Chapter One- The Two Agent 15's

Here we meet Zoë Parker, her loser friends, her judgmental family and hear the story of the once great and supposedly dead Ansley Parker, the original Agent 15

She snuck through fields of grass leading up to the tall mansion ahead of her. It was late and the sky was pitch black, except for a small sliver of pure white moon poking out between the clouds. Light rain fell overhead but she kept walking through the grass. The lights from the mansion's windows flickered on the hedges that crossed throughout the back yard. She could see the shadows of people mingling and dancing inside the windows; she laughed, and headed toward the back door. As the rain fell harder she took shelter under one of the wide windows. Breaking in unnoticed would be tougher than she thought, considering she was soaking wet and wearing an all-black cat suit. Her long dirty blonde hair fell around her face drenched from the sudden hard rain. Then she saw a small window leading into the basement. Too easy, she thought, and she slipped inside.

The basement was dirty and dim, despite being underneath an enormous mansion. She crept through cob webbed low walkways until she found a small staircase leading to the kitchen. The smell of gourmet food filled the stairs ascending to the door. She cracked the door less than an inch; the kitchen was crowded and bustled with chefs and waiters. There was a lot of yelling and food was flying. She kept low to floor as she darted through the kitchen. She peeked through another door, but quickly closed it. It was an entrance to the ball room where the party was being held. The gala was really a front for rich socialites who thought that the money they donated would help fund an ocean expedition to find a lost shipwreck and start a museum with the treasured the divers found. While the donors were dancing and laughing all dressed up in the ballroom, the "divers" were packing their money upstairs preparing to leave for Belize.  That was her job, to make sure they didn't.

She found an exit out of the kitchen and into the upstairs of the house and began her search for the swindlers. She knew they hadn't left yet, the IUOS would have let her know. The IUOS was the top-secret agency in the world. She crept through the halls of the mansion searching for any sign of the swindlers. The halls were cool and silent except for the soft sounds of her footsteps and the party downstairs. Then suddenly she heard voices coming from the master bedroom.

"I think that's the last bag madam," said a gruff voice with a thick New York accent.

"Thank you darling I think we are just about finished here," said a second voice. It was a woman's voice with a slight European accent. She grinned as she leaned in close and listened from the side of the door. Two more voices entered the conversation.

"We're done too Madam Nicolette, but don't you think it's strange that no one's here right now." 

"Yeah all those agent types were all over us the last time we tried this stunt at that retirement home in Charleston." 

"I thought the IUOS would have sent someone too. Didn't the boss warn us they would?"

"They are," the third voice said slyly. "Some new agent, I have some inside information from a semi-reliable source. According to that source they are sending a recently graduated agent to track us." They all laughed like nails scraping against a chalkboard.

"But it’s only April," said the second voice who had an Irish accent." Aren't them TSU kids graduating in June?”

"That's the beauty of their plan. They let this one graduate early. Two years early to be exact. The agent tracking us is a sixteen year old girl." They all began laughing again, and from outside the door she cringed.

"Stop it! Stop this right now, she could be here!" Madam Nicolette yelled. "Don't let her age and size fool you. I've heard of what she can do, what she's done.  We've had contact with the IUOS before. They're not fools. We know that would not let just anyone graduate two years early."

"Oh really Madam, now what have you heard about this new agent eh?"

"That she can be as silent as an alley cat and twice as clever. She thinks quickly in the face of danger and is the most cunning agent the IUOS has seen in years. They call her the best of the generation." Madam Nicolette said. The girl grinned.

As the smugglers continued with their argument about the agent who would be tracking them, she felt the pager on her hip buzz. She froze in the dead silence.

"What was that?" Asked the Irish smuggler.

"Nothing, just keep packing." Said the one from New York.

She checked the message: "Agent 15. The smugglers’ driver will be pulling up to the back of the mansion in approximately fifteen minutes. Keep the smugglers in their current location until other agents and the authorities will arrive."

