 
# Script Kiddies

### A Killchain Novella

## Brandon Clark

### Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Afterword

Also by Brandon Clark

About the Author
Script Kiddies by Brandon Clark

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Published by Triton Media Publishing

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**www.CBrandonClark.com**

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© 2019 Brandon Clark

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All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced in any form without permission from the publisher, except as permitted by U.S. copyright law. For permissions contact:

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help@cbrandonclark.com

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Print ISBN: 978-1-7326511-2-8

  Created with Vellum
**For Sara, thanks for still putting up with me...**

# Chapter One

Haley sat on her hands and tried to look anxious while Ms. Roland leafed through the papers on her desk.

The small office—barely large enough for the metal desk and worn, cracked leather chair where Ms. Roland sat, —could have doubled as a nuclear shelter. The chair in which Haley squirmed was wedged into the corner, though the arm was scratched and torn from years of the door scrapping and ripping the tweed. On the wall behind Ms. Roland's head was a shelf filled with photos of kids of different ages and ethnicities smiling and hugging the older woman. Haley's jaw started to ache as she stared at the photos, so she turned left to examine the poster with an eagle flying through a snowy mountain pass and some stupid motivational quote.

Ms. Roland finally sighed and dropped the folder on the desk. She leaned back in her chair and pushed her glasses up to her forehead to rub the bridge of her nose. Her faded blonde hair fell into her eyes before she tucked it back behind her ear, the brown roots visible at the part.

"What am I supposed to do with you?"

Haley could have sat perfectly still, but she pretended to fidget.

Ms. Roland sighed, apparently satisfied that Haley had been suitably chastised.

"Do you still want to go to college?" she asked.

"Yes, ma'am," Haley said.

"Then why do you keep doing this?"

"It wasn't my fault."

"I don't even care anymore," Ms. Roland said. "There's no way to sugarcoat this. You have eight months before you age out. After that, you're on your own. You're too smart to end up flipping burgers. Or worse."

Haley looked down at her lap.

"I'm not trying to be difficult," she said.

Ms. Roland sighed again.

"I know you're not," she said. "But that doesn't change the facts. You have to play nice long enough to graduate.

Haley nodded.

Ms. Roland reached under her desk and pulled out one of the metal drawers. She dropped two manila folders in front of Haley.

"You've got one more shot," she said. "I've got two families with open spots for a high-schooler."

She flipped the folder on the left open. Clipped to the first page was a picture of a couple in their fifties and six kids.

"They have an opening?" Haley said skeptically.

"Probably not, but that doesn't stop them from wanting to help," Ms. Roland said. "The Amburgs are good people. Just had a pair of fosters graduate from Fox Hills High and move out, so they actually have two openings."

Haley nodded, and opened the other folder. The parents in that photo looked even older, but they only had one dark-skinned girl, who looked around Haley's age, and a middle school aged Caucasian boy and girl.

"The Kells," Ms. Roland said. "The twins are biological. Dana is a sweetheart they've been fostering for the last two years. You'd like her. Smart as a whip, though she's more of the literary type. Got a vocabulary like you wouldn't believe."

"Will either of them be able to help with school?"

Ms. Roland shook her head.

"Obviously, the Amburgs are pretty strapped. John has a good job, but there are just too many mouths to feed. The Kells, well, he's a pastor with two of his own kids to put through school. His church has sponsored scholarships for their kids in the past. But"—she leaned in and pointed a finger in Haley's face— "he's a pastor. Your margin for error is slim to none."

"I've never been anything but an angel," Haley said.

"I'm serious," Ms. Roland said. "If you don't want to spend the next ten years of your life flipping burgers or worse, you have to be beyond perfect with the Kells."

Haley looked at the picture again and bit her lip.

"What kind of scholarships?"

Ms. Roland shrugged. "Couple thousand for tuition. Better than nothing."

"I can do it."

Ms. Roland regarded her for a few heartbeats longer. Then she leaned back and put the Amburgs' file back in her desk.

"I'll get the paperwork going," she said.

# Chapter Two

Her new foster home was better than the first one she could remember, but worse than the last two. It was a pale-yellow ranch with windows every ten paces and an open carport to the left. There were two cars in the driveway, both at least ten years old and well loved, if not maintained.

Haley suppressed a sigh and pasted a smile on her face as Ms. Roland opened the car door. The woman fussed with Haley's dress as she climbed out of the back seat, not that it'd matter.

When Ms. Roland was satisfied, she stepped back and held out a hand.

They walked across the thin strip of city-owned grass, and then up the sun-bleached gray cement walkway.

She started going through the inevitable dance in her head.

"You must be Haley," the mother would say.

She'd hold out her hand to shake, feigning shyness, only to have the mother hold out her arms and offer a hug, which Haley would accept even though it would be awkward. It didn't matter how she actually felt, as long as these new foster parents felt like they were doing the world a service by letting her stay with them. Of course, that was also why she'd done her hair in pigtails and put on just enough blush to give herself that innocent glow that adults associated with an eleven- or twelve-year-old, even though she was old enough to drive.

Never hurt to stack the deck.

Ms. Roland stopped, pulling Haley out of her daydreams.

Haley turned, keeping her face neutral as the woman put a hand on her shoulder. She held her eyes levelly.

"You sure you can do this?" Ms. Roland said.

Haley nodded.

"All you have to do is play by their rules for a year," Ms. Roland said.

"I'll be an angel," Haley said, a bit too sweetly.

Ms. Roland let out an exasperated breath and pinched the bridge of her nose, then shook her head. Her blonde curls bounced across her shoulders as she did.

She took another deep breath and knocked twice.

A few seconds later, a young black girl in a green sundress opened the door. Haley recognized her from the photograph, her hair held back in a thick French braid.

"Hello?" the girl said, pretending she didn't know who they were or why they were there.

"Hi, I'm Liza Roland. Are your parents at home?"

The girl nodded and swung the door open. "Mom, they're here."

Ms. Roland stepped inside with Haley in tow. The foyer was practically out of the pages of a magazine from a doctor's waiting room, from the floral vases to the fake-fruit bowls and bright, airily painted walls.

A woman as pale as an egg shell walked out of the kitchen.

"Hello, Liza," she said. Her voice was warm, and her smile seemed genuine. "Good to see you again."

"Good to see you, Martha," Ms. Roland said.

"And you must be Haley?"

"Must be," Haley said. She stuck out her hand.

The woman's smile tightened, and Haley saw Ms. Roland give her a stern look.

The woman held out her arms. "Oh, come here."

Haley suppressed a groan and crossed the threshold dutifully. She let her backpack drop carefully to the hardwood floor before moving too.

The woman's perfume threatened to suffocate Haley, but she squeezed her eyes tight and tried to breathe through her mouth.

When the woman finally released her, she held Haley at arm's length and gave her a thorough look up and down.

"Why don't you get your things and put them in your room?" She said. "George went to pick Noah and Ruth up from school, but you'll see them shortly." She leaned over and looked at Dana. "Why don't you get her bag from the car?"

"I'll get it," Haley said.

"No, no," Martha said. "This is the last time you're a guest in this house, so you should enjoy it."

Dana was already out the door, leaving Haley with no option but to glance back and try to keep an eye on her while she endured Martha's affections a bit longer.

"Liza tells me you're an excellent student?" Martha said. "What's your favorite subject?"

"Math," Haley said.

"Oh good, Ruth has always struggled with her figures. I'm sure she'd appreciate it if you could help her."

The look she gave Haley made it clear her participation in Ruth's education wasn't optional.

"Happy to help," Haley said.

There was a bang from outside as Dana closed the trunk, and Haley turned quickly enough to shake Martha's grip on her shoulders. Haley walked back to the door in time to help Dana haul the large suitcase up the three stairs of the front porch.

The girl nodded, panting as she struggled with the bag.

"Dana can show you where to go," Martha said.

Dana jerked her head down a hall to the right and started without waiting for Haley.

"Nice to meet you," Haley said quickly before turning to follow.

Dana dragged the suitcase across the hardwood floor. She passed two doors without a glance.

Haley wasn't in as much of a rush, and she glanced in each as they passed.

The first was bright pink, with a queen bed and a mountain of stuffed animals and pillows. There was a small desk with a gigantic mirror and a makeup set that had three tiers of powders folded out. There was a small table with wafer-thin tea cups in the center of a wide, fluffy white rug.

The next door was a dark blue, also with a queen bed but instead of stuffed animals it had a tv on the wall with wires running to a gaming console underneath, and an iPad plugged into the wall by the bedside table.

"How old are Ruth and Noah?" she asked.

"Just turned twelve," Dana said without looking back.

Dana reached the last door in the hallway and pushed it open with her shoulder.

This room had a set of bunk beds pushed against the far wall. The ladder from the top bunk was tucked behind the head of the bed, and a chest with three drawers stood under the room's only window. The bottom drawer was open and empty, with two stacks of clothes sitting on the floor next to the dresser. There was one desk on the right side of the room, a bulky laptop that probably weighed as much as Haley's suitcase sitting on top. Two of the walls had movie posters filled with people wielding light swords and firing laser beams from small pistols.

Next to the desk was a door where the beige carpet cut away to white tile and a claustrophobically small bathroom.

"Put your stuff in the drawer," Dana said. "You've got the bottom bunk."

"Guess there's no chance I could flip you for it?"

Dana gave her a withering stare.

"That was a joke..."

Haley held out her hand.

"We weren't properly introduced," she said. "I'm Haley."

Dana took her hand, but a dead fish had more structure than her handshake.

"I know."

"Ms. Roland said you're a foster too?"

Dana nodded.

"Any tips for getting by here?" Haley pressed.

"Just keep your grades up, go to church, and don't make the Kells look bad."

"What's Mr. Kell like?"

Dana shrugged. "Strict, sometimes fair," she said. "It's better just to keep your head down most of the time."

"Girls?" Mrs. Kell yelled from down the hall. "Come back when you're done, please."

Dana started to push past Haley, but she turned and grabbed the other girl's arm.

"Did I do something?" Haley asked.

They locked eyes for fraction of a second, then Dana shook her head.

"Sorry. Just a bit jarring actually seeing you here. We can talk later, but Mrs. Kell will start getting snippy if someone isn't there to pour tea," she said. "Take a minute to unpack if you need it. I'll buy you a moment. And make sure to smile."

Her face lit up with an obviously fake smile before she disappeared around the door frame.

Haley's shoulders sagged as she looked around the room again. It was small, but there was no line of ants streaming through cracks in the wall, or water stains on the ceiling.

She opened her suitcase and started unpacking what little she had. The drawer only fit about half of her clothes, so she folded and stacked them next to Dana's on the floor.

The suitcase was much easier to roll back out of the room, practically gliding across the wood floor without her belongings inside. The two older women were chatting on the living-room sofa while Dana sat with her back straight in one of the plush chairs across from them. Ms. Roland looked up when Haley turned the corner.

"Settled?" She asked.

Haley nodded and pushed the suitcase toward her.

"Thanks for letting me borrow this," she said.

Ms. Roland stood and wrapped Haley in her arms.

Haley returned the hug awkwardly. Ms. Roland rarely touched her, much less hugged her, but she didn't want to be rude.

The social worker finally released her.

"I can't wait to see where you end up," she said. "You're going to change the world."

Haley wanted to tell her that sounded like a thing she told every kid, but instead she tried to smile and nod.

"Thank you for the coffee," Ms. Roland said. The two women smiled and hugged once more, then Ms. Roland walked out the front door and was gone.

# Chapter Three

Haley squirmed in her desk, trying to find a position where shards of plastic weren't digging into her back or butt. The school district "refreshed" the desks about once a generation, and when they did, they always went with the lowest bidder, who used the cheapest, most brittle plastic possible.

Her English teacher, Mr. Garrigan, walked down the aisles, dropping the stapled stack of papers on desks, murmuring congratulations or encouragement to each student.

Dana sat a few rows ahead of her, and she beamed up at him as he approached. He smiled back and nodded as he handed her the paper, before moving on.

Haley couldn't see Dana's face, but the other girl sat straighter, and Haley felt some of the tension in her chest release. English wasn't her strong suit, and she knew Dana would get a higher grade, but they'd studied together so she couldn't be too far off.

Asking Dana for help in English had actually been one of the best decisions Haley had made in the two weeks since she'd arrived at the Kells. They were great people, who genuinely cared about their kids, both biological and foster, but there was definitely a pecking order, and Haley's arrival had pushed Dana down a rung. Even though Dana had been the picture of politeness, there had been a certain frostiness between the two.

Asking her foster sister for help had started to help thaw their relationship.

Dana turned and watched Mr. Garrigan approach Haley's desk.

Despite her confidence, Haley felt her pulse quicken.

Mr. Garrigan stopped next to her desk. She smiled up at him, doing her best to imitate Dana's ingratiating smile. He tried to smile encouragingly at her, but her heart sank as she saw a large swath of red ink as the paper dropped.

"Dropping into a new school mid-year is tough on anyone," he said, lowering his voice. "Why don't you stay for a few minutes after class and we can go over what you missed?"

She didn't look up, her eyes too transfixed by the red "D+" circled at the top of the page, but she managed to nod.

She blinked rapidly to clear her eyes, her chest constricting. She didn't look up to meet Dana's gaze. She wanted to just make an excuse to run out of the classroom.

The bell rang a few minutes later, and Haley swept the papers into her backpack before Dana could see but wasn't fast enough.

"I'm sorry," she said.

Haley sighed and looked up at her new sister.

"Not your fault."

"We should have done more of those practice quizzes," she said, putting a hand on Haley's shoulder.

"We were up until two in the morning the night before," Haley said. "There wasn't anything more you could have done. But thank you."

Haley stood.

"I need to see Mr. Garrigan," she said before Dana could apologize again. Haley held out the car key, which Mr. Kell had given her Monday morning. "Don't wait for me."

"You sure," Dana said.

Haley shook her head. "You can't be late for work. I'll grab the bus."

Dana bit her lip but took the key.

"Thanks," Dana said. "Text me when you get home."

"Ok, Mom..." Haley rolled her eyes dramatically.

Dana smiled, and then patted her shoulder once more her before leaving the classroom.

Her meeting with Mr. Garrigan was just as she'd expected. He offered to walk her through what she got wrong, and she tried to follow why she should have used a semicolon instead of a comma, even though none of it made any sense.

The bus stank of sweat, and Haley did her best to shrink toward the window to avoid touching the homeless man that slid into the seat next to her. Not that he had much choice in the press of people.

When they got close to her stop, she pulled the cord and made excuses as she muscled her way through the crowd to the door.

She popped out onto the sidewalk, sucking in lungfuls of fresh air before starting toward home.

"Hey!"

She ignored the voice and kept walking.

"I know you failed Mr. Garrigan's test. I can help."

This time, Haley looked back. A lanky boy with greasy black hair pulled back in a ponytail stood in faded blue jeans and a T-shirt featuring a superhero she didn't recognize.

He was the kid that sat three rows behind her in Mr. Garrigan's class.

"I didn't fail," she said.

"I saw your test," he said.

"Then you know I didn't fail."

"Fine, you didn't fail. But I can help you pass by more than a point."

She cocked her head and regarded him for a minute.

"Did you follow me all the way here?"

"I live two more stops down," he hooked a thumb over his shoulder.

"You wasted a pass to talk to me?"

"Don't worry about that," he said. "Do you want my help or not?"

"What kind of help?"

"I formed a kind of study group," he said. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a scrap of folded paper and held it out. "Just check it out. Use your school email to log in. That's your password."

She heard the airbrakes of another bus hiss as it pulled up to the stop.

She looked at the paper, then back at him.

