Everybody Wants To Rule the World Chapter Six Written By: LadySwan Wearily, Garrett opened the door to his dorm room. After a long day of lecture after lecture, notes after notes, he was very tired. He saw Michel sitting on his desk, working on what seemed to be his homework. He had a look of concentration on his face, one that Garrett rarely saw. "Hey," he greeted him, as he flopped down on his bed. "Hey." Michel echoed, not taking his eyes off his work. Garrett's brow furrowed as he turned on his side to see his roommate busy reading his notes. "Since when do you study?" Michel looked up and grinned. "Since Antonia Landeau transfered to my French class. I'm trying to learn more of this stuff to impress her in class." Rolling his eyes, Garrett snorted. He leaned back against his bed and closed his eyes. "Oh, by the way, you've got mail today, as usual." Michel added. Garrett usually received letters from his parents, Glory and Sydney. Though still, none from Mila. Garrett's eyes opened. "From who?" He sat up straighter maybe this was the letter he was waiting for from Mila. "Hmm, this ones from your family..." Michel said as he browsed through the mail. Garrett's shoulders sagged. "Oh, and this ones from Sydney." Michel finished, handing the two letters to Garrett. Garrett snatched it away from him as soon as he heard Sydney's name mentioned. Suddenly, he forgot all about Mila's no-letter. He glanced at Sydney's letter intently. And then he realized Michel was grinning from ear to ear. "What?" he asked. "Judging from your eagerness to see that letter from Sydney, I'd say you like her a lot more than cousin Mila." Michel told him. At the mention of Mila's name, Garrett's eyes flickered angrily. Michel noticed this. "I guess that kind of stinks," he said in a softer, more caring voice. "Your girlfriend doesn't write at all, huh?" Garrett didn't say anything. Instead he just grinded his teeth together. He was still upset. But when he looked back at his letters, he saw Sydney's name on the return address and felt a bit better. "Do you still like her?" Garrett's head shot up and looked in confusion at Michel. "Huh? What do you mean? Who?" Michel rolled his eyes. "You seem still pretty happy to receive a letter from Sydney rather than Mila, whose supposed to be your girlfriend." Garrett scoffed, but it came out sounding more like a cough and a lump in his throat. "Yeah right." He glanced dirtily at Michel. "Now if you don't mind, I'm going out to read my letter in private without anymore of your comments." "Don't you mean letters?" Michel couldn't help but say. Garrett didn't say anything else, he just left the room. Once outside, he couldn't help but remember when Michel had said that he might like Sydney more than Mila. "Ridiculous." he mumbled to himself before heading to a place he could find privacy. Garrett looked back at his letters. He didn't think he could stand reading another one of his dad's letters telling him he better do his best. And he didn't need the money right now anyways. He read that letter later. Right now, he wanted to read Sydney's. : : : : : : : : Mila is lying on her swan bed in the middle of her pink lavish room. She thinks about her new life in Swans Crossing, and how much fun she's had with all her new friends. Mila regrets not being able to spend any time with the core group, but they were either too busy, or too uncool for her new group. Mila spent all her free time with the cheerleaders outside of cheerleading practice and with all these guys she met. She walked over to her vanity and looked at the picture frames. All of them had pictures of the core group during the summer. Mila had been planning on putting in new pictures of her new friends, but she had never gotten around to it. She picked up frame after frame. Pictures of her 'surprise' party, her slumber party, the party at the Swan Club and Sydney's Goodbye-to-summer party. Those were only a few of her favorite pictures. And then she came to one final picture. Garrett. Mila picked it up and went back to her bed. She gazed at the picture for a while. Mila missed him, it was true, but she had found all sorts of things to keep herself preoccupied without him. Letting go of summer, and letting go of tight grips to the core group had been a totally new experience for Mila. She had met new friends. It was like her being with the core group had still kept her sheltered like her life had been before. But that wasn't just it. Looking at Garrett's picture, Mila remembered their pact they had made before summer ended. Never to cheat on each other. She looked back at her vanity, and saw the letter Garrett had sent her. It seemed like he did miss her a lot and it definately seemed like he hadn't cheated on her a lot. Being honest with herself, Mila knew