She smiled as she heard Madam Nicolette reenter the master bedroom.  "Now are we almost done packing? The boss called, the car is almost here.  Traffic wasn't as bad is we predicted and we are ahead of schedule."

Ahead of schedule? A feeling of panic overwhelmed her as she thought of what she was going to do to keep them in the master bedroom of the estate.  Just as she was pondering over how she was going to make them stay put, one of the smugglers brought up their previous topic of the agency.

"So what do you know about this new agent that you're so afraid of Madam?" The second smuggler said.

"Yeah you said she is the best agent of the IUOS, but how could that be. I thought the best agents right now were the Parker brothers."

"Exactly, Agent 15 is their younger sister." Suddenly a laugh rang through the room as the team of smugglers froze.

"Madam what was that?" Asked the New Yorker.

"It sounded like a kid laughing." Said the other.

"Silence! All of you! I think she's here."

"Who's here?"

"Shhhhh!" Madam Nicolette scolded as she paced slowly around the large room.

"Agent 15." Whispered one smuggler to the other. He nodded in acknowledgment as they all watched Madam Nicolette look around the bedroom.

"Everyone begin taking the bags out to the back, quickly, now go!" Madam Nicolette whispered as another laugh rang out through the room. They all froze.

"What are you waiting for? Go hurry!" Madam Nicolette said as they all made their way toward the exit. Then suddenly someone jumped out from the door. The smugglers did not have a second to think as the shadow knocked them all to the ground one by one. The unknown assailant then knocked all of their heavy bags on top of them, leaving them trapped under the weight and unable to move.

 "Not so fast guys, where do you think you're going, huh?" The girl stood in the middle of the doorway. She was tall, lean and athletic with long curly dirty blonde hair. She wore a black cat suit and smiled mischievously as they all glared at her dumbfounded.

It was Agent 15.

"Ah you must be Agent 15, you may think you have us trapped now but just you wait, we’ll break free and then-“Madam Nicolette yelled but could not finish her thought because the room was suddenly swarmed with agents and policemen all holding up guns and shouting things. One of the swindlers tried to dart out through the doorway but was caught by several IUOS agents while the rest of henchmen put up their hands and were arrested.  A cop snuck up behind Madam Nicolette and slapped a pair of cuffs of her bony wrists. She glared at the girl who just grinned slyly back at her.

"I was going to say that we had to wait for my friends to show up, but I guess they are already here," She said laughing as Madam Nicolette and her henchmen were taken away. She stayed behind where IUOS agents and the remainder of the police searched the bedroom for evidence.  From the hallway she could hear Madam Nicolette calling her "I will get you for this Ansley Parker! Mark my words I will have my revenge!" She shrieked. Ansley laughed a nervous laugh to herself as someone tapped her on the shoulder. It was a tall balding man in a fitted gray suit.

"You don't have to worry about her where she's going. Nice work Agent 15, we were worried you wouldn't be able to stall them, but you did admirably as always." The man said.

"I try my best agent 89." Ansley said, hiding a small smile.

"The director will be very pleased to hear about this, you never disappoint 15."

"Thank you Agent 89. Tell the director I said hello when you see him." Ansley replied.

"I will, he is very impressed, everyone at the IUOS is. You have proved to be the best agent in decades. Everyone at the IUOS has been thinking about sending you out for more advanced projects in years to come."

"Really, like what?" Ansley asked.

"Top secret international stuff, it will take a few more years of training and other mission work to see if you could handle it, but by about the time you are twenty you will definitely be playing in the big leagues that’s for sure. Mark my words Parker." Agent 89 patted her on the shoulder again. "You will be great."

