Heart pounding a mile a minute now, I dove in and took everything out. I knew this was dangerous. There was a ton of crap here and it would take me a while to replace it all. But I had to see what was in the bottom of this trunk. If Ariana was hiding something, she had done a much better job of hiding it than her friends had.
Once the trunk was clear, I grabbed the ribbon and pulled. The entire floor of the trunk pulled free. Sitting underneath it was a sleek black laptop computer.
I turned and looked over my shoulder. Ariana had a Mac all set up on her desk. What did a high school student need with a second, secret computer?
I took the computer out and rested it in my lap. I popped the
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top and hit the power button, just praying no one would walk
in. It took the computer a few agonizing seconds to power up. What was on this thing? Was it the proof Natasha was looking for? Had Ariana and the others actually plotted to get Leanne thrown out of school? It was clear that Ariana, at least, had something worth hiding. These were pretty elaborate measures for simply stashing a laptop to keep it from getting stolen. Especially when everyone at this school could buy one of these things four thousand times over.
“Come on,” I whispered. “Come on, come on. . . .”
Finally, a black screen appeared with a prompt window in the center.
“Welcome, Ariana,” it read. “Password?”
And there was that white box underneath with a flashing cursor, mocking me. There would be no getting past this without a password.
Shit.
Downstairs, the front door of Billings opened and slammed. I was on my feet in an instant, carefully replacing the computer and the false bottom and all the contents of the trunk. I shoved it back into the closet, slipped out the door, and ran to the stairwell, jogging down to my own floor. It wasn't until I was back in my room that I allowed myself to breathe. I leaned back against my door and heaved, my hand over my stomach.
I was onto something. I knew I was. I had to get the password
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to that computer, but how? I couldn't figure out what Ariana meant half the time when she was speaking directly to me, so how was I supposed to deduce her secret password?
Didn't matter how. I had to do it. Because if there was anything to be found, it was on that computer. I was sure of it.
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PERFECT COUPLE
“Reed! Reed! Wait up!”
I paused on the steps to the library as Constance jogged to catch up with me. Her face was flushed and her eyes were bright with excitement. She placed her hand over her heart as she stopped in front of me to catch her breath. Just looking at her made me think of meadows in springtime and flowers blooming.
“Thank you so much for making me talk to Whittaker the other day,” she gushed. “I never would have gone up to him on my own, but he was so sweet. We talked for so long Mr. Shreeber was screaming at me to get on the bus. I made us late for the meet!”
“Wow. Glad I could be of service,” I said.
“He told me all about his trip to East Asia and asked me about the Cape,” Constance said. “He remembered that my family goes to the Cape every summer. Not that he shouldn't. I mean, his family has visited us there a few times. But still, it was nice of him to ask, wasn't it?”
“Sure,” I said, grinning as well. It was nearly impossible not to in the face of that much giddiness.
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“Do you think he was flirting?” she asked me, grabbing my forearm, which was wrapped around my books.
“Of course he wasn't flirting. Why would he flirt with me?” Constance said, pulling me aside to let a few students through to the door. “He's known me since my Elmo obsession,” she said, looking at the ground.
'Your Elmo obsession?"
“Oh, I was obsessed with Elmo--you know, from Sesame Street?-- for way too long. I carried that stupid doll around with me until I was, like, nine years old,” Constance said. “My older brother Trey threw it in the ocean one year and Whit dove in to save it.” She sighed. For the first time in my life, I saw firsthand what the expression “stars in her eyes” looked like. Kind of spooky. “I'll never forget that.”