were doors. They were each labeled. The one on their right was labeled Technology. And the one on their left was labeled Weight Room.
    “Well, that’s helpful,” Joey said.
    Ethan walked into the room on their left followed by Joey and Kara. In the back of the classroom at a table long enough for all of Joey’s friends were Scott and Bradley. Ethan walked over to them and he, Joey, and Kara sat down.
    “Guess what, guys?” Ethan asked Scott and Bradley as he set his things down on the floor.
    “What?” Scott and Bradley asked as they looked over at Ethan.
    “Kara can talk,” Ethan said.
    “Ethan! I told you not to be a jerk,” Joey said to Ethan as she slapped him on the arm.
    “You just hit him,” Kara said shocked.
    “Yeah, I know. So what?” Joey said looking at her.
    “He could kill you. Look at him, he’s tall and muscular,” Kara said as she freaked out at Joey.
    “Yeah, I probably could kill her, but I won’t,” Ethan said leaning over Joey to look at Kara.
    “Why’s that?” Kara asked as she leaned over Joey to look at Ethan, her arms crossed over her chest.
    “Because she is my friend and she’s the one who saved my a** the other night when I almost fell off the top of this stupid building. And why the heck am I explaining myself to you?” He leaned back hard in his chair.
    Before Kara could respond to what Ethan had just said the bell for class to begin rang and their teacher walked in.
    “Good afternoon, class. I am Zack Collins. I will be your technology teacher for the year and possible the next year, if everything goes as planned. I see no one has brought their laptops to class. Oh well, I guess you all will have to use old fashion pen and paper,” he said putting his own laptop onto his desk in front of the classroom.
    Joey leaned over to whisper in Ethan’s ear, “Is he related to you?”
    Ethan whispered back in her ear, “Yeah, he’s my cousin.”
    Zack had the same colored hair and eyes as Ethan. Zack was maybe five years older than Ethan was. But Zack was an inch or so taller than his younger cousin. Zack was also a bit more muscular and had the same “just out of the sun” tan as Ethan which made him look just as good looking.
    “And you couldn’t tell me about him?”
    “I forgot he was coming back.”
    “Coming back?”
    “We’ll talk about him later,” Ethan whispered to Joey then he put a finger to his lips to tell her to stop talking to him.
    For the rest of the class, Zack explained the rules of the classroom and what they were going to be doing in this class.
    “We will be learning how to use surveillance cameras to our advantages, how to disable all types of electrical devices, and how to use different electrical devices, such as our laptops, for our advantages when on a mission,” he said. “Before you all leave, I need you all to bring your laptops to my class every day, unless I tell you otherwise or you want to fail. Have a great afternoon everybody.” He sat down at his desk so he was out of the way of his students when they made a run for the door.
    When the bell rang, the group followed Ethan to their next class, Combat Practice. When they reached the second underground floor there was a long hallway and doors on each side of them that were labeled.
    “Combat Practice is all the way on the other side of the hall,” Ethan told his followers.
    They walked down the hall and Joey read some of the doors as she walked by them. There was a door labeled Gym on her left and a door labeled Tech. Room on her right. As she walked on there were two more doors on her left that were labeled Work Room and Practice Room. On her right, two more doors were labeled Pool and Combat Practice.
    “What’s a practice room?” Joey asked she was behind Ethan.
    “You’ll find out in a little bit,” Ethan told her.
    “There’s also a pool down here?” Joey asked shocked.
    “Yep,” Scott said, he was walking behind Joey.
    “That is so cool,” Joey said.
    Bradley was walking behind Scott and Kara was walking behind him as they went to their class.
    As they entered the Combat Practice room, Joey looked around and saw that all the walls and the floor were covered in pads. Oh no, what the heck are we going to have to do in here? Joey thought. She and the others followed Ethan to the back of the room and stood against the wall.
    While Joey and her friends were waiting for Mr. Smith to arrive, a boy with short brown spiky hair with blue tips and brown eyes walked up to Joey. “Hey, little girl, I’m Doug Carson. I heard you had to save this big brute from killing himself the other night,” said the boy pointing at Ethan.
    “Yeah and your point would be?” Joey asked as she folded her arms across her chest.
    “Seems like you’re pretty strong, actually, you seem stronger than Collins,” Doug said.
    “No one is stronger than Ethan, Carson, so fly away,” Scott told Doug as he went to stand in front of Joey.
    “What’s your name, little girl?” Doug asked Joey clearly ignoring Scott.
    “Joey Wright. Can you like disappear?” Joey asked as she clapped her hands once in front of her to show how he could just disappear.
    “Fine, but one thing first.” He pushed Scott out of his way, grabbed Joey by the arm, and dragged her to the middle of the room. He then twisted that arm behind her until she screamed.
    “Let go!”
    “I want to see how strong you really are,” Doug whispered into her ear.
    This guy is asking for it, Joey thought wincing under the pain. Scott, Bradley, and Ethan ran to her but by the time they got to Joey and Doug, Joey kicked Doug in between his legs, making him double over and then Joey did a roundhouse kick to his head, making him fall to the floor.
    “Eat that, jerk-face,” Joey said to Doug, who was rolling around on the floor, Joey then spat in his face.
