Charlie's Angels... of DEATH: Chapter 7 -- Birthday Girl

     “What is this place?” Lauren asked as she gawked at the scenery passing by her outside the car window.

     “This is Mr. Charles’s estate,” James said with a smile as he looked in the rearview mirror at Charles’s latest addition to his unique group of young women.  Her eyes looked around her in wide-eyed wonder, trying to take everything in at once without missing any details.  ‘Just like the others,’ he thought to himself with amusement.

     “I wouldn’t mind having a place like this when I grow up,” Lauren said wistfully.  “He could use some animals though…  With this much open land, he should definitely have some llamas… a mini donkey or two… a herd of fainting goats… something…” 

     "You should suggest that to Mr. Charles when you meet him," James said with a smile, imagining a pack of llamas raiding the vegetable garden.

     Lauren's eyes drifted to the enormous mylar balloon she had buckled into the seat next to her: a 4-foot smiley face wearing a party hat.  Her face fell.  It would figure that she happened to be meeting the rest of the girls when one of them was celebrating a birthday.  Not only was she going to feel like an outsider because everyone already knew each other, but she was basically crashing the party. 

     Lauren had racked her brain for hours trying to think of a way to make the whole situation less awkward.  A gift of some kind would smooth the way, right?  But what do you give another girl you've never even met?  A balloon seemed like a safe option.  If only she had read the dimensions on the bag before she paid for it...  The thing was ginormous.  She shook her head as she looked at it.  It was over the top, positively screamed that she was trying too hard to fit in, but she didn't have a back up plan.  Was it better to go in there empty handed?  She wasn't sure, but she had a feeling the other girls were going to laugh at her.

     She rode in silence for several more minutes until James pulled the car in front of a large, stately mansion and stopped.  He turned to face her in the back seat.  “We’re here.” 

     She fumbled to unfasten the seat belt restraining herself and then the balloon.  It could always float out the car door and escape when James was grabbing her luggage...  Then she could just tell the girl that she had at least made the gesture.  It was the thought that counts, right?

     Before she got a chance to "accidentally" let go of the balloon, five girls between the ages of 12 and 14 descended on her, introducing themselves, shaking her hand, taking her bags, and chattering with excitement. 

     "Hi, I'm Mira!" said the angelic-looking, rosy-cheeked Korean girl as she reached back into the car to grab another bag.  "I know it's weird being away from home, but we are going to have SO much fun!" 

     Mira leaned further into the car and squealed.  "OH MY GOD!  Is that for me?"

     Lauren smiled weakly.  "Happy Birthday...  I heard today was your birthday, and I wanted to do something to acknowledge it, but wasn't sure what to do since I'd never met you before...  I'm sorry, I had no idea how large the balloon was going to be until they inflated it.  It's kind of ridiculous..."

     Mira popped back out of the car hugging the balloon.  It hid most of her body.  "No, don't be silly!  This is exactly what I've been looking for.  I love it!!!"

     Lauren raised an eyebrow and looked at the girls who had introduced themselves as Candy and Shannon.  They smiled knowingly as they carried her bags into the foyer.

     "She's not kidding," the one named Meiling said. 

     "I think this calls for a demonstration," the girl named Jen said with smile.  Lauren did a double take.  Jen looked strangely familiar...

     "I'd love to!" Mira said, skipping into the hallway while clutching her balloon.  "Downstairs?" she asked.

     "That's probably advisable," said James as he brought in Lauren's last suitcase.

     The girls scrambled down a flight of stairs, pulling Lauren with them as they went, and entered an expansive rec room containing a 70-inch TV, several overstuffed couches, a ping-pong table, a pool table, air hockey, and a wall of board games stacked to the ceiling.  The girls started pushing couches to the side to clear a large space for Mira.

     Mira tied the balloon to the handle of her knitting basket and adjusted the length of its string so the balloon's height was level with her.  Satisfied with the set up, she grabbed her two knitting needles and immediately began using the balloon as a sparring partner, executing a dizzying array of kicks, punches and flips around the moving target.  Lauren watched with her mouth gaping open as Mira effortlessly lunged to stab the balloon with her knitting needles over and over, always drawing back just in time to avoid popping it.  After several minutes, Mira stopped, bowed to the balloon, and thrust her knitting needles back into a ball of yarn in the basket.

     "Awesome," Mira said to Lauren with a big smile.  "Let's eat some cake!"

     "That was a perfect gift," Candy whispered to Lauren with a smile as the girls started upstairs.

     "I'm glad," Lauren said.  "But... can you all do that?  What is this place?"

     "Nah," Shannon said.  "That's just Mira's thing.  I am more into biological weapons, myself."

     "Oh," Lauren said, her eyes getting larger.  "That's... reassuring."