"Why do you want to help me?"

He shrugged uncomfortably, then motioned with the paper again with more urgency. She reached out and took it, not really sure why.

"See you online," he said with a grin before he turned and ran back to the bus stop and jumped on the already full bus.

She watched the bus go before unwrapping the paper. In blue ink, there was a URL and password, but nothing else.

The walk home didn't take much longer. The garage was closed, so she couldn't tell if Martha was home. Rather than risk going through the kitchen and having to face questions she didn't want to answer, she walked around the back and pushed her bedroom window open.

Shimmying one leg over at a time, she ducked into the room and closed the window before setting her book bag down and flopping onto the bottom bunk. She never did get Dana to swap.

She grabbed her archaic laptop from where she'd left it the night before and looked at the paper the guy from class had given her and tried to remember his name.

Hector maybe?

She thought about going to the website he'd given her, but ultimately decided it was probably some porn site or something she didn't really want to see anyway. She started browsing aimlessly, trying to forget the day. She was halfway through a video of a small kitten trying to pounce on a turtle, only to keep rolling off the shell, when the front door slammed and Martha's shrill voice came echoing down the hall.

"Dinner will be ready in ten minutes! And if your sister snuck past me again, tell her she's not eating if she isn't ready."

Haley heard Dana mumble something through the other side of the door, and then footsteps echoed down the hall. Haley sat up in bed, ducking to avoid smashing her head, as Dana opened the door.

"You didn't answer my texts," Dana said.

Haley looked down at phone and saw dozens of unread texts from Dana.

"Sorry," she said. "How was your shift?"

"Some days I think you just don't care," Dana said, but then she grinned and tossed her bag to the upper bunk, before pulling the bright orange polo over her head and replacing it with a more comfortable cotton T-shirt.

Noah and Ruth were already scooping slices of meatloaf onto their plates when Haley and Dana made it to the kitchen. A big bowl of steaming mashed potatoes and gravy sat in the center of the table next to the meatloaf pan.

They took their seats opposite the twins, and patiently waited for the bowls to be passed around the table. When the meatloaf finally arrived, only the outside edges with bits with a blackened crust remained. Haley took a piece and drowned it in ketchup.

The sound of Martha fussing at her husband could be heard above the clank of pots and pans as she put the finishing touches on dinner.

"For goodness sake, just go sit," Martha said, and a moment later her foster father, George, walked in and took his place at the head of the table.

George Kell was short and squat, with brown hair that had a few gray hairs popping through. Between his muscular frame and severe haircut, Haley would have guessed he was a drill instructor, not a preacher.

Martha followed a moment later with a second large meatloaf on a platter, which she set down next to the potatoes before sliding into her own chair at the other end.

Without a word, she held out her hands to either side. Haley reached across the empty setting with her right hand, and took Dana's hand with her left.

When they'd all joined hands, George bowed his head and said, "Let us pray."

"Dear Heavenly Father," he said. "Thank you for all the blessings you have given us. We thank you for this meal and the hands that prepared it. We pray this will nourish us, and that we will serve you in everything we do. Amen."

A chorus of Amens rose around the table as they lifted their heads.

"How was your day, honey?" Mary asked as she cut the second meatloaf.

"Fine until the deacons decided that they wanted to change the date for the fundraiser."

"When is it now?"

"Next Thursday."

Haley ate quickly while her foster parents bemoaned the change in date and venue. She ignored most of the conversation until they started asking the kids how their days had been.

Noah and Ruth took turns telling their parents how they found a snake at recess, much to Martha's dismay. Then Ruth announced that she'd been asked to the winter dance by Robbie Gold. George went stiff and started interrogating her until Martha asked him to calm down.

George glared at her, but then turned back to his meatloaf.

"Too young to be having dances," he grumbled.

"I'll be a freshman next year," Ruth said.

"Like I said, too young."

"How about you, sweetie?" Martha said, redirecting the conversation to Haley.

Haley shrugged. "It was fine."

"Did you get your English midterm back yet?"

"Yeah."

"Well, how'd you do?"

Haley shrugged, scooping another forkful of mashed potatoes into her mouth.

"Haley," Mary said, "what did you get?"

"Seventy-one," she mumbled. She didn't look up. She didn't need to; she could practically hear her foster parents frowning.

"I already talked to Mr. Garrigan about extra credit," Haley continued, stretching the truth a bit. "And I'm joining a study group."

The table was quiet for a minute, and Haley felt everyone turning to look at George.

"You need to get those grades up," he said.

"I know," she said.

"Do you?" George's eyes narrowed. "I know you haven't been here long, but you're already behind in looking for schools."

"It's barely October," she said defensively. "Applications aren't even due until February."

"And you think that's a lot of time?" George said.

"I'll make it up," Haley insisted. "And if not, I'll get a job."

"Without a degree or experience?" He shook his head. "This house doesn't produce freeloaders. You go to college or you serve your country."

"That's not your decision!"

"Maybe not, but if you want to live in this house those are the rules," he said. "Trust me, it's better than ending up in a minimum wage job with no career."

Haley wanted to make a snide remark about going into the church, but reconsidered at the last minute. Instead, she bit the inside of her cheek.

"I'll get my grades up."

George nodded.

They finished dinner and the girls went to their room. Haley flopped onto her bunk and grabbed her laptop while Dana went to their small closet.

"You want to talk about it?" Dana asked.

"Not really."

"Well don't say I didn't offer," Dana said. She stepped out of the closet and held a red blouse, then a blue one up to a mirror.

"What are you doing?" Haley asked.

"Going to see Drew."

She tossed the blue shirt back into the closet.

"Drew?"

"He's in my physics class."

"First date?"

"Kinda," Dana said. She pulled the shirt on and grabbed a pair of low tops from the hanging rack behind the door. She took one more look at her outfit before she walked to the bathroom and started to touch up her makeup.

"How is it 'kinda' a first date?" Haley asked from the bedroom.

"He asked me to homecoming," Dana said. "But you can only have so much fun with everyone watching."

"Glad to see you're taking things slow," Haley said. "So, when do I get to meet your new boo?"

Dana rolled her eyes.

"It's not like that."

"Do you want it to be?"

Dana bent closer to the mirror and applied her lip gloss.

"He's sweet," she finally said.

"Which means no," Haley said. "Why are you going out with him if you don't like him?"

"Why do you care?" Dana said.

"I'm just asking."

"Just cover if they check on us," Dana said. "Say that I'm already asleep."

She popped her lips once more and fluffed her hair. Then she moved to the window and opened it. Being careful not to scrape her jeans on the sill, she lifted one leg over, then the other.

"Have fun with your study group," she said. "Stay in your room so the Kells don't come nosing around."

"Whatever."

Dana gave Haley one more look, put a finger to her lips, then slid the window closed, dashing off into the night.

Haley fished the slip of paper out of her pocket and started typing in the web address. A simple black screen with a three-dimensional word-art banner that read "Study Hall?" and an 8bit picture of a fat man laughing. In the middle of the page were a white field asking for a password. Haley typed the one the boy had given her.

The prompt was replaced by another white field, this time asking her to create a username. She glanced at the oddly shaped space ship on one of Dana's movie posters and typed in "Falcon."

The bedroom faded around her as soon as Haley hit enter, and her vision spun like a bad transition in a B-List movie. She stumbled and fell forward, catching herself on wood bench. Her stomach heaved, and her breath came in short, sharp gasps. She went to a knee, focusing on a dark knot of wood in the pale hardwood flooring as she hugged her stomach and fought the nausea. As she felt better, her eyes drifted from the wood to the hand steadying her against the floor.

She recognized the thin white scar from when she'd tried to run away from her first foster home by climbing a fence, cutting herself on the way down, but instead of the normal pale skin, it seemed to flash and pulse on the back of her hand. She held it to her face and realized that the white flashes were actually multiple lines of code that twisted and flashed as they scrolled over the old wound.

Her chest shook again as she set her hand back down and tried to compose herself.

When she finally felt confident, she wasn't about to puke, Falcon slowly rose and looked around.

The small bedroom had transformed into a cavernous, dimly lit lecture hall.

Rows of desks rose up in tiers, where students—actually an identical copy of the same student— were bent over sheets of paper with quills, scratching away. Haley tried to peer up the rows, but there wasn't enough light for her to see the upper reaches of the room auditorium.

Her eyes swept down, and she realized that the students themselves were pixel thin, two dimensional images, as if they were being projected on the worlds thinnest screen. The ones on the row she stood on weren't even visible.

At the front of the room stood a man in a Puritan's black and white garb, scrawling notes on a green chalkboard. He was illuminated by a spotlight that seemed to be the only real light source, and his voice was a high-pitched whine as he talked about triangles.

She walked down the steps until she could see that he too was a two-dimensional projection.

"Guess I lost."

Falcon spun, and the kid from the bus stop was standing on top of the first row of desks. The clone students filling the seats ignored him as they kept scrawling with their quills.

Unlike at the bus stop, his face was zit-free, and the ponytail had been replaced by a short buzz on the sides, but it was long and slick on top, a look that would have been out of place anywhere except on a high-level soccer player. He wore a tailored pinstripe suit, and even though he was standing on top of the desks, Haley could have sworn he was about a foot taller and packed about thirty pounds more muscle than when he'd ambushed her at the bus stop.

She took two steps sideways. He didn't move, except to smirk at her, and she realized he was more than just a projection.

"You lost a bet with yourself that I wouldn't show up?"

The boy's face fell, but his smile was back just as fast.

"You're not like the others," he said.

"You're really going to have to come up with better lines if you want me to stick around," Haley said.

She started to turn away.

"No, what I mean is that you don't—"

Falcon glanced back at him.

His mouth was moving, but he looked unsure, like he was searching for the right word— "you don't just play dumb and bat your eyes. I think it's cool."

"Thanks," Falcon said. She regarded him again. "Didn't catch your name?"

"In here, I'm Cap0wn."

He flashed a big grin and a giant stogie appeared in his mouth, a fedora on his head, and tommy gun in his outstretched hands. Bits of computer code hovered through the air as each item materialized, and as he stepped closer, Falcon realized that his pinstripes were actually ones and zeros in thin, neat rows.

"And out there?" She asked, trying to sound unimpressed.

His smile grew wider.

"Hector."

"What are you so happy about?"

"If you want to know my name, that means you're going to talk to me."

"Or I just want to know who I'm dealing with."

Capown waved a hand.

"Whatever you say."

"So, this is your study group?" Falcon said. She gestured around the lecture hall. "Planning to pray my grades up?"

"This is just for show."

Capown walked to the front of the room and walked behind the teacher's desk. He reached under and Haley heard a faint click, and the whirling of gears. A metal door with an eye slot appeared in the middle of the chalkboard, though the professor didn't seem to notice.

The eye slot banged open, and a gruff voice asked for a password.

Capown whispered something low enough that Falcon couldn't hear, and the slot slid shut. There was the sound of bolts being thrown on the other side, and the door swung open on silent hinges.

Jazz music drifted through the opening, and low orange light spilled through into the classroom. Capown offered Falcon an arm.

"You need an escort your first time, I'm afraid," he said. "Got to keep the jocks out."

Falcon looked at his arm, but didn't take it.

"You don't have to," Capown said. "But if you do, I promise you won't get a seventy-one on your next English test."

Falcon pursed her lips, but slipped her hand through his arm.

The moment she touched his skin, she felt her clothes shift and warp around her body. She looked down in alarm as her jeans faded entirely, and her T-shirt grew down to her knees and changing from cotton to a mess of glittering sequins and feathers, with small tassels at the bottom. A fabric snake constricted around her forehead for a moment, but then it relaxed a little so it wasn't uncomfortable, though there was more weight on the left side and she could see the tip of a large peacock feather hanging down if she looked up.

She yanked her arm back from Capown and glared at him.

"What did you do?"

"You can't go in as yourself," he said. "I just helped you fit in."

"A warning next time?"

He at least had the sense to look bashful as he nodded. He offered his arm again.

"No more tricks," Falcon said.

He held up three fingers.

"Scout's honor."

She gingerly put her right arm through his again, her left curled in a fist and ready to swing if any other shenanigans ensued.

The new room was a bar. Old-school electric bulbs gave everything an orange glow, and a _Jetsons_ -esque robot rolled back and forth behind the bar serving drinks to patrons. There was a full jazz band on stage, and smoke drifted through the air, forming battleships that fired at one another while their creators laughed.

"Wish I had known you all had themed nicknames," she said. "Would have chosen something more appropriate."

"Handle, not nickname," Capown corrected. "And if you join us you can be whomever you want to be. Until then, Falcon is cool."

Capown led them to the bar and took one of the round seats, indicating Haley should take the other.

"Good evening, Lady Falcon and Scumbag," the robot bartender said as it stopped in front of them. Its voice came out in a low, sultry purr. "What can I get for you?"

"She knows you so well," Falcon said.

"Old joke between Davy and me," Capown said. He looked down the bar and held up a one finger salute to a guy dressed like Erik the Red. "Screw you, Asshat!"

The Viking raised his tankard and returned the salute.

"Charming," Falcon said.

"We created this place together," Capown said.

Davy finished his drink and slammed the tankard to the table before returning to his conversation with a man in a dark suit that slowly changed colors as Haley watched him. The man in the suit didn't look up as Falcon watched him and the Viking shake hands. The Viking reached under his fur-lined coat and pulled a thin envelope out. He handed it over to the man, who placed several gold coins on the table in return.

"What are they doing?" Falcon asked.

"Keeping this place afloat," Capown said. "Jeez3y, the one in the suit, has connections to other students who are willing to pay top dollar for tests. Davy handles the business side of things."

"Jeez3y?" Falcon asked. "What's his real name?"

"Don't know," Capown shrugged. "Better to keep it just online in case anything goes sideways. "Then he turned back to the robot. "I need the answers to Mr. Garrigan's next exam."

"And you, miss?"

"The answers?" Falcon said. "I thought this was a study group."

"It is, we study the answers."

"That's cheating."

"If you ain't cheating, you ain't trying," Capown said. "Look, you can either spend the next three weeks trying to figure out the differences in the metaphysical, spiritual and existential placement of a comma, or you remember where Mr. G wants you to put them and then use your favorite word processor like everyone in the real world does. If it makes you feel better, just think of this as a study guide."

Falcon looked at Capown, then back at the robot.

"How did you get them?"

Capown grinned.

"A magician never reveals his secrets."

"Do you ever run out of stupid clichés?"

"I got plenty," Capown said. He leaned in closer. "You want to pass English or not?"

Falcon looked at the robot, then back. Capown's eyes were pools of deep brown in tungsten light.

"This doesn't feel right," she said.

"Doesn't mean it can't feel good," he said. "How proud of you will your parents be when you bring home that shiny A-grade?"

Falcon took a deep breath and shook her head. "I can't."

Capown's face darkened. "Seriously?"

Falcon stood and started to walk toward a door with a glowing red exit sign above it.

"Wait," Capown stood and grabbed her arm. "You walk out that door and you don't get a second invite. You want to throw your best shot at a decent grade away?"

"I'll do it on my own," she said.

She shrugged her arm out of his grip and walked through the door.

# Chapter Four

Haley stared down at the quiz, heart sinking.

"You're getting better," Mr. Garrigan said.

Haley grunted. Seventy-eight was better than seventy-one, but it wasn't going to be earning any points with the Kells. She sighed and leaned back heavily in her chair. Another piece of plastic snapped off the back.

Dana looked back at her; one eyebrow raised. Haley shook her head.

She turned and saw Hector at the back of the class. Every time she'd tried to talk to him over the last few days, he'd ignored her.

