Pep Squad by Eileen O'Hely Page A

down on the bench beside her. It was Matt and he was alone.
    â€˜What’s wrong, bro?’ asked Ben, struggling to keep a straight face as he grabbed a slab of tiramisu from the dessert chiller. ‘You didn’t strike out, did you?’
    â€˜It’s early days,’ sighed Matt. ‘I would have been in with a chance if this other dude hadn’t been chatting her up in Russian. She’ll come round,’ he said hopefully, taking a bowl of ice-cream.
    â€˜Sure she will. Just like that girl at the ice-cream parlour,’ laughed Ben, pointing at Matt’s dessert choice.
    Jess nearly dropped her tray on the way to their table as Ben told her and Emily about some of Matt’s failed conquests.
    â€˜And there was this one girl,’ Ben said, shaking so hard with laughter as he was sitting down that his bread roll and cutlery threatened to fall off his tray, ‘waiting at a deserted taxi rank, late at night, in the rain. Matt didn’t even get through his opening line before she pulled out the pepper spray–’
    â€˜Sounds like you boys have a few things to learn about cultivating potential assets,’ said a deep voice behind them.
    The cadets looked up to see Lieutenant Parry thumbing through some papers with an amused expression on his face.
    â€˜Well, at least I try,’ muttered Matt, shooting Ben a filthy look.
    Lieutenant Parry handed the papers out to the cadets.
    â€˜These are your timetables. There are no electives for first years, so the only variation is in your language-class assignment.’ He turned to go, then spun back around and said in a loud whisper, ‘And Jess, just so you know, you topped the aptitude test. Told you I know a good candidate when I see one.’
    Jess blushed and pretended to study her timetable avidly as the others looked at her.
    She also felt she was being watched from another direction. She glanced up and saw Principal Metsen and Señor Carreras at the teachers’ table. Although not looking at her, the principal was facing her direction and she got a decidedly creepy feeling from him.
    â€˜I bags you as my study buddy,’ said Emily, elbowing Jess.
    Jess made a mental note to check for bruising later.
    â€˜Cool! We start off with Espionage 101 tomorrow,’ said Matt. ‘I can’t wait.’
    â€˜Espionage isn’t first thing tomorrow,’ corrected Lieutenant Parry.
    â€˜Yes it is, at nine o’clock,’ said Matt, pointing to his timetable.
    Lieutenant Parry tapped the top of Matt’s timetable. ‘Fitness Training is first thing in the morning, before classes start. And in case you were wondering, it’s not optional.’
    â€˜Six-thirty start,’ whistled Matt.
    â€˜Is that a problem?’ asked Lieutenant Parry.
    â€˜No. I’m up for it,’ mumbled Matt.
    â€˜Good to hear it,’ said Lieutenant Parry. ‘The rest of you?’
    â€˜Bring it on,’ said Emily.
    As Lieutenant Parry went off to distribute more timetables, Jess, Emily and the twins examined their own.
    â€˜This course load looks pretty heavy,’ said Matt.
    â€˜Look at it this way,’ said Emily. ‘More class time with your Russian soon-to-be girlfriend.’
    â€˜Hmph,’ said Matt, shoving a forkful of spaghetti into his mouth and slurping up the dangling noodles.
    â€˜Yeah, that’s the way to win her over,’ said Emily, winking at Jess. ‘Anyway,’ she continued, ‘how did you guys find out about Theruse Abbey?’
    â€˜GameCon,’ said Matt.
    â€˜Although the initial screening was through Facebook,’ added Ben.
    â€˜You didn’t tell me that bit,’ said Jess.
    â€˜A guy friended me and set me a hacking challenge,’ said Ben.
    â€˜So someone unknown to you sends you a hacking challenge via social media, and you just do it, no questions asked?’ said Emily.
    â€˜Isn’t hacking illegal?’ asked