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The next day at school was miserable, as usual. Grey, gloomy hallways matched the grey, gloomy sky outside, and Mike’s classes crawled by in a dreary procession of formulas, facts, and dates that he could barely pay any attention to. His mind was elsewhere, focused on concocting his own imagined scenes lifted out of Kyla and Amy’s secret virtchat sessions, except in his imagination it was Christy Parker and Amy, and he was there between them... no, he was Christy. That was even hotter. Wearing her little cheerleader outfit, bouncing those perky breasts up and down, rubbing those silky thighs together as she writhed against Amy’s soft fingers... He realized he was swelling beneath his desk and he blushed, glancing around quickly to see if anyone else had noticed. No one had, of course. Who would ever pay any attention to boring little Mike Wantry?
If they noticed him at all, they knew him as Kyla’s brother. It was humiliating that his sister was way more popular than he was. Not that that was her fault, he supposed. Mike was basically invisible. He heard them talk about Kyla in the locker room all the time, like he wasn’t even there. “Hey, did you get a load of Kyla Wantry today?” Pete Wills would say.
And then some other meathead would grin back, replying, “More like Kyla Wants-it, huh? God, the tits on that girl...”
Then they’d all join in: “I could teach her a thing or two, if she ever gets bored of that Amy chick...”
“Why wait? I’d just show her my dick and she’d come running to gobble it up.”
“In your dreams!”
“Nah, in my dreams I’d be bending her over a table, like this...”
But it wasn’t even the worst part. The worst part was that Mike couldn’t help but feel a little... jealous? The talk was embarrassing, but he’d bet no one talked about him that way in the girls’ locker room. Just one more example of how Kyla had everything he didn’t: the looks, the attention, their parents’ trust. He wondered if she even knew how lucky she was.
At lunch, if she wasn’t off hanging out with Amy, she sat with the cool kids. That was where she was today, right next to the table where Chuck Higgins and all his cronies hung out. Chuck’s arm draped over the shoulders of Christy Parker, of course, but Mike saw that he was fixated on Kyla’s table, stealing sidelong glances down her shirt whenever Christy wasn’t looking. Everyone knew Chuck had a thing for Kyla. If Kyla noticed, she didn’t seem to care.
Mike grabbed a tray, got in the lunch line, and shuffled along, watching them. Up ahead of him a lunch lady in a frumpy gray frock was serving food to kids as they passed by her, but Mike’s attention was on Kyla. She was smiling, laughing about something with Amy right now.
What wouldn’t Mike give to be sitting in Kyla’s shoes, or even in Christy’s? He wished somebody would look at him the way Chuck looked at them, even if it was a weird thing to wish. He shook his head, suddenly embarrassed. Why did he think those things, feel those things? If only there was someone he could talk to about it... but there was no way he was going to tell anyone he was jealous of some girls. They’d just call him gay, make fun of him, and he’d feel worse than ever. Why did his body have to feel so awkward and stupid to him? Did other people feel this way and just hide it better?
“I can tell,” said the lunch lady.
Mike jumped, startled. She was standing in front of him, smiling from under her hair net. He felt a flush creeping up the back of his neck.
“Uh... tell what?” he asked.
“Tell that you want the burger,” she said, shoving a hamburger onto his tray. “Boys always want their meat.” Behind her the lunch menu sign read, “Your choice of lunch today: Hamburger or Fresh Garden Salad.” Mike frowned down at the greasy bun. He’d wanted the salad. He sighed and paid anyway, and then went to sit by himself at the edge of the cafeteria.
As he choked down his food, he watched Christy lean back against Chuck and play with his curly, brown hair, right above his virtjack. All the cool kids had had them for ages. He wondered if Christy’s parents put any controls on her account. Probably not. Life for the cool kids was just one big sex-fueled party. He felt like the guy who hadn’t been invited, standing on the corner, watching everyone else have fun.
He frowned. Maybe he’d never be happy with who he was, and maybe he’d never know what it felt like to be Kyla or Christy, but he shouldn’t have to sit on the sidelines completely. He could have his own sexy fun in virtnet, if he could just figure out how to get past his dad. Kyla had a way to fake the logs, at least. Maybe she also knew how to hack his account settings? She’d have to want to help him, though, and it didn’t seem likely... but what did he have to lose?
After lunch, he chased after his sister in the hallway. “Kyla! Kyla!”