When he caught her looking in his direction this time, he held up his own paper, a ninety-six, and smirked.

Haley felt her face flush, and for a moment she was tempted to tell Mr. Garrigan that he'd cheated, but she knew she didn't have any evidence even if she wanted to.

When the bell rang, she met Dana at the door, and they started toward the parking lot together.

"How bad?" Dana asked.

Haley showed her the paper, and Dana winced.

"We can run through a few more practice quizzes tonight," she said.

"What's the point?" Haley said. "I can't tell a hyphen from a hyena."

"You'll get it. What about that study group?"

Haley glanced back over her shoulder and saw Hector leaving the classroom, his laptop slung under his arm.

"It was a bust," she said.

The Kells' extra car was a beat-up Jeep that was might have served in Vietnam. It didn't have a roof, and the clutch was a pain and a half to work, but George had redone the interior himself before he'd given it to Dana, so the faux leather wasn't cracking everywhere. The girls climbed in and Dana fired it up.

"What are you going to tell them?" Dana asked.

"They don't know we had a quiz," Haley said. She looked sideways at Dana.

"Fine, but you know that won't work for the next one."

Haley sighed.

"What am I supposed to do?" She said. "I get tripped up on these stupid rules that no one actually follows, but George is going to tear me a new one if he finds out I can't get into some big-name school because of a stupid grade. It's bullshit."

"You're preaching to the choir here," Dana said.

"A choir that's getting an A-grade."

"Don't get bitchy with me," Dana said, not taking her eyes off the road. "I'm not causing you to fail. I can stop helping you if you want."

"You know how much I appreciate your help," Haley said. "I just..."

"You just wish that there was an easy out?"

"Yeah."

"Sorry sweetie, not how it works."

Haley let it drop, but she wondered if there wasn't one.

Dinner was filled with the normal family banter. Haley finished quickly and asked to be excused to do her homework.

Back in her room, she tried to pull up her laptop and log into the study site that Hector had given her. Instead of giving her access, the page flashed red and closed automatically.

Haley bit her lip, reopened the page, and then tried again.

Another red flash.

She opened MyFace, its wall of pictures and memes popping to life on her screen, and found Hector's profile.

The walls, ceiling and floor turned white, and pictures of Hector and his family sprang up in a collage around the room. A heavy dance electronic beat pulsed through the room as she turned, taking in all of the memories.

"You were right, I need a study guide."

He popped out of the floor less than a minute later. He was wearing his own face and hair, not the avatar he'd had in the study hall.

"Too late."

"I don't believe you," Haley said. "You want to help me, or you would never have followed me in the first place."

"That was before you burned me."

"I said I didn't want to cheat."

"But you do now?"

Haley's voice caught. She cleared her throat. "I have to pass."

Hector stood silently for a moment.

"No."

Haley's jaw dropped.

"Why not?"

"I thought you were different to the other girls, but you're just trying to use me. Just like them."

"That's not true."

"Then why haven't you apologized yet?"

Haley couldn't hide her disbelief. "For what?"

"You stormed out on me when I was trying to help you," he said. "I just wanted to be your friend."

"I tried to talk to you," she said. "You won't give me the time of day."

"You're probably just trying to screw with me."

Haley threw her hands up. "Why would I do that?"

"Because you're just like them."

"Seriously?"

He shrugged.

"You're an idiot."

"Whatever. Good luck on the test."

He spun on his heel and melted into the floor without another word.

Haley ran over and started jumping up and down on the spot where he'd disappeared, swearing like only a foster kid could.

When she finally calmed down, she looked around again.

The room still flashed with a number of different pictures, videos and music. Haley reached up and tapped the "About Me" section on one of the walls and Hector's face appeared along with all of his contact information, his family connections, and his birthday.

Haley bit her lip and pulled out a camera and took a picture of all of it.

Then she jumped, and Hector's profile disappeared into a swarm of a billion profiles. Haley floated above the swarm, and a small hologram appeared next before her requesting a username and password.

Instead of logging in, she selected the "Forgot Password" option and gave it Hector's email address.

The hologram shimmered, then a single question reappeared.

_Mother's maiden name?_

Haley smiled and looked at the back of the camera. Hector's closest family connection was his mother, who had her full name listed.

Haley typed it in, and the hologram shimmered again. This time, it asked for a new password.

_ImN0tL1k3Th3m_.

Then she was back in the room with Hector's memories.

She ran to a wall where Hector's friends were scrolling through, stumbling since she was now running in Hector's body, which was about six inches taller than she was used to.

"Show me Davy."

The voice that came out was Hector's.

The screen blinked once, then showed an overweight, pale kid with big, round glasses.

"Hey, Asshat, need a favor."

Haley tried not to squirm. This was wrong, but it was also exciting.

Finally, Davy showed up.

"What up, Scumbag?"

"Password for the hall isn't working," Haley said, hoping they used an abbreviation. "Can you reset it for me?"

Davy laughed.

"Forget which one was to your porn account?"

"Yeah, yeah, just do it, will ya?"

"Why you pinging me here?" Davy asked. "I could just do it when I get to your place."

"Yeah, but I don't want to wait that long."

"What's the rush?"

"You know the new chick?"

"Yeah..."

"She wants back in," Haley said. "Even offered to return the favor if I could make it happen in the next hour, if you know what I mean."

Davy's eyes went wide.

"Duuuuuuudddddeeee... You pick a hell of a time to forget your password."

"No shit, Sherlock," Haley said. "Now you gonna make me say please?"

"Not as long as your promise to share deets later."

Haley wanted to gag but managed to hold up three fingers.

"Scout's Honor."

The other boy grinned and froze for a second, his face still twisted in a leering grin that made Haley cringe, but then he came back.

"It's 'Hom3RunHector.' Think you can remember that?"

"That for both doors?"

"Duh."

Haley gave him the finger and jumped.

Seconds later, she was in the speakeasy, wearing a pinstripe suit and wielding a tommy gun.

"Hello, Scumbag."

Falcon smiled at the robot and placed her order.

# Chapter Five

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."

# Chapter Six

Spring break at the Kells wasn't spent at the beach. Or camping in the mountains. Or any of the other places that most parents took their kids for a week of relaxation before the final drive to finals and college applications.

It was spent in a church basement with picture books of men in robes and thirty screaming children.

Haley wasn't thrilled about having to be at the church before the sun rose, but she'd assumed the innate cuteness of a four-year-old would make up for the early morning. She quickly realized that there is only so much cuteness she could take.

Dana moved through the room, arbitrating arguments and trying to calm the children enough to get them to stop screaming. The other volunteer, Mrs. Crawford, was trying to corral a pack of children who insisted on throwing wooden blocks at other children, then running in different directions when the middle-aged woman got close. For her part, Haley was trying to stop the future artists of the church from practicing their craft on the walls. The pink and green handprints that dotted the light blue drywall was a testament to her lack of success.

By lunchtime, Haley thought it would be lucky if she avoided killing one of them before afternoon pickup time. It was only by the grace of nap time that she managed to make it through the day. Though even that short reprieve was tainted by a little boy who had a nightmare and started crying. When Haley picked him up, he blew a giant snot rocket all over her shirt.

When only Mrs. Crawford's little boy was left, Haley and Dana slumped into the beanbags at the side of the room.

"I'm never having kids," Haley said without opening her eyes.

"Amen," Dana replied.

"You two did great," Mrs. Crawford said.

"I'm not going to make it four more days," Haley said. "How do you do this all the time?"

"When they're yours, it's different," Mrs. Crawford said, a small smile creeping across her lips as she pulled her son's jacket on.

Haley threw Dana a sideways glance, and she shook her head.

"I need to head home and get dinner going," Mrs. Crawford said. "Do you two mind finishing the clean up?"

"We've got it," Dana said.

Haley shot her another look, but Dana ignored her.

"Thank you so much," Mrs. Crawford said. "I'll see you tomorrow."

She scooped her son up in one arm and slipped the straps for a large duffel bag with all his accessories over the other. She gave the girls one last wave and bustled out of the room.

And then it was blessedly quiet.

"I don't know how she does it," Dana said.

"Makes two of us."

"You really don't want kids?"

"Not ones like that," Haley said.

Dana laughed.

"I'm sure the storks will put take that into consideration."

"I thought it was birds and bees?"

"Well, Haley," Dana said. "When a man and a woman love each other—"

The rest of her speech was cut off by a flying beanbag chair.

She rolled out of her chair laughing and Haley couldn't help grinning. They put the rest of the toys in the bins and managed to wipe most of the handprints off the walls before packing up their own belongings.

As they put on their coats, Dana's cell rang. She pulled it out of her purse and flipped it open.

"Hi, Mrs. Kell," she said, then paused to listen. "Yes, we're still here. No problem. Yeah, we can get dinner on our own. Sure thing. Okay, see you when you get home. Love you too. Bye."

She flipped the phone closed.

"George has a charity dinner that he forgot about, so they're taking the twins and won't be home till late," she said. "Which means we don't have to be home till late. And Drew's parents are gone, and he managed to pick the lock on the liquor cabinet. Want to join?"

"Thanks, but I don't want anything except a shower and to crawl in bed."

"Come on," Dana said. "Don't be lame."

"I thought you weren't even that interested in Drew."

"He's grown on me," Dana said. "But don't change the subject. You haven't done anything but IM with Hector for the last two months."

"You have your definition of fun and I have mine," Haley said. "Besides, one of us has to be home in case they get home early."

"Such responsibility from one so young..."

Haley rolled her eyes.

"You're ridiculous."

"Always," Dana said. "You mind if I take the car?"

"Can't Drew pick you up?"

"If you saw his texts you wouldn't even ask."

"It's barely six," Haley said.

"He's home alone and bored," Dana said with a shrug. "Do you mind?"

Haley sighed, but dug the keys out of her jacket pocket and tossed them to Dana.

"You're the best," Dana said with a fake enthusiasm.

"Glad you finally realized that," Haley said.

"Text you when I'm headed home?"

"I'll keep the window unlocked."

The girls hugged before she headed to the parking lot.

The church was a half-hour walk from their home, and the late-March evening air was cool and crisp. She had to pull her jacket tight against the occasional gust of wind, but after a day in an underground bunker, the breeze was refreshing.

She stopped at a fast-food burger joint for dinner, savoring the warm, greasy patty as she walked through her neighborhood.

The house was dark when she arrived. She let herself in and made a beeline for the shower. The warm water was heavenly.

Refreshed and relaxed, she grabbed her laptop and plopped into her bunk.

# Chapter Seven

Bonnie opened her eyes as a shooting star whizzed past in the black emptiness. Then a hundred more streaked around her toward other, more distant and stationary stars.

She held her palm out, and a similar star appeared. She whispered into it before it shot off. A few seconds later, another star exploded in a flash of sparks before her. When they faded, Clyde was floating in front of her in his pinstripe suit.

"Ain't you a sight for sore eyes," Clyde said, his eyes roaming up and down Bonnie's body.

"Flattery will get you nowhere," she replied.

"No?" Clyde took a step closer. "And what about a VNC Remote exploit?"

Bonnie arched an eyebrow. "You're not trying to make up for that bomb of an 'exploit' last week, are you?"

Clyde clutched his chest like he'd been shot, and Bonnie rolled her eyes.

"Always the dramatic one," she said, then held out her hand. "Gimme."

Clyde reached into his back pocket and pulled out a fast-food menu. She reached for it, but he pulled it away.

"What's it worth to you?"

She leaned in and gave him a quick peck on the cheek as she plucked the menu from his fingers.

"Keep dreaming," she said.

"Don't need to," he said. "And when you've been suitably awed by my skills, you'll have no choice but to accept my invitation."

"We'll see," Bonnie said with a smile.

Clyde grinned back. He floated sideways and held a hand out for her.

"This way, my dear."

Bonnie took his hand, her skin tingling as they touched, and they zipped forward until they reached a star that swirled with blue and gold. There was a flash as they touched the star's outer shell, and Bonnie was suddenly standing on a field of green grass.

Before them was a row of a dozen brick storefronts. Each had a blue-and-gold striped canopy covering two windows where teenage kids worked cash registers. A sign on the brick front showed two blue interlocking Bs standing on a gold circle. Below the logo was the store name and street address in gold letters.

"I was just here," Bonnie said.

"What'd you get?"

"Number three with cheese."

"Careful, too many of those and you'll end up like Davy," Clyde said.

Bonnie punched his arm.

"How does this thing work?" She asked, turning the menu over in her hands.

"The guy I got it from said you just have to send it to the server, and it'll do the rest."

"It works on any of them?"

"Should," Clyde said.

Bonnie raised an eyebrow at him.

"I mean, this guy said it would," Clyde said. "One way to find out."

Clyde shook her head, the peacock feather on her headband flopping around.

"What happens if it doesn't work?"

"I'll have to find another date to prom," Clyde said.

"Will they be able to trace it back?"

Clyde shook his head. "You're good."

"You're sure?"

"Scout's honor."

"You do realize I know you're not a scout, right?"

Clyde grinned.

Bonnie laughed and started walking toward the restaurant directly in front of her. Her pulse quickened as she looked down at the menu in her hand and back to the flapping canopy.

A pimple-faced teen smiled up at her when they stepped up to the window.

"Welcome to Bippy Burger," he said. "Would you like to connect as a guest, an admin with a password or an admin with a certificate?"

Bonnie placed the menu on the counter and pushed it across to the boy. "An admin without a password."

The boy glanced down, then froze when he saw the menu.

Bonnie gave Clyde a sidelong glance over her shoulder.

"Give it a minute," he said. "It's trying to connect."

"That's a long connection..."

Then the cashier looked back up with a smile. "One admin connection without a password. Anything else?"

Clyde whooped in triumph.

"Don't shoot your payload yet," Bonnie said, before turning back to the boy. She pulled out another menu, this one with a bright red and white W at the top and handed it to the boy. "Use this for your menu boards and stream your in-store security footage to us."

The boy reached under the counter and pulled out a tray with a large drink on it. Clyde grabbed it and started drinking.

"Anything else?" the boy asked.

"Delete the logs and end session."

"My pleasure. Come back soon!"

"Did it work?" Haley asked.

Clyde's eyes were distant, but then he started laughing. "Oh, this is too good–" he held the drink out "—Here."

Bonnie took a sip. Suddenly they were in the middle of the real-life store. People around them were laughing and pointing at the scrolling menu boards while employees frantically tried to continue taking orders. A man in a button-down and tie was standing behind the counter trying to hold up plastic signs, meant to be staked outside, up in an effort to hide the scrolling images of tacos and fried chicken.

Bonnie laughed at the manager's panic, and several customers had their phones out taking pictures.

"Can you imagine if we did this to all their stores?" Clyde said.

"That'd be pretty funny," Bonnie replied. "But we're not going to."

"Come on..."

"One store could have been a glitch," Bonnie said. "If they all do this, then they start looking for us."

"Well does that at least—"

Bonnie cut him off by wrapping her arms around him and pressing her lips to his.

They stood in the middle of the store, wrapped in each other's arms, ignoring the chaos around them.

"A taste for later," Bonnie said when they broke apart. "After you dance with me all night at prom."

"Really?"

She kissed him again.

"Really," she said. "But I'm serious, you better bring your dancing shoes. I've never been to one before, so I want to get the full experience."

"Don't you worry," he said. "I'll wear you out, both at the dance and after."

"Don't make promises you can't keep," Bonnie teased.

"Well, maybe, you can give me a little more—"

Haley was jolted back to her bedroom as her phone started ringing. It was dark outside, and she realized that the Kells should be home soon.

_One sec_ , she typed to Hector.

