The+Underneath

What I have so far of my favorite soon-to-be-novel!

I walked into the dimly lit corridor. I knew something was up when Sage told me Lezlie needed to see me. I was in the underneath. The underneath was the old school. The new middle school was built on top of it and the construction workers thought there was no way back into the old school. They were wrong. I made rapid twists and turns in the hallway, for I knew the way to room 76 like the back of my hand. I was called there all too often. I pushed open the door and the light from Lezlie’s computer burned my eyes, which had adjusted to the dark. Lezlie looked up causing the glare from her gothic glasses to blind me once more. She tucked a strand of her short, slick, black hair behind her ear. “Elicia, I’m disappointed in you… your findings are getting smaller and smaller. What’s going on? You were our best spy!” she said. I rubbed my eyes and tried to adjust to the light. “W-what?” I stuttered. She shook her head and stood up. She was a year older than me, but not much taller. She gave off a slightly intimidating vibe that made you not want to cross her. For some reason I happened to make Lezlie mad… a lot. I just had that kind of luck. “You know what I mean, Elicia. You haven’t been getting the info we need.” “Oh… yeah,” I said when I snapped back to reality. I was the top spy for the U.S.C.T. None of the teachers ever suspected me of being a member of a secret cult so I was easily able to get info we needed. Lately, it seemed the teachers had begun suspecting us, a group of students, as troublemakers who were up to no good. They started telling me less and less. Lezlie sat back down and sighed. “Elicia, you know something’s up with our school! You also know that no one can steal data out of a teacher like you! What’s going on?” “I think the teachers are onto us. They’re not telling me as much anymore,” I explained. “Oh… that’s bad. Really, really bad.” I nodded. “We’re going to have to lie low for a while. I have to go Lezlie; my class is about to start. Not everyone starts with free period like you do today.” I turned around and walked back into the dark, damp hallway. As I walked away, I heard Lezlie exhale. “Why now? We’re so close to finding the truth!” she said.
 * CHAPTER ONE **

I climbed up the narrow ladder we installed to the underneath and stepped out from behind the snack machine on the upper field. I slipped out from behind it so that nobody could see me. I went to my locker to get my backpack and crashed into Arizona, a fellow member of the U.S.C.T. “Hey Elicia!” she said in a chipper voice. “Uh… hi Arizona. I kind of need to go to my locker.” I yawned. “Okay,” she said as we headed into the 300 hall. I walked into the hall and found my locker, covered in black graffiti, as it was when I was assigned to it. No one knows what it says or who wrote it, or how long it’s been there, just that I was unlucky enough to get it. I never thought I was unlucky, for I actually liked having my locker different than everyone else. I picked up the low quality red lock and dialed my combo; //27, 1, 35// I thought. The lock clicked open and I grabbed my backpack. “Arizona, I’m loosing my touch. I can’t spy as well as I used to. I need help,” I told her. “No! You can’t loose your touch! You know that there’s a //conspiracy// here!” she yelled at me. Arizona was practically the founder of the U.S.C.T…. well, her and Lezlie. Arizona gave us our name though, the Underneath School Conspiracy Team. She’s always been obsessing over conspiracies at our school. Arizona, like all the other members, was a year older than me. She was a lot shorter though. She had short, bouncy, blonde hair. Her part of the team was simply plans. Sage assisted her though because sometimes Arizona’s plans would be completely awful. Also, never //ever// let Arizona near a weapon. I rolled my eyes at her. “You think I don’t know that? You think I’m loosing my touch on //purpose?// Answer me this, why the hell would I intently destroy the U.S.C.T.?” I asked her, remembering to keep my voice hushed. She looked down at her shoes in shame. “You know I know you wouldn’t jeopardize the team. I just…” “I know, I know. It’s ok. You know I’m violent and short-tempered in the morning.” She smiled and nodded. I looked behind her. “Canadian at twelve o’clock!” I yelled. She turned around and screamed a high-pitched screech that made even dogs cower, “CANADIAN!!!” “Short American blonde girl!” Jeremy, the annoying, blonde, Canadian guy who just loved to mess with Arizona even though she was older than him, yelled. “Stop yelling! It’s too early in the morning!” I hollered. “Fine,” they said in unison as they begun a glare-off. I smiled and walked away as they continued to bicker. I stepped out into the insanity gap between the 300 hallways. I turned the corner and walked in front of the 100 hall to talk to Sage. “Sage! Get over here!” I yelled. “And don’t bring your boyfriend!” “Why can’t I?” she yelped back. “You know well enough why not!” “Oh… right.” She left her boyfriend, Isaac, who had no idea the U.S.C.T. existed, and came over. “What happened with Lezlie?” she asked. “She’s disappointed in me for not getting as much info from the teachers. Here’s the catch though, I told her that they’re not telling me as much and now she’s really worried that it’s over.” Sage cursed. “Elicia! This is bad! Really bad!” she whisper-screamed at me. “You know, you happen to be the third person in the past 15 minutes to tell me that,” I said very nonchalantly. “Ugh… let me guess: Lezlie, Arizona, and me.” “Ding! Ding! Ding! We have a winner! Your prize is… nothing!” Sage laughed but then her serious expression returned. “Really, Elicia. This is bad and we barely have any members to help! All we have really is you, me, Lezlie, Arizona, Mandy, Blake, and… no, that’s about it.” “Then we need to get more members!” I said, using broad hand gestures for extra emphasis. “No! We can’t do that!! What if we can’t trust them? What if they have no talents what so ever?” “We’ll have to find out! How did I become a member?” “That’s different! You’re well… you!” “Seriously Sage!” She sighed, “We thought you were pretty awesome so we showed you the underneath. Then, without you knowing it, we did some tests on your strength, endurance, planning, decoding, and spying.” “Bingo! That’s the ticket! We get some people we think we can trust, //don’t show them the underneath//, perform the tests, and—if they pass—show them the underneath!” She smiled, “This is why you’re our spy Elicia, you can think of almost anything and weasel information out of almost everyone. It actually sounds like a good plan, but you’ll have to talk to Lezlie.” The bell rang. “Bye! Catch you later.”
 * CHAPTER TWO **

