Chapter Text
Craig and Kira Cooper asked both of their children to join them downstairs in the family room for an important announcement. Once they were all seated, Ernie spoke up with obvious concern. “You’re not gonna have a baby, are you?”
Both parents eyes went wide as they immediately began to confirm that they were not. “Ernie, if we were going to have another kid, we would have had to do that thirteen years ago,” Craig replied.
“Then what could possibly be so important that?” Ernie asked, KC nodding her head is agreement.
Kira inhaled deeply before answering. “We received a call earlier this morning after you two left for school.” She looked to Craig, who motioned for her to continue. “The Organization is moving us across the nation to a new location.”
KC stared at her parents in disbelief. They were doing what? Moving meant a new house, which also means a new school, which means no friends, which means she’d be alone. And what was she going to tell Marisa? Oh my gosh! She’ll be a mess… KC thought to herself.
KC was so wrapped up in her thoughts that she didn’t even hear the conversation that Ernie was having with their parents until she heard her dad say Albuquerque. “You mean, like New Mexico? Albuquerque, New Mexico?” she asked.
Craig and Kira looked at each other before Kira tried to explain. “Listen, I know this is a big change, but this could be fun. The Organization took care of all the details so you’ll both be in great schools, they have a house prepared for us….”
“No.. Marisa…” KC said almost to herself but loud enough for her parents to hear.
They looked at each other with a knowing look. Kira scooted closer to her daughter and placed her hand on her back. “We understand sweetheart. It’s not easy moving locations, and moving away from friends and everything that you know, but we have to put the greater good ahead of our desires sometimes.”
“And it’s not like you and Marisa couldn’t be friends,” Craig spoke up. “You two are inseparable. You can talk, and of course she can come to visit over breaks. You know our house is open.” He was trying to be an encouragement.
KC just nodded. It was obvious she was upset but it’s not like she had a say in what was happening. “I need to think…” she said, as she stood up and headed to her room.
Her family watched her walk away. Kira looked at Craig and they both decided it was better to give her time alone. Ernie piped up, “Do they have pretty girls there?”
—
KC laid down on her bed with a huff. She pulled her phone out of her pocket and texted Marisa. Hey u busy?
Not thirty seconds later, there was a knock at the door downstairs. A brief second later, footsteps could be heard as someone came up the stairs, followed by the voice of someone KC recognized as her best friend. “The answer is no. I’m not busy. What’s up?” she asked, plopping down on the bed.
KC raised her eyebrow in surprise. How did Marisa get here so fast. She decided not to question it. Sitting up on her bed, she looked her best friend in the eyes. “We need to talk about something…and you aren’t gonna like it any more than I do.”
“Well that’s not the kinda of conversation I was hoping this was going to be,” Marissa responded sadly as shifted her weight to face KC more. “So what is this conversation really about?”
KC was sitting Indian style on her bed, looking at Marisa. She really didn’t want to tell her that she was moving but there was no getting around it. If The Organization was moving them, it probably was all gonna happen soon and Marisa deserved to know. “My family is…being moved. The Organization is moving us and there is nothing I can do about it.”
Marisa’s face went completely blank, her jaw falling to the floor. “The Organization is what?” she said rather loudly. KC quickly shushed her, causing her to repeat it again, except this time in a very loud whisper. “How can they do that?!”
KC rolled her eyes in annoyance. “Apparently they can do whatever they want. And I don’t have a say in it,” she told Marisa, clearly not happy about it.
They both sat there pouting. There was nothing either of them could do, and yet they were still being torn apart. Of course, they still had their phones and would be able to text each other whenever they wanted to, but that didn’t change the fact that they would be hundreds of miles apart.
Marisa was the only friend that KC had ever had. They had been friends since they were little. They had gone to school together as long as they could remember.
Marisa fell dramatically on her back, looking up at the ceiling. “Well this sucks,” she responded. “I was really hoping for some happy news. Not this bullcrap.”
KC fell dramatically next to her best friend. “I’m sorry…I wish I had happy news too.” They both laid on the bed not saying anything to each other but obviously upset.
—
The time had come for them Cooper’s to leave Washington, D.C. Marisa held KC’s bag as she tried to fight the tears from spilling. It was hard though. Her best… no… her only friend was leaving, and Marisa wasn’t sure how to handle it. “Are you sure you have to leave?”
KC frowned. She felt the same way that Marisa did. “I’m sorry, Marisa…” she told her, also fighting back tears. “You know I have to or I wouldn’t.” KC took the bag out of Marisa’s hands and set it on the ground and then hugged her best friend goodbye. This was the hardest thing that she had ever had to do. “You will always be my best friend,” she whispered in Marisa’s ear. “No matter how far apart we are.”
Marisa couldn’t hold back the tears anymore. “I’m gonna miss you,” she says very loudly in KC’s ear. She pulled away to look at her friend again. “You’re gonna come visit, right? Or can I come visit? Someone has to visit.”
KC pulled away a little bit so that she could see Marisa’s face. She hated seeing her best friend so upset, knowing that this was the last few moments she had with her, at least for now. “Of course…you can visit anytime you want and I’ll visit any time I can!”
