Left Behind

Chapter 4

Julius stood in front of the mirror, staring in disgust at the uniform; his father's was much better than this.

"Alex, are you sure you're OK?" Jack asked him, entering the room without his permission.

"I'm fine," he answered, trying not to snap at the woman. But studying her look, he realized he wasn't very successful, but could anyone blame him? Ever since he arrived everyone has been pestering him non-stop, he couldn't think for himself for a minute before he was interrupted in a vain attempt of showing worry, he was starting to think he did Alex a favour by killing him.

"If you're sure," she said, leaving him alone, finally, although he knew that in 5 minutes someone would find am excuse to bother him again

He opened his hand, revealing the little piece of paper. 'Mrs. T. Jones,' it read, along with the contact information. If Julius didn't know any better, he would think this was Alex's bank account manager or something like that, but he knew that name, and it was precisely the person he wanted to reach.

He grabbed Alex's phone that was sitting on the desk and pocketed it along with the paper. Not even the phone that Julius had in Point Blanc was the real one; everything had been a well-built lie, and now Julius had to suffer the consequences

That brought him to his next problem: he didn't know the passcode, and no matter how much his father's research was perfected, it was impossible to replicate fingerprints, so unlocking like that was out of the question.

With a book bag in his hand, he made his way outside, where Tom was already waiting for him.

No matter how much he hated the boy, he kind of needed him right now because, once again, he had no idea where the damn school was located. Not that he had plans on actually attending class, but he should know where the actual building was. He couldn't pretend to be Alex rider and not know where he went to school.

Of course, once again Tom tried to make small talk, but Julius was focused on something else. He had taken the phone out of his pocket, continuing to try to guess the six-digit code, before the phone blocked once again.

"What are you doing?" Tom asked, noisily as ever. But then Julius had an idea. Surely Tom knew the passcode; if these last few days had been proof, the boy seemed to be glued to Alex. So he should know a simple piece of information like a passcode, although he couldn't directly ask; that would seem weird.

"Nothing," he said, pausing and then shaking his head. "It's stupid," he said, pocketing his phone, hoping that the other boy caught the bait.

"No, what's the matter? You can tell me," Tom asked, stopping in front of him.

Julius looked down like he was ashamed. "I don't remember the passcode from my phone."

"What?" Tom asked. 'Shit,' had he hoped for too much. "I thought you had healed from your concussion."

"I don't know, I forgot some things, I guess."

"Shit, you should have told the doctor," Tom said, and Julius could see that he was getting more worried by the second.

"It's fine, it's normal to forget some things," Julius said, brushing him off.

"It's 746931, your passcode," Tom said before continuing walking.

Julius fought the urge to smirk. So predictable. He smiled victoriously as the phone finally unlocked.

"Yeah, thanks, I'm so stupid," he responded.

"You're not stupid, mate. If it was me, I would still be crying on a hospital bed."

'No, you would have been dead, like your friend Alex,' he thought.