I sat through History and didn’t hear anything Mr. Straw said. I was too busy thinking of how to present my idea to Lezlie. I was also thinking of whom I should bring into the team if she approves. //I shouldn’t bring in any 7th graders yet; she’d think I was just trying get my friends involved… Steve would be so useful though! And so would Edric! Catalina would be perfect. I know! I can say them as long as I mention other people like Claudine!// I smiled and asked to use the bathroom pass. I had 28 minutes before the bell rang. I took the pass and briskly made my way to the upper field. I made sure no one was looking and slipped behind the vending machine. Once again, I navigated my way through the dank hallway to room 76. When I opened the door, my eyes adjusted much quicker this time around and I saw Lezlie’s shocked expression. “Why are you here? Don’t you have class right now?” she asked. “Yes, I have class,” I said, holding up the bathroom pass. “But I have an idea for getting more members on the team.” “Elicia you know we can’t—“ she didn’t finish for I cut her off. “Just hear me out! We can do a bunch of tests and such to prove people’s worth //without// telling them about the U.S.C.T.!” She looked up at the ceiling. “Hmm… that’s actually not such a bad plan… I think we can get somewhere with that. Who did you have in mind?” “Well, I think that Claudine, Steve, Edric, and Catalina. What do you think?” “I think it sounds like a bunch of 7th graders plus Claudine.” “Please, I know these people like the back of my hand. They’re all really good at this sort of stuff.” “We’ll see about that. Start doing tests tomorrow. I’ll have to be there and so will Blake, Sage, Mandy, and Arizona. Do you think you can include Jeremy as one of your subjects?” My eyes widened, “Why Jeremy?! Do you want Arizona to be driven insane? As amusing as that would be… still! She and Jeremy hate each other!” “Really? How come I didn’t know that?” “Because you don’t pay attention.” “Huh… I guess you’re right. But still, we need a foreigner. He’s perfect for this!” “Why do we need a foreigner?” I asked, completely dumbfounded. “We need someone who can teach us another language, show us how to forge documents, that sort of thing!” “What does being a foreigner have to do with that?!” “Please?” “Fine. I’ll include him, but Arizona’s going to freak.” “Don’t you have to get back to class?” she asked. As soon as she said that, I ran as fast as I could back to Mr. Straw’s class without getting caught by a supervisor.
 * CHAPTER THREE **

After sitting through math class, it was the 15-minute haven known as snack. I went in front of the 100 hall as usual to meet up with the rest of the U.S.C.T. Sage came rushing over to me, making sure Isaac didn’t follow, and asked me a very important question, “What did Lezlie say?!” I smiled. “It’s a yes. You have anyone to bring onto the team? I’m guessing you want to bring Isaac.” She let out a squeal of delight, “Yes! And I think I should invite Indigo.” My face paled and my eyes widened. She new perfectly well I had a crush on her little brother for some time now. “Really? You think he’d agree?” “Yeah! Why wouldn’t he agree to be part of a secret organization?” “Sage! Remember, we can’t tell them about the underneath! We have to test them!” “Oh, right! But how?” “I don’t know! I was hoping you did!” We sat in dead silence, thinking until you could smell smoke emitting from our brains. We gave up and decided to ask Blake. “Blake!” I said. “We need to talk to you in //private//.” Blake was kind of tall with short black hair that was closely cropped against his head, but not really a buzz cut. He followed us into the corner leaving his girlfriend Adeline behind. “What’s up?” he asked. Sage answered this time; “Elicia here has convinced Lezlie to put new members on the team as long as we test them. Any ideas how?” “Hmm… I’ll think of something for decoding.” Blake was our coding expert. Given enough time, Blake could crack any code in the world. “Can I test Adeline?” “I don’t see why not,” I answered. We were about to continue when Lezlie walked over. “It’s too bright out!” she yelled, although a cloud covered the sun. “You wouldn’t think it was that bright if you came out of that cave more often!” I retorted. “Room 76 is not a cave it’s—stop!” we all went silent as Adeline and Isaac came over. “What’s going on over here? Can I have my girlfriend back yet?” Isaac asked. “Yeah, sure,” Lezlie said as Isaac slipped his hand into Sage’s and Adeline did the same to Blake. “I feel so un-included…” I said. Then I noticed Sage’s devious grin and I knew Indigo was walking over. “Umm… did I come at an awkward time?” he asked. I turned around and my gaze met his crystal blue eyes. His bright golden hair just like Sages reflected the little sunlight there was. “You always come at an awkward time mini-dude-Sage,” Blake said. “It’s always awkward here!” Sage announced. “I second the motion!” I said. “I guess I’ll carry the motion!” Indigo said. We all started laughing really loudly and the next group over gave us a funny look, which only made us laugh even more. The next thing that happened just made everything more awkward. Arizona and Jeremy came over, bickering their little hearts out as usual. “Aw! You two are so cute together!” Adeline said. “No we are not! We hate each other!” they said in unison. Lezlie leaned over and whispered to me, “So this is what I’ve missed?” “Pretty much,” I whispered back. Jeremy looked at Indigo and I standing next to each other and said, “You two are cute together!” I’m 95% sure he said that just to tick me off. My face turned bright red and so did Indigo’s. Awkward on so many levels. I was relieved when the bell rang. Everyone scampered to their next class, but Sage pulled me over. “Really? You could have had something going there but you just blushed and stood there until the bell rang.” My face turned red again, but this time from rage, not embarrassment. “It’s not that easy you know! Maybe for you, but you’re his sister! I’m not!” “Calm down! He’s totally interested in you.” I looked up to ask why she thought that but she was gone. Typical Sage.
 * CHAPTER FOUR **