"Dana?" Haley answered the phone

"Haaaley," Dana's voice was slurred. "I need you, help."

"Dana, Dana! Where are you?"

"I'm sorry, sorry," Dana sobbed. "I didn't mean to."

"Dana, are you okay?"

"I wrecked the car," Dana said. "The Kells can't know. They'll kill me."

"Dana, where are you?"

"On my way home," she said. "But in a ditch. They'll kill me."

"Which road?"

"Third, I think. Maybe Fourth. And I think Lincoln?"

Haley cussed, but pulled up a map on her computer then took a picture with her phone.

"I'm coming, if you see cops, run. I'll find you later."

"I'm sorry, so sorry..."

"I'll be there in a minute," she said. She hung up the phone and dialed another number.

"Everything okay?" Hector said.

"I need a favor," Haley said. "Grab your keys."

# Chapter Eight

Haley pedaled as fast as she dared in the dark. She hadn't been able to find a flashlight in her rush to get to Dana, and the streetlights were spaced far enough that her eyes had time to adjust to the darkness right before she hit another pool of sickly yellow light.

There weren't many cars still on the road since most people were either out of town for the break or were already in bed. The few she did pass didn't spare her a second glance, so she kept pedaling.

She turned onto Lincoln Street, and slowed down. There weren't any streetlights, but Haley knew that the street sloped down on either side into a swampy marsh. Taking one hand off the handlebars, she dialed Dana's number.

"Haleeeey?"

"I'm on Lincoln. Where are you?"

"We're, I'm not... I don't know..."

"Can you get to the road?"

"Yeah."

"Get up there then."

Haley heard the muffled pops and bumps as Dana followed her instructions.

"I'm here," Dana said puffing.

"Wave your phone so I can see the light."

Haley didn't see anything in front of her.

Haley craned her head back to make sure that she hadn't already passed her. Nothing but blackness.

"Turn around and wave the other way," she said.

A blue-white lightning bug appeared ahead, flying back and forth in midair. Haley pedaled as fast as she could, her pulse pounding in her ears.

She skidded to a stop several feet from Dana and jumped off the bike, letting it crash on its side.

"I'm sorry," Dana said.

Haley ignored her and held her phone up to Dana's face. It glistened in the light, but Haley thought most of it was wet with tears, not blood, thankfully.

Aside from a cut along her forehead, Dana appeared to be all right, though she did sway on her feet and smelled like rubbing alcohol as Haley looked her over.

"What happened?"

"I was just trying to get home, and then something jumped out in the road, and I swerved, and then I couldn't... I'm sorry."

"It's okay, you're going to be okay," Haley said.

"They're going to kick me out," Dana wailed. "And then I won't be able to go to college, and I'll..."

"That's not going to happen," Haley said. "Hector is on his way. We'll get you home. But first we need to get out of the road."

Haley guided her foster sister down the embankment and to the back of the Jeep. She made Dana sit on the back bumper while she walked around and surveyed the damage.

The front bumper was hanging on by a single screw on the left side, while the right had broken completely loose and rested on the ground. The right headlight case was also cracked, and there was a dent the size of a basketball in the passenger-side panel over the wheel. There was a broken bottle of whiskey on the passenger-side footwell, and Haley could see the amber liquid pooling out on to the floor.

Haley walked back around to where Dana was sitting.

"Well, the good news is that I don't think anything is broken that we can't fix," she said. "Bad news is there's no way we can hide it."

Dana buried her face in her hands, sobbing.

Haley joined Dana on the bumper.

"We'll be okay," Haley said. "Just let me take care of this."

Dana threw her arms around Haley and sobbed. Haley hugged her and tried to rock back and forth. A few minutes later, Haley's phone rang.

"You should see my bike on the side of the road," she told Hector. "Just pull over and help me get Dana."

A pair of headlights pulled up, and a car door slammed.

Hector was loping down the embankment seconds later, stopping just short of the Jeep.

Haley nudged Dana, who looked up with bleary eyes.

"Sweetie, I need you to go with Hector. He's going to take you home."

Dana blinked up at Hector, who was holding out his hands to help her.

"Are you coming?" she asked Haley.

"I'll be there in a bit," Haley said. "But I need you to go home, wash your face, and get in bed."

"But I, how can..."

"Dana, I need you to trust me. Hector will take care of you."

Dana looked up at Hector one more time before taking his hand hesitantly and pushing herself up.

Hector slipped an arm around her waist, and Haley took her other side. Together, the three of them scrambled up the slope and back to Hector's beat-up Ford. He opened the passenger door and Haley had to practically pick Dana up and throw her in.

"The back window by our bedroom is open," she told Hector. "If you're looking at the back, it's the third window from the left."

"Third window from the left," he said. "Do you want me to come back and pick you up?"

"No," Haley said. "Make sure she's okay. Park down the street so if the Kells get home they don't see your truck."

"I know how to be stealthy," he said. "And you owe me more than just prom for this."

"Not right now," Haley snapped. Then she forced herself to take a breath. "Sorry. Yes, I do."

She kissed him. A good, long kiss. He tensed at first, surprised by the assault, but then his muscles relaxed, and he slipped an arm around her waist.

"Get a rooooom," Dana yelled from inside the cab.

Haley broke apart, but she gave him a small smile.

"We'll settle up the rest later. I'll text you later. Thank you."

Hector kissed her forehead, then raced around the other side of the truck.

Haley turned back to the Jeep. Her first order of business was to get rid of the whiskey. Dana's bag was still in the back seat, so Haley grabbed one of her shirts and carefully grabbed the glass and tossed it into the swamp. Then she used the shirt to soak up as much of the whiskey as possible. She had to wring the shirt out twice before she got enough of it and tossed the shirt into the swamp as well.

She brought her bike down and lifted it into the back of the Jeep, cursing herself for not getting Hector's help while he was there.

Finally, climbed in the driver's seat, and smashed her forehead into the steering wheel until she felt dizzy and blood trickled down into her eyes.

Then she called Mrs. Kell.

"Haley?"

From the yelling twins in the background, Haley knew she was in the car.

"Mrs. Kell?"

"Yes, what is it?"

"I, I had an accident," Haley said. "Help."

She heard Mrs. Kell snap at the twins to be quiet, then her tone grew serious.

"An accident?"

"I think I fell asleep, and then I swerved but I couldn't... I'm sorry."

"Are you all right?"

"I think so, woozy."

"Where are you?"

"Ummm, Lincoln and, Second I think?"

"We're turning around," Mrs. Kell said. "Have you called the police?"

"I, no, it was just me."

"We'll be there in—" she paused, and Haley assumed she was looking at George for the answer — "ten minutes."

"Ok, I'll be here."

It took an eternity for the Kells to arrive. When they did, Haley had pulled herself back up the slope and was sitting by the road. She stood as they approached, trying to imitate Dana's sway.

George and Martha popped out of the car at the same time. Martha rushed over and wrapped Haley in her arms, with George crushing both of them seconds later.

George started down toward the Jeep, Haley tried to follow him with her eyes, but Martha cupped her chin and maneuvered her head to look at the cut.

"It's just a scratch," Haley said.

"Do you feel dizzy?" Martha asked. "You looked a bit unsteady on your feet."

"I'm fine. Just..."

She took a deep breath, making sure her breath rattled in her chest loud enough for Martha to hear.

"I was so scared," Haley let her voice crack. "Everything was fine, and then it wasn't. I didn't know what to do."

"I'm just glad you're all right," Martha said.

She was about to say more when Mr. Kell came back up the slope.

"Haley, why were you out so late?" He said. "Curfew was two hours ago."

"I know, I'm sorry," she started. "I was studying for this stupid English exam with one of my classmates, and we lost track of time. I'm sorry."

"Were you drinking?" He asked quietly.

Haley's eyes went wide.

"No! I wouldn't," she said.

"I can smell the alcohol in the front seat," he said. "Let me smell your breath."

Haley blew a breath toward him.

He pursed his lips.

"Where is Dana?"

"I don't know," Haley said. "Home, I guess."

"So, you were by yourself when you crashed?"

Haley nodded.

"What aren't you telling me?" he asked.

"Nothing, I just lost control of it," she said.

"George," Martha cut in. "Let's get her home. We can deal with this in the morning."

George glared at his wife, but turned back to the car. Martha put an arm around Haley's shoulder and guided her to the back seat. Noah moved to the middle so she could sit.

The ride home was quiet, and thankfully short. Mr. Kell parked in the garage and everyone started to pile out. Mrs. Kell put her arm around Haley and guided her around the front of the SUV.

"Haley, stay a moment," Mr. Kell said.

"George, I really think—"

"Please get the twins inside," Mr. Kell said. There was no give in his voice. "It's past their bedtime."

Martha gave Haley's shoulder a comforting squeeze and went inside.

When they were alone, George leaned against the hood and crossed his arms.

Haley tried to look him in the eyes, but she couldn't hold his gaze.

"You want to tell me what really happened?"

"I already told you," Haley said. She crossed her arms to hug herself.

"You told me the car went off the road," George said. "Which I can see for myself. We'll call a tow truck in the morning to get it to the shop and see how bad the damage is. It'll be much easier to see what really happened in the light of day."

His eyes burned into her. She had to fight to stay still.

"It'll be better if you tell me what happened now than if I have to find out from a mechanic."

"There's nothing else to tell," Haley said. "I was tired and must have fallen asleep."

"And the whiskey on the floorboard?"

Haley looked away.

"You're not drunk," George said. His tone softening a bit. "Did you go to pick someone up?"

Haley's head snapped around; her eyes wide.

George nodded to himself.

"Who did you get?"

"No one."

George's face hardened again.

"Was it that boy you've been hanging out with? Hector?"

"It wasn't Hector!"

"Then who was it?" George pushed himself off the hood of the car and loomed over her. "I try to be patient, and forgive the way God calls us to. But if you don't tell me right now, I will send you back to the foster home before you can hurt one of my children. Or Dana."

Haley let her shoulders sag and she looked down at the concrete.

"You're so close to being out," George said, his voice quiet again. "You're eighteen in three weeks, no one else will take you in."

He put a finger under her chin and lifted her face.

"Don't throw away the rest of your life for someone who just wanted a quick buzz. They're not worth it."

Haley swallowed.

"It was a girl in my study group," she said after a moment. "Elana."

George's eyes pinned her to the concrete again. She wanted to back away, but his finger was still under her chin.

"Thank you for telling me," he finally said. "You're grounded for the next month. You go to school, and then you immediately come back here or to the church. Nowhere else."

"What about prom?"

"Is it in the next month?"

"It's the Friday after next."

"Unless it's happening at home or the church, then no."

"You said that it'd be better if I told you!"

"You still have a roof over your head," George said. "Don't push it."

Haley shook her head, trying to hold back tears.

"I was trying to help a friend," she said.

"That doesn't undo the damage you caused," George said. "Actions have consequences."

"That's not fair."

"Maybe not, but it's the way things are in my house. You can serve your punishment, or you can pack your things."

His face had become a blurry mess of color, which was fine with Haley since she didn't want to look at him anyways.

"I'll see you tomorrow at the church."

She didn't trust herself to answer, so she spun on her heel and ran inside before she could.

# Chapter Nine

Haley poked Dana awake rudely. The other girl tried to roll over, but Haley grabbed her shoulder and pulled her back toward the rail.

"Up."

Dana groaned, rubbing her eyes.

"My head," she said.

"Be lucky you still have one," Haley said. "Come on, we have to get going."

Dana picked up her phone.

"We still have thirty minutes before we need to be up," she said flopping back. "I'll wake up then."

Haley stalked back to the bunk and grabbed Dana's phone and covers, ripping them off.

"We need to get going now, because someone decided to have too much to drink with her boyfriend and wrecked the car, so we have to walk," Haley's voice came out as a harsh whisper. "And you need to get your shit together so that George doesn't suspect that it was your ass in the driver's seat instead of mine."

Dana sat up; eyes wide.

"Don't say anything," Haley said. "This house echoes like hell. Get yourself together. Make sure your hair covers that cut. There's Advil on the counter."

Haley watched her foster sister get out of bed gingerly and start down the ladder. Her movements were slow and jerky, like she was feeling the effects of a car crash or something.

Dana managed to get a T-shirt and jeans on without assistance, but she winced as she tried to do her hair. She tried to raise her arms up twice, but Haley could see tears gathering in the corners of her eyes.

"Let me," she said.

She took the brush and pins from Dana's hands and gently ran them through her dark hair.

"I'm sorry," Dana said.

"I know."

Haley pinned her hair in place and kissed the top of her head.

"I'm glad you're okay," Haley said.

She gave Dana's shoulder a squeeze, and the other girl winced again.

"Sorry!"

"Maybe not that okay," Dana said, smiling weakly.

The two walked out of their room and grabbed their duffels. They swept through the kitchen, hoping the Kells were already out.

Instead, Mrs. Kell sat at the counter with a cup of coffee and a Bible. She twisted on the stool and looked up as the girls walked in. Then she took her glasses off and gave them a tight smile.

"Good morning," she said.

"Morning," Haley replied.

"Morning Mrs. K," Dana said, surprising Haley with how chipper she sounded. "I'll meet you outside."

Haley nodded and Dana made a quick exit out the front door.

Haley and Mrs. Kell stood in the kitchen looking at one another for several seconds. Haley didn't know what to say, and silence seemed like the better option at the moment.

Mrs. Kell stood, and wrapped Haley in a bear hug. Haley slowly returned the hug, though it grated on her last nerves.

"I know you're mad," Mrs. Kell said. "And I don't blame you. You were trying to help, but there are still consequences. You've got a good heart."

"Can that good heart get my jail sentence commuted?"

Mrs. Kell sighed, and stepped back enough to look Haley in the eyes.

"I'll see what I can do, but he's stubborn," she said. "If you hadn't said anything about prom, we probably could have convinced him to make an exception. But once he makes a decision, he thinks it makes him look weak to change his mind."

"This is what I get for trying to be a good person," Haley spat.

"The Bible tells us that doing the right thing is often difficult," Mrs. Kell said. "I know that sounds callous right now, but maybe something good will come out of it."

"Sure."

Mrs. Kell pulled her in close again and kissed her forehead. Haley let her linger for a moment, then she pulled away and joined Dana outside.

They walked the first three blocks in silence. Dana kept glancing at Haley and opening her mouth to say something, only to close it and keep walking.

"Say it," Haley said.

"I don't really know what to say," Dana said quietly. "Except I'm sorry. And it won't happen again."

"Yeah, because we don't have another car for you to wreck."

Dana winced.

"I didn't think I'd had that much," she started.

Haley grabbed her arm and yanked her to a stop.

"Didn't think you'd had that much?" she said. "There was a bottle of Jack shattered in the footwell."

"I wasn't drinking that," Dana said, not meeting Haley's eyes. "I was bringing it back for us to have later."

"Are you insane? Inmates at Leavenworth have a better chance of getting contraband than we do."

"I didn't say it was a good idea," Dana muttered.

Haley rolled her eyes and kept walking.

"Why did you do it?"

Haley stopped. She heard Dana's footsteps, and then she was in front of Haley.

"You don't owe me anything," Dana continued. "If anything, you'd be better off if I got kicked out."

"You're the only one who's tried to help me in that house," Haley said. "We may not be related, but you're the closest thing to family I have."

Dana covered her mouth for less than a second before she launched herself at Haley.

Haley tried to step back, but Dana's arms were already around her neck, her face buried in Haley's shoulder. Haley's whole body shook as Dana sobbed and apologized over and over.

Haley didn't know what to do other than embrace her foster sister.

When Dana had cried out all her tears, she sniffed once more and wiped her nose.