    Joey straightened up and the whole class, which was about forty people, was clapping and Scott, Bradley, and Ethan just stood there stunned.
    “That was a great defensive move, Ms. Wright, too bad it landed you in detention along with Mr. Carson,” said a man’s voice from behind Joey.
    Joey’s jaw dropped and the boys moved closer to her. Please don’t let it be who I think it is, she thought as she turned around to face the man who was speaking.
    “Sir, she was techniquelly defending herself. Carson was practically attacking her,” Ethan said coming to Joey’s defense. Scott, Bradley, and the rest of the class all started agreeing with Ethan.
    “Silence!” Mr. Smith yelled. “Fine, Ms. Wright does not have detention this time, but if this happens again anywhere in the school you will get a detention.” He pointed a finger at Joey.
    “What about me, sir?” Doug asked as he wiped blood from the corner of his mouth while getting to his feet.
    “You will be keeping your detention because you’re the one who started this mess,” replied Mr. Smith turning on Doug.
    The whole class started laughing at Doug. Doug straightened up and went to one of the other walls frowning.
    “Enough! Now this is Combat Practice. Combat Practice is learning how to defend your self and how to fight on offense. When you get older, you may be called on to fulfill your duty as spy. When that time comes, you need to know how to fight off unfriendly enemies and how to use teamwork. Now I want everyone to get into groups of four,” said Mr. Smith walking a bit more to the center of the room.
    Joey, Scott, Bradley, and Ethan didn’t move; they were going to be a team. Kara on the other hand walked straight up to Doug and started talking to him.
    “Could I be in your group?” Kara asked Doug.
    “Why don’t you go to Wright and kick someone off her team since you’re friends with her?” Doug said frustrated.
    “Her and her friends think they’re know-it-all,” Kara replied with a shrug.
    “Good enough for me,” Doug said.
    “So much for the shy part,” Joey said to her team.
    “What a sly little brat,” Scott said deeply hurt by this change in their no-longer-new-friend.
    “How old is Doug anyway?” Joey wanted to know.
    “He’s fifteen,” Bradley answered dully.
    “Oh great,” Joey said as she rolled her eyes.
    “Now you all will stay in these groups for the rest of the year. At the end of each quarter, I will put you all through Practice Missions. These Practice Missions will show how much skills you have learned. They will be hard. And you will definitely need teamwork. Your team will be your family. They will save your skin in any situation. The Practice Room is where you can practice the moves you learn in here. You can also work in the gym and weight room as long as all your homework is done. You will also be getting homework in this class. Now at the beginning of each class before the bell rings, I want you to get into your groups and stretch,” said Mr. Smith as he walked around the room, looking at everyone in turn. “If one of your team mates are failing a class or failing this class your whole group gets worse punishment than detention. There is no reason for anyone to be failing. Oh, I almost forgot, during these practice missions you may get hurt because these are to be treated as real missions.”
    The bell rang and the boys and Joey headed to their rooms on the fourth floor. Joey was officially overwhelmed with the whole school.
    “That Doug guy is a complete butt,” Joey said once in her room. “And so is Kara.” She threw her stuff on the floor completely bummed.
    “Try not to get into a fight with him or you will be in detention with Mr. Hardass,” Bradley said, sitting on the floor by the window taking out his books so he could start on his homework.
    “And his detentions are hell on earth,” Scott said, sitting in front of Bradley taking out his things, as well.
    “Scott definitely knows how they are,” Bradley said with a smile as he set out his science book, history book, and some pieces of paper.
    “How?” asked Joey grabbing her bag and sitting on her bed. She started pulling out her books to do homework.
    “He was late one too many times to both Mr. Smith’s classes,” Bradley answered looking up at Joey.
    “My bad,” Scott said with a shrug.
    They started their homework in silence after that. Joey was doing her two-page paper about herself. Scott was doing his science homework. Bradley was doing his history homework. And Ethan was doing his English homework at Joey’s desk.
    About an hour after they started their homework, someone knocked on Joey’s door. Joey got up, tripped over people and bags, and opened the door.
    “I hope you like my new friend,” Kara said as she wrapped an arm around Doug’s.
    “You little…” Joey growled. She brought back her right fist, but before she could punch Kara, Ethan had her whole fist in one of his hands.
    “Don’t do it,” Ethan breathed in her ear.
    “Yeah, you wouldn’t want to get in trouble,” Doug sneered. He and Kara started making faces at Joey and the boys.
    “Dude, you already did get in trouble, stupid,” Joey pointed out. “You want to get into more?”
    “No, I just want to tell you I’ll see you around, Little Girl,” Doug said as he walked away with Kara.
    Ethan closed the door. He still had Joey’s fist in his hand and pulled her into the room.
    “Are you crazy?” he asked her.
    “Maybe,” Joey retorted with a shrug.
    “Sit down and do your homework,” Ethan said as he let go of her fist.
    “Joe, you need to chill out. Mr. Hardass can practically see everywhere. He’ll get you for fighting, so don’t do it,” said Scott, his eye wide from the outburst Joey just made.
    They worked on their homework in silence until dinnertime. Joey was clearly mad at Ethan. Ethan was mad at Joey. And Scott and Bradley just wanted to be quiet so they could get their homework done.