I actually managed to focus on my work through English, not the underneath. Once science started though, my focus was gone. //What should we do for the trials? Blake’s got decoding… but we still have strength, endurance, plans, and spying! Well, we can play football for strength… tag for endurance. Plans? Maybe ask them a question or something? Spying… I don’t think we can test that… hmm…// I snapped back to reality when Ms. Princeton started yelling at me, “Elicia! What is the first part of cell division?!” “Uh… my toe hurts? It’s something like that.” The class erupted in laughter. “The correct answer is //mitosis//. Sometimes I swear you kids don’t pay attention.” I had to crack a smile at that. I went back to my thinking for the rest of class. I looked around the room for people to test. Edric was in my class, but that was about it. I wouldn’t see Catalina until either lunch or period 3 and I wouldn’t see Steven until the end of the day. As soon as the bell rang, I was out the door and at my locker. I grabbed my bag and lunch then walked over to our usual spot. Lezlie was already at the table with Sage, Mandy, and Blake. “Hey guys,” I said as I sat down, “No boyfriends and/or girlfriends arrived yet?” “Yep,” they all said. “Good, that means we can talk about the U.S.C.T. recruits. I have an idea for strength and endurance… kind of. We need to play some sort of sport or something. Watch them at lunch or something.” “Elicia, that sounded very stalker-like,” Sage said. “Yes, it did, but she’s got a point. It’ll be weird if we just walk up and ask them to do something,” Mandy said. Mandy was very tall and Lezlie’s right hand girl. “Thank you!” I told her. “Well, maybe we can go down to the lower field and watch them. Although, I know my brother has no athletic skill what so ever,” Sage said. “Well, let’s head off then!” we all jumped out of our seats for Isaac had said that. “How long have you been standing there?” Blake asked. “Just got here. All I heard is ‘let’s go down to the lower field.’” We grabbed our stuff and walked to the lower field. We started by hanging around Edric and Steve who were playing football. Everyone thought they were pretty good. Some kid knocked Edric’s backpack over and some loose papers fell out. Lezlie bent over to help me pick them up and we discovered they were plans, really good plans for a miniature handgun, folding pistol, and easy storage grenade. “Oh my God!” Lezlie exclaimed. “This kid is a genius!” I smiled. “So we should let him in. Steven over there also is really strong and fast, good at torture—I mean interrogation.” “They’re in.” “Awesome! Let’s try the next person… who would be?” I asked. “Hmm… you said Steve, Edric, Catalina, Claudine, and Sage wants to bring in Isaac and Indigo… Blake wants Adeline… so… lets try Catalina. Where is she?” “She has lunch detention,” I said. “She got caught stealing from the teacher’s lounge.” “How’d she manage to even get into the teacher’s lounge? It’s always locked!” Sage asked. “She kind of has a //thing// for break-ins and lock picking…” Blake smiled. “Now //that’s// something! We need someone who can do that!” “That we do, and now we don’t, for Catalina is on the team!” Lezlie exclaimed. I smiled. //This is going perfectly,// I thought. Somebody tapped my shoulder and I spun around from surprise and fell down. Looking up, I saw Indigo looking at me with a big grin across his face. “You’re a little klutzy today, aren’t you?” he asked while helping me up. I looked around for the other U.S.C.T. members but they were at least 10 feet away. “Uh… yeah,” I said, having nothing better and less stupid to. I could hear Sage talking to Lezlie, “I wonder what’s going on over there! The suspense is killing me!” Even though they were speaking in a hushed tone, I could hear them because of the spying. I knew just what to do to test Indigo’s spying skills. “Indigo, don’t you wonder what they’re saying?” I asked, looking at Sage, Isaac, Lezlie, Mandy, and Blake. I knew well enough, but I wanted to know if he could figure it out. “Hmmm… Lezlie just told Sage that she can’t take the suspense either and they want to know what’s going on with us right now.” He was right, exactly right. “What now?” “Sage said, ‘I wish they would come a little closer or speak a little louder so we can hear them.’” He was dead on once again. “Now Lezlie said, ‘don’t ask them to come closer to us! Ask them to get closer to each other!’” I told him. He had a glorious look on his face that said he was completely bemused. “You knew what they were saying all along! How?” “Well, I’m kind of a spy.” “Good one, no seriously though.” “I am! I’m a spy for an organization call the U.S.C.T.!” “U.S.C.T.?” he asked. “I’ll tell you later!” I said as I grabbed his hand and pulled him over to the group. Isaac had become a member while I was testing Indigo, evidentially. “You guys, he’s almost as good a spy as me. We need to go to the underneath, //now.//” We ran to the upper field and used the 6th graders as cover. They paid no attention to us and didn’t even notice us disappear behind the vending machine. “Why is there a hole behind the vending machine?” Isaac and Indigo asked. “Never question holes behind vending machines!” Blake declared, obviously ashamed in them. “We’ll explain later!” I said again, leading the way down the ladder and into the underneath. “I can’t see anything!” Isaac complained. “Your eyes will adjust soon enough,” I told him, for mine had already adjusted. “Welcome to the underneath.”
 * CHAPTER FIVE **