"Sorry, I'm a mess."

"Would you stop apologizing?" Haley said. She smiled, trying to lighten the mood. "Save it for Mrs. Crawford when you're too hungover to chase down the brats."

Dana groaned.

"I'd almost rather face the Kells."

"No, you wouldn't," Haley said. "Trust me."

"Guessing it wasn't all sunshine and rainbows when you got home?"

"No, it wasn't," Haley said.

"What happened?"

"Well I'm under house arrest for the next month."

"I'm sorry..."

"Stop. Seriously."

"What about prom?"

Haley shook her head.

"That's not fair," Dana said. "You can't let me ruin your only prom."

"You didn't ruin it," Haley said half-heartedly. "And don't even suggest that you tell them it was you. That'd only get us both thrown out on the street."

"Still..."

"It's fine," Haley lied. "But you are taking all my potty-duty shifts for the rest of the week."

Dana scrunched her face up, but didn't protest.

Hector was waiting for them at the Bippy Burger. His old Ford was parked in one of the spots out front, and he had a blue-and-gold-wrapped biscuit in each hand.

As the girls walked up, he held up the biscuits. They each took one, and Haley gave him a peck on the cheek.

"My hero," she said, tearing the wrapper off.

"Thank you," Dana said. "Sorry about last night."

"You didn't throw up in my truck, so we're all good," he said. "Why don't you two hop in and I'll give you a ride."

"You're a lifesaver," Haley said around a mouth full of biscuit.

The girls got in the passenger side. Haley scooted across the bench seat so she was in the middle, the gear shift practically between her legs. Dana climbed in after her, but cranked the window down before shutting the door.

"So what color dress are you going to wear?" Hector asked after a few minutes of driving when they were on the way to the church.

Haley bit her lip.

"Hector," she started.

"I know you don't like pink," he said. "I was thinking if you wanted more of a navy blue, or something like that I should be able to find a tie pretty easily."

"Hector, I can't go."

Hector's head twisted on her so fast she was surprised he didn't sprain something.

"But you said—"

"I know, but Mr. Kell grounded me last night."

Hector leaned over and glared at Dana, who was cowering against the passenger-side door, her head half out the window.

"I shouldn't have helped," he said.

"They'd have kicked her out," Haley said. "Mr. Kell nearly gave me the boot last night. I'll make it up to you, I promise."

"Sure, whatever."

He pulled up in front of the church and threw the truck in park. He propped his elbow against the door and looked out the window.

"I'm sorry," Dana whispered and climbed out the passenger side.

Haley lingered. She put a hand on Hector's knee, but he kept looking out the window.

"Hector, I'm sorry."

"I'm sure," he muttered.

"You're hurt, I get it. But don't be an idiot."

The muscles on his neck bulged, but he still didn't turn.

"I'll make it up to you," Haley tried again.

"How are you going to do that?" Hector said. "You going to throw another senior prom after your wardens let you out?"

"It may not be a prom, but I can still—"

"Just get out," Hector said. He finally looked at her. His eyes were narrow, and a dark vein pulsed in his neck. "I've got places to be. And people to be with that aren't just going to use me as a taxi for their drunk family."

Tears pricked the corner of Haley's eyes.

"You don't have to be an ass," she said. "I said I'm sorry."

"Sorry doesn't get me a date to the prom."

"Is that all I am to you?" Haley spat. "A trophy to show off to your friends? Oh, look at me, Mr. Non-conformist, I still landed a hot date."

"You have a pretty high opinion of yourself."

"Screw you."

Haley grabbed her bag and shuffled across the seat and out the door.

"I'm glad I got grounded," she said. "Saved me from having to go with you."

She slammed the door and stalked toward the church. Some of the parents gave her odd looks as she stormed through the lobby, but most were too preoccupied with calming their children and making sure they had all their necessities for the day to notice.

Dana looked up as Haley blew into the day-care room. Haley put her bag on the shelf in the corner and stood facing the wall, trying to calm her thundering heartbeat.

"Are you two okay?" Dana asked quietly from behind her.

Haley wheeled around on her.

Dana shrank back, and Haley felt a knife of guilt at her sister's pained expression.

"No, we're not," Haley said quietly. "But not because of you."

"You should have just left me," Dana said miserably.

"No, I shouldn't have. And even now, I wouldn't."

Dana flinched as Haley looped her arms around her neck and pulled her close.

"If anything, you helped me dodge a bullet," she whispered in her ear. "He showed his true colors."

"So did I," Dana said. Then continued before Haley could correct her. "I know, it's not the same. But just remember that he did drive out in the middle of the night to get me for no reason other than you asked. He can't be all bad."

"Girls?" Mrs. Crawford called from the other side of the room, stalling further argument. "Can you help me? They kids will be coming in soon."

Day two of spring-break day care was as much of a trial as day one, except Haley had to cover for Dana twice when she went to the bathroom to puke. Haley didn't think that Mrs. Crawford believed that it was food poisoning, but she also didn't call her out on the lie so Haley was willing to take what victories she could.

Dinner was mercifully short, mostly on account of Haley and Dana legitimately claiming to be exhausted and retreating to their bunk room before it was even dark. Haley thought about grabbing her laptop and seeing if Hector was online, but the memory from the church parking lot made her blood boil, so she just watched cat videos instead.

The rest of the week went much the same way. Haley and Dana went to the church, then came home for a quick, awkward dinner with the Kells, and ended the day hiding in their room.

When Monday finally rolled around, Haley and Dana were practically out the door and on the bus before the sun rose. Dana had mostly gotten over her fit of apologies, but the demotion from driving to riding the bus with the freshmen and sophomores caused her to relapse. They were one of the last stops, so the only seats left were at the front. Haley felt every eye on her as they climbed up the short staircase and sat.

Haley breathed a sigh of relief when she finally sat down in her first-period class. Ms. Yu smiled and greeted each of the students as they came in. She'd already written their warm up problems on the green chalkboard.

Haley took her seat on the right side of the classroom and started pulling out her books when someone sat heavily in the desk next to her.

"Good morning, Hector," she said without looking up from her bag.

"Hey," he said. "So, I just, I wanted to say that I'm sorry. You can't keep ignoring me."

She glanced up at him pointedly, then bent over her notebook and started scribbling down the equations Ms. Yu had written on the board.

"Ok, so you can. But don't."

Haley kept writing.

"Haley, please."

He reached over and put a hand on her wrist.

She twisted it out of his shrugged it off.

"Shouldn't you be moving on to your next conquest?"

"I didn't mean it like that," he said. "I was upset and hurt. I'm sorry."

"Sorry doesn't help me finish this problem."

"Come on, Hale," Hector said. "I shouldn't have said that, I know. I'd take it back if I could. But I can't, so what do you want me to do?"

Haley finally looked up at him. His eyes were wide, and his hands were out, palms up.

"I don't know," she said. "But right now, I want you to leave me alone."

His face fell as she spoke.

"For how long?"

"I don't know."

He bit his lip and nodded slowly, and Haley could see he was trying to maintain an impassive mask.

He stood from the desk and went to another at the back of the room on the opposite wall. Haley's own composure nearly broke as his shoulders slouched and he sank into the chair.

She turned back to the notebook in front of her and tried to focus on the Math problems at hand.

# Chapter Ten

"You're being too harsh," Dana said.

"Whose side are you on?" Haley asked.

"Yours, which is why I'm pointing out that he's really not a bad guy."

"Because he swept you away in his Ford chariot in your moment of need?"

"Would you complain about a chariot ride now?"

She waved her hands over her sweat-soaked shirt.

Haley pressed her lips into a line and looked at her foster sister.

"I know," Dana said quietly. "Bad joke."

"It'll just help you slim down to get in that dress," Haley said.

It was Dana's turn to give Haley a long look.

"Bad joke," Haley said.

"We're both on a roll today," Dana said. "You ready for the English final?"

Haley nodded. She'd had the answers for the last week, about a day after Mr. Garrigan had finished formatting the test.

"That study group has really worked wonders," Dana said. "Do they do anything for calc?"

"I'm sure I could hook you up if you needed," Haley said. "But you're already killing it."

"Thanks to you, again."

"I'm just giving you the tools," Haley said. Though it did help that she'd also gotten a hold of the Mrs. Jervis' calculus tests and had helped guide Dana through nearly identical practice problems.

The girls bantered back and forth for the remaining walk home. Dropping their bags in the foyer, they walked into the kitchen and grabbed a few Cokes from the fridge.

They took their drinks to the living room and flipped on the TV.

Less than one _Judge Judy_ episode later, the garage door opened, and the sounds of rambunctious twelve-year-olds came echoing through the house. Then the twin tornadoes flew through the door, leaving a trail of sneakers, bags, and snack wrappers in their wake. They rushed through the living room, yelling a quick greeting to Haley and Dana, before they pushed through the back door.

Mrs. Kell came in a moment later, sweat dripping through from her forehead, her purse in one hand and a stack of mail in the other.

"Girls," she said.

"Hello, Mrs. Kell," they said in unison.

"Haley, help me with the groceries. Dana, please watch the twins."

The girls got up to attend their respective assignments, though Haley shot Dana a jealous look as she headed to the oven of a garage.

As she passed through the kitchen to the garage, Haley noticed a few of the envelopes had the blue shield and Red Cross of Liberty Christian University.

"Any mail for me?" she asked as joined Mrs. Kell at the trunk.

"I haven't been through it yet," Mrs. Kell said, handing Haley several plastic bags. "Could you put these in the fridge?"

Haley waddled through the door, barely avoiding smashing the groceries into the doorframe, and started putting everything away.

"Let's see what we've got," Mrs. Kell said putting the final groceries away. She picked up the mail again and started flipping through.

"Bills, bills, wedding invite, bills..."

She stopped and glanced up at Haley.

"Something from Liberty Christian University," she said. Then held out the envelope. "For you."

Haley took it carefully, like it was filled with poison.

The envelope had a large blue stripe diagonally across the front, and the shield and cross logo in the upper left corner where the return address should be.

"Dana," Mrs. Kell yelled. "Mail for you."

Haley's head snapped up. "Liberty?"

Mrs. Kell held up an envelope identical to Haley's.

Dana came rushing into the kitchen, sliding across the hardwood in her socks as she tried to stop. She snatched the paper from Mrs. Kell's hand and then looked up at Haley.

"Together?"

"Count us down," Haley said.

"Three, two, one!"

The girls ripped their envelopes open like contestants on a game show, and for several seconds, the only noise was the twins shrieking in the backyard.

Haley's heart threatened to break her ribs as she read down the page.

Then she saw the words she'd been searching for.

"I got in," she whispered.

Dana looked up more slowly, and Haley's heart dropped at the look on her face.

"I.... I did too!" Dana yelled, her face transforming into a brilliant smile.

Haley threw her arms around her sister and they both screamed in excitement. Even Mrs. Kell joined in their group hug as they laughed and cried.

"Congratulations to you both," she said. "I'm so proud of you."

Haley let out a happy sigh.

"Thank you," she said. "Oh my goodness."

"Right?" Dana said. "Now we get to start worrying about scholarships."

"Well something tells me that the church can help with that," Mrs. Kell said. "I happen to know someone with a bit of pull."

The girls laughed again, and hugged Mrs. Kell.

"Save some of that for Mr. Kell," she said to forestall the outpouring of gratitude. "He'll be just as excited for you and I know he can't wait to help."

# Chapter Eleven

"I can't believe you left your dress," Haley said, pulling the church door open.

"Me neither," Dana said. "Thanks for coming with me though."

"Someone has to deal with this mess," Haley said, teasing out a few strands of Dana's long dark hair.

The girls walked through the lobby and toward the small bridal room off the side of the sanctuary.

"Is Drew picking you up here?"

"He'll be here around seven," Dana said. "We've got two hours to get ready."

"I've got two hours to get you ready," Haley corrected.

"About that..."

Haley raised an eyebrow.

"Consider this my last apology," Dana said.

Without elaborating, she pushed the bridal-room door open and held it for Haley.

Haley looked at her warily but went in.

Large windows filled the room with natural light that reflected off the baby blue walls and made the room feel cozy and warm. Dana's dress was draped over the back of the loveseat at the back of the room, its yellow fabric drawing Haley's eyes like a magnet.

Then she looked left, at the floor length oval mirror, and saw a flash of red fabric hanging from a hook on the side.

"What did you do?"

Dana hugged her from behind.

"George said you're only allowed to be at home or at church," she said. "So we're going to have a little prom here at the church."

Haley laughed.

"Just the two of us?" she said. "Or am I the third wheel for you and Drew?"

"Actually, I was kind of hoping you'd be my date," a voice said from the door.

Haley broke out of Dana's arms and spun around.

Hector was leaning against the door frame in jeans and a white T-shirt, holding a dry cleaning bag over his shoulder with one hand and a pair of shiny tuxedo shoes in the other.

Haley forced her lips into a thin line.

"I'd hate for you to stand Davy up," Haley said.

Hector shrugged.

"He understands the pecking order of things," he said.

"You're assuming I'll say yes."

"Technically, you already did," Hector said.

"That was before you—"

"I know," Hector shook his head. "I know I was a jerk. And that what I said wasn't fair. And if you're really hell bent on never letting me live it down, then I'll move on."

He took a step into the room and dropped his shoes gently, his hazel eyes soft and warm in the afternoon light.

"But at the least, I want you to have your prom night," he said softly. "Davy and I got here early and decorated. Might not be as well done as the real thing, but I hope it'll do. The music is queued up and ready to go so you can dance all night long if you want."

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a red-rose wrist corsage. He held it up to eye level, then lowered it until it was easily within her reach.

"Since you already took back your answer from the last time I asked," he said. "I guess I have to do it again. Haley, will you go to prom with me?"

Haley's heart caught in her throat.

"I..."

"Hale," Dana touched her shoulder and whispered in her ear. "We've all said and done stupid shit we regretted. He wants to make it right."

Haley over her shoulder and swallowed hard.

"But... what if someone sees us in here?"

Dana waved a hand dismissively.

"It's Saturday night," she said. "The cleaning crew already did what they needed for tomorrow's service, so we have the place to ourselves."

"But won't George wonder where I am if I'm not at home?"

"I told Martha I wanted to help get your mind off the prom and that we were just going to get out of the house and watch some movies in the rec room tonight. I got to go last year and said I didn't mind missing it. Now can we go get ready?"

She held Haley's eyes levelly. Haley's nostril's flared as she let out a deep, tension filled breath.

"You're not going to let me say no, are you?"

Dana grinned.

"Not when your only reason is because you're being asinine," she said. "Besides, I spent way too much money on that dress for you not to wear it."

Haley chuckled and looked back at Hector.

His eyes were wide, and his lips were pulled tight against his teeth. The rose in his hand shook ever so slightly.

But his eyes were still the ones she knew she could look into and trust. They were worried, hurt that she hadn't said yes yet, but they were still the same eyes.

She stepped forward, taking the rose in her right hand, and slipped it over her left wrist. Then she looked up at Hector again, a smile tugging at the corner of her mouth.

She felt his shoulders unknot as she put her hands around his neck.

"I will forgive you on one condition," she said.

"Anything."

She glanced down at the tuxedo shoes he'd dropped by the door.

"Those better be dancing shoes."

He grinned, and started to say something, but she kissed him before he got a word out. She felt him wrap his arms around her waist, and she let herself sink into his arms.

It practically took an act of God to make her break away, but somehow, she did.

"Now, get out of here and give us some girls some privacy," she said.

Hector grinned ear to ear.

"Yes, ma'am," he said. Then gave her one more peck on the lips before he disappeared.

