The class had ended. The time was now. Once the bell rang, I jumped from the seat and fled towards the office, which was not hard to find. It was like watching Dora—they want you to find it.

I knocked on the door gently, to which I could hear Principal Renner’s rather striking voice: “Come in!”

I opened the door, to which I was met with a room that had a brown desk with not a lot of papers and a silver light that rested upon the room. There were these drawers at the back corners of the office and two chairs at the corners beside me.

There was a gray carpet that bordered the entire room, and the last detail was Principal Renner’s now-striking stare.

“Something you want to speak to me about?” she asked. “Did someone do something to you?” Her eyes were like hawks, and her demeanor was rather soul-snatching. I found myself struggling to speak.

She continued to stare ever so menacingly, to which she commented, “I assume you didn’t come here just to waste my time.”

“No, no, no, of course not... ma’am,” I said. “I was just wondering if there was an assignment open for us? An operation?”

She looked at me as she lay back, her sigh rather strong. “You know, you’re probably the 1500th student that has asked me this question. And what I told them is what I’ll tell you. There’s not a lot of space left, dear.”

“I’m sure there was a lot of space before you started the MP system,” I commented.

I was met with a stare that immediately sparked regret. “But, but, but, what do I know?” I quickly recovered, my hands sweating profusely.

Principal Renner nodded slowly. “I would see why you would make such a claim, but even before then, the YMPA academy has been filled with spies put on missions. It was scarce to even get one to begin with.”

“Yeah, but I’m sure there’s one, right?” I asked. Principal Renner chuckled. “I doubt there’s even many ones left. I should ask, “How many do you already have on your team?”

“Three.”

She tossed her head side to side. “I would say that’s a good way to start off, but given the lack of missions available, I’d say you’d need a sizable loan of luck.”

“But I can still get it... maybe, of course,” I said, adding that last part to be extra careful.

Principal Renner sighed, her fatigue really beginning to show. “You better hope so. Get to your next class.” I nodded and scrambled my way out of the room.

Do you know how tense that felt? It felt as if any second then, I was going to see the barrel of a gun facing towards me, and then, in a blink, be found in the Academy Hospital.

But the next class was downstairs with Master Tiphe, meaning Malachi and September were there. As I walked down, I could see Tisiah and Nikki waiting there, which was really thoughtful of them.

“So…” Nikki instantly started once I was five steps from the stairs away from them.

“She said we better hope for an assignment. And I am,” I responded, to which Nikki rolled her eyes. She muttered to herself, rather in an aggressive tone, saying, “I knew it, I knew it, I knew it.”

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“Well, she didn’t say that it was impossible. Just hold on, Connor. We’re going to get that mission.”

Nikki paused. She turned to look at Tisiah, with her face filled with disbelief. “The levels of your optimism are unhealthy,” she described, though Tisiah happily took no offense to that.

***

The end of the day had come, and I had arrived home by the time of 6:00, meaning there were a solid four hours that I could use, which would be rather spent ranting on about what happened with Greg.

Malachi continued to talk with September, which I—at this point—accepted. That day was his. Tomorrow is mine.

As I knocked on the door, Mom opened it, which was impressive given that I only knocked twice. “How was the chess club?”

“Like a chess club.”

Mom paused and looked at me, her eyes demanding more story and information that I was not equipped to reveal—or at least I thought.

“Okay… fine… Well, there is someone that I like that I’ve been trying to talk to, but someone else seems to have that same idea as well.”

My mother began to chuckle as she began to walk towards the couch that was beside her, to which she sat. “Connor, one thing about us is that it doesn’t matter who talks more or who does what. Ultimately, we’ll choose.”

“Yeah, kind of figured,” I responded. Isn’t that what we do, usually?

Mom shook her head.

“No, no, no, no, like, as in, doesn’t matter if one guy talks to us more than the other. If we like each other, we like each other,” she calmly explained.

“But what about the girls that try to marry the rich or the cool ones. That’s what everyone wants, right?”

“Everyone prefers that, but that isn’t always the case,” Mom explained. Then she gestured for me to come forward, which I ultimately did without any hesitation.

“Here’s my advice, Connor. Don’t worry about it. When the time comes, the time comes. For now, just have fun as a friend. A friend is close enough, isn’t it?”

Well, I beg to differ. But for now, yes.

I nodded.

Mom patted my shoulder. “Good, now go change and make sure your homework is finished. I don’t want to get missing emails, understand?”

“Yeah, aight,” I responded, to which I stood up and headed to my room. I needed to call Greg immediately. I got Mom’s advice, but now I need to see Greg’s.

I rushed upstairs, pulled out my phone, and began calling. The phone rang for a disrespectful amount of time before there was a click that confirmed our connection.

“Just got back?” he asked. I nodded. He responded, “Same. I just entered my room in time to hear it ringing.”

“What do you mean in time? Are you using your telephone?”

“My mom took my phone away. Don’t ask,” he responded, to which I shook my head slowly, stuck in a daze of disbelief I regretted ever entering.

“Okay, other than that,. Let me tell you what happened. Let’s just say I’m not the only one that is going for her,” I responded. Greg scoffed. “Didn’t see that coming.”

“Thanks… but nonetheless, Malachi—him—he’s going for September. And being the type of guy he is—”

“You have a contestant that is probably leagues ahead of you,” Greg explained. “But there is still a chance, though; I’m sure of it. All you need to do is get her attention. Because there is one thing you have that he doesn’t.”

“My Perk, we’ve already said this. But that’s not the only thing,” I explained. “A new system, as Mr. Drails entitles it, starts tomorrow.”

“The MP system?” Greg asked. “All of EMO is starting on this. But what does surprise me is how smart you actually are. You’re going to use that to gain levels and all that, plus with the Perk. It’s a foolproof plan.”

I was stunned.

I know we’re brothers, but I find it quite frightening that Greg somehow, someway, happens to understand almost my every move. It’s impressive, and it’s kind of nice, to be honest.

“I would do the same thing,” he chuckled. “Nonetheless… I think that’s a solid plan. But make sure that in all of that, you get as much time with September as you need.”

I opened my mouth but was hesitant to respond. In fact, I was so hesitant that I ended up not saying anything. Mom did explain that if they like someone else, they will stick with that someone else, no matter if the other one is also attempting.

But what had me in shambles was what Greg said next.

“You can’t expect to have a chance if she knows Malachi more than you.”

And just like that, my rock had turned to sand. My house was slowly deteriorating as I continued to meditate on that idea. That was true, though… if she knows Malachi way more than me, then there’s no chance that she’ll like me.

Greg had unfortunately made a point, one that rocked my sense of judgment and which I should even listen to. I found myself contemplating one question.

Should I continue talking?

Well, then again, Mom did say to just keep it friendly. Maybe that’s the idea, but I’m not sure. I just wish I didn’t have a competitor in all this.