Alex
"My dad knew how much Diego and I have been texting," Jessica was saying, as I looked at her. "And he knew what was on the texts."
When Jessica messaged me saying that she and Clay wanted to talk, I didn't expect us to have a discussion over our parents. We were sitting at a small round table at Monet's, with our ordered beverages.
"He probably tracks your GPS too." Clay explained from beside me, but I looked dumbfounded by the mere idea of it.
"But this is crazy, right?"
"I mean, I bet it's not a coincidence."
Jessica sighed loudly and sat back in her chair.
"But it's not just us," She informed, looking at both of us. "It's why Beecher canceled his party."
"We have more to lose than Beecher does." Clay pointed out, then turn towards me again. "Isn't your dad on you all the time?"
"Yeah, he's been watching me closely," I replied, nodding. "But he doesn't track my phone."
I just assumed he checks up on me due to what happened during the camping trip.
"That you know of."
"He trusts me," I stated, then realized the look they gave me. "Yes, I get the irony."
"Tony, I mean..." Clay finally addressed Tony, who was sitting silently and just listening to us. "This isn't crazy, right?"
"Your folks don't seem like the type to track you." He replied, being honest about his opinions.
Truth be told, I think Tony must be the only one among us whose phone will be the safest if anything Clay and Jessica are saying is true.
"How else have they known everything?" Clay questioned again as we all sat there thinking.
If all this comes out to be true then we all were in deep shit.
"Where's Justin?" Jessica suddenly asked. "Why isn't he here?"
"I, um..." Clay stammered as we all looked at him in confusion. "I didn't tell him."
Before Jessica could say anything, Tony interrupted.
"You did right. We don't want any more attention on us."
"Yeah, if what you say is true," I said, agreeing with Tony. "The less we use our phones, the better."
"But then what should we do now?" Jessica asked, and looked at her phone kept on the table. "Turn off our phones for the rest of the school year?"
I frowned at the thought of not using my phone at all. Even if I'm not social in person, I do use social sites to keep me entertained.
"No, of course not," Tony replied, then stared down at all our phones. "First thing we need to do is not use any messaging apps to talk about important stuff. Not even emails."
"Then what about when it's too important to talk?" I asked my doubt, as Jessica nodded too. "I am assuming we all do share things urgently over the phone because it's easy."
"Then we would need kind of a signal to talk about our stuff." Clay said. "Like a codeword."
"Something our parents wouldn't know much about," Jessica commented as I wondered too. "Because if they mentioned the word to any of us, it would mean they are actually reading our messages."
"But it shouldn't be suspicious," Tony said next. "Considering that if they do find out about everyone using a codeword, then there would be a lot of questions to answer."
"So what should it be?" I asked, looking at each one of them. Everyone started to wonder, as I too silently thought over it.
Something that isn't that much known, and would be easy to explain if asked. I started looking around me for inspiration and locked eyes with Jessica who was already staring at me.
"You have a weird music taste." She stated as I looked at her in confusion. "You listen to music from artists that I never heard of."
"That's a fact, yeah." I scoffed at her. "So what? Is it important right now to talk about songs that I like and you don't?"
Jessica rolled her eyes in annoyance as the other two looked more confused.
"Think about it." She said and started staring at me pointedly. "No one knows the artists you listen to."
I was about to call her out for insulting my music taste when I suddenly realized what she meant.
"I don't understand." Clay stated, looking at both of us as I turned on my phone and opened my iTunes app.
Sundown was the last song I listened to, and I suddenly knew what can our codeword be.
"Gordon Lightfoot."
I looked at all three of them after saying that, as Jessica smirked at me knowingly.
"I have so many questions." Clay declared and nodded at me. "But yeah, it's random, that could work."
"Okay then," Tony nodded too. "Gordon Lightfoot it is. Now we just need to inform the others. I'll tell Tyler today itself, he is meeting me at the gym after this."
Good to know Tyler's talking with Tony again.
"I'll inform Justin too," Clay said and Jessica nodded. "Alex, will you take care of Zach and Charlie?"
"Charlie? Yes." I replied honestly. "Zach? I don't know. He doesn't pick up my calls. Still, I'll try."
And that was it.
To be honest, I still had my doubts over the fact that our parents were hacking our phones. It may be because I haven't personally experienced anything weird. But I wasn't going to take any risks, and as promised I informed Charlie the very next day in school.
"Oh shit!" Charlie exclaimed loudly and some of the students turned to look at him. "Uh, sorry."
We were standing in the hallway before the first period in the morning. My Dad had dropped me off today and he had acted normal, nothing suspicious.
