Tapped

Riley struggled with her bags as she walked into the lair. Tonight, she was guarding the Code with Cameron till the next morning. She was apprehensive about spending the night in the lair, especially with someone who was practically a stranger.

Please just don’t let him snore or sleep in the nude, she silently pleaded.

One bag became entangled with her hair and as she tried to pull free, her backpack slipped off her shoulder and fell.Pens, papers, books and highlighters scattered the Knightsmen’s floor. Riley groaned with frustration and dropped to all fours. As she picked up a pen that rolled near the wall with the Knightsmen crest, she looked up. Right under the crest was the words “Forever in the Bond”. Riley leaned over to grab a couple highlighters when the words she read registered in her brain.

Forever in the Bond. FITB. It’s been right in front of me this whole time!

Excited, Riley picked up the rest of her belongings and hurried down the hall. She dropped her bags off and headed to the conference room to take the test.

As soon as she entered, Cameron thrust a bad in her hand. “Eight 1888 pennies.”

Riley was surprised how quickly he obtained them. “How did you get them so fast?”

“You don’t know my dad. Once he’s after something, he doesn’t stop till its his,” he added, “Plus, he might have threatened the guy.”

“What?” Riley was flabbergasted.

“My dad works for the CIA. He did a background check and noticed the guy hadn’t paid child support for almost two years. The seller gave the pennies for free, as long as my dad didn’t turn him in to the cops.”

“Isn’t that illegal?”

“Ehhh,” Cameron shrugged his shoulders. “I guess.” With that, he walked away and started a conversation with Gage about lacrosse.

Riley dumped the pennies into the palm of her hand and closely examined them. Most of them were corroded at the edges with years of use. One side of the penny said United Stated of America with the year and an Indian head. The other side said one cent and had a wreath surrounding it. Riley put them back in the bag and stuffed it in her pocket as Blaine marched into the room.

“You were suppose to be the smartest and brightest students out of the junior class.” He threw a book on the table making everyone, except Drake, jump in their seats. “So what the hell happened? By now, you should be getting more than five questions right!” he yelled. “I am updating the alumni tonight on your progress. I hope I don’t have to tell them we chose wrong.”

“Someone obviously didn’t get make-up sex last night,” Skyler whispered to Riley and Lexie.

Both girls giggled uncontrollably.

Blaine stalked over to the three of them. He placed a hand on the back of the girls’ chairs. “First question!” he roared. “How many people are in your class?”

Everyone wrote down their answer. Blaine looked over Riley’s shoulder. “Wrong! Instead of worrying about my love life, maybe you should be studying.”

Landon snickered.

Riley slumped down into her seat, mortified.

Why did he have to pick on me? Skyler was the one who made the comment.

The rest of the test went without incident. Afterwards, Lexie asked her what she wrote for the first question.

“Eight. How is that wrong?” Riley wondered.

“That’s what I put too.”

Overhearing their conversation, Skyler asked the group what their answer was. Everyone said eight except for Drake.

“One,” he said.

“One? Why would you write that?” Gage asked.

“The paper in the candle said eight strangers would meet but by the end, they would stand as one,” Drake stated.

“He’s right.” Parker looked impressed by Drake’s memory. “Good job man.”

“What I want to know is how come we don’t have the alumni information yet?” Landon sneered. “Lexie did her job and translated the book, but Riley still has yet to email us about the alumni.”

Lexie was about to protest when Riley shook her head, indicating for her to be quiet. Riley knew if Lexie stood up for her, Landon would just blame it on their kinship as the only girls in the group. She needed to fight this battle herself.

She straightened her shoulders and looked him in the eye. “Landon, we may not have to like each other, but we do need to trust each other. I trust you will complete your task and you need to trust I will complete mine.”