 

"And, that is the story of how your Aunt Ansley stopped the infamous Madam Nicolette who had been swindling money from the rich and the elderly for almost seven years and Agent 15 was the only one who could stop her. You should be very proud to have her in your family." Ms. Kolinsky, the new director of discipline at the TSU School in Florida, said. She was a former agent herself, now a large gray haired woman who wore too much lipstick. Ms. Kolinsky was in her office telling this to a first year student. Even though Ms. Kolinsky was only working at this TSU branch for a week, she heard a lot about this particular agent-in-training. She sat across from Ms. Kolinsky staring her down with a deadened expression of her face. She had long dark brown hair pulled into a sloppy bun on top of her head with pieces flying down around her face. Parts of her hair were bright cobalt blue extensions. She wore the green TSU Florida t-shirt with navy blue jean cut off shorts. Her wrists were covered with colorful bracelets and she was hiding her barefoot feet underneath the desk.  She was supposed to be in uniform, but being that it was her first year at the TSU, Ms. Kolinsky would have settled for her wearing shoes. She listened to the whole story, but she didn’t look like it, she rolled her eyes and twirled the pieces of hair that fell down around her face. Normal things teenagers do when they are bored.

"Zo�' Parker have you been listening to a word I just said?" Ms. Kolinsky noticed that Zo�' had just spent her entire speech fiddling with her colorful stringy bracelets on her wrist.

"Yes and it was riveting. You should have considered a career as a novelist." Zo�' smirked, glaring at Ms. Kolinsky for a few moments then returned to twirling the different strands of brown and blue hair around her finger. "Can I please go? I can’t miss the award ceremony. My whole family's there."

"I'm sorry Miss Parker but I haven't even begun to discuss what this is really about.  You see the true reason I wanted to see you is about your behavior for your first year at TSU."

“Here we go again,” Zo�' said rolling her eyes. She knew where this was going. Zo�' wasn't cut out for this spy work stuff and her first year at school had just been one accident after another. All her teachers and staff said she did it all on purpose, but she didn't mean dismantle the obstacle course, start the food fight in the dining hall or all the other things she had been accused of this year. Zoë should have seen this coming; things went the same way at TSU camp the summer before starting her 8th grade year at the TSU. It shouldn't have come as a surprise to all her teachers who thought she would be something special.  Zo�' didn't care though, she didn't want to be here, she wanted to be at home with all her friends at cheerleading tryouts. She wanted to start normal high school with her friends, not continue at the TSU. The first year of TSU is the "prep year" to get the students ready for their second year where the work would be much harder and they would actually start their spy careers. First year was supposed to get the TSU students excited, but for Zo�' it just solidified that she did belong there.

"Zoë Parker, do you even know what school you go to?" Ms. Kolinsky bellowed.

“Is this a rhetorical question or...?” Zoë said. Ms. Kolinsky glared, "TSU."

"And what does that stand for?"

"Teen Spy Union," Zoë said.

"And what agency is that a part of…?" Ms. Kolinsky asked leaning forward. Zoë leaned back in her chair and groaned. She knew where this was going.

"The IUOS, the International Union of Spies." Zoë groaned as Ms. Kolinsky threw her meaty arms up in the air and said.

"Yes the IUOS! The greatest international freelance government agency in the world since before World War I and you have the privilege to be a part of it, people would die to be in your shoes!" Ms. Kolinsky said then remembered that Zoë was not wearing shoes. "So don't mess it up."

"Oh yes everyone wants to be here, everyone expect me." Zoë grumbled.

“You need to start acting your age Ms. Parker, your starting high school next year” Ms. Kolinsky bellowed then noticed Zoë had gone back to twirling her hair. “For God’s sakes how old are you?”

“I turned fourteen last week, June 9^th to be exact. We spent it in detention together. I wanted to bring a cake. I’m trying to deal with my situation with humor, at least that’s what the school counselor you sent me to suggested.” Zoë teased leaning back in her chair. Ms. Kolinsky mumbled something to herself and dropped the issue for now.

"Well let’s just get this over with so you can go to your end of year ceremony. Earlier today your teachers told me that while you were with some other students setting up for the award ceremony you tossed a stack a chairs and broke our new podium. Is that right?" 

"I didn't toss them, I dropped them, they were heavy. Have you ever had to lift chairs?"  Zo�' retorted. She had been in this office all year and had talked with many discipline directors like Ms. Kolinsky. She knew that no matter what she said Ms. Kolinsky wouldn't believe her.