It would definitely be easier for Marisa to visit KC because she always had to be ready to jump in on a mission at any moment but she would definitely make time to spend with Marisa whenever they could.
After another few moments of goodbyes, the whole Cooper family hopped in the car and soon the long trip to New Mexico had begun.
—
They were only a couple hours into the drive when the chaos began to ensue.
“Dad!” Ernie begged desperately. “You gotta pull off somewhere.”
“You seriously can’t hold it?” Craig asked annoyed. He was clearly irritated, seeing as they had left their stop only an hour ago and Ernie didn’t have to go then.
“Yeah… yeah I’m positive.” He was squirming in his seat, trying to hold it.
KC rolled her eyes. What did Ernie think was going to happen when he decided he didn’t have to go at their last stop? “Dad please, I don’t want to listen to…this all the way to the next stop,” she said gesturing to Ernie.
Craig sighed loudly. He was clearly irritated but he also definitely agreed with KC. Nobody wanted to hear Ernie complain for the next 3 to 4 hours.
After a few moments, KC jumped in her seat and grabbed her nose. “Oh Ernie!”
“What?!?” he exclaimed loudly.
“We all know it was you!” she shot back quickly. “Dad please!”
“It’s not my fault! Dad forced me to eat that burrito!” Ernie snapped back.
“I did nothing of the sort!” At this point, Kira had her hand on Craig’s arm, trying to keep him from losing it.
It didn’t keep Ernie from continuing though. “Yes you did! Even after I repeatedly said, I’M NOT HUNGRY!”
“Honey, you need to pull over at the next rest stop, and fast!” Kira chimed in, turning to see KC curled against the door trying to get away for Ernie.
“I wish I could’ve been mailed in a box like Judy…” KC said under her breath. No matter who was at fault, Ernie was stinking up the whole car and the faster they could pull over the better.
Once they stopped, Ernie was out of the car as soon as it was unlocked. “Is he trying to kill us? Cause if so, I could’ve just pulled the trigger on my gun. That would’ve been less painful!”
“KC!” Kira yelled. She then turned to Craig, and in a much lower voice said, “She’s not wrong though.”
Craig was holding his nose even with Ernie’s absence. “That kid is foul,” he said.
“You’re the one who made him eat the burrito!” Kira argued.
Craig gave her a baffled look. “It was either that or hear him complain the entire ride about how hungry he was.”
“Well I vote we let him starve the rest of the way to New Mexico,” KC said, raising her hand as if it was a vote. Kira returned at look at KC that she knew exactly what it meant. “Fine…or at least not feed the kid something that makes him foul.”
The conversation ended when Ernie got back into the car and they were quickly back on the road again.
—
After hours of driving, they finally arrived to their new destination, and the first day of a new school came quicker than KC would have liked. Although she was trying her best not to show it, moving away from the only friend she had was difficult.
She stood in front of her new high school alone. Ernie wasn’t in high school until next year so she was on her own. Of course, maybe it was better that way. She and Ernie did things…differently. Walking though the door with her thumbs holding the straps of her backpack very tightly, she made her way through the busy halls.
KC and her parents had already had a meeting with the principal and he had given her the rundown on how things ran in the school, as well as giving her the names of her teachers, her mandatory classes, and her locker number. He had been very thorough. She didn’t talk to anyone or acknowledge their existence. Her goal was to get to her locker, put her things away and get to class without having to talk to anyone.
KC wasn’t what Marissa referred to as a social butterfly. She preferred to keep to herself. Sure that would make her high school years lonely, but it was better than some of the alternative options. Right now, she was determined to get this day over as soon as possible so she could go home and call her best friend. So, when she entered her first lesson of the day, she was as ready as she was going to get for her first day.
After class, KC made her way to her locker to put her books away from that class and prepare to head to lunch. That’s when someone came up and opened the locker beside her. He peaked around after putting his books away, realizing that the locker hadn’t previously been in use. Seeing the girl, he smiled. “Hi. You uh… you new here?”
KC kept her face towards the locker. Letting out a quick exhale before trying to answer the young man that was talking to her. She turned her head and pushed her hair out of her face and was shocked by what she saw. There before her stood a teenage boys with the prettiest blue eyes she had ever seen. Her jaw dropped a tad as she got lost in his eyes. “Yeah…” she said awkwardly shaking her head up and down.
“I kinda pieced it together. That locker has been empty since the start of the school year,” he said with an awkward chuckle. “You’re the second new student to arrive today. Also… I noticed that we were in the same class. So if you have any questions or any help catching up, you can feel free to ask. I don’t mean that in a creepy way. I’m just offering.” He had a huge smile on his face, though underlying was complete embarrassment for sounding almost desperate simply because he was trying to be nice.
“Yeah…” she said in an awkwardly squeaky voice. She squeezed her lip together and tried to look cool leaning up against her locker. If she wasn’t concerned that something stupid would come out of her mouth, she would have attempted to talk more to him, but she seemed to have a history of making herself look bad in front of boys. And she didn’t have Marisa to back her up.
“Hey, Troy, you coming to lunch or what?” came a voice from behind KC clearly directed to the boy in front of her.
“Yeah! I’ll be right there Chad!” He looked back at KC with a smile on his face. “Well, uh… I guess I’ll see you around. Welcome to East High.”