“The what?” they asked. “Again, we will explain later,” Sage and I said. I grabbed Indigo’s hand and led him through the twists and turns. “This is the underneath. It’s the old school that ours was built on top of,” I told him. “Wow… I’m starting to see again, and what I see is unbelievable. Can I know what the U.S.C.T. is now?” he asked. “Sure, Lezlie, are you ready?” I asked her but when I looked around, the group had left. “Oh… they abandoned us… I guess I’ll tell you!” “Awesome!” “Wait, let’s head to the lounge so we can sit.” I grabbed his hand once again and made my way to the teacher’s lounge. It was the most brightly lit room in the underneath. Once we sat down, I began the story. “When Lezlie, Arizona, Mandy, Blake, your sister were in 6th grade, they were just messing around on the upper field. They were playing rough and Lezlie got thrown into the side of the vending machine and knocked it over. Quickly, they pushed it back up and Lezlie noticed a crack behind it. Using a ruler, she started prying chunks from the wall until she had made a big enough hole to crawl through. She and Arizona made their way into the opening and fell down 2 feet onto a ledge. There were a lot of ledges, making climbing up and down fairly easy. They started walking in the dark until they found room 76, which is now Lezlie’s headquarters. On the desk in room 76, there were some letters to the current principal from some guy named Terrance Ives. They said stuff about: experimentation, the government, and rebellion. Arizona started screaming at Lezlie that it was a conspiracy going on here at our school. Lezlie agreed and told the others about what they found. They frequently began having meetings in the underneath, and Arizona eventually gave their little group the official title of the Underneath School’s Conspiracy Team, or the U.S.C.T.” Indigo was fascinated. “When do you come into the picture?” he asked. “Well,” I continued, “when I was a 6th grader and we were just starting school, I hung out with Sage a lot, remember?” “Yeah.” “She introduced me to the other members and we became good friends. At some point of time, they performed tests on me without me knowing. Next thing I know, I’m the top spy for the U.S.C.T.! Well, I was also the only spy… until now. This is where you come in.” “That’s so cool! Do you have a headquarters like Lezlie?” he asked. I smiled. “Yes; yes, I do. Room 94, follow me,” I said. We made our way to room 94. Welcome, to Casa Del Spy.” I pushed open the door to reveal the extremely large classroom. There were desks everywhere and some secret compartments that no one could see. There was a room connected to 94 that we had placed 6 beds in and a bunch of sleeping bags in case we got stuck down here. “Whoa… this is insane…” Indigo said, noticing the beds and random papers everywhere. “It’s not that great. I’ve always wanted to make it cooler, but had no reason to since no one comes in here but me… until now.” We smiled as I started giving him the tour. I first showed him a secret compartment in the door. “To open this one, you have to knock on it 3 times. No more, no less,” I explained. I knocked on it and a square piece of wood opened up to reveal bags and bags of chocolate and candy. I grabbed a bag of Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. “Take one,” I told him. “Don’t mind if I do! Who doesn’t love Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups?” He said, taking five from the bag. We sat in silence for a moment, eating our candy. “Can you show me more of the secret compartments?” he asked. “Sure,” I said. I walked him over to the corner of the room, which was blocked by a garbage can. I moved the can and pointed at the corner. “I can’t show you how to open this one yet… it’s the papers Lezlie found when she and Arizona came down here the first time. I’ve only seen them once, and I’ve been in the U.S.C.T. for two years.” He stared at the corner for a good five minutes. I eventually brought him back to reality when I put the garbage can back. “We need to get back before the bell rings,” I said. I led him back out from the underneath and made sure we didn’t get caught.
 * CHAPTER SIX **

I was sitting on my bed, doing stupid math homework. One thing was still bothering me: why was Indigo so transfixed on where the documents were? It was kind of creepy. As if on cue, I got a text from him, “R u doin HW?” I texted back, “Yes, lame math stuff :p” As the message sent, I finished problem 16 out of 39 on my homework. By the time he texted back, I was on the last problem. “R u done yet?” it read. “Yes. Y?” I sent to him. “I was wonderin, u wanna redecorate Casa Del Spy?” A grin spread on my face and my heart started pounding 3 times faster. “Yeah!” “C u @ the underneath in 10 min,” he texted. I threw on my sneakers and stuffed all the decorations I could in my backpack as I headed out. I showed up at the school before Indigo so I went down to the vending machine. No one was there since it was 5:27pm. I moved the vending machine to get in the hole, when Indigo jumped out at me. I fell backwards and landed on top of my backpack. “What the heck was that for?!” I shrieked. “Just cuz,” he said, smiling. I rolled my eyes as he helped me up and we got into the underneath. My eyes adjusted to the dark almost immediately, but Indigo couldn’t see a thing. “C’mon, this way to Casa Del Spy. Just stay close to me,” I said, beginning to make my way through the halls. We soon arrived at the room and walked inside. “I still can’t believe this is some sort of secret agency. Are you sure this isn’t a dream?” Indigo asked. I laughed and pinched him. “Ow!!!” he screamed. “You pinch hard!!!!!!!!!!!! I guess this isn’t a dream then!” I sat down in the hard wooden chair from 1984 and sighed. “So what’re we going to do to this place?” I asked. He grinned from ear to ear. “I have some ideas,” he said. I looked at him, puzzled. Indigo grabbed his backpack and unzipped the largest pocket. I stared intently as he began to pull out a… disco ball. “A disco ball?!” I squealed. “How’s you even fit that into your backpack?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?” I looked, dumbfounded, at the shiny ball coated in puny square mirrors. “Practice, I guess,” he said with a snicker. “Lets hang this thing up!” I nodded and got off the chair. He looked around for something tall to stand on. “Help me move the desk!” he said. We pushed the 20th century ebony desk into the center of the room and he climbed on top. He started attaching it to the roof, when a voice spoke. “Hm, I thought you two might be down here.” It was Lezlie. Indigo jumped and dropped the disco ball. Lezlie moved swiftly and caught the 70’s contraption moments before it shattered. I stared at her. “H-hi Lezlie,” I stammered. “Well, hello there Elicia. You too, Indigo,” she said. He waved. “What are you doing here at the underneath?” I asked her. She shook her head. “Didn’t you get the E-mail? We’re about to have an official USCT meeting. Come with me to room 76.”
 * CHAPTER SEVEN **