"According to all three of your teachers who were helping your group set the stage you tossed them, and they couldn't have been too heavy for you."  Ms. Kolinsky said holding up a large manila folder. The words Parker, Zo�' were printed across the top and the words TSU and IUOS written across the bottom. It was her agency file, Zo�' had seen them before, they are your permanent record in the spy world. The directors of the IUOS and TSU fill it up with reports of everything you have ever done. Even though Zo�' had only been in the spy world a year, her file already seemed to be full. "Because according to your records you took gymnastics as your athletic course this year which requires a lot of strength and concentration so lifting a small stack of plastic folding chairs should not have been a challenge for you."

"What does lifting chairs have to do with gymnastics?" Zo�' asked. She was annoyed, this woman wasn't even trying to hear her out for her side of the story and Zo�' could hear the opening speeches of the end-of-year award ceremony. It had started without her. Zoë’s entire family was in the audience and she was not up on stage with everyone.  They were going to be wondering where she is.

"Miss Parker this incident today is just one of many problems we have had with you all year and I have to admit that everyone here from the TSU is extremely disappointed." Ms. Kolinsky said and gazed out the window. It was sunny out and the TSU school campus was warm and quiet with everyone at the award ceremony. The ceremony was held in the auditorium near the center of campus. Zo�' could hear other students being called up for awards. She knew she did not win anything, but with all the people getting up for their speeches or awards her parents would notice that she was not there.

"Everyone had expected so much of you Zo�', you being the next generation of the Parker family. Your family has been the greatest family the IUOS has seen in decades. We were thrilled when you were born that you could continue the Parker family line, especially since you were born right after…" Ms. Kolinsky began but paused for an intense personal moment. Zo�' knew exactly what she was going to say.

"Only one month and one week before your 3^rd birthday Aunt Ansley disappeared. She was the best agent the IUOS had seen in years. I never personally met the girl, but I worked with her department on the Madam Nicolette case. She almost took down our rival agency the SAOW singlehandedly. Everyone in the IUOS spoke most highly of her. I was going to see her at a large meeting once she returned from her final mission." She shook her head and looked back at Zo�'."Do you know what happened to your aunt Ansley?"

"No."  Zoë lied, of course she knew what happened to her own aunt, but Ms. Kolinsky did not pick up on it.

"She disappeared!" Ms. Kolinsky exclaimed. "When she was twenty years old she was sent on a top secret mission abroad and she died to save the IUOS from enemy spies! She helped end the conflict between our biggest rival! Her death ended the SAOW war! Do know how many people around the globe would want to get their hands on the secrets of the IUOS? A lot, and Ansley died to save our organization! We expected you to be the same."

"You expected me to die?"

"We expected you to at least try and not ruin everything in your path!" Ms. Kolinsky shouted, leaned over her desk and tried to regain her composer. Zo�' didn’t even blink. She had been hearing about her Aunt Ansley all her life and every time she heard about it the less she sympathized with Ansley.  Every year around Zo�''s birthday her entire family mopes around because Ansley was declared dead three days after Zo�''s birthday even though they never found the body.  Ms. Kolinsky's heartfelt admiration of her Aunt didn't surprise Zo�' much.

In the distance Zo�' heard the speaker's end of ceremony announcements. Zo�' sighed. She had missed the ceremony. "I get it okay, I’m a screw-up. Can I please go now? The award ceremony is over. I have to meet my parents."

Ms. Kolinsky glared at Zo�'. "Fine, you may go. Wait!" She paused just as Zo�' was opening the door. She groaned.

"What? Anymore family stories you’d like to share before I leave?"

"Very funny Parker, you just have to give me your spy number."

"Oh yeah, that." Zoë had been through this routine many times before. "15."

"What did you say?" Ms. Kolinsky asked, as if she missed something important.

"You asked for my number and I gave it to you. 15."

