14

‘You lied to me!’

The words were flying out of my mouth before I’d even finished sliding through the little window into Seth’s basement. When my shoes hit the carpet, more words spilled out.

‘This was the plan all along, wasn’t it? This – this – video vengeance.’

They didn’t deny it, but Mouse at least had the good grace to look guilty. He was shifting from foot to foot in front of me, like one of those guys who hangs out on the fringe of the dance floor, moving to the music without doing anything that could actually be confused with dancing.

‘We hadn’t decided for sure, when we recruited you,’ he said.

‘Bullshit.’

I’d had all morning to let my rage build up. Seth had refused to discuss it over the phone, insisting we meet in his basement and bypass his parents by coming through the window. I’d had to wait around for hours until Dad and Misty left to hit the riverboat casino. They liked to go to the Sunday buffet and then stay to gamble for a couple of hours. Or more accurately, Misty liked to go and dragged Dad with her. It gave me just enough time to speed over to Seth’s for the ass-ripping I had planned.

‘That is why you’ve been watching people, right? To get something juicy enough to post online?’ I remembered what they’d said about keeping tabs on their enemies – Jordan’s enemies. My hands were in my hair, pulling so hard it hurt my scalp. These guys weren’t just coders. They were con artists. ‘You knew I wouldn’t sign on for that, so you tricked me.’

‘You’re the one who said a forum was a boring idea,’ Seth pointed out.

He was leaning against the pool table, arms crossed, screens on either side of him glowing with the new entry on FriendsofBishop.com. His hair was a mess and his eyes bloodshot, like he’d been up all night waiting for us. Maybe he had been.

‘Better boring than busted.’ I was spitting and nearly shouting. ‘It’s one thing to make a site staying ahead of the snoops. But to put up a video that was obviously hacked? I mean, were you guys born this stupid or did it take special training?’

They both flinched at the insult, but I didn’t give them time to protest.

I thrust a hand toward the monitors behind Seth. ‘I’m not even sure we can submit this to the ACC now.’

‘Why not?’ Mouse asked.

‘Who cares?’ Seth said, almost simultaneously.

‘Why not?’ I echoed. ‘Who cares?!’

‘Polly want a cracker?’ Seth parroted.

‘This isn’t funny.’

‘It’s a little bit funny,’ Mouse said.

Seth uncrossed his arms. ‘You laughed at the video yesterday.’

‘Yesterday I didn’t know you were going to show it to the whole world!’

‘Neither did we,’ Mouse said. ‘Not for sure. Not until last night.’

‘What happened last night?’ I asked.

Seth glowered. ‘Brett was on social media telling people our site was a fake – set up by cybermonitors.’

‘So?’

Seth didn’t answer, and I looked to Mouse, who stilled.

‘So, he said it couldn’t possibly be real, because no one liked Jordan enough to set up a website in his memory.’

I faltered. Tiny cracks spread across the surface of my rage. The hands that had been pulling my hair now laced together at the back of my neck.

‘Shit,’ I said. ‘That’s … that really sucks. I’m sorry.’

‘You get it, then.’ Mouse said. He turned to Seth. ‘Told you he’d understand.’

I sighed. ‘I don’t not get it. But you just took this to a whole new level.’

‘And it worked,’ Seth said. ‘We got the clicks.’

‘Of course you got the clicks. I saw the bait you left.’

They had dropped the link anonymously all over social media with lines like ‘Have you seen Brett Carver shooting up?’ and ‘Haver football hero: champ or cheat?’

‘But who cares about clicks if the site goes too far to enter into the competition?’

Personally, I didn’t give a shit about Brett Carver, but this video could trigger an investigation that exposed my past. Destroying Brett could destroy me too, and I wasn’t interested in being collateral damage.

Seth shook his head. ‘You still don’t get it. This isn’t just about the ACC. It’s about justice. For Jordan.’

‘Adrestia,’ I muttered, the code word floating to the surface of my thoughts.

‘Goddess of revenge,’ Mouse confirmed.

The truth was there all along.

They didn’t just want to honor Jordan. They wanted to avenge him.

‘Who will be next?’ I quoted the web post. ‘Who’s after Brett? You going to take out everyone who ever said anything mean to Jordan?’

I imagined that was a long list.

‘You make it sound like they called him a dweeb and gave him a wedgie.’ Seth’s voice crackled with heat. ‘They killed Jordan. Their words obliterated him.’

He undocked one of the laptop monitors and strode across the room to me, jabbing a finger at the freeze-frame of Brett Carver with a needle in his arm. ‘This guy you feel so sorry for? He spread a rumor online that Jordan was screwing a teacher.’

‘Who?’ I couldn’t help but ask.