When we got into the room, I saw Blake, Mandy, Sage, and Arizona already there. Sage and Arizona were playing the game //Bakery Story// on their IPhones. Blake was writing something in Sanskrit on his arm—he is the only person in the past 5 centuries at least that can understand it. Mandy was reading one of the well-read graphic novels Lezlie keeps in the room. They ignored my presence, but instantly stopped everything they were doing when Indigo walked in. Sage smiled at her younger brother. “So I guess he’s in?” she asked Lezlie. She nodded. Indigo and I took seats. I was in my usual place beside Sage and Indigo sat in an ancient desk next to Blake, who fist-bumped him as a welcome to the group. Lezlie was sitting at her large teacher’s desk and opened her laptop. “Okay, today we have the first knew member into the USCT. You all knew that already, though. Uh… next… any news on further recruiting?” she asked. Sage stood and spoke, as all must do in an underneath meeting. “Isaac is doing pretty well on his tests. He’d make a good addition, considering the fact everyone trusts him instantly.” Lezlie nodded. “Good, good. Anyone else? Elicia?” I smiled, knowing she would call on me. “Edric and Steve are proven to be good additions, as you saw. I haven’t told them about the underneath yet, given the fact I need your permission-“ “You didn’t wait for her when testing Indigo!” Arizona yelled, interrupting me. “ANYWAY!” I said loudly. “Catalina is also good. She hasn’t been informed of any of this, and she has a slight attitude, but I don’t think it’ll be a problem. I also think that 9th grader Nicole Greyson would make a nice addition.” At Richardson Junior High, the grades went from 6th to 9th instead of just going to 8th grade. Lezlie pondered that a moment. “Hmmmmm… a 9th grader would be nice, but how do you know she wouldn’t take control?” she asked. “I know Nicole really well, and she’s just like Mandy. She loves this sort of thing, but doesn’t want the stress of being the lead.” I said. Blake stood. “I think Nicole would be a nice addition to the team. It couldn’t hurt,” he said. “Okay, then it’s settled. Elicia, start testing Nicole at the soonest notice. Blake, how about Adeline? Should we let her join?” Lezlie asked. His expression changed and he sighed. “We //should//, but we //can’t//.” Arizona looked at him sideways. “Why?” she asked. “She’s a really good decoder, but right as I was about to tell her about the USCT, she told me that she was moving to Mississippi…” “Aw, it’s ok buddy!” Sage said, while giving him a sympathetic pat on the back. He smiled. “It is with you guys around! So, yeah… that’s my report.” He sat back down and continued writing in Sanskrit. “How about you, Lezlie? Is Jeremy on the team or what?” She sighed with a slight smile. “Yes Elicia, he’s on the team.” Arizona sat down heavily and began to pout. “Stupid Canadian…” she mumbled. I chuckled and rolled my eyes at Arizona. “What’s the next order of business, then? I take it we’re done with recruiting.” Mandy stood and spoke for the first time that meeting. “I think we need to tell the newcomers to get their butts over here and we can tell them about… //the papers//.” Lezlie stared at her. I think only she and Arizona had seen the papers. I know I hadn’t, although I was their keeper. Sure, I’d seen the folder they were in, but not the files themselves. “Maybe… I just don’t know. Only two people have read them before,” she said. Mandy looked her dead in the eye. “We don’t need to //show// them the papers, just tell them the general idea about them.” I smiled. Of course we weren’t going to actually //see// the papers. That would have ruined the mystery of the underneath. “I think Mandy’s right,” I said. I looked at Mandy and she grinned at me and began stroking my head. It was a strange habit both she and Nicole had. They liked to pet my head when they were in a good mood. At first it was just to freak me out, but I got used to it and let them caress my hair at will. “Ugh, fine,” said Lezlie, “call the recruits.” We all whipped out our phones and got a hold of everyone we could. Blake had Caroline on the line, I had Edric and Steve on a three-way-call, Sage was talking to Isaac, and Lezlie was IMing Jeremy. “It’ll be about five minutes until anyone shows up,” Lezlie said, “Let’s go up and wait for them.” Everyone walked out the door as I picked up my backpack. Indigo tapped my arm. “What?” I asked. “How do you speak at the meetings? There’s got to be some rules!” Indigo questioned. I snickered. “Of course there are. At an Underneath School’s Conspiracy Team meeting, to speak you have to stand up. You can’t sit if you’re talking or if someone is answering your question. That way you stay alert. Next, all phones have to be either off or on airplane mode so you can’t get a call or a text during the meeting. That makes sure you aren’t telling anyone what’s going on. That’s basically it for meetings,” I explained. “Cool,” he said, “now let’s go meet the other newbies!” We walked onto the upper field and waited for the newest members to arrive. The light green grass had small, sparkling dewdrops on them. The field was so calm without a herd of wild middle schoolers rampaging around after a soccer ball or football. It was a cool autumn day and all was quiet at the school. I looked up to see Edric and Steve running down the stairs to the field. “Hey guys!” I shouted. “Wuzzup sis!” they hollered back. Edric and Steve weren’t really my brothers. They were the closest I had, though. Those two had been my best friends since we were three. Edric was a very short Indian (actual India, not native American.). His dad was born in India, but his mom was one of the whitest women I had ever met. It was truly shocking. Steve, on the other hand, was a pale, skinny kid with the softest, silk-like, blonde hair. He had an unhealthy obsession with cats and owned five. They rushed over and gave me a high four. A high four was like a high five, but with the thumb tucked into the palm. It was a tradition among us three. “Why’d you call us here?” Edric asked. “We’ll tell you in a minute. There’s a few others we need to wait for,” I told him. There was a thud behind us. The rest of the original USCT turned with me to face the vending machine. Catalina was sitting on the machine as if nothing had happened. “Hey El! What’s with the group party?” she asked, climbing down. She punched my shoulder in a friendly sort of way. “You’ll find out soon enough,” Lezlie said. She waved for me to come over. “What’s up?” I whispered to her. “I don’t like that girl. She annoys me,” she said. “I told you she would. Just deal with it!” I told Lezlie. She sighed in defeat and I walked away. I was about to tell Catalina something when there was an ear-shattering shriek. “CANADIAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” screamed Arizona. Her voice echoed throughout the entire school. I looked at the direction she was pointing and saw Jeremy sliding down the rail. Walking right behind him was Isaac. “I think that’s everyone!” I announced. Everyone gathered around Lezlie and I. “We’re about to show you something, but you have to swear not to tell //anyone//,” Lezlie said. I nodded. “Like, really. If you tell anyone well… it isn’t pretty.” “Okay. We swear,” the newbies said. “Then let’s go,” I said. The followed me to the vending machine and Blake pushed it out of the way. “There’s a hole… behind the vending machine?” Jeremy asked. “DON’T QUESTION IT!” Blake screamed. Sage started laughing as the newbies stared at Blake as if he were from outer space. “Just follow,” I said. Lezlie jumped down the hole first and grabbed the ladder moments before crashing. She just had that kind of split-second talent. “Be careful everyone!” I yelled while descending into the darkness. I laughed to my self, hearing all the worried and confused murmurs from above. I stepped down into the main hallway and helped the newbies since they couldn’t see anything and they didn’t know the schools layout as perfectly as I did. “Why is there a freaking hole behind the vending machine?!” Jeremy asked again. I smiled in the dark. “That’s because it leads,” I said, “to the underneath.” A simultaneous “What?!” was the reply. “The underneath,” Lezlie began, “is the home base for the USCT.” Another what. “The USCT is the Underneath School’s Conspiracy Team. It’ll make more sense after the initiation, but let’s just say there’s something up with our school and the USCT is going to stop it.” “Okay, you expect us to believe this is some top-secret organization and we’re in the old school right now?” Edric asked sarcastically. “Pretty much,” I said. “But! You’ll believe us after we show you the evidence.” Lezlie commanded everyone to stay right next to each other and follow. Lezlie, Arizona, and I were at the head, Blake, Mandy, and Sage in back. We walked down the corridors to room 76 as many confused murmurs were echoing behind. We opened up the door and Lezlie flicked on the light. “Everyone, take a seat!” she yelled. I sat in beside Sage in the edge of the third row. All the newbies filed in and scrambled for seats with the people they trust the most. Catalina sat down in Lezlie’s desk in front of the computer. Lezlie gave her a death glare that scared even Blake. “//Except that one//,” Lezlie said, her voice smooth and deadly like ice. Catalina shrugged her shoulders. “Whatever,” she said nonchalantly. She walked into a seat into the back row next to Blake. Lezlie took her seat. “Okay, first we have to go over some underneath rules,” Lezlie said. She told them about the meeting rules and how they can’t tell anyone about the USCT, not even as a joke. “Do I make myself clear?” she asked. Everyone nodded. “Good. Now I’m going to call Arizona up here to tell you about the USCT’s origin.” She backed down into her seat and Arizona stood. “Mkay! So, the underneath started three years ago,” she began. She told them all about how they got to the papers. “The papers were marked top secret and sealed in a tan envelope. Only Lezlie and I have seen the papers, but you guys get to know the general idea of what was on them. It was written to Clarence Martin, our current principal, although the letters were dated April 4th, 1997. They were talking about how the “project’s” success was climbing rapidly and how it was nearing the time to over throw the government and run the country. A man named Terrance Ives signed it. It also was talking about the experiments, which were going on, but it doesn’t give any detail. At the bottom of the paper was a little sun covered by the clouds and in extremely fine print, it said, ‘the sky is not the limit. Believers unite.’” Everyone stared blankly at her as they processed the information. I stood up and Arizona took seat. “Now, the USCT is started to run into road blocks, being only six people. That’s why you are here. We chose our closest friends, tested them secretly, and now those of you that passed are here being initiated into the underneath,” I said. Everyone seemed to understand. “So how exactly are we being initiated?” Steve asked. I winced. “Well, that’s the problem. Are you all willing to be in the underneath and tell no one?” Everyone nodded. “Well then, follow me,” I said. I led everybody down into the old auditorium and walked onto the stage. “One by one make your way up here.” Indigo came up first. I showed him to the wall next to the stage. There were six faded letters written in a brownish red. I bent over and pulled an old pocketknife out from underneath a loose board. “You have to cut your thumb and write your first initial in the blood while swearing secrecy.” All the non-initiated members looked very dumbfounded. They still thought it was some sort of joke, but it wasn’t. Indigo took the knife from my hand and slit his thumb. While writing down the I, he spoke “I, Indigo Ferris, swear never to tell about the underneath, the USCT, or any of its secrets.” All the others followed in his steps. Although some were afraid, everyone swore secrecy and was given a placement. Indigo was another spy with me in room 94, Catalina was our break-ins and lock-picking expert, and so she shared the decoding room, 59, with Blake. Jeremy became Lezlie’s “intern”, Edric and Steve were assigned to weapons and torture so they chose room 21. Isaac was in plans with Sage and Arizona. Everyone who didn’t have a specific place would go with Mandy, but there were no people who fit that category yet. The USCT was pulling together. After getting set up, everyone scampered off in their own ways until it was only Sage and I. We went into room 94 and I got out a bag of M&Ms from the secret stash. She collapsed in the chair opposite of mine with a handful of the candy-coated chocolate. “You know Elicia,” she began, “This might actually get real. Like real in a fake way, as if we’re in a movie!” I looked at her in wonder. “Why do you think that?” She made broad hand gestures while explaining. “We have people who can make weapons! We run a secret underground cult! It’s like those James Bond movies!” I laughed. “That would be awesome, but it wouldn’t work. This is probably going to get us nowhere, but it’ll be fun along the way. “I guess you’re right… but, if this were a movie, who do you think would be the traitor?” “Traitor?” I asked. “Yeah! There’s always a traitor!” she said ecstatically. “Well…” I pondered, “It would probably be Mandy.” “Why Mandy?” she asked. “She’s the most quiet of us all, and she doesn’t really //do// much.” Sage looked up at the ceiling. “I bet the traitor would be Blake. The first guy in the group. The crypt cracker. The guy who can freaking write in Sanskrit.” I rolled my eyes while popping a blue M&M into my mouth. “This is stupid. Why would anyone be a traitor to the underneath?” Sage laughed a light, sweet laugh. “Yeah, you’re right. Nobody would betray the USCT.” She popped the rest of the M&Ms into her mouth and turned to leave. “Oh, and Elicia?” “Mhmm?” I mumbled. “Protect the documents. Don’t even tell the newbies where it is.” I glanced at the trashcan and when I looked back, she was gone. I felt my heart rise in my throat. I had already shown Indigo. But… what harm could that really do? He was trustworthy. I shook the thought from my mind and kept eating M&Ms.