"That can't be right." Ms. Kolinsky said.

Ms. Kolinsky sorted through papers on her desk and found a clipboard. She flipped through the sheets of paper on the clipboard until she found what she was looking for. Ms. Kolinsky expression turned into shock. Zoë was confused. "What’s wrong?"

"Zo�' Parker, your agent number is, 15. You're the new Agent 15!" Ms. Kolinsky exclaimed.

"The new Agent 15?"

"Yes the new Agent 15! Weren't you listening to anything I said! Ansley Parker was the original Agent 15, her number was going to be retired once she got the lifetime achievement award but she died before she won, and they gave it to you!" Ms. Kolinsky looked like she was about to have a heart attack.

"Don’t get your paperwork in a bunch, is it that bad?" 

"That number should have been retired like it was supposed to be, but you got it! You of all people"

Zo�' didn't understand why she was so upset over one number. She never even met Ansley but she still adored her. Zo�' figured she should be used to this growing up as one of the Parkers. Her family and grandparents always heard this thing from fellow agents about how brave Ansley was though most of them barely knew her. Ansley, according her family, used to have tons of friends in all the agencies before she went missing. Thinking back, Zo�' never heard one bad word about Ansley. Maybe it was a perk of dying on duty; no one could ever say anything bad about you. No wonder Ms. Kolinsky was freaking out that the new TSU screw up received the number 15, but it wasn't Zo�''s fault she got Ansley's old number. She didn't choose it, it was chosen for her.

"Can I please go,” Zo�' asked again, almost begging. Ms. Kolinsky gave her one last look as if she was wishing to have her expelled that moment. 

"Yes, you can go."

This kind of thing had been happening to Zoë all year. At first the teachers and faculty seemed to like her, but then after a week or so they realized she was not like Ansley and have all hated her ever since. When Zoë tried to explain this to anyone, they would not believe her. They said that she was not trying hard enough to adjust to the new school and work with the teachers. Zoë was trying to fit in, but it was hard to fit in somewhere when you know you don’t belong. It wasn't just TSU that Zoë did not like; she realized that she also disliked Florida. At first Zoë was excited to go somewhere different and tried to see the best in the situation but she hated Florida. It was hot, swampy and muggy all the time, which made class time at TSU in uniforms even more unpleasant. But it was not the sun and the heat that she hated the most, it was the thunderstorms. Florida was full of tropical thunderstorms and Zoë hated them. Zoë had always been afraid of thunderstorms. She did not know why, she just was. Zoë knew it was a stupid childish fear, but something about them just petrified her. They were loud, they were dark and they were powerful and they always seemed to be blowing through TSU.

Zo�' ran out of the discipline director’s office and was knocked down. Zoë lay on the old carpeted floor and looked up to see who she ran into. He laughed. Zoë smiled at him. "I hate you."

"Sorry Zoë, but I had to. Why were you running so fast? The ceremony's over Trust me when I say you didn’t miss anything." Luke said offering her his hand. Zoë smiled and took it.

Luke Roberson was Zoë’s friend and partner in crime. They met during detention early in the year and became friends. They were both dubbed as the class screw-ups and the ones who will probably drop out or get expelled by next year, according to their old discipline director Mr. Rowan. Luke took his not belonging in stride and his rep as class bad boy was fun for him, Zoë often helped him with some of his schemes.  Their all-time favorite prank was spray painting signs and walls around school with anti-TSU phrases and fake messages from ghosts.  Luke was hulking tall and stick thin, with blonde hair that always stood up in jagged spikes around his head without any gel. From behind him poked out a smaller girl with short strawberry blonde hair and ice blue eyes.

"Yeah Zoë, you were in there forever! We tried waiting for you but the teachers made us go to the ceremony. We got here as soon as we could." Chelsea Brent said. Chelsea was Zoë's roommate and the polar opposite of Zoë. Chelsea was athletic, ambitious, and a natural leader. She was captain of her all-star lacrosse and soccer teams and she chose to come to the TSU. Unlike Zoë, Chelsea had to convince her family to let her go. Chelsea was one of the few kids who came to TSU from non-spy families who were either recruited to join the spy world or their parents knew about TSU through government jobs.

