I slammed the office door shut as I stepped into the cool, air-conditioned room. "Good morning, Sir," I greeted my boss, who was reading a package of papers. "I've got your Dunkin' Donuts Coffee, and the Sunday paper." I set them all down on his desk.
He glared at me through his glasses. "You're late."
"By one minute!" I groaned.
He flipped through the pages quickly. "Listen, Jeannette, I--"
"ALEXIS," I corrected him.
"Jeannette," he said anyway, "I know how much you hate this job, but your brother said that you really needed the money. Now, I'm giving you an opportunity for a promotion."
"Promotion?" I repeated. It sounded weird hearing it twice.
He nodded. "Here at Uncovering Disney, we have highly-trained special agents sent to Disney Manor to gather information about the Disney characters. With this promotion, you could be one of those people."
"Oh my GOD!" I screamed, jumping onto his desk. "I won't let you down, Mister. I'll be the best agent you've ever had!"
"Ahem," he cleared his throat. "I didn't say I was going to GIVE you the promotion. What I meant was that you have to EARN it."
My happiness faded. "How?"
He got out of his chair and looked out the window. "You see, getting into Disney Manor is everything BUT easy. A lot of my best spies were taken down trying to get in." He turned to me, his old eyes glinting. "If you could get into and out of the Manor without getting caught, I will give you that promotion, thus, giving you a very LARGE paycheck."
My eyes opened wide. "I'll take it."
"Great." He dug through one of the drawers and pulled out a yellow form. "Have a family guardian sign this, and we'll get you started tomorrow."
I gulped. "G-Guardian?"
"Yes. If anything should happen to you, I don't want my company shut down."
"But Mister--"
"Dismissed, Thomas!" He interrupted, going back to his work.
"Yes Sir," I said meekly.
I clutched the paper in my hands, determined to rip it apart. Of course Mom wouldn't let me sign this, and neither would Dad.
I sighed and plunked into my spinning chair. I really needed this promotion--I would literally die if I stayed with this job.
I took a deep breath and folded the paper into my purse. It's either now or never.

I entered the house quietly, hoping nobody was home yet. "Mom?" I called.
No answer.
Gratefully, I climbed up the stairs and to my room. I spilled out the contents of my purse onto my bed, and tried to sort out my mind.
I needed to find a way to trick Mom into letting me be a secret agent. I imagined the scene in my my mind.
"Mom, my boss wants you to sign this form so I could get a promotion."
She takes it in her hands. "A promotion to become a SECRET AGENT? Absolutely not!"
She rips the paper in half and throws it into the toilet.
I shuddered. I was 100% sure that that was how she was going to react.
"SURPRISE!" screamed a voice.
"Gah!" I shrieked, falling off the bed.
Victoria giggled. "It's just me, silly." She hopped onto my bed, not even bothering to help me up. "What's this?"
I groaned. "I think I just fractured my skull," I said weakly.
"A PROMOTION to be a SECRET AGENT?" Her green eyes skimmed through the paper. "You lucky dog..."
"Gimme that!" I snatched it from her hands.
"You have to get an adult to sign that," she pointed out.
"I know that!" I snapped. I rubbed my temples soothingly. "Mom is NOT gonna sign it...and I really hate my job..."
"Easy." She took the paper back from me and sat at my desk. She got a white paper, cut it into a rectangle, and stuck it on. "Promotion...to be...an intern..." she mumbled while writing.
"But I AM an intern!" I yelled.
She flicked her hair like there was no problem. "Mom's not gonna notice. She thinks you still work for that donut guy." She clapped and handed it to me. "Ta da!"
I read through it, again and again. "Vicky, you're a genius!"
"Just don't let Anna see it," she remarked.

And for once in my life, my little sister was actually of some use to me.