she had been cheating on Garrett. She regretted making it with him if she had known what would have happened to her as soon as she hit high school, she regretted being the one who had suggested it. Maybe Mila had only decided to suggest it because she was afraid of losing him, but now, and even if Garrett was here, Mila might have suggested that they needed some time away from each other. Mila sighed deeply. This was a big decision. Mila had never had a boyfriend other than Garrett. But although not being as shallow as the characters she played on the soaps, she didn't want to be tied down so young, especially when she was so inexperienced. She walked back over to her vanity, and set down the picture frame, facing downwards and picked up his letter. He had been asking her to write to him. And now she would. She had to break it off with him. Mila took out her pink swan stationery and a pen and began to write a short, but ending note to Garrett. And the more she thought about it, the more she grew excited to see the other guys at SCH again. : : : : : : : : Callie and Jimmy froze as Barek walked closer to them. "Hello, Callie, hello Young James." he said. Beaded sweat dripped down Jimmy's forehead. There he and Callie were, cornered by Barek. He had heard every word they had said. And he was one of them. He was part of the group out to get JT and Neil. "Barek..." Callie nervously started to say. "Y-you-" "Shh..." Barek told them, putting a finger to his lips. He pressed some buttons on what he had made them to believe was his watch. And then he bent down and rolled his sock and revealed a little black device, which he then turned some switches. What's this all about, Jimmy's expression seemed to tell Callie as they exchanged worried glances. After Barek was done, he glanced around nervously and closed the door of the Tool N' Die. Callie began to get impatient. "Barek-" Barek took a step closer to them, crossing his arms in front of his chest, silencing her. After endless moments, he finally spoke. "I suppose you heard what I told the Russians." After much hesitation, the two teens nodded their heads. Barek took a deep breath. "It's not what you think." Jimmy and Callie turned to each other in confusion. What did he just say? He was telling them that they were wrong? Was he trying to trick them, into silencing them because they knew too much? Seeing that his two employees were very much confused, Barek explained futher. "Sit down." he told them. But Jimmy and Callie were still too confused. "Sit down!" Barek ordered them. Nervously, Callie and Jimmy quickly sat on the floor. Seeing that he had upset the two even more, and made them trust him even less, Barek grew frustrated. He sat down on a chair, propped up his elbows on the table counter and rubbed his forehead. "It's not what you think." he repeated. "Barek..." Callie softly said, after much hesitation. "What exactly are you saying?" Looking up at them with a weary look, he sighed and then finally asked them to come closer to him. Barek was tired and he didn't care anymore about what the two were thinking. All this secrecy, it had to come to an end, now that they had finally guessed.... For a moment, Callie and Jimmy didn't move or say anything. All thay did was exchange a look, wondering if it was safe. Finally, they got up and walked over to him, waiting and expecting some answers. After much moments of silence on his part, Barek finally stood up, and facing the two, he took a deep breath. "You were right I was working for the Russians who were after JT and Neil." Callie and Jimmy gasped. So it was true. And Barek had actually told them the truth. But what was he going to do now? Now that the truth was confirmed? "But," he said loudly, interrupting their thoughts. "I'm not only working for them. Actually, I work for the US government who has asked me to work undercover for the Russians." Confusement filled Callie and Jimmy's head. Barek's last confession was dizziying. He was what? So whose side was he really on? Was he good, or was he bad? Could they trust him? : : : : : : : : Sydney paced her room nervously. Never in her whole life had she been ready for a date on time. She had always considered that if a boy considered himself to be lucky to get a date with Sydney Rutledge, they could wait for her for a couple of minutes for her to be finished. But not tonight. Tonight she was on time and ready. She was eager to go on her date with David Collins. Earlier that day, at yet another SCHN meeting, David had been to preoccupied talking to Mrs. Dalton and others, not giving Sydney a chance to talk to him much. It didn't matter. Sydney and Alex had been chatting away near the back of the room. Alex was really nice and funny. And if Sydney wasn't focused on David so much, she could