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her.
    ‘It’s not like you’re so perfect yourself, you know,’ Lauren said. ‘You’ve dumped me in the shit enough times, you’ve broken my stuff, you’ve even hit me.’
    ‘I know I’ve got a stupid temper,’ James barked back. ‘But I’ve never sat around a table with all my friends, plotting stuff out and telling everyone that you’re an idiot.’
    ‘I swear it wasn’t like that,’ Lauren said desperately. ‘I know it looked cold written down on that sheet of paper, but all I was thinking about was helping Jake and Rat. I was just trying to make the plan work and writing stuff down as it came into my head. Bethany never saw it until you did, in Mac’s office.’
    ‘You didn’t give a damn about my feelings, or getting me into trouble.’
    ‘I got it wrong , James,’ Lauren gasped, ‘and I’m really, really sorry. I don’t think I’ve ever been so sorry, or so wrong in my whole life. But I’m being punished: I’m totally knackered, my legs ache, my thighs are all chafed, and I’ve got massive blisters on my heels.’
    James smiled fleetingly. Lauren hoped she’d talked her brother round, but after an instant she realised it was a sly smile, not a forgiving one.
    ‘I know what your game is,’ James said, wagging his finger knowingly. ‘Kyle put you up to this, didn’t he?’
    Lauren was baffled. ‘How the hell does Kyle come into this? He’s only been back from his mission for a week and I haven’t exactly had a lot of time for socialising lately. I passed him in the corridor one time and congratulated him on getting his black T-shirt, but that’s it.’
    ‘So, you don’t know anything about the mission we’re going on?’ James said, clearly unconvinced. ‘It’s pure coincidence that you happened to come waltzing in here tonight, after me and Kyle had a mission briefing this afternoon?’
    ‘James, I came in here to apologise again,’ Lauren groaned. ‘Bethany was right, I shouldn’t have bothered. I mean, I miss talking and hanging out with you James, but if you don’t believe a word I say, there’s not much I can do.’
    ‘I don’t hate you,’ James said. ‘Just …’
    James felt angry with himself for warming to Lauren’s argument. He stood up and pointed to a spot of carpet, directly in front of himself.
    ‘Get over here,’ James said.
    Lauren didn’t know if she was going to get a hug, a slap, or what, but she stepped forward.
    ‘You think you know people,’ James said, laying his hands heavily on Lauren’s shoulders. ‘I thought I knew you.’
    Lauren felt a shiver down her back as James scowled. He didn’t so much look at her, but right through her. The intensity was a nasty reminder of how badly she’d hurt his feelings.
    ‘Can you look me in the eyes and tell me that Kyle said nothing about our briefing?’
    Lauren sounded a little scared. ‘I don’t know anything about any mission, James. What’s going on? You’re freaking me out.’
    James realised he was acting weird and let go.
    ‘Sorry,’ he said, running a hand through his hair. ‘It’s a pretty hefty coincidence that’s all. You’d better not be lying.’
    Lauren slapped a hand against her side. ‘How many times do you want me to say it?’
    ‘Me and Kyle got called down to the mission preparation building by Zara Asker this afternoon,’ James explained, finally deciding to trust his sister. ‘It looks like we’ll be going on a mission in a week or so, but we need a third person to cover all the angles. Someone younger, preferably a girl. You were the obvious choice, but I told Zara I wasn’t having it.’
    Lauren shook her head. ‘Thanks a bunch.’
    ‘Zara agreed that it was no good having us both on a mission if we weren’t getting along. She asked me and Kyle to think of another girl about your age who could go instead. So I thought about Bethany, and Victoria, and Melanie, and Chloe and that whole girlie crowd of yours … I kind of realised that I’d much rather be on