She was walking away with Amy, and when she looked back to see who was calling for her, she frowned at him. Kyla paused while Mike caught up to them, Amy waiting at her side. Mike hesitated. He always felt a little shy around Amy. She was tall, blonde, and pretty, and she often seemed to be laughing to herself at some private joke. Her hair was pulled back into a ponytail today, and her green eyes peeked out from behind the rimless glasses she wore. One of the smartest girls in school, it didn’t seem fair that she was also one of the hottest.
“I thought we agreed you wouldn’t talk to me at school,” Kyla said. “What do you want?”
She was wearing a tartan skirt with knee-high black boots, and her breasts strained against the fabric of a tight grey sweater. It was layered over a white cotton button-up whose cuffs poked out the ends to fold back against her arms. Her hair looked sleek and perfect, just like it always did. She must have been going for the slutty Catholic schoolgirl thing. It worked for her. Despite being only 5’6”, her striking presence made Mike feel like he was the short one. He took a deep breath and then launched into his plea.
“Kyla, listen... I know you think it’s funny that my virtnet account is all locked down, but these parental controls are killing me. I know you know how to fake your logs, and I bet you also know a way to get past the account protections dad’s got set up on me. Can’t you please help me out, just this once?”
She was already shaking her head as he finished. “No way. If I tell you how, you’ll get caught, and then you’ll get me in trouble.”
“Why would I get caught?”
“You always get caught. Why should I help you, anyway? Especially after last night.”
He flinched. “That wasn’t what it looked like, Kyla... and for what it’s worth, I’m sorry.”
Amy cocked an eyebrow at Mike, smiling. He felt his face go red.
“Don’t make me beg, Ky. Please?”
His sister glared at him, hand on her hip, and then shook her head. “Figure it out yourself, Mike. I can’t help you.”
She was going to make him do it, then. In front of Amy and everything. Fine, she wanted him to play the cookie card? He’d play the cookie card. He dropped down onto one knee, grabbing her hand. She looked around, startled.
“What are you doing?” she said. “Get up! What if someone sees?”
“Please, Kyla... help me out. Please. Do you remember that time when we were kids? We were maybe five or six, and you were reaching for the cookie jar on top the refrigerator, and it fell down and broke and you were crying and crying?”
She glowered at him with lowered lids, hiding behind her thick mascara, and didn’t say anything.
“And then mom came in,” he continued, “And I told her it was my fault, and said I did it, and I got in trouble for it...”
He paused, and she grudgingly nodded.
“And then what happened, Kyla?”
She sighed and rolled her eyes.
“What happened, Kyla?”
“You waited until she sent us both upstairs, and then you took two cookies out that you’d hidden under your shirt, and you gave me one. And we sat and ate them together.”
“We sat and ate them together.” He paused to let that sink in. “I’ve never asked you for anything, Ky, not until now. I know we’re not close anymore, but come on! I don’t even need a cookie, here. I’m dying. I’ll take your crumbs. Just tell me how to fake the logs, and I can figure out the rest...”
For the briefest second her face wavered, pity and empathy rolling across it, but then a scowl slammed down.
“How dare you?” she said. “Playing on my emotions like... You know what? No, we’re not close anymore. And no, I’m not helping. If you want it so bad, figure out how to fake the logs your own damn self. I’m not giving you the keys to set me up in front of mom and dad just because you gave me some stupid cookie once.”
“But—”
“Hey, you wanna masturbate secretly in virtnet? Take a few computer classes, like I’ve been. It’s not that hard, dumbass.” She whirled away and stalked off in a huff, hair fluttering behind her.
Amy stayed behind, watching Mike. Her glasses had fallen down her nose a bit, and she pushed them back into place with a long, thin finger. Mike had the sense she was about to say something, but then she just smiled and shrugged apologetically before turning to follow Kyla. He shoved his hands in his pockets and kicked at the ground in front of him. If he had a cookie now he’d throw it at them. Stupid girls. Stupid parents. Stupid everything! If he’d enrolled in the same computer classes Kyla had been taking since middle school, he wouldn’t need her now. He’d even tried one or two, but he’d found it so boring. Now he was screwed.
There had to be a way to get in without her help. He couldn’t search the net for an answer, since his dad checked those logs too, but maybe there was something else he could try. If he only had access to her console, maybe he could dig around in her files, find her log hacker... He smiled to himself as an idea started forming. Today was Friday. Friday nights, Kyla always went out with friends. His parents did too; some boring board game night with their friends. More than enough time for a little detective work.
He’d spent enough of his life on the outside of the cool kids party, looking in. It was time to roll up his sleeves and break in.