try with Alex. He was really cute. And then Sydney sighed. Alex knew she liked David, and there was no way he'd try to court her, he and David were good friends. Being the nice guy Sydney liked him to be, he wouldn't hurt his friend by going after the same girl. But now, as Sydney sat upstairs in her room, she was anxiously awaiting David's arrival. She glanced at her clock and almost fell off her chair. She was still 10 minutes early! A record for Sydney Rutledge! Finally, she stopped pacing and glanced at her reflection in the mirror. Sydney admired herself. Despite her being nervous she had picked the perfect outfit for her date with upper-classman David Collins. A red silk dress, cut short, with spaghetti straps. It was one of Sydney's favorite dresses. Now Sydney didn't know much about David. Her short time being on the SCH Newsletter had only given her enough time to actually get to know Alex, although David on the other hand was always busy running the show. These two boys she had only really begun to get to know through SCHN but Sydney began to wonder, What do I really know about David Collins? She couldn't answer herself, because she only knew pieces of information, not really the personal stuff. Strangely, Alex, who she had also gotten to know in a short period of time, had been a great friend to her. They knew lots of stuff about each other from the meetings they had, all they did was talk. David and Mrs. Dalton were too busy to actually start to make them do anything! And then Sydney heard the doorbell ring downstairs. Sydney jumped. Finally! He was here! Just like Sydney Rutledge, she did not race down the stairs to meet her date. She waited (although impatiently) for Ralph to knock on her door and tell her her date was waiting downstairs. Sydney took deep breaths. She glanced one more time at the mirror and smiled at her reflection. Perfect! As she slowly walked down the stairs, Sydney thought to herself, Tonight's going to be perfect. And she knew it would be when she saw David watching her walk down the stairs, smiling at her. : : : : : : : : Saja was walking home, gazing up at the starry blue sky, feeling as high as the heavens above. He had just come from a 'study date' with Sandy at the Soda Shop, and he had just dropped her home. At the beginning, Sandy was still feeling miserable about her singing career, but once she and Saja had started to talk, he had noticed the glumness had gone away from her face. They had talked endlessly that night, which mostly happened on study dates. Not much studying was ever accomplished. Saja had felt a spark whenever he talked to Sandy. And he knew that he and Sandy were each other's destined partners. He just had this feeling. Just then a figure stepped in front of him, stopping him. Saja jumped in surprise. Who was this strange man? "Saja." a familiar voice called him. And when the face finally came into view, Saja was happy to realize that it was Coach Gromme. He had forgotten he lived a street away from Sandy. "Forgive me Coach for I had not seen you." Saja apologized. "That's ok, Saja. Listen, I just wanted to ask you, when are you and your teammates going to show up for baseball practice? The playoffs start soon enough, and I've already called two meetings and no one has showed up!" Coach Gromme said in frustration. "My greatest apologizes for not making an appearance, Coach. I haven't been doing so well in my Music class and Sandy Swan has offered to help me." "That's ok Saja. Your excuse will do, but I still want to hear from the rest of the other players on the team!" Saja thought for the longest time. JT and Neil were still missing, and Garrett was in France, Jimmy was in a dour mood, all his friends couldn't make it to the practices either. He shrugged. Coach Gromme sighed in frustration. Saja could see that he wanted to tear apart his baseball cap in his hands. "Where are all the baseball players?" he groaned. That's a good question, Saja thought to himself. : : : : : : : : A feeling of dread filled Garrett as he was only half-way done with Sydney's letter. Although he had been waiting for a letter from Mila, Garrett was thrilled to get a letter from Sydney. He was glad that for once they were friends instead of the rivals they had always been. But now, as he read the letter, reading Sydney tell him about her confirming her identity, he felt guilty about all the pain he had put her through. Sure when they had become friends he had chosen the easy way out and just tore up the paper, but the past wouldn't go away that easily. He had to explain to her. Before Garrett would finish Sydney's letter, he wanted to write a response to her right away, so as not to leave anything out. Writing furiously, Garrett told Sydney he was sorry for what he had done to her, and explained to her his reasons. 