Script Kiddies

Chapter 5

Haley stared down at the quiz, heart sinking.

"You're getting better," Mr. Garrigan said.

Haley grunted. Seventy-eight was better than seventy-one, but it wasn't going to be earning any points with the Kells. She sighed and leaned back heavily in her chair. Another piece of plastic snapped off the back.

Dana looked back at her; one eyebrow raised. Haley shook her head.

She turned and saw Hector at the back of the class. Every time she'd tried to talk to him over the last few days, he'd ignored her.

When he caught her looking in his direction this time, he held up his own paper, a ninety-six, and smirked.

Haley felt her face flush, and for a moment she was tempted to tell Mr. Garrigan that he'd cheated, but she knew she didn't have any evidence even if she wanted to.

When the bell rang, she met Dana at the door, and they started toward the parking lot together.

"How bad?" Dana asked.

Haley showed her the paper, and Dana winced.

"We can run through a few more practice quizzes tonight," she said.

"What's the point?" Haley said. "I can't tell a hyphen from a hyena."

"You'll get it. What about that study group?"

Haley glanced back over her shoulder and saw Hector leaving the classroom, his laptop slung under his arm.

"It was a bust," she said.

The Kells' extra car was a beat-up Jeep that was might have served in Vietnam. It didn't have a roof, and the clutch was a pain and a half to work, but George had redone the interior himself before he'd given it to Dana, so the faux leather wasn't cracking everywhere. The girls climbed in and Dana fired it up.

"What are you going to tell them?" Dana asked.

"They don't know we had a quiz," Haley said. She looked sideways at Dana.

"Fine, but you know that won't work for the next one."

Haley sighed.

"What am I supposed to do?" She said. "I get tripped up on these stupid rules that no one actually follows, but George is going to tear me a new one if he finds out I can't get into some big-name school because of a stupid grade. It's bullshit."

"You're preaching to the choir here," Dana said.

"A choir that's getting an A-grade."

"Don't get bitchy with me," Dana said, not taking her eyes off the road. "I'm not causing you to fail. I can stop helping you if you want."

"You know how much I appreciate your help," Haley said. "I just ..."

"You just wish that there was an easy out?"

"Yeah."

"Sorry sweetie, not how it works."

Haley let it drop, but she wondered if there wasn't one.

Dinner was filled with the normal family banter. Haley finished quickly and asked to be excused to do her homework.

Back in her room, she tried to pull up her laptop and log into the study site that Hector had given her. Instead of giving her access, the page flashed red and closed automatically.

Haley bit her lip, reopened the page, and then tried again.

Another red flash.

She opened MyFace, its wall of pictures and memes popping to life on her screen, and found Hector's profile.