"Glad you stopped when you did," Dana said after he was gone. "I was getting mighty uncomfortable..."

Haley grinned and shrugged.

"Consider it your punishment," she said.

Dana held up her hands in surrender.

"One I will happily serve any day of the week."

Haley laughed again and the girls started getting dressed. Dana had outdone herself. The dress fit like it'd been made for Haley, and Dana had even managed to put together a necklace and earrings that practically shimmered in the afternoon sunlight. They did their hair and makeup, though Dana spent more time helping Haley than doing her own and put the finishing touches on a few minutes past seven.

Dana took Haley's hand and led her out of the bridal room in a flurry of shimmering fabric, costume jewelry and hairspray and down to the basement.

Haley groaned when she saw where they were going.

"I already suffered enough in there," she said.

"All the more reason to replace those memories," Dana said as they got to the day-care door. "And this was the only room that didn't have anything planned until tomorrow afternoon."

She twisted the handle and opened the door before Haley could say anything else.

Music and colored light filled the air, and Haley gasped.

The rubber mats and kids' tables had been pushed to the side of the room, and a paper banner with "Senior Prom" in hand-painted red letters had been taped to the far wall. A toy disco ball hung from the drop ceiling and there were several flashlights with colored Saran Wrap aimed at it from different areas. Hector and Drew were standing next to a small table with a bowl of punch and a boom box, looking at Dana's white iPod.

"So?" Dana said.

"This is awesome," Haley said, trying to blink back tears. "Thank you."

"Don't thank me," Dana said.

"Excuse me, miss," Hector said in a mockingly dignified tone. "But do you have any requests for the DJ?"

"Only that he gets his butt over here and starts dancing," Haley said.

"I'm not familiar with that song," he said, but he grinned and walked toward her. "Perhaps you could show me?"

Dana gave her a playful shove, and she fell into his arms. Drew walked to Dana and offered her his hand, and together the two couples started dancing like the unsupervised high schoolers they were. The music shifted to a slower beat, and their frenzied grinding evolved into a more refined slow sashay.

"I'm glad you agreed to join us," Hector whispered in her ear. "It would have been really awkward if I'd just been here with them."

"Well, my arm was kind of twisted into it," she said. "But I'm glad it was."

She went to give him a peck on the cheek, but he turned his head and caught her lips with his.

Haley let him pull her closer and kiss her. Their tongues danced together, and the background music faded away. For a few moments, it was only the two of them. His hand warm on the skin of her back. His lips, soft as they played with hers.

They broke apart as the music shifted, both grinning wildly and continued to dance.

Occasionally, Hector would spin her around, or lead her away with one hand, while the other adjusted his belt.

"Having a little trouble there?" Haley said after one such instance, pushing her hips tightly against him.

"I'm good," he said, though his voice was an octave higher than usual.

"Just good?" Haley said innocently. She shimmied her butt against him.

He tried to back away, but she reached over her shoulder and grabbed his tie to pull him back.

"Where you going?" She asked. "You promised to dance with me all night..."

"I'm not going to last all night if you keep that up."

Haley's jaw dropped in feigned shock.

"You'd go back on your promise?"

He grabbed her waist and spun her around fast enough that a bobby pin flew out of her hair. His eyes were dark in the dim light, but she could feel the heat coming off his face.

"Maybe I have a different kind of dancing in mind."

"Do you now?" she said. "And what kind of dancing is that?"

"The kind where we'd need a little privacy."

"That sound interesting," Haley said. "Why don't you tell me more about that after we get a drink."

Hector practically growled, which made Haley laugh and give him a quick kiss.

"Patience is a virtue."

She stepped back suddenly, forcing Hector to turn his back to Dana and Drew to adjust himself. He glared over his shoulder at Haley, who blew him a kiss and started for the punch.

She dipped a red solo cup into the orange liquid and took a sip.

"What's in this?" she asked Dana as she walked over.

"Just a bit of orange juice, soda water, and couple other things," Dana said.

Drew came up behind her and reached into his jacket. A metal flask appeared in his hand.

"But wait till you add a little of this," he said.

Haley's eyes darted to Dana.

"I'm not having any so I can get us home," she said. "Drew already said I can drive his car. We're not going to overdo it. Just enough to loosen you up."

Hector scooped a drink for himself and held it out.

"Hit me," he said.

Drew tipped the flask and a clear liquor splashed into the cup.

Hector stirred it with his finger, then took a sip.

"Much better," he said. "Want to try it first?"

Haley looked at Dana again.

"This is how we got here," she said.

"I know, but you'd be having some at prom if you were there. And this time, you've got someone to watch your back."

She took a drink from her own, unadulterated cup as if to prove her point.

"I've got you," she said. "You two have fun."

Haley took the cup from Hector. She stared down into it for a moment, then took a sip.

It had the same fruity flavor as before, but there was a new burn as she swallowed. She'd been expecting something, but it still made her cough as she handed Hector his cup.

"First sip is a bit rough," Dana said, patting her back. "Make hers a bit weaker."

Drew poured a bit into Haley's cup, and she stirred it like Hector had. The next sip still burned but it wasn't as bad.

Drew screwed the top back on and replaced the flask in his pocket.

They went back to the dance floor with their cups, letting the music and the intimacy of their small group swallow them up for a while. Drew refilled both Hector and Haley's cups when they went back for more punch, and she let Hector kiss her more than she danced.

Eventually, they ran out of punch and the playlist ended. Haley was swaying on her feet, leaning into Hector's embrace with her head on his shoulder.

Dana came over and put a hand on her back. Haley looked up and blinked several times before she managed to focus on her sister.

"Why don't you two go relax somewhere while we clean up?" Dana said.

"We can help," Haley said.

She started to pull away from Hector, but Dana's pressure on her back stopped her.

"We've got this," she said. "Seriously."

"I know a spot," Hector said.

"You're familiar with the church now?" Haley teased.

"Enough," he said, then smiled at her.

Dana pushed them out of the room with a smile.

"I'll find you when we're ready to leave," she said. "Try to be decent."

# Chapter Twelve

Haley stared at the strip in her hands. She couldn't tell if there were two lines because her hands were shaking or...

She felt a mixture of nausea and excitement. It took several minutes before she could put the strip down, wash her hands and pull out her phone.

"What?" Hector's groggy voice said a moment later.

"I need to see you," Haley whispered, glancing at the bathroom door and hoping Dana couldn't hear.

"I'll see you at school."

"No," Haley said. "You have to come now."

"It's five a.m."

"Hector..."

There was a pause on the other end of the line.

"Hale, what's going on?" Hector's voice was more focused, serious.

"I'll tell you when you get here," Haley said.

"Are you okay?"

"Just hurry."

They hung up and Haley got ready as quietly as possible so as not to wake Dana.

When she'd changed out of her pajamas, she eased the window open and pulled it shut behind her carefully before walking down the driveway. The morning air was cool, and she considered going back for her coat when she saw two headlights coming down the street. She jumped in the truck cab before it had come to a complete stop, easing the door closed as silently as she could.

Drive," she said.

"Where?"

"Just not here."

"What's going on?" Hector said.

"Get out of here before the Kells see you."

He opened his mouth to argue but closed it and put the truck in gear. He drove around the corner and out of the neighborhood.

They rode in silence until he pulled into a mega store parking lot and cut the engine.

"Now will you tell me what's going on?"

She handed him the strip.

He didn't take it.

"You're pregnant?" He finally managed.

Haley swallowed and nodded.

"You're... how?"

Haley glanced at him.

"I mean, I know how, but I thought you were on the pill?"

"I am," she said. "But apparently it didn't work."

"Jesus Christ."

They sat in silence for several minutes. Haley's heart pounding as her mind spun. Images of her college dorm with a crib in it flashed through her head, then a picture of a baby with dark curls running across a picnic blanket in the quad.

"We'll find a good doctor," Hector finally said.

She nodded, her breathe coming in heavy. "Any idea where?"

"I'm not sure, but we'll figure it out."

She smiled, then reached over and kissed him. "Thank you."

He smiled back. "We'll take care of this. The Kells will never know."

Haley's world stopped.

"What?"

"Don't worry, they won't find out."

"Hector, we're keeping the baby."

Hector's head snapped back, as if she'd slapped him.

"Hale... we can't keep it," he finally said. "We're about to go to college. You realize that you can't be a normal student with a kid, right? No parties, no late nights after football games, no free summers."

"It'll be worth it."

"We have no money. You just said—"

"I thought you meant you had a doctor to help with everything before he was born," Haley snapped. "We are not killing him."

"Him? You're barely pregnant!"

"Mother's intuition."

"Fine, how are you going to feed him? How are you going to pay for diapers?"

"We'll figure it out."

Hector swore under his breath and looked out the window. It had started raining softly, and the shadows from the streetlights made it look like he was crying.

Or maybe he was...

"Are you with me?" She whispered, afraid of his answer. "Don't leave me... Don't leave your son."

Hector let out a long breath, his eyes closed. He turned in the seat and took her hands.

When he spoke, his voice was soft, but his eyes shone with passion and tears.

"I'm with you."

# Chapter Thirteen

"Excuse me?" Mr. Kell's eyes practically bulged out of his head.

"I'm pregnant," Haley said. Hector squeezed her hand.

"You did this," Mr. Kell spat at Hector.

Haley ignored the temptation to claim immaculate conception. Martha sat on the other side of the couch with her head in her hands.

"I can't believe this," her father continued, "we gave you everything. Opened our house to you, helped you get into a good school, treated you like one of our own children. And you do this?"

"It wasn't intentional," Haley said.

"Oh, he tripped and accidentally slipped his dick in you?"

"George!" Mrs. Kell snapped.

Mr. Kell clenched his jaw and visibly restrained himself.

"This is not a bad thing," Haley said turning to Mrs. Kell, "you are always talking about how you can't wait to have grandkids."

"I want grandkids when I have sons- and daughters-in-law," the woman's voice was cold. "Children are a blessing to a marriage, but a burden out of wedlock."

Haley's jaw tightened. She'd expected Mr. Kell to be upset, but she'd at least hoped that Mrs. Kell would be more forgiving.

"You'll be eighteen next week," Mr. Kell said. "You have until then to pack up your things."

"You're... you're kicking me out?" Haley felt pin pricks in her eyes.

"You can't," Hector said, "you told her— "

"We have done our duty," her foster father said. "We told the state that we would take care of her until she was eighteen."

"But you said— "

"That was before we knew of your depravity. I won't let you poison the rest of our children."

"Poison the rest of your children?" Hector laughed. "You have no idea—"

Haley clamped down on his hand hard enough that he stopped.

"Just let me stay until I go to school," Haley said. "I'll keep the whole thing quiet, and I'll be out before I really start to show. Please."

George looked at Martha, who shook her head.

"Sin has consequences," Mr. Kell said.

The floodgates finally broke, and Haley's knees buckled. Hector caught her and eased her down. She wasn't sure how long she cried, but at some point, she sensed the Kells stand and start for the door.

"How can you be this heartless?" Haley sobbed. "What happened to love and forgiveness?"

"Sometimes love means letting people learn to take responsibility for their actions," Mr. Kell said. "And we all have to live with our choices."

Then they were gone.

# Chapter Fourteen

Haley looked up at the sound of a knock on her door. Dana stood in doorway, one hand behind her back.

"Can I come in?"

Haley sniffed and wiped her eyes but nodded.

She stepped in and frowned. "This is so wrong."

"Yeah, it sucks."

Dana picked up the red and blue T-shirt on the bed.

"What's this?"

Haley laughed.

"Mrs. Kell got it for me. They want me to tell Noah and Ruth that I'm going to college early."

"Did you tell her to shove it up her ass?"

Haley hung her head and turned away from Dana.

"I started to, but then she said she'd give me five hundred dollars if I played along."

Dana swore behind her as Haley started crying again.

"I feel like a whore," she said. "I should have listened to Hector."

Dana moved around her and brushed the hair out of Haley's face.

"You'd never have forgiven yourself," Dana said. "Just because the Kells make it seem like your life is over, doesn't mean it is."

"Yes, it is," Haley said. "No one is going to hire me between now and when he's born, and even if they did, I can't go to school with an infant because there's no way I could afford day care."

"Good thing Aunt Dana will be there to help."

"That's easy to say now, but what about when you're swamped with classes?" Haley said. "I love you, but you've got your own life. Your own problems."

"And my family will trump all of them," Dana said. "I want to help. Let me."

Haley sniffed and wiped her nose with the back of her hand.

"I want to," she said. "But there's only so much you can do."

"Then let me do that, and you and Hector figure out the rest."

Haley shook her head and laughed.

"When did you get so stubborn?"

"Runs in the family," Dana said.

Haley laughed again, but she threw her arms around Dana's neck and squeezed.

"I love you," she said. "Thank you."

"Always."

They stood, swaying gently.

"I need to go," Haley finally said. "Hector is supposed to pick me up any minute."

Dana gave her one more squeeze and then stepped back and grabbed the small duffel bag beside the door.

"Take your time," she said. "I'll come get you when Hector gets here."

Haley smiled as Dana disappeared.

There wasn't much she really wanted to say goodbye to, but as she looked around the room one last time, she hugged herself and fought back another round of tears. The Kells hadn't been awful, and she'd met Dana. The last few months could have been a lot worse.

She zipped the suitcase closed and lifted it off the bed. She started to wheel it out, but the Bible on the corner of the desk, its pages worn and turning up, the once glossy cover now dirty and dull, caught her eye. Before she realized what she was doing, she flipped to Matthew 5:7. She looked down at the open page on the desk, her vision blurring and throat burning as she read the words.

Then she grabbed her suitcase and turned off the light.

# Chapter Fifteen

It wasn't Haley's dream wedding, but survival came before fantasy.

The courthouse was squat and smelled of industrial cleaner. The fluorescent lights flickered, sending weird reflections off the linoleum floor.

Haley had managed to find a mostly white dress at a thrift store and Hector wore his dad's old suit that hung from him like a sail, but the next best-dressed people with them in line were wearing jeans and tuxedo T-shirts. They got a number from a kiosk by the door and joined Hector's mom Noel, Dana, and Davy in a waiting room that would have been more at home in a morgue. When their number was finally called, they filed into a large courtroom where a judge sat behind a tall rostrum and a clerk stood with a clipboard. Even though Dana and Davy had come as the maid of honor and best man, they were forced to sit with Hector's mom in the courtroom gallery since there were three other couples also getting married and there wasn't room.

As they exchanged vows in front of the judge, Haley fought back tears and tried to think of her son. Hector sweated and shifted his weight in his suit as he fumbled over the lines when he tried to repeat his vows.

After the judge declared them husband and wife, they shared a kiss that paled in comparison to the ones in the church basement.

Everyone hugged and offered congratulations, and Haley pretended to be happy and smile back graciously.

When all the paperwork was finalized, all five piled into Noel's red Volkswagen sedan and headed to the "reception."

Dana and Noel tried to keep up a conversation, but Haley couldn't bring herself to participate. Instead, she stared out the window at the passing strip malls and let her thoughts spiral into a self-destructive tail spin. It wasn't until she felt some of the bones in Hector's hand shift, and his accompanying grunt, that she realized how hard she was squeezing his hand.

"Sorry," she said.

He pretended to pry her fingers loose with his other hand.

"Save some of that aggression for later," he whispered in her ear.

Haley struggled to smile back at him.

Noel pulled into the parking lot and they all climbed out.

Davy held the door open for the meager procession, and Haley nearly lost her composure when the hostess asked how many seats they needed.

They sat quietly, Noel trying to put a brave face on for her son and new daughter, but Davy squirmed in his chair and Dana started an intense investigation of a menu she'd seen a hundred times.