It was the next day. I had gotten barely any sleep last night thinking of how the initiations went the day before. I wandered around school for about two minutes and got bored because there were only about twelve people there. I walked to the field and snuck behind the vending machine. I climbed down and when I reached the bottom, I heard the unmistakable sound of people climbing down the ladder. I zipped a pencil out of the pocket on my sweatshirt. I keep a pencil on me at all times in case of emergencies like this. I listened closely to where the sound was coming from. There were two people. One was slightly tall and the other was a midget. I threw the pencil at the midget and he fell. The midget landed in front of me with a thud. It was Keith Greyson, Nicole’s little brother. “Nicole, get down here,” I yelled and she dropped, missing her brother by millimeters. Keith was a small boy with short, shiny, brown hair and he was in my grade. Nicole on the other hand, had curly black hair and was known as the rebellious yet quiet ninth grader. “How’d you know it was us?” she asked. “I threw a pencil at Keith and he fell down. I figured you were the other person. How did you even get down here?” I asked. Nicole explained that she and Keith had seen me dive behind the vending machine from the upstairs window. It would have been nearly impossible to see me unless you were looking directly at the vending machine, which she was. They had followed behind me and climbed down the ladder merely because they were curious. “You guys aren’t allowed to be down here!” I said. “Well neither are you!” Keith said with a smart-a—know-it-all tone. I didn’t know what to do. If I told them about the underneath, Lezlie would kill me. If I didn’t, they would tell the principle and the USCT would be out of business for good. My mind was about to explode when Lezlie dropped down from the top and landed smack dab in between the brother and sister. She smiled. “Welcome to the underneath. We’ve been expecting you,” she said. I was utterly bemused. Had Lezlie just told them about the underneath and that they were in? “Elicia,” Lezlie said. “Go show the new members to the initiation hall.” I did as Lezlie commanded, but after it was done I barged into Lezlie’s office, the slightest bit infuriated. She was staring at her computer screen as usual. Her box of wonders that she thought could give her all the joys of the real world, even though it was just a machine keeping her from experiencing life. “What’s up Elicia?” she asked, not even bothering to tear her eyes away from the screen. I was steamed. “First of all, take your eyes off the freaking computer before it ruins your damn life!!!!!!!!! Second, why did you let Nicole and Keith in that quickly?” I yelled at her. “I tested them already,” she said, actually managing to look me in the eye. “What?” I asked. “Without me knowing?” She nodded. “Yep.” I was hurt. Lezlie told me everything. She didn’t even bother to let me know they were coming to the underneath or anything like that. Lezlie could tell this was what I was thinking too from her expression. She sighed. “I can’t tell you everything Elicia. It just wouldn’t be fair.” “Wouldn’t be fair to who?” I snapped. “To Jeremy? Your little henchman? Think Lezlie. Who did everything for you before then, huh? It was me. Is this some form of revenge? What did I do wrong. Can you at least tell me that?!” She was surprised. Nobody ever talked back to her. She was in charge and had all the power; if you made Lezlie mad, you were in for something terrible. She closed the laptop. “It’s about your skills. You can’t spy as well as you used to!” she said. I rolled my eyes. “Of course you’re going to use //that// excuse! I’m still a better member than Jeremy! He barely knows anything about what’s going on here! It has nothing to do with that! What’s going on your head Lezlie; what’s //really// going on.” “Elicia, it’s that temper of yours! That’s the problem!” I stopped her. “No, I’ve never acted like this before. I’ve never had a reason to until now when you refuse to tell me what’s going on!” She sighed a long, deep sigh. “You want the truth? I’ll give you the truth. You’ve been taking over the USCT. You have been making all the recent decisions. I need to take charge again, Elicia, or else the underneath won’t exist anymore.” She hit me right where it hurts. My tone softened. “Lezlie… I would never do that! If you thought I was taking over you could have just said something. You would have too, if you were the old Lezlie,” I said. She looked at me confused. “What?” “The Lezlie that was so excited about finding out about this. The Lezlie that wasn’t always on her computer and actually interacted with the world. The fun-loving Lezlie that really smiled and laughed because of something funny. That’s the Lezlie we //need// to lead us… and you’re just not her anymore.” She looked at me in shock. Her fragile glasses dropped from her face and crashed on the floor, but didn’t shatter. Lezlie looked at me with a gaping mouth and wide, concerned eyes. I had broken her and the verbal war had been won. “Elicia…” she said. “Lezlie. What happened. You were the best leader: strong, cunning, considerate, and fun. Now you’re not. Do you see what I mean?” She nodded. “Elicia… I was wrong. The computer can’t give me everything. And… you might make a better leader than me…” “Lezlie, no. You aren’t resigning as leader. I couldn’t take that. I need you to… no, //we// need you to promise to be your old self again.” She nodded. “Do you still have time El?” she asked. “We have fifteen minutes, why?” I asked. “I’m going to re-initiate myself. To seal the deal.” I cracked a smile. She was the old Lezlie again. We went into the auditorium and she slit her thumb with the knife and wrote the L write on top of the first one while swearing, “I, Lezlie, leader of the underneath, head of the USCT, won’t let technology control me and my comrades will always come first.”
 * CHAPTER EIGHT **

