Script Kiddies

Chapter 6

Haley threaded between the library tables, passing the seat Dana had saved for her with their friends. She made her way to a table where the lanky boy with dark skin and oily black hair slicked back in a ponytail was hammering away on a keyboard.

"Hey."

Hector looked up from the screen and blinked several times, then he went back to his computer, fingers dancing along the keys.

Haley slid into the seat and put her book bag on the table.

"I have nothing to say to you."

"I'd think you'd like to ask how I did it."

He looked up, and she was momentarily taken aback by the intensity of his stare.

"I don't care how you did it," he said. "You hacked my account. You pretended you were me to my best friend. You made me look like an idiot. You humiliated me."

Haley held his gaze and waited until he'd taken several breaths.

"And that makes me like all the other girls."

"Yeah."

She leaned forward across the table.

"If I wanted to humiliate you so badly, why didn't I post something embarrassing? Why didn't I scramble all the answers in your precious website so everyone would fail the next exam? If I had really wanted to screw you, I could have. But I don't and I didn't."

"Oh sorry, you're right. I should be saying thank you for violating everything I have."

Haley held up her hand.

"I'm sorry, but I needed that answer key. What's done is done. For what it's worth, I'm impressed with how you have everything set up. A couple tweaks and I would have been hosed."

Hector glared at her.

"Why don't we trade?" Haley said. "I'll tell you how to protect yourself, and you tell me how you got the answers."

Hector glared at her but then nodded.

Haley quickly explained how she'd found his family connections and reset his password. Hector groaned.

"That doesn't count," he started. "You didn't even—"

"Deals a deal."

"Unbelievable," he said, shaking his head.

"Fine ... his password is 'password'. I just logged into his computer remotely and picked up the files."

Haley frowned. "Seriously?"

Hector nodded.

Haley started to laugh. She tried to cover her mouth with her hand, but she couldn't contain herself.

"And you're trying to tell me I didn't do enough to hack your account?" She finally managed.

Hector smiled.

"It's not his fault," he said. "He's trying to teach, not build an impenetrable computer. I've gotten into half the school's accounts with stupid stuff like that."

"Bull."

In response, Hector spun his laptop around and hit "Enter".

Haley's stomach threatened to expel her lunch as the world around her exploded into a flurry of reds, greens, and blues.

Falcon stumbled into a wall. Her hand pressed against the cold stone, and she doubled over so her field of vision was filled with packed dirt.

"Again, warning next time?"

Capown shrugged and grinned down at her as she straightened.

There wasn't a sun overhead, but the sky was a clear, unnaturally bright blue with without a single cloud.

Across the courtyard, a castle rose on gray stone, though every stone was a perfect replica of the ones above and below it. They were fused together in to form an impenetrable wall that formed a perfect square. Archers patrolled the top of the wall, arrows notched, and a pair of knights in full armor stood on either side of the only gate.

Beyond the inner wall, a keep made of the same perfect gray stone rose to the sky. A steady stream of pigeons fluttered in and out of the high windows. Above the main gate, a cloth banner with red letters fluttered in the breeze.

"Welcome to the North Ridge High School Network. If you are not authorized, please exit now. Any unauthorized access will be considered criminal trespassing."

"If you're going to do this, you need a bit of a makeover," Capown said. He was wearing his pinstripe suit again. "Can't have you getting recognized."

Falcon looked down at the jeans and polo sweater she'd been wearing in the library, then back at Capown's suit.

Falcon smirked despite herself. Then she spun faster than an Olympic figure skater and her jeans transformed into a short dress with beads hanging off the bottom that flew out as she spun. When she stopped, she adjusted the floppy peacock feather on her headband so it stood a bit straighter, pulled the fabric of the dress up to expose more of her thigh, and brushed her face to accentuate her makeup.

"Better?"

Capown stared at her in slack-jawed amazement.

"The sidekick isn't supposed to outshine the boss," he finally murmured.

"Don't worry, you don't."

"You pull one stunt and suddenly you know everything?"

"I've always known everything," she said. "But tell you what, you can take the lead this time, and the next time I'll show you a trick or two. We'll be study partners."

"Partners?" He rolled the word over like he was tasting it.

"We wouldn't be the first," she said. "I can think of a few famous highway robbin' partnerships. A cyber Bonnie and Clyde."

His face broke into a grin. "I like it."

He held out his hand, and she shook it. Then he nodded up at the banner above the gate.

"You can't get soft on me again," he said. "Doesn't matter what you do, once you're in you're in. Can you be one of the bad guys, Bonn13?"

Falcon looked at the banner once more, then nodded. She felt the skin at the back of her neck start to tingle, like she'd just cracked her neck and all the blood was rushing back to her body.

"If it means I get through the next six months without having to deal with another lecture about my grades?" Bonnie said. "Yes."

She smiled at him. Then she took off at a run for the gate.

"I'll see you on the other side, Clyde."

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Thanks for picking up Script Kiddies! I'll be posting a chapter (or Chapters depending on the length) every Friday, but if you don't want to wait, you can get the full novella, plus an extra short story by signing up for my newsletter at www.cbrandonclark.com/starter!