The waiter took their drink orders and brought a bowl of chips and salsa, then came back for food.

"So..." Noel said, looking at Haley. "How are you feeling?"

She glanced down at Haley's stomach.

"Fine," Haley said.

"Any nausea?"

Haley saw Davy wiggle in his seat again, not that she blamed him.

"Not yet," she said.

"Hopefully it won't be bad," Noel said. She patted Hector on the shoulder. "This one had me up every morning before dawn for months. It's unfair that he got away with it without any justice."

"If I'm up, he will be too," Haley said.

"Wait, why would I—"

"I love you, baby," Noel said. "But this is one of those times you salute the flag and move on."

Hector held his hands up defensively.

Noel smirked, but it disappeared a moment later.

"I know this isn't the day you dreamed of," she said. "But I hope you still enjoy it. And I'm so happy Hector found such a wonderful woman. Though I do wish he'd had a bit more self-control..."

From her smile, Haley knew it'd been a joke, but she still felt her stomach clench.

"Excuse me," she said, standing.

"You okay?" Hector gripped her hand and looked up at her worriedly.

"Just going to the bathroom."

"I need to go too," Dana said. She folded her napkin and stood as well.

The bathroom was small, only two stalls and sinks, but it was immaculate by chain-restaurant standards. Haley didn't make it to a stall before the tears started flowing.

Dana hugged her close, whispering and cooing in her ear.

Haley heard several other women come through the door and felt Dana nod to unspoken questions, but she couldn't stop the river of tears coming down her face.

"I'm a failure," she said into Dana's hair. "Even she's judging me."

"She's judging Hector," Dana said. "She already loves you."

Haley shook her head.

"I've ruined his life too."

"I don't think he was an unwilling participant," Dana said. "I saw the way he was looking at you. The way he still looks at you."

"And when I get fat?"

"Then there will be more of you to love," Dana stepped back enough to look Haley in the eye. "And if he doesn't, I'll be there to make sure he never has kids again."

Haley laughed and sniffed.

"Come on now," Dana said. "You're ruining that makeup I worked so hard on."

She grabbed several tissues from her purse and started dabbing the tears from Haley's cheeks.

"You're going to get through this," she said. "We'll all be right there with you."

She handed Haley another tissue so she could blow her nose. Throwing the soiled tissue away, she put her back against the cool tile wall and looked at the ceiling.

"I don't know what to do," she said. "We have no money, Hector is still trying to figure out what school to go to, and I can't even pretend to go to the Liberty anymore."

"You could always come live with me," Dana said. "Might be tight but we could make it work so you can still take classes."

Haley laughed.

"And what happens the first time the perfect preacher comes to visit and sees us?"

"We can cross that bridge when we get there."

Haley shook her head.

"He'd pull your scholarship money so fast you won't have a chance," she said. "But, thank you."

Haley took a deep breath and wiped her eyes one more time.

"Guess we should get back to the party," she said bitterly.

She started for the door, but Dana caught her arm.

"I know this sucks," she said when Haley looked back. "But despite what you think, this isn't the end of the world. You and Hector are some of the sharpest people I know. You can make this work."

Haley gave her friend a small smile and pushed the door open.

"Guess we'll find out."

# Chapter Sixteen

"Rent is due on the first," Mr. Shippner said. "If I don't have it under my door by midnight, it's another hundred bucks. If I don't have it by the third, I'll call the cops, and have you thrown out."

The old man left a trail of cigarette smoke as he waddled down the hall. Haley tried to hold her breath as she and Hector followed, but any physical activity was a struggle. Even though it was noon, the hallway was dark, the only light coming in through small windows in the doors at the end of the hall.

"Do these lights work?" Haley asked, looking up at the dingy fly-filled shades.

"Yeah."

"How do we turn them on?" Hector said.

"You don't," Mr. Shippner said. "I will when it's dark."

"Are you sure we can't keep staying with your mom?" Haley whispered. "If we put a crib next to the couch..."

Hector shook his head.

"Mom has to be up too early as it is. You want to keep her up all night?"

"This'll be you," Mr. Shippner said. He flipped through a dozen keys on a ring before finding the right one and unlocking the door.

The studio was more of a bedroom with a converted mini kitchen. The carpet was brown and had several stains where the bed should have been. There were two windows above the stains, but the sunlight was filtered by the iron bars across them. Even through Shippner's fresh secondhand smoke, Haley could smell the musty ghosts of thousands of its predecessors.

"Quiet hours are from ten to seven," Mr. Shippner said, eyeing Haley's belly. "First complaint gets a warning, second is a fifty-dollar fine."

Haley placed her hands on her bump.

"Anything else we should know?" Haley asked.

"No drugs or parties," Shippner said. He looked at Hector. "I smell anything and you're out."

"You won't," Hector said.

Shippner snorted, then took another drag on his cigarette. "First two months are up front."

Haley pulled out the last of the Kells' hush money and the overly generous wedding present Noel had given them and handed it over.

Shippner counted the bills carefully before stuffing them in the back of his faded jeans. He nodded to the kitchen counter, and Haley saw two keys sitting there.

It only took two trips for Hector's truck to carry all their belonging from his mom's apartment. And even though Haley couldn't do much more than roll a suitcase down the hall without needing a break, Dana, Drew and Davy drove down to help.

Once the boys had Noel's beat-up pull-out sofa in the bedroom, an old crib from Drew's parent's, and a rocking chair with a green stain they'd picked out of the dumpster, Haley and Dana started unpacking the few boxes they had.

"I think Noel gave us everything but one or two plates," Haley said as they pulled dish after dish out. "I feel bad taking all her stuff."

"That's what mothers are supposed to do," Dana said.

Suddenly, Haley winced as the baby kicked.

"Speaking of which," Dana said, "how are you feeling?"

Haley took several deep breaths and gently pushed on her stomach to reposition the baby.

"That it's a good thing Hector wants a soccer player."

"That bad?"

"It's really not," Haley admitted. "Though having to pee all the time sucks."

Dana laughed.

"At least you get out of the heavy lifting," she said.

"Isn't that what boys are for anyway?"

The girls laughed again and continued putting dishes away.

Drew used his dad's credit card to order pizza for the group, and they spent the last few hours hanging out together before the other three had to head home.

When Hector closed the door, Haley sank onto the couch and looked around the room.

"This is really it?" she said.

Hector sat next to her. He looked around the room, taking in the water-stained ceiling and cracked walls. Then he looked back at her with a smile that didn't touch his eyes.

"What more could you want?"

Haley shook her head. "I can't believe we're really doing this."

"Wouldn't have it any other way," Hector said as he put an arm around her. "I've always dreamed of having a place of my own with my special lady."

"We have vastly different ideas of what makes a dream home."

"Well, maybe slightly differently," he said. "But I'm glad to be here with you."

Haley leaned her head on his shoulder.

"Me too."

He kissed the top of her head. They listened to the cars flying past, watching the glow of headlights spill through the windows against the walls.

"You going to look for jobs tomorrow?" Haley asked.

"I'll start with the Nerd Alert down the street," he said.

"Think they'll have you?"

"Only one way to find out," Hector said.

"If that doesn't work?"

"If they don't trust me to fix little old ladies' computers, I'm not sure what I'll do," he said dryly. "But I promise I won't let you starve."

"It's not me I'm worried about," Haley said, rubbing her stomach.

"I won't let him starve either."

"At some point we do need to talk about names."

"I think Hector is a great name."

"It's a wonderful name," Haley titled her head back so she could look at him. "But I don't want there to be any confusion about who's name I'm screaming in the middle of the night."

"That could get awkward," Hector said, a grin creeping up his face. "What about my dad's name? José."

"José," Haley said, rolling the name around on her tongue.

"If you start yelling that in the middle of the night, we'll have issues," Hector said.

Haley poked him in the ribs, and he tried to squirm away laughing.

"Bad joke," he managed through a fit of giggles. "Mercy!"

She relented and settled back down onto his shoulder.

"José," she said again. "What do you think of being a José?"

The baby kicked, and Haley sat up sharply. "Don't think he likes José," she said.

Hector's face fell a bit.

"What if we went close to that?" Haley said. "Maybe, Jacob?"

Hector nodded slowly.

"Jacob Ramos," he said. "I like the sound of that. You going to ask him again?"

"I think we'll just let it be a surprise," she said.

"Coward," Hector said with a grin.

"Sure you want to talk like that to the only person you're going to be getting lucky with for the rest of your life?"

"I'm not sure what you heard," Hector said. "I said you are the bravest, kindest, most incredibly sexy woman I know, and you're going to make an amazing mother."

Haley leaned forward so her lips were centimeters from his.

"Coward."

Then she kissed him, and not even Jacob's kicking could distract them from each other.

# Chapter Seventeen

"We're two hundred bucks short," Hector said.

They looked over the bills on the worn coffee table and Haley tried to figure out where their money had gone.

"Can you ask your boss for an advance?"

"I just finished working off the one I asked for last month," Hector said. "We'll never dig ourselves out if we keep this up."

Haley bit her lip.

"Maybe if you do this time, then I can try to find something."

"You're about to pop. Even if someone was going to hire you, who'd watch Jacob?"

"I could do something at night, so you could watch him."

"I need to sleep at some point too," he said.

He put a hand on her shoulder and waited until she met his eyes.

"I've only got one way to make this kind of cash this fast," he said.

Haley eyed him suspiciously.

What?"

"You remember Jeez3y? From our old study group?"

Haley frowned for a moment.

"The guy who was selling the tests?"

"We still keep in touch," Hector said. "He said he knows a guy who's paying top dollar for credit card numbers. Jeez3y heard about what we did with Bippy Burger and wanted to know if we could do it again but get the cards from their sales instead of change the menus."

Haley blinked at him several times before she found the words.

"You want to steal people's credit cards?"

"It won't hurt them," Hector said quickly. "If anything happens, the card companies just refund the money. If anything, they get a free burger."

"That's not, no," Haley said shaking her head. "How could you even suggest that?"

"Because I've got a wife and soon-to-be son that I don't want to get kicked out of their home," he said. "We hit this once, we get enough money to last a few months so I can get a real job without having to work twenty hours a day, and we're back on track."

"You really think you can walk away after one hit?"

Hector nodded vigorously.

"Absolutely," he said. Then his voice softened. "Hale, I don't want to do this anymore than you do. But if my options are do this, or watch our family get destroyed before we even have a chance to start? It's no choice."

Haley shook her head and looked out the window.

"What if we get caught?"

"We didn't last time," Hector said. "And with the two of us, we make it in and out fast, we wipe the logs, and sell the cards. Simple."

"Simple isn't the same as easy."

"No, but that's why I've got my Bonnie," Hector said, putting an arm around her shoulders. "We need this. If you know of another way to get two hundred bucks in a day, I'm all ears."

Haley slowly nodded.

"We'll be fine," Hector said. Then he kissed the top of her head. "I'll get our computers."

Bonnie tried to breathe normally as she looked at the row of brick restaurants, lights blinking green and red along the walls and windows. The sky was still a deep, unnatural blue. There was no wind, so the blue and gold awnings all hung identically as far as she could see.

"We shouldn't be doing this."

"We're out of options," Clyde's voice was soft. "We only get enough to survive and stop when we get real jobs."

Bonnie swallowed and nodded.

Clyde rested his tommy gun on his shoulder and pulled her close with his other arm around her waist.

"We'll be fine," Clyde whispered. "Just like last time, okay?"

Bonnie nodded and he gave her a quick kiss.

"Ready?"

Bonnie nodded again.

"We only need to hit a few, so take your time and be safe. Be bad, Bonnie."

She knew he was trying to put her at ease, but the words only twisted her stomach more.

"See ya on the other side, Clyde," she replied.

He grinned and they started walking toward the brick stores.

Bonnie grabbed the sides of her dress to keep her hands still as she approached the window. Her heart was hammering so hard she was sure she'd crack a rib.

"Welcome to Bippy Burger," a grandmotherly woman said. "Would you like to connect as an admin with a password or an admin with a certificate?"

Bonnie pulled the menu Clyde had given her the first time from her purse. "An admin without a password."

The woman glanced down, froze, then looked up with a smile. "One admin connection without a password. Anything else?"

"I'll take a dump of your credit card settlement batch files from today."

"Certainly," the woman tapped on the register screen. A second later, a tray with a wax-paper-wrapped burger appeared on the ledge in front of the terminal. "Thanks for visiting Bippy Burger. Have a great day."

Bonnie let out a breath, then took the burger from the tray. After removing the paper, she saw it was actually a stack of index cards, with hundreds of credit card numbers, expiration dates, and other information printed in neat rows.

Bonnie tucked the cards in her clutch and walked to the next store. A college-aged blonde girl stood in the window.

"Welcome to Bippy Burger," she said. "Would you like to connect as an admin with a password or an admin with a certificate?"

# Chapter Eighteen

"Jeez3y?"

A dark-skinned teenager in a flat-bill snapback and sagging pants looked up from his spot against the wall.

"Yo, Capown! I mean, Clyde," he said, pushing off the wall. "Didn't think you'd make it. You get 'em?"

Clyde held up a stack of plastic credit cards.

"Right on," Jeezey said. "And you must be the woman who made my man abandon his handle. Must be a big deal."

"Actually, I'm the only big deal to him now," Bonnie said, holding up her hand with the small diamond ring.

"Oh shit, congrats. Guessing my invite got lost in the mail?"

"We'll invite you to our next one," Clyde said. "We're under a bit of a deadline here, so can we get going?"

"Sure, sure," Jeezey said. "Follow me."

He led them down a narrow alleyway lit by blinking lights from the server buildings along either side. At the end of the alley, two men wearing turbans, baggy pants, and vests without shirts underneath stood beneath a large archway.

As the trio approached, the men stepped forward and uncrossed their arms. A wide, glowing scimitar appeared in each of their hands.

"They're with me," Jeezey said. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a badge, which he flashed in front of the brute nearest to him.

The man squinted for a moment, then nodded to his companion and stepped back to their stoic posts.

"Welcome to Silk Road," the guard said.

Jeezey led them through the arch and pushed open a heavy wooden door with iron bands.

Bonnie nearly sneezed as she took her first breath. The air was thick with dust and curry powder, as men and animals shuffled along the dirt streets. Merchants yelled at one another, arguing insulting the quality of their competitor's wares and praising their own.

"IceMan is down this way," Jeezey said before starting down a wide boulevard to their right.

Bonnie and Clyde walked through the flea market holding hands, trying not to get distracted by the wares displayed on either side of aisle.

On long tables people sold small bags of powder, handguns and rifles, pornography, even the odd exotic animal. The drugs and weapons were life-sized, but the animals and "actors" were miniature versions of themselves that moved around the table as if they were appraising their competition. Above every item, person or animal floated a green number.

About halfway down the aisle, Bonnie glanced down at a table and yanked Clyde to a stop.

Bonnie stared over the naked figures on the table—the oldest couldn't have been more than thirteen —at the vendor manning the stall, leaning back in the chair, one hand down his pants and the other holding a small boy in his palm.

She squeezed Clyde's hand so hard that it would have crushed the bones in the real world.

"There's nothing we can do," Clyde whispered.

"We could lead the cops right to him."

"Look around you," Clyde turned her so she couldn't see the table anymore. "This isn't the school computer lab. We blow this, or if we even look like we've tipped the cops off, we don't eat, and Jacob doesn't get new diapers."

Bonnie shook her head. "Those kids..."

"There's nothing you can do for them," Clyde started pulling her along.

Bonnie wanted to smack him. She wanted to run back to the table and punch the smug bastard so hard that his voice would be higher than any kid he ever looked at again.