"It's not her fault, I heard that Ms. Kolinsky rambles a lot and people are always in there for hours." A super short girl with glasses and messy dirty blonde hair said.

Luke snickered, “and Jenna, how would you of all people know that?"

"I hear things!" she protested. It was true that Jenna McLaren would be least likely to know anything about the discipline director. Out of all of Zoë's friends, Jenna was the most unlikely to ever get sent to the discipline director's office. Jenna was a mouse of a girl, quiet, neat, and a straight A student. Zoë originally hated her because Jenna was so effortlessly perfect and Zoë was not but they ended up somehow becoming friends in the end.

The two kids standing behind Jenna, Tyler and Farah, laughed. Farah Wendell was by far the prettiest girl in their class at TSU. Zoë and Farah were in the same gymnastics martial arts class but they weren’t friends. Zoë thought Farah was just some stupid mean girl with nothing going for her except being pretty. Farah looked like she belonged in the popular crowd, and she was for a brief period during the beginning of the year, but something about her did not seem to fit in there so she ended up with Zoë and her friends. Zoë tolerated her. Zoë’s other friends said she didn’t hang out with the cool kids because she was sweet and didn’t like them, but Zoë knew it was just because she was dating Tyler, Chelsea's twin brother.

Unlike his girlfriend, Zoë did like Tyler. While he and Chelsea are twins, they are not identical. Tyler has messy light brown hair and brown eyes, zero freckles and Tyler, unlike his sister, is very musical. He plays electric guitar and has a small band at TSU who sometimes smokes with them behind their dorm building, which Chelsea constantly yells at him about it and prints him pamphlets on black lung. Tyler is kind of quiet but once you get to know him he's pretty cool. Zoë had no idea why he was with Farah other than everyone thought she was hot.

"Guys shut up! Zoë what did Ms. Kolinsky say anyway?" Shawn asked. Shawn Jenson is Tyler's roommate and Zoë's first friend from TSU. They met at TSU camp the summer before their first year at TSU. Shawn had found her locked in a classroom when a counselor forgot she had left Zoë there for a "time-out". Zoë was trying to find a way to climb out the window when he poked his head in the classroom after hearing the banging on the walls. His confused smile and hazel eyes under his floppy brown hair were still etched in her mind from that day and ever since Zoë and Shawn have been very close. Besides Chelsea, Shawn would be Zoë's closest friend at TSU.

"The usual," Zoë snickered." You know, how much of a disappointment I am to my family. Oh and then she said I'm nothing like my Aunt Ansley. Shocker."

They all laughed as they walked out of the administration building. It was the last day of school and all over the quad students were carrying packed boxes to their cars to go home for the summer. Parents and teachers talked and students gave goodbye hugs. Most kids were sad to go home, not Zoë, her friends were the only reason TSU was bearable.  It was steamy hot out and the Florida sun beat down on them as they crossed the quad to Berkley Hall, their grade's dorm building. All the dorm buildings are named after famous agents, Zoë was surprised there wasn't a Parker Hall at one of the TSU's around the country, the Parkers have been in the spy business all their lives.

"Why is everyone so obsessed with your aunt Ansley? All the teachers know about her. Remember on the first day when Mrs. Adler found out that there was a Parker in our class, she talked about her for an entire period!" Chelsea said. Neither Chelsea nor Tyler would know about Ansley Parker since they weren't from a spy family.

"She died trying to save the IUOS from enemy agents or something, right?" Luke asked.

"Yeah, but that's all I know. No in my family one talks about her much, unless they have to." Zoë said. "But other agents do. They won't shut up about her. She was apparently the best of her generation before she went missing."

"That's what I heard. My mom took a college class with her; she said she was in an advanced class with her when Ansley was only like fifteen." Farah said.

"Why doesn't your family talk about her?" Tyler asked.

