A BUMP KEY WASN’T GOING TO get us past the flash drive’s security. After a couple of hundred wrong passwords, I had to keep Reya from snapping the thing in two. Even though that’s what I felt like doing.
It went like that for days.
I drifted through school, jotting down new password guesses when they came to me. Eli liked Star Wars, so I made a Star Wars list. My journalism list had things like “C0lumn$” and “1nch3s.” All of them wrong. Reya, suspended for fighting and obsessed, spent all her time trying to crack the code, filling notebooks with her failed attempts. I went to her place after school each day to take a typing shift while she soaked her hands in ice like an athlete. Hackers we weren’t.
I expected Mrs. Cruz to shut the whole thing down since Reya got in trouble over the Callie fight. All she said was, “It’s nice to have one of Eli’s friends over,” like I was visiting him.
By day four, I found Reya wearing a pair of glasses with purple frames, kid’s glasses. When I asked her about them, she said, “Contacts were irritating me.”
I looked from her to the picture of Eli on her mirror, noting a much stronger resemblance between them. I would’ve said something, but she was into the work.
During one super-frustrating code-cracking session, my phone lit up.
Dustin: I’m @ home now. Got my phone back (as u can tell)
Me: U ok?
Dustin: No. But I’m here. That’s more than L + C can say L
Me: Remember, keep quiet. Me & Reya r workn something thatll help
Dustin: Lik what?!?! Dont make this worst, yo!
Me: B cool. Stay low. Will b n touch
I snapped my phone shut and powered it down. I couldn’t deal with him freaking right now.
Wait, freaking. Maybe with a 3 for the e and an @ for the . . .
The password window flashed red at another bad attempt while Reya dozed behind me. Hopeless.
Late was the new early at my house. There’d been no fights, and Mom kept insisting that we “eat breakfast as a family,” but the evenings felt like I was an emancipated minor. Sandwiches and sodas in front of the TV, no parents to be found.
I took my dad’s spot on the couch and surfed channels. One more day of school this week, then a long weekend of staring at the password screen. Hopefully.
If Mom was planning to run, how much longer did I have in Stepton? With Reya? I could’ve asked Mom directly, put everything on the table, but I was afraid. Afraid that if I mentioned it, I’d make it happen. Like now.
I powered on my phone intending to text Reya, but I accidentally touched the voice mail icon. One saved message. From Eli.
“You’re really going to make me use my voice here, huh? Okay. Nick, um, I’m sorry about what happened today. For reals. I line crossed. From now on, I’ll keep you out of my more . . . troublesome obligations. As a peace offering, I wanted to let you know that my guild is going to quest for Urilium Gauntlet tonight, and I wanted to invite you to join our brotherhood. You can lead the war party if you want.”
Bingo. Video games.
I called Reya. When she picked up, I heard keys clacking in the background. “What?”
Ignoring the snap in her voice, I said, “I’ve got some new ones for you.”
“Hang on.” Rustling, crackling static, then, “You’re on speaker.”
“These are all video game based.” I started with Modern Battlefield because Eli was so good at it. We worked through the names of maps, guns, co-op missions. Nothing. We switched to that Finite Universe game. “Try Urilium.”
“Spell it.”
I did. “If that doesn’t work, try gauntl—”
“Nick! Nick! Oh my God,” she screamed, forcing me to lower the phone. At a distance, I still heard her say, “I love you soooo much right now.”
My stomach clenched. She was happy. That’s all.
When her volume decreased, I said, “It worked. What do you see?”
“There’s a folder called ‘Whispertown,’ but there’s a ton of stuff in it. All sorts of files and subfolders. It’s going to take awhile to sort through. Come by early tomorrow, I should have some answers.”
“Hey, what you said a minute ago—” The line went dead.