'I was just so hurt and upset back then when I came up with the birth certificate, and I guess I let all the power go to my head. I'm sorry I hurt you so much, Sydney, I really am.' Garrett felt the same weight on his shoulders that he had carried all summer long. As he wrote to Sydney about how he had felt at that time, Garrett tried as much as possible not to remember what had caused the rivalry between them to heat up again. It pained him a lot to do so. Finally, when Garrett was through explaining himself and apologizing, he stopped writing and decided to continue reading her letter. Just when Garrett thought things couldn't get any worse, he read the most awful sentence he had ever read in his entire life. 'Mila's been cheating on you, Garrett.' The letter dropped out of his hand and fell lightly on the floor. "No," Garrett moaned softly. "It can't be." Shaking his head, Garrett whispered, "Sydney's lying. She's mad that I fooled her into believing that she was Sandy." But in Garrett's heart, he knew it was true. There was no reason to make up such a lie, and even if she would, she would have done it days ago. And it made sense, Mila never wrote to him. And that meant only one thing. Sydney was telling him the truth. Mila was cheating on Garrett. And Garrett was devastated. : : : : : : : : So far, on Sydney's date, it had been a bore. The only thing that kept Sydney excited was still the fact that she was on a date with hunk David Collins. And she had learned a lot about him. Too much in fact. All he did all night long was talk about himself. Sydney had to restrain herself from yawning. The only time David asked her something, was to ask her what she was going to order, what movie she'd prefer to see, or if she wanted butter with her popcorn, not that it mattered, he prefered his with cheese and that's what they got. AS they slipped in the dark movie theater, Sydney hoped that the dark surroundings might change the atmosphere around them and lead to something... more romantic. After all, the movie was a love story. But nothing happened what so ever. Even if their hands brushed while both reaching for the popcorn at the same time, David never took his eyes off the screen. Sydney grew frustrated. She couldn't even pay any attention to the movie at all because she was too upset her date was turning out so horrible. This never happened to Sydney Rutledge! She knew the movie was corny, Alex had told her so and she knew his taste and always agreed with him. The only reason Sydney had choosen this movie was because it was a love story and because she was trying to salvage her date. She glanced at David who was watching the movie intently. So far it was a lost cause. David may be a hunk, but he's a total bore, Sydney decided as she tried to focus on something rather than the terrible movie on screen. She had to find new ways to avoid him from now on. But that might cause a problem since now they both worked on the SCHN together. I guess I'll be spending time with Alex then, Sydney decided. A smile formed on her lips. That might not be such a bad idea. : : : : : : : : Margaret Rutledge sat in her office, busily doing her paperwork. The house was quiet, now that Sydney was out on her date. Although she was stressed at the plenty of work to do for the election, there was only one thought that could help her relieve herself of that stress. And that was the thought of Grant Booth looking devasted when they would announce that she would be Mayor. Smiling wickedly, she glanced down at the papers. The words only seemed to be a blur. Glancing briefly at the clock, Margaret knew it was late. But she didn't care, she had a lot to do. Grant Booth had been coming up with catchy slogans about fixing the development of Swans Crossing. "Lies," Margaret muttered to herself angrily. She had to beat him. But she wouldn't play his game. She glanced out her window which faced the Booth's house. I wonder what's going on in there, she thought to herself. : : : : : : : : Grant helped Cornelia into her new temporary bed on the first floor. Cornelia didn't have the energy to climb up and down the stairs all the time so the Booth's decided to use the extra guestroom on the first floor and turn it into the temporary masters room. "I'm okay, I'm really fine." Cornelia insisted. Although she was glad for the help of her daughter and husband, she didn't like being fussed over. It made her feel more helpless that she actually was. Glory reached over and propped her up with an extra pillow. "Here, mom. Do you need anything else?" Cornelia smiled at her only daughter. She had always been her little baby girl, but now it seemed like she was all grown up. "No thank you, Glory dear. I'm perfectly fine." Grant came back into the room. He