But with each step, the fire turned to disgust and shame.

They finally stopped at a table full of neat stacks of credit cards. On top of each was a single note card with precise black letters identifying the type and quantity of the cards below.

Behind the table sat a shimmering, translucent man made of ice. He wore a toga and laurel crown and looked up from the scroll he was reading as they approached. Bonnie wasn't sure how he didn't melt in the heat.

Clyde pulled out the stack of cards from his suit-jacket pocket and held them out to the man.

"How much?"

The man took the stack and sniffed it, then turned them over and flipped through.

"Fresh?" He asked without looking up.

"Two days."

"Where?"

"We have a source."

The man laughed. "This isn't some spy drama. For all I know, you're cops giving me tripwire cards. Do you know how long I've worked to build my business?"

"Bippy Burger," Bonnie said.

"You'll need to do better than that." The man shook his head. "There is no way you got this many cards in two days from a skimmer."

"Not from a skimmer," Clyde said.

The man raised an eyebrow skeptically.

"They're legit," Clyde pressed. "Try one."

"No."

"Come on, you're missing a great opportunity," Clyde said. "We have near real time access to any credit card from any Bippy Burger. This is a gold mine."

The man leaned back, steepling his fingers in front of his face. His eyes flicked from Clyde to Bonnie and back. After a few moments, he pulled a card from one of the stacks. The green number went down by thirty dollars and the black numbers on the index card rearranged themselves.

"If that's true, you'll be able to tell me what card number this is," he said.

Iceman froze for about a minute, then snapped back to life. "There's a store in Boise that just got an order for fifty Bippy Burger combos."

Hector nodded and looked at Bonnie. "You want to do the honors or should I?"

"I need some fresh air," she said.

"Be bad, Bonnie."

She gave him a forced smile before closing her eyes and disappearing.

When she opened them again, she was in front of a brick building with a blue and gold banner. She walked down the row until she arrived in Boise.

"Welcome to Bippy Burger," a young boy said from behind the counter. "How may I help?"

Haley issued the appropriate commands and a wax-paper-wrapped burger appeared on the counter.

"Clyde?"

"Here."

"Sending you the number now."

She wound up and threw the burger into the air. It flew several feet before it disappeared in a flash of light. As she watched, her stomach clenched, and she felt a small pop.

"Received," Hector said. "That's it. Want to get a few more while you're there?"

"I don't think so," Haley said. She grunted as pain raked her body and her abdomen seized.

"You're already in, and he's offering—"

"I don't care how much he's offering," Haley said. "Our son is on the way."

# Chapter Nineteen

Haley bolted upright as the scream pierced the air. She flew out of bed and across the pathetic excuse of a living room, heart pounding.

Jacob wailed in his crib, kicking and screaming with every ounce of strength a four--week old could muster.

Haley scooped him up and bounced up and down, trying to quiet him.

Hector rolled over, mumbling something she was glad she didn't hear.

She pulled Jacob to her breast, and he abandoned his protests as he was momentarily satisfied. She sighed and sat in the rocking chair in the corner. It creaked and groaned when she sat, and she still hadn't been able to get the green stain out of the wood on the seat, but she was too tired to care.

She looked down at Jacob as he sucked on her breast, one blue eye staring up at her.

He was so beautiful.

Everything she could have wanted.

Hector stirred again, and she noticed there were still four hours until the alarm would go off. Not that she would get to enjoy all of them in bed.

She looked down at Jacob. His eyelids were half closed, though his mouth still worked on autopilot. When he finished a few minutes later, she wiped the last remnants of milk from his lips and set him gently back in the crib.

He cooed once, then his eyes rolled back, and he was fast asleep.

"Sweet dreams, baby. Mommy and Daddy love you so much."

He had Hector's long face and dark hair, but her eyes. He was going to be a heartbreaker; she could already tell.

She crawled back in bed, and tried to get some rest, despite the noise. The sirens outside had almost become a lullaby at this point, though the occasional gunshots still made her jump.

The idiot upstairs had fallen asleep in front of the TV again, so could hear whatever stupid product the infomercials were hawking as if she was in the room with him. And while a self-cleaning toilet system sounded fantastic, she doubted it would be a match for the decades of filth that had stained theirs.

When Jacob woke her up again a few hours later, still well before the alarm went off, she didn't feel any more refreshed than when she'd crawled back in bed.

This time, after Jacob had his fill and was sleeping again, she pulled out one of her textbooks and tiptoed around the corner of the kitchen cabinets to the corner where she'd put a small desk lamp for such occasions. Flipping the light on and the book to open to the latest chapter, network diagrams, encryption protocols, and attack vectors floated across the pages.

Eventually, the sunlight overpowered the lamplight, and she heard the buzzing of the alarm.

She closed her book and rubbed her eyes. Hector groaned as he sat up and shuffled to the bathroom. A moment later, Haley heard the shower start.

She started the coffee maker and pulled a box of store-brand cereal from the cabinet. Washing the previous night's remnants of ramen from two bowls, she poured cereal in each before she realized they only had enough milk for one.

A few minutes later Hector emerged from the bathroom, a towel around his waist. She handed him the cereal with milk.

"Thanks babe," he kissed her on a cheek. "How was he?"

"We've had better nights."

He winced. "You could have woken me up."

"You need your rest," she said. "Big day today."

He nodded solemnly. With his bowl in one hand, he walked to the crib.

"Hey, buddy," he said. "Were you good for Mommy last night?"

"You need to get going," Haley said.

Hector sighed but didn't argue. He reached down and stroked Jacob's face with a finger before heading back to their "bedroom."

He reappeared a few minutes later wearing jeans with a small tear in the knees and a T-shirt with some masked hero.

"You can't wear that," Haley said.

"It's a start-up."

"You still can't wear that."

"Trust me, I know these guys. This will go over way better than a suit and tie."

"Hector, we need this."

He walked over and cupped her head in his hands. "I won't let you down."

She sighed, but let him kiss her. He grabbed his satchel and headed for the door.

"This is a real job, right?" She asked for the third time. "Not another one of Jeez3y's hacks?"

His smile faltered, anger flashing across his face for a second, before he smoothed it back out and nodded.

"Don't you trust me, Hale?"

"Of course I do," Haley said. "But you said we'd only have to do this till we got on our feet. I just want a normal life where we don't have to worry about getting caught."

"I know, baby, and we're almost there," Hector said. "This is just some contract work, not with Jeez3y. I'll show you the tax forms if you want."

Haley forced herself to smile. "I trust you."

Hector kissed her again, and she returned it with more passion than before.

"See you on the other side, Clyde."

He winked, and then was out the door.

# Chapter Twenty

Haley handed Mr. Shippner an envelope.

He eyed it warily and started counting the bills.

"How'd you get this?" he said.

"Thought you didn't care as long as you got it," Haley said. "We good?"

He nodded slowly.

She spun and walked back to their door.

Hector sat on the floor, playing peekaboo with Jacob. The boy's eyes were bright as he laughed each time his dad's face reappeared from behind his hands.

Haley smiled as she watched, and Hector grinned at her between bouts of tickling. He blew her a kiss, which she returned, before she moved into the kitchen and opened the fridge. She grabbed the chicken and fresh veggies and grabbed a knife to start chopping.

A head of broccoli was given a momentary reprieve when Hector came up behind her with Jacob in his arms.

"Say, 'Hi, Mommy','" Hector said, bouncing Jacob on his hip.

Jacob cooed and squealed, but nothing remotely close to "Hi Mommy," came out.

"Hi, sweetie," Haley smiled and kissed Jacob on the forehead. "Can you feed him?"

"It's dinnertime!" Hector said in his baby voice. "Would you like milk, or milk?"

Jacob laughed and reached for Hector's nose.

"Milk it is!"

They went off bouncing up and down.

Haley smiled again and went back to cutting the vegetables.

"How 'bout a little music while you eat?" Hector said, and seconds later the rapid beats of an electronic music track started playing from his phone.

Haley let herself relax, and she realized that that her knife was matching the beat of the song as she chopped.

From outside, she heard heavy footsteps, probably Mr. Shippner, but even that seemed to add to the rhythm.

It wasn't until she heard the sound of a key in their lock that she snapped out of her relaxed haze.

She turned and saw Hector still in the chair feeding Jacob but facing her. Their eyes met in confusion for a second, before the door burst open and four men in bulletproof vests rushed through. Two men pointed guns at Haley while one focused on Hector and the last ran by them to the bedroom.

"Drop the knife," one yelled. "Now!"

Haley froze.

"Drop it!"

She let the knife slip through her hands and clatter to the floor. One of the men holstered his gun and moved to handcuff her.

Haley looked at Hector, who was flanked by the other two cops as he gently placed Jacob in his crib, then straightened with his hands up.

Jacob was wailing, and Haley tried to look at the man behind her. "Please, let me get my baby. Please."

"What are you doing?" Hector said. "We've done nothing wrong."

"We got a tip that you are dealing drugs," one of the men said.

"What?" Haley said. She looked to the door where Mr. Shippner struggled to keep a grin off his face.

"You bastard," she said.

"We got an anonymous tip," the officer said again. "If you've done nothing wrong you have nothing to worry about."

Two officers pulled Haley and Hector to the wall and forced them to sit on the floor under the window.

"You want to tell us where your stash is and make this easy?" one said.

"We don't have any drugs," Haley said.

The two other cops were starting to go through all the cabinets, pushing the contents aside. They even ripped a few of the larger bags open, spilling flour and sugar on the counter and floor.

The metal bit into her wrists as she sat back against the wall.

"We haven't done anything... Please just leave us alone."

"You've suddenly come into a lot of money," the first cop said. "New knives, expensive baby formula. I just spoke with your landlord and he said you had been struggling to pay rent but just caught up on the last three months in cash."

He knelt down in front of them.

"Where'd you get all the money? You don't have jobs."

Haley bit her lip. Her brain worked furiously, trying to come up with some plausible explanation. She looked at Hector, hoping he'd do a better job.

"I won the lottery," Hector said.

Haley groaned.

"'Course you did," the cop said. The others kept going through the apartment, tearing open drawers and throwing clothes everywhere, tipping over the mattress, even knocking on furniture to see if there were any hidden compartments.

Instead of joining them, the first cop walked over to the crib and looked down at Jacob.

"Cute kid," he said. "Really be a shame if we had to put him into child services while you two are in jail. Hey, Jim, did you hear about that kid that got lost in the system? Something about the paperwork getting deleted from a computer and the real parents couldn't find their son? Crazy stuff. He looked back at Haley. "You're a mother, I'm sure they'd take it easy on you if you cooperate." Maybe even let your kid stay with your family instead of going into the system." He paused. "If you cooperate."

"We can't cooperate because we aren't selling drugs." Haley shouted. "You haven't found anything. You won't find anything. You have no right to be here!"

"Probable cause, ma'am," the cop said sarcastically. "And if you haven't anything to hide, where did the money come from?"

"Its contract work we didn't report," Hector cut in. "I did a bunch of work for a guy I know, and he paid me in cash under the table."

"What kind of work?"

"I tested his network and told him where he could be hacked."

The cop shook his head. "Sure, you did."

"I'll prove it," Hector said. "Give me my computer."

"If you think I'm going to let you destroy evidence, you're dead wrong."

"Fine, then take me down to the station and let me show you on one of your computers."

"Sir," another cop said, "all we found is a couple laptops, expensive ones, but no drugs."

"How expensive?"

The man held up a sleek silver clamshell laptop, with a "52" written in green on the back. "My son has been asking for one of these. Retail is about fifteen hundred. If he's doing computer work, this would be the kind of thing he'd use."

The first cop chewed his lip, then looked at the others. They each shook their heads.

"We'll bring in a dog," the man said. "If they don't find anything. Then you'll be free to go."

An hour later, Haley stood staring out the window, Jacob held tightly to her chest as she rocked back and forth. Hector was cleaning up behind her, but she couldn't bring herself to look back. The red marks on her wrists were reminder enough.

"What a mess," Hector said. "Just look at this."

"I'd rather not."

"They must have done, two grand in damage..."

"It could have been worse."

"We're going to need a big score to replace everything."

Haley whirled on him. "A big score? Are you serious?"

"Where else are we going to get the money from?"

"I'm sorry, I thought you saw the part where four cops just showed up and ransacked our place."

"Which had nothing to do with the hacks."

"This time!" Haley struggled to keep herself from yelling. The last thing they needed was someone to call the cops again. "What if they'd actually been looking for our computers?"

"That's why we encrypt things."

"You think that would stop them?"

"What else do you want to do?"

"Get real jobs, stop running around like we're bandits out of a story, turn in the scum that sells kids online, so the cops actually have something to chase."

"We have no money, no college degrees, and no experience we could put on a resume. Who the hell is going to hire us?"

"We can freelance like you lied about."

"We're going to starve before we do."

"You said we have enough to last us a few months."

Hector threw his hands up and rolled his eyes.

"And what happens in a few months? You want to cut bait at the first sign of trouble. If we move out of here to a decent place and act like the money, we're earning is what we're used to, no one would bat an eye. If you hadn't insisted on flashing cash on a bunch of shiny new toys this wouldn't have happened."

"You weren't complaining when I bought you that new Area52."

"We needed that."

"Like I need new knives to make you a decent meal."

They glared at one another for several seconds.

"We can't afford to stop now," Hector said.

"I'm not going to be looking over my shoulder for the rest of my life," Haley said. She took a deep breath. "We are not going to give them an excuse to take Jacob away."

She stared into his deep brown eyes, willing herself to stay strong, fearing the answer to her next question.

"Do you want to be a hacker, or a father?"

Hector's mouth pressed into a thin line. "How could you even say that? I gave up everything for you two."

"You didn't have a choice," Haley snapped. "You do now. You can run around the dark web, acting like a tough guy, or you can be here with us. Because I promise you, I will not risk them taking Jacob. He will not grow up with strangers."

It wasn't until she stopped shouting that she realized she had been.

Hector's eyes were wide, and his mouth worked up and down silently.

Haley took a deep breath and rubbed her eyes.

"I need you," she said. "We can figure out the money. But I can't figure out another father for our son."

Hector took his own breath, then took a step forward and wrapped his arms around her.

"I'm going to do right by this family," he said. "I'd do anything for that kid. I promise."

# Afterword

Thank you so much for reading Script Kiddies!

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To continue the adventure with Haley, Hector and Dana, be sure to check out Ransomware, the first full installment of the Killchain Chronicles! Available now on Amazon.

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And if you haven't already, be sure to join my mailing list at **www.CBrandonClark.com**!

You'll get exclusive bonus content, such a Killchain Short Story and a Bonus Chapter from another upcoming novel! You'll also get the early access to special promotions and exciting news on new releases!

# Also by Brandon Clark

**Killchain Chronicles**

Ransomware

Trojan – Coming September '19!

Human Element – Free Short Story to Mailing List Subscribers

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**Other Series**

Dragon Fleet Five – Coming July '19!

# About the Author

Brandon Clark is a Cyber Security expert who spent the first seven years of his career helping Fortune 500 companies secure their environments against cyber security attacks. He specialized in credit card security (PCI), Incident Response Planning, Threat Intelligence, and a number of other compliance frameworks.

* * *

He now writes full time, but occasionally uses his security skills to help smaller companies protect themselves from the evolving threats in today's ever-changing world.

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When he's not writing, you're likely to meet him on a trail, ski slope or underwater with a camera in hand.

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Connect with him on Facebook or Instagram (brandon.clark25) and join his mailing list at **www.cBrandonClark.com** to stay up to date with his newest releases, exciting promotions, and exclusive giveaways!

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