"I dunno. It probably upsets my grandparents since she died so young."  Zoë said.

"Wasn't she like twenty five?" Jenna said.

"Twenty." Zoë announced. The group all sighed. "Well I don't care how young she died. I don't like her."

"Why?"

"Because if she wasn't so perfect, people wouldn't have such high expectations of me. Everyone thought I was going to be just like her, but I'm obviously not.  Her perfection set me up for failure. I hate her." Zoë said.

"Come one Zoë, you don't mean that." Shawn said.

"Yeah she does, I've been in detention with her. All they talk about is Ansley. It started to even bug me!" Luke said laughing.

"Thank you Luke." Zoë grinned as the approached the entrance to Berkley Hall.

"I think you're being a little too harsh. I mean you didn't know her personally, she could have been really nice. It’s not her fault she was talented and… she went missing." Chelsea said.

"Thank you Chelsea." Shawn said laughing. Zoë hit the back of his head. "Ow!"

"You're right Chelsea. I didn't know Ansley personally, so for I know she could have been awful. All I know is that she gave me a bad name in the TSU and I don't like her. Period."

Then she saw them. A gray sleek SUV was parked alone in the mostly deserted Berkley Hall parking lot. Surrounding the car was a large group of people and packed cardboard boxes of Zoë's stuff from her dorm. They must have cleaned it out while she was still in Ms. Kolinsky's office.

She saw her father with his graying light brown hair in his nice dress shirt and slacks that usually wore to big meetings at work. Her mother with her long flowing brown hair was wearing a typical sundress. Zo�' was mad at her mother for supporting her father in forcing her to join with the TSU because it is Parker family tradition. She wasn't from a spy family; she wasn't even a spy. She is a grade school teacher at the local Catholic School in her hometown. Zo�' expected her mom to be the voice of reason that would convince her father to not make her go. Sitting in the gravel parking lot was her ten-year-old sister Tammy, drawing in the dirt. Tammy was the polar opposite of Zo�' in every possible way and loved getting Zo�' in trouble. She was probably thrilled to hear that Zo�' had missed the ceremony because the discipline director was grilling her for bad behavior.  Leaning up against the car was Zo�''s uncle Aaron. Uncle Aaron was her dad's younger brother. He used to work out west at the IOUS in Phoenix, but recently moved back to Annapolis and was staying in their basement while he was looking for a new place. He had a girlfriend Hayley out in Arizona as well, whom Zoë had never met but assumed she had to be cool to date Uncle Aaron. Uncle Aaron was field agent so he was rarely home, but Zo�' loved it when he was. Uncle Aaron was laid back, funny, and was the only one who took Zo�' seriously.

"Zoë what are you looking at?" said Tyler, staring in Zoë's direction. The rest of the group looked over and also saw Zoë's family.

"Oh, um Zoë?" Chelsea stammered, seeing Zoë's father's stern face.

"I know." Zoë said. “Looks like the Parker clan is here to chastise me as always.”

"Are you going to go over there?" Chelsea asked. They all knew that Zoë's relationship with her family was rocky, even before her bad behavior at school. Zoë nodded.

            The goodbyes were awkward, but sweet. They all told Zoë how much they would miss her, Luke even offered to sneak Zoë out of her house if he was in the neighborhood, and said that they really hoped she’d be back at school next year. If Zoë's parents did let her leave the TSU, this is the only thing she would miss about the place. She had to do her goodbyes now, because once she went over to her family, there was no going back. Zoë gazed at her family, then back at her friends, who only after one year were more like a family to her than her actual family. 

"Bye guys. I'll see you back in September. I'll miss you!" Zoë said.

"We'll miss you too Zoë." Jenna said smiling.

"Yeah dude, even if you don't come back, don't think you can get rid of us too easily." Luke grinned.

"We will be agents after all." Chelsea added.

"We will come and find you," Shawn said laughing, Zoë smiled.

"Okay, okay!" Zoë turned to face her family once again. "Bye guys!"