OPERATION:FIRST LOVE

LESSON 2 - COMPLIMENTS

#### [ZARA POV]

Lesson 2 was a disaster waiting to happen.

Zara had decided: if Kade couldn’t talk to people, she’d force him to. Starting with compliments.

"Okay," she said at 8 AM, blocking his path to class. "You have to give 3 people a genuine compliment today."

Kade stared at her. "No."

"Yes. Or I tell everyone you’re my boyfriend."

That got his attention. "You wouldn’t."

"Try me." She grinned. "Starting with me. Compliment me."

Kade’s jaw ticked. "Your... ribbon is yellow."

"Wow. So specific. 10/10." She rolled her eyes. "Try again. Like you mean it."

He looked away. "Why?"

"Because you need to learn how to be soft."

The word hit him. Soft.

He didn’t know what that was.

#### [KADE POV]

He failed. Miserably.

By 2 PM he’d managed:

1. "Your presentation was... adequate." To Titi.

2. "The weather is... fine." To a teacher.

3. Nothing to Zara.

She cornered him after last period. "You owe me one."

"I don’t owe you anything."

"Then why are you following me?"

Kade stopped. She was right. He was.

Protocol said: stay close to target.

His heart said: stay close to Zara.

"Your hair looks nice," he blurted. The words felt foreign in his mouth.

Zara froze. Then smiled so wide her dimples showed. "There it is. See? Not so hard."

Her phone buzzed. She glanced at it and frowned.

"Dad wants me home. Urgent."

She ran off.

Kade stayed behind.

Pulled out his phone.

Photo of Zara and him in the cafeteria. Posted 10 minutes ago. Caption: `new couple?? 👀`

From an unknown number: `We see you, Agent 07.`

His blood went cold.