‘Mr. Fogerty,’ Mouse said. ‘We think Brett was flunking chemistry, and Mr. Fogerty wouldn’t give him a pass. It would have cost him his spot on all his teams.’

Seth barreled on. ‘Whatever the reason – Brett and his buddies had it out for Mr. Fogerty and Jordan. They even did some really nasty photoshops of the two of them – fake, obviously fake, but still embarrassing. And when Jordan tried to fight back, it just got worse. The things they said …’

Mouse supplied the word Seth couldn’t bring himself to say. ‘Queen Jordan, Fogerty’s faggot friend—’

I held up a hand to make him stop. It was true what I’d heard – the very worst things done to Jordan had been done online.

‘Was Jordan gay?’ I asked.

‘Does it matter?’ Seth snapped. ‘That’s not the point, Eli!’

‘Shit, sorry. I just – I didn’t mean—’

‘The point is, it could have been me. It could have been you. We’re all Jordan Bishop.’

Beside Seth, Mouse was nodding fervently, in time with his own manic bouncing.

‘Eli,’ Seth said – quietly now. ‘They told him he’d be better off dead.’

Mouse stopped bouncing.

The whole room went still, and I felt like an intruder on a private, painful memory.

I still wasn’t sure I fell in with the Jordan Bishops, but I did feel the tug of indignation on their behalf. Maybe Seth and Mouse were justified in their revenge, but they’d risked doing as much damage to themselves – and me – as they hoped to do to Brett. An unregistered website was a minor infraction. An unregistered website full of illegally obtained videos was a plea to be expelled and possibly even arrested.

‘Look,’ I said. ‘I don’t know if this whole thing is noble or stupid or both, but either way, it’s a shit show.’

I pointed to the screen in Seth’s hand. ‘That is clearly shot from a computer cam you shouldn’t have access to. Even if you manage to keep ahead of the cybersnoops, you still have to expose yourself at the competition to get credit for the website. You want to break the law and then confess on a national stage? Just because the ACC issued the challenge doesn’t mean we won’t end up with our asses in orange.’

Mouse looked to Seth. ‘I guess we hadn’t thought about that.’

But clearly Seth had thought about it. He didn’t even blink as I laid it all out for them.

‘Forget the ACC,’ he said. ‘This is bigger than that now.’

Mouse chewed his lower lip for a minute, thinking, but soon he was nodding. ‘He’s right. This is more important.’

‘For you guys, maybe,’ I said. ‘But I’m only in this for the competition. If you still plan on submitting this for the real-world portion … then, I’m sorry, I’m out.’

I hated giving up the chance to compete, and I was surprised to realise it also bummed me out that I’d be giving up the next few Saturdays in Seth’s basement. After yesterday’s session, I was kind of looking forward to spending my weekends with this new crew.

‘Is this really any worse than the Game Zap crack?’ Seth asked in earnest. ‘I’ll bet that’s not even the half of it. Come on, Eli. What else have you done?’

He said it in awe, but it somehow still sounded like a threat. He had no idea how right he was.

‘You can’t be out,’ Mouse said. ‘We need three to compete!’

‘Fine, then take down the video and put up something else,’ I begged.

‘I have this other video,’ Mouse started. ‘Of a guy—’

‘That’s not what I meant.’

Seth ticked his head to one side. ‘I’ll make you a deal.’

‘What’s that?’

‘You stick with us, and we’ll take the video down.’

‘Fine. Great! That’s all I—’

‘Waaaait.’ He dragged out the word, annoyed by my interruption. ‘I still think videos are the key to getting clicks. And clicks are what will make the website a worthy entry for the ACC.’

He paused as if expecting me to concur. When I stayed stubbornly silent, he went on. ‘So we’ll agree not to hack any more computer cameras, if you agree to help us find videos another way.’

‘And how am I supposed to do that?’

Seth smirked. ‘Aren’t you supposed to be some sort of genius? I’m sure you’ll figure it out.’

I stared at him for a long moment. I had no idea what kind of videos he had in mind or how I was supposed to get them, but maybe if I stayed on the team, eventually I could change their minds. I just had to stall them for a bit.

‘Fine,’ I said.

‘Yes!’ Mouse pumped a fist in the air.

‘But if one more video goes up that I think could get us in trouble, we burn the site down and think of another entry for the ACC.’

‘Sure, whatever.’ Seth waved a dismissive hand. ‘Go ahead and write a backup entry – some generic program for hacking school cyberdatabases or whatever boring thing you suggested the other day. We don’t need it, and you’ll help us with the site no matter what.’

‘Why do you say that?’

‘Because,’ Mouse said. ‘You’re our accomplice now.’

His face broke open in a grin, and he gripped my shoulder in such a buddy way that ‘accomplice’ managed to sound a lot like ‘friend.’