There were nine people sitting around the table. The one at the head was a tall, lean man with brutally tanned skin. He wore a dark suit with a silver tie and his jet-black hair was slicked up in the front. The man next to him would be described as a very serious looking carrot-top with a scar on his left thumb. The man on the brute’s other side was scrawny with auburn hair and a distant look on his face, as if he didn’t belong there. The other six men were nearly identical in black suits with dark glasses shielding their faces. The brute spoke in a voice brittle yet soft and only slightly intimidating. “Welcome all. As you know, our experiments are nearing the close, and then we can begin the revolt. Does anyone in this room see any current blocks in our path to victory?” One of the identical men stood up. He was surprisingly short. “Well, I have heard accounts of a group of kids mysteriously vanishing at lunch and asking the staff outrageous questions about the government at Richardson Junior High, but I don’t think it’s anything of concern.” The brute’s expression changed and his voice darkened. “What? We left the documents at Richardson Junior High! The principal is part of our plan! How is this //not// of concern! We need spies there. Now! Stop those kids, find out what they’re up to, something!” The short man nodded and pulled out his phone. He hit the third speed dial button. “Hello? Yes sweetie, it’s me. No, nothings wrong… I just wanted to know, were there any people at school that seemed… I don’t know… suspicious? Highly skilled? … Uh-huh? Blake? Ok. Thanks pumpkin! Keep packing your things! Remember, we move on Saturday!” He closed the phone and put it away. “Director, my daughter says her… ugh… boyfriend Blake disappears at lunch sometimes and is obsessed with decoding. I feel it’s a start.” The director nodded. “Someone send in a substitute teacher to one of that boys classes. This concludes our meeting. The sky is //not// the limit. Believers unite.”
 * CHAPTER NINE **