placed a glass of water on the table beside the bed and handed her her unfinished paperback. "Here, to help you sleep." Cornelia's heart swelled. She knew Grant hated it when she read her books in bed at night. It kept him awake. But now he and Glory were doing all sorts of things for her. It made her so happy that her family was being so good. She only wished Garrett could be here as well. "Thank you." Her forehead wrinkled. "Shouldn't you be working on your campaign dear? The elections are coming up soon." A tired look came across Grant's face. "Not now, dear. I can take care of that later. Right now you're more important." She knew that that wasn't the truth, and that Grant was being generous with his time. But she did not say anything else. Anything else but this soft whisper, "Come here," which she told to both Glory and Grant. As soon as they had come close enough, Cornelia hugged both of them, grateful that she had such a wonderful family to help her get through this. : : : : : : : : Sydney entered her room and flopped down on her bed. Her date had been the pits! After getting out of the theater, Sydney had told David she wasn't feeling so well, and that maybe it had been the cheese popcorn. When he had dropped her home, Sydney had avoided the usual good night kiss and ducked inside. From now on she was going to avoid David Collins like the plauge, hunk or no hunk! "At least I'll get to spend some more time with Alex." she commented, a small smile. And then it hit Sydney. She had been thinking about Alex Hunter a lot lately, considering she had only known him for how many days. And even on her horrible date with David, she had still been thinking about him. "How much do I like Alex?" Sydney asked herself outloud. She stared at her reflection in the mirror for the longest time thinking. As she pictured David leaning to kiss her, right before she had ducked inside, another image came to mind. Instead of David, it was Alex, and instead of ducking inside, Sydney had stayed put, and they had shared a sweet kiss. Sydney quickly snapped out of it. "Oh my gosh, I like Alex, really badly." she mumbled to herself. And she wasn't upset either. In fact, looking at her reflection, Sydney was smiling. : : : : : : : : "So what does this all mean?" Jimmy finally asked, breaking the silence that had been made after the bomb had hit. Barek took a deep breath. He knew that Young James and Callie were intelligent enough to grasp what he was telling them, but he also knew that the news was shocking to them and that it might take a while before that actually react. "Don't be afraid. I'm on your side." he told them in a soft and gently voice. Callie, who had never trusted him, ever since the very beginning, still wouldn't trust him. This wasn't much to go on. She didn't budge. "I want an explanation." she finally said. Barek looked her straight in the eye and realized she was right. He did own them an explanation. He sat down again, realizing that his story might take a while to tell. "Do you remember the two young scientists telling you about the time when Mr. Adam's younger sister Katie accidentally posted their information on Ub2b online? Callie and Jimmy nodded. "Well, two groups were able to see it before they were able to take it off. One was us, the US government, and the other was the Russians." Callie and Jimmy were dead silent as they listened to Barek tell his story. "We've been monitoring the Russians lately, and we knew that had seen the young scientists' findings. We knew that they would stop at nothing to get it." Barek took a deep breath. "I am Special Undercover Agent Browler. I was choosen to work with the Russians in order to foil their plans. Unfortunately, neither of us underestimated the teens of Swans Crossing." At this, Callie and Jimmy smiled a small smile. "I guess sometimes you have secretly overheard me talking to the Russians. But I do work for the US government." Barek paused. "Now do you believe me?" After much hesitation, Jimmy nodded meakly. Callie bit her lip as she watched her boyfriend, and surprisingly did the same. Barek smiled faintly at the two. "Keep my secret, please. I know I can trust in you." Just then the doors burst open, and the strange men in black that Callie and Jimmy had kept seeing all over town started at all three of them with a grim look. Callie thought she saw panic in Barek's eyes. But then quickly, he turned to the men in black and smiled confidently. "I've caught the two trouble-makers. Quickly, let's take them and bring them with the other two." To be continued... 1999 LadySwan If you have and comments, suggestion, questions, ideas, or any kind of criticism at all, please email me, LadySwan, at ladyswan_1@hotmail.com ! Thanks!!! :
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