CHERUB: Brigands M.C. - Robert Muchamore Page 0,47
were waiting alongside.
‘You must be Chloe,’ Ross said, as he reached across to shake the woman’s hand, before looking at the boy and smiling. ‘And you are a heck of a lot bigger than the last time I saw you.’
Chloe Blake was CHERUB’s youngest full mission controller. Like most CHERUB staff, she’d once been an agent herself. She kept herself in shape with a tough fitness and combat training routine that manifested itself in a slim but muscular frame, currently clad in Nikes and a cotton sweatsuit.
Dante smiled and gave Ross a hug. ‘Sorry about the clothes and the security.’
‘I don’t mind,’ Neil grinned. ‘I think the prisoner in transit look suits me. Do you kids have to go through these shenanigans?’
Dante shook his head. ‘Security sometimes do random searches and stuff when we come in and out, but agents and staff don’t have to go through all that and of course we know where campus is.’
Chloe cleared her throat and glanced at her watch. ‘We need to go over to the mission control building, it’s a ten-minute walk. And Dante, you really shouldn’t discuss any aspect of campus security with guests.’
*
Across campus, Lauren Adams glanced at her watch as she headed out of a girls’ changing room with damp hair and a plastic bag filled with wet swimming kit and rolled-up towel. She was a good swimmer, but she’d just completed a ninety-minute aqua-fitness session, comprising lengths, sprint swims, water aerobics and repeated dives into the deep end to retrieve bean bags and weights from the bottom of the pool. Her shoulders and thighs ached and her face was red from the exertion.
Her boyfriend Rat waited for her in the hallway. ‘Took you long enough,’ he grouched as they headed towards the exit.
‘Of course I take longer,’ Lauren tutted. ‘Your hair is two centimetres long and takes about thirty seconds to dry. I have to shampoo to get the chlorine smell out, then I have to comb it or it dries all straggly.’
‘So you want to do homework together or what?’ Rat asked. ‘We could stop off in the dining-room. I fancy one of those hot chocolate croissants they’ve started doing. Or we could go to the library and research that history thing.’
They passed out of the pool complex and turned south as a group of overheated red shirts passed on either side, heading for an after-school splash in the leisure pool.
‘Why are you even going on this mission?’ Rat asked.
Lauren looked slightly incredulous. ‘Why did I spend all afternoon busting my guts in a swimming pool? What’s the point of being a cherub if you turn down missions?’
‘But we were going to the summer hostel together,’ Rat whined. ‘We can’t if you’re going off on some mission …’
‘Missing summer hostel is a bummer,’ Lauren admitted. ‘But if I miss out, I’ll get a winter break. I’ll be able to go skiing or something.’
Rat tutted. ‘But not with me.’
‘Well we’re not married, Rat. I’ve always thought that’s the best thing about us. Bethany’s been through about six boyfriends since you and me have been together. She’s all over someone, then it’s finished three weeks later. We just sort of plod along.’
‘We did until your red-headed pretty boy came along.’
Lauren laughed. ‘Dante?’
‘Who else?’ Rat said angrily. ‘The way you act around him: Oh Dante, that’s such a funny story. Oh Dante, you’ve got really firm biceps. Oh Dante, I bet your poop tastes like Nutella.’
‘Give us a break,’ Lauren sighed. ‘How can you be jealous of him? The guy’s come back after being away from campus for three years. What’s wrong with making him welcome?’
‘I’m not jealous,’ Rat said. ‘But the way you fawn over him is totally blatant. And now you’re going off on a mission with him. And instead of going to the summer hostel, you’ll get a winter break. And who’s that gonna be with? Oh yes, the carrot-headed wonder boy.’
The pair turned on to the main path through the centre of campus that led towards mission control and the main building. At this time of day it was busy with kids heading towards the lake to do homework in the sun, or going the other way towards the tennis courts with rackets in their hands.
‘I just don’t know what to say,’ Lauren said. ‘I thought you were more mature.’
‘I’m mature,’ Rat said angrily. ‘That doesn’t mean I want my girlfriend slobbering all over someone else