It may have been November, but it was hot out. On Saturday, the USCT decided to take some vacation time to White Sands beach. We drove down all in Lezlie’s mom’s silver GMC. Mrs. Avidoa put on the radio on to full blast and we all started singing. I was squashed in-between Sage and Arizona, as usual. Behind us were, in order from left to right, Catalina, Blake, Indigo, Jeremy, and Mandy. Then in the next row (it seemed like Mrs. Avidoa’s car could fit hundreds), Nicole, Keith, Edric, Steve, and Isaac sat all clumped together. The song “Waiting For the End” by Linkin Park came on and we all burst in at the rapping part, feeling like normal kids having a good time for once. The next song was “Don’t Stop Believin’”. The second verse came on and there were only two voices singing, “Working hard to get my fill, everybody wants a thrill.” They were Indigo and I. There was a simultaneous “Oooooohhhh,” from the kids. We glared at them and kept on singing until everyone joined in on, “Strangers! Waiting! Up and down the boulevard!” and the car was filled yet again with noise and laughter. I had started spacing out when “Paradise City” by Guns N’ Roses came on. I’d always pictured bikers speeding along the highway when I listened to that song, and sure enough there were. I heard a loud bang and saw another car’s hubcap fly off and almost knock down one of the bikers. Everyone was pressed against the windows to get a better look.
 * CHAPTER TEN **

Two hours later, we had reached the beach. The ocean breezes wafted through the air underneath the hot blazing sun. You could feel the burning sand underneath our feet, the occasional sand crab crawling between our toes.

We stripped down to our swimsuits and dove for the water. The salty bring of the waves coated my skin and I felt some kelp rub against me. I love the water. It’s beautiful and unpredictable. I wish I could stay under the water forever. Unfortunately, however, I had run out of breath. I shot out of a wave. I watched as Sage and Arizona, attempting to tan on the sand, got run over by the giant wave I was floating on. Indigo was floating on the water and laughed brightly as his sister started yelling. I swam over to him. “How are you liking the beach?” I asked.

He smiled and stared up at the sky. There was a sort of enlightened look in his eyes with the clouds reflection soaring across his irises. “It’s amazing. I haven’t been to the beach in so long…” he said, trailing off at the end. He glanced out at the horizon and dove under water. I swam after him. The water was crystal clear and small fish were swimming around beneath the cool waves. Indigo and I came up for air at the same time. It was so peaceful and I wish it could have lasted. Mrs. Avidoa called us all in from the water to come eat food.

We all sat on a blue and green checked blanket while eating our cheeseburgers and hot dogs. The smells from the meat and the burned charcoal floated through the air. After eating, we all raced over from the grill and started playing an intense game of bocce ball. Jeremy won every single round, Arizona always came in second, which drove her crazy, and I kept coming in third. Although one round, Lezlie beat me.

We all sat at the edge of where the high tide was rolling in to watch the sunset. Gold and crimson waves and stripes were shooting across the sky. Pale pink wisps of cotton candy clouds were rolling through the sky. I was still soaking wet and an icy ocean breeze blew across the seashore. I started shivering and my teeth chattered a little. Indigo stood up from sitting next to me and went to his backpack. Arizona leaned over to me and whispered, “Wonder where he’s going. I see you’re making progress, though. Keep it up!” She moved back to her spot as Indigo came back. He’d put his Green Day shirt on and handed me his favorite blue jacket.

I didn’t take it. “C’mon, Elicia. You were shivering. Wear my jacket so you don’t get sick,” he said while draping it onto my shoulders. I slipped the soft cotton sleeves onto my arms and zipped it up. I looked behind me and Arizona winked. I rolled my eyes at her.

Mrs. Avidoa came over with a big grin on her petite face. “I have a surprise for you all! I talked to your parents, and we’re staying overnight!” she announced. We all cheered as she went and got the tents out of her car. “Three to a tent, boys and girls separate. Pick your group!” she said. Everyone scrambled to find their groups. Edric, Steve, and Jeremy raced for the first tent. I ended up with Sage and Arizona. The other groups were: Lezlie, Nicole, and Mandy; Isaac, Blake, and Indigo; Mrs. Avidoa also had two single tents which went to Catalina and Keith while she slept in the car. Everyone scrambled to set up their tents. Some were better at it than others. I went camping every year so Sage, Arizona, and my tent was the first one up.

The sun went down and the sky went from brightly colored to the darkest of all blues. Small stars lit up across the heavens. You couldn’t see stars that well from the city. The moon was glowing pale yellow above our heads.