Who am I kidding? He is a cop, he would know how to act normally under stress.
"You are joking right?" Charlie asked in a low voice, closing his locker behind him and leaning against it. I shook my head at him as he facepalmed himself. "Shit, that's how my Dad knew."
Wait, what?
"What?" I asked, looking at him in confusion. "What do you mean? What did your Dad know?"
"About the party," He explained as he looked around. "My Dad already knew that there was a party happening tomorrow. And I'm pretty sure I never mentioned anything to him."
Maybe yesterday I didn't believe Jessica and Clay, but now Charlie was the third person whose parents just knew things.
"Are you sure?" I asked, hoping it's a misunderstanding. "Maybe you casually mentioned the party to him sometime over dinner. Or maybe he heard from Beecher's parents. Your father is the president of the Booster Club, right?"
"No, that's not just it." Charlie shook his head, a worried look on his face. "This has happened before too. Once, but it did happen. My Dad knew something he shouldn't have."
I sighed loudly, now knowing that maybe it is all true.
Our parents were really hacking our phones.
"Alright, just be careful hereafter," I said as he nodded. "Think twice before sending any texts to anyone. And whenever you need to talk about any of our secrets to anyone in the group, just use the codeword. Gordon Lightfoot."
As expected, Charlie's face scrunched up in confusion after I whispered the last part to him.
"Gordon Lightfoot?" He asked. "I've heard that name before. And that's the codeword?"
I nodded in confirmation as he stayed quiet for some seconds, lost in his own thoughts.
"But, um, Gorgon Lightfoot are two words. So that makes it codewords, right?"
"Unbelievable." I mumbled under my breath and rolled my eyes at him. "Just be there when someone among us sends it, okay? And whenever you see Zach today, inform him too. Don't say much, just tell him it's a precaution."
Hopefully, Zach gets to know about the codeword soon.
The rest of the school day went by fast. Surprisingly, it was Clay who managed to convince some hackers to help the jocks get the party back on. Everyone was talking about it, as some software had to be installed on all our phones.
I wasn't exactly planning on going to the party. Tyler was accompanying Tony in his first league match and it seemed a great place to hang on a Saturday instead of a high school party.
But Zach had other plans in his mind.
"Hey!"
He surprised me in the corridor, coming from behind me and patting my shoulders as I made my way out of the library.
"So, we need more Zach and Alex time," Zach stated as we continued walking. "How about I stay over tomorrow night?"
This was really random from him, seeing we haven't talked much in days.
"I'm not gonna kiss you again if that's what you're hoping." I jokingly replied and looked at him as he chuckled loudly.
"Ha! I like that we can joke about this. It's a good sign." He started walking backward in front of me so he could face me while talking. "Progress. But seriously, tomorrow night?"
"Uh... yeah, I guess."
My parents never asked questions whenever Zach stayed over, so that's not going to be a problem.
"Perfect, yes," Zach fist-pumped and started walking normally beside me again. "'Cause, the real is we're going to the Find Your Drink party to find many, many drinks."
Of course. The Zach I know doesn't skip a party.
"And my mom set up cameras in my room," He continued explaining, as we turned left in the hallway. "So I need a cover story and a place to sleep it off."
"Okay, you can have the cover story and the guest room," I started saying, not paying attention to what he said first. "But I'm gonna pass on the party because I'm anti-people currently."
"And I get that," Zach replied and turned around to walk backward again as he faced me. "But maybe that's why you should go."
That's when I realized what he had said earlier.
"Wait." I interrupted and stopped walking. "Your mom put up cameras in your room?"
That's worse than getting your phones tracked. I don't even want to know what Zach did to piss Mrs. Dempsey off.
"That's only part of it, but don't even get me started."
I'm not even going to ask.
"Anyways, I'm picking you up at 8:00," Zach continued. "And if you make any attempt not to go to this party, I will actually come and pick you up at 8:00."
He said the last words slowly as if they mean anything, then wiggled his eyebrows at me. I just stared at him in confusion and amusement.
"It's hot, right? I'll actually come and, like, physically pick you up." He said as I shook my head at him. "Come on! We can have hot banter, right?"
"How am I even friends with you?"
"I'm handsome, charming, and, mm... I saved you from drowning."
I rolled my eyes at him as he started going his way.
"Eight o'clock!"
Seems like I'm going to the party tomorrow.
××××××××××××××××
Hey everyone! Hope you like the chapter. I'm trying to update weekly this time and it's going on pretty well.
I am currently in my online class and was bored so decided to complete the chapter and publish it for you all!
Tell me how it is.
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