Total pages in book: 136
Estimated words: 131789 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 659(@200wpm)___ 527(@250wpm)___ 439(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 131789 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 659(@200wpm)___ 527(@250wpm)___ 439(@300wpm)
His eyebrows shoot up. “You can do that?”
“It isn’t hard. I had a nice little side gig going at my last couple schools. I could hook you up.”
“Hell yeah.” He slaps his laptop shut. “But seriously, you can’t get caught.”
“Never have.”
It’s one of my more elegant hustles. The massive volume of sources contained in these databases is their selling point, but it’s also their weakness, because it makes intrusion and deletion practically undetectable. And since my business is by nature a small operation, the risk is minimal.
It’s perfect, really.
Fenn watches me while I start searching for a suitable essay to give him. “So this is what you do in here all day. Hacker shit?”
“More or less.”
“Still nerdy as hell,” he says, grabbing the TV remote to find something to watch with all his newfound free time. “But maybe not a lost cause after all. I guess now I’m fifty percent more cool with the idea of having you for a roommate.”
I don’t have the heart to tell him this won’t last. Because honestly, I can’t see myself being at this school for too long. I’ll get kicked out eventually. And even if I do graduate, he’ll be going to some Ivy and I’ll be doing my own thing. Maybe we’ll convene for holidays if our parents are still married, but the jury’s out on that one too.
Still, the next time he’s bothering me to go out, I’m going to count this as bonding time.
Chapter 12
Fenn
“Come here, you little cockwaffle.”
I peel off my headphones, jostled from my trance thanks to RJ’s angry outburst.
“Little further.” RJ jerks the controller, rocking as he sits on the couch. “Left. Left, damn it.” He kicks the coffee table in frustration and tosses the Xbox controller. “This game is stupid,” he grumbles at me. “Why’d you get me on this?”
I glance down to notice I’ve been stuck on the same page of my physics textbook for nearly an hour. It’s Wednesday night, and I sat down after dinner to get some work done, but instead, I’ve bounced between compulsively checking my DMs and drifting off inside my head.
“No one’s forcing you to play it,” I say, absent-minded. “Just turn off the game.”
“No.” He stubbornly juts his chin and picks up the controller. “I refuse to be bad at this.”
“You do you, baby girl.” I start scrolling through my DMs again.
“I’m sorry, did you just call me baby girl?”
I look up from my phone. “Did I?”
“Yes.”
“Then, okay, you answered your own question.” I delete a couple messages from a Ballard chick looking for a repeat hookup.
RJ stares at me for a moment before sighing and resuming his game.
I close my DMs and rub my forehead, wishing I could be rid of all this restless energy. Don’t know what’s wrong with me. I woke up thinking about Casey and haven’t managed to shake the urge to see her all day. We were messaging last night, but I haven’t heard from her since my last response. It wasn’t important, just some random comment. Lately, though, I’m like an addict. Hanging on those little flashing bubbles.
I’m becoming obsessed and it’s kind of a problem. I could seriously ruin this girl if she doesn’t hurry up and figure out I’m no good to have around. Casey is as gentle and innocent as they come, a unicorn in the muddy swamp of the prep school circles. Not to mention she’s only a junior. So I’ve got no business letting her be corrupted by my tendency for debauchery and self-destruction.
And yet. Here we are. Here I am, texting her every day and wanting to see her when I know my dirty hands shouldn’t be anywhere near someone so pure.
Only problem is, I’m a greedy coward who can’t stay away.
I toss my phone aside, pick up my textbook, and order myself to concentrate.
Then I see my screen light up under the duvet. It’s a response from Casey to my last DM. Just an “LOL,” but the way my pulse quickens, you’d think she sent a nude.
I check the time and realize it’s after ten. Biting my lip, I stare at the screen for what feels like eternity.
Screw it. I send her a text.
If I had any self-restraint, I wouldn’t be such a bastard.
ME: Want to be a little bad?
CASEY: Depends…
ME: Sneaking out. Meet up?
CASEY: On the trail.
ME: See you soon.
“Where are you going?” RJ’s suspicious voice stops me as I’m heading for the door.
“Going to see a girl.” I glance over my shoulder. “You okay with that, Daddy?”
He rolls his eyes and goes back to the video game he sucks at.
It’s not curfew yet, so I don’t have to use stealth to leave the dorm. I just walk out, hands shoved in the pockets of my jeans, heart rate accelerating the nearer I get to the outskirts of campus.