A Price Worth Paying

Chapter Twenty-six. Year Three, part six.

Year 3. Part 6.

"Oh my god! Pookie. You and your Grampa nearly got arrested. You do know that, Right!" Sean gasped holding his sides laughing.

"We did not. We didn't even come close. Security guards can't arrest people anyway. They can only kick you out of the event. Grampa said so. They didn't and I got to cross something off my bucket list." Sang said poking Sean in the ribs when he started grinning.

"Dancing on stage with a rock band was on your bucket list at age 7, Miss Sorenson?"

"No. Getting up on stage with a rock LEGEND was on my list at that age, Mr Blackbourne." Sang replied with dignity, ignoring Sean who continued to laugh hard.

"God. We really do need to keep an eye you, Pumpkin."

"No you don't. That was a different time. A different girl, Sean, and I'm a completely different person now." Sang said with a sad, distant look in her eyes.

"Not completely Miss Sorenson. Your basic strength, sweetness and kindness is an intrinsic part of you. That will never change. Along with many other qualities you displayed at a very young age." Mr Blackbourne said.

'Including a penchant for balcony jumping.' He sighed to himself.

"Yeah, well, I still say we need a look at Pookie's bucket list so we know what we're in for."

The Start of the Search, Wired and Going Ninja.

Sang sat cross legged on the easy chair in a corner of the library with a lap top resting on her knees. For several weeks now she had been thinking about why her dad wouldn't let her stay with her grandparents for good.

She didn't get it. He barely spoke to her. No one ever even asked at her house whether she had enjoyed Summer away. The only person who seemed interested was her teacher Mr Jackson.

In fact, although it hurt to admit, her mother was always unhappy to see her back, and Marie didn't care so long as Sang gave her the gifts Grammy had packed for her.

No one talked to her like they did at Grampa's place, and she really didn't understand why her mum seemed to dislike Grammy and Grampa so much. They were the best people in the world.

So WHY did they want her there.

The way Sang figured it she needed to keep her head straight and her mouth shut. In the meantime she would start to get ready for living with her grandparents forever. She wasn't giving up on that hope any time soon.

She just didn't like bringing it up with Grammy or Grampa, because they were already upset about her going back to Illinois at the end of the summer.

Getting copies of school reports wouldn't be a problem but to enrol in school here she thought she would need her birth certificate. Knowing that her father was not happy with Grampa going to see him she wasn't asking him for a copy any time soon.

Sighing to herself she continued working on her program. Her aim was to go through the DMV as a sort of back door to the Department of Vital Records. Sang figured the traffic level of enquiries through the DMV would be a lot higher than hacking straight into the DVR itself, and her little look and see recon. mission should easily be missed. Sang was sure she didn't want anyone asking her parents questions. Being unnoticed was important, she knew that.

She was determined. She would run out of time this summer, but she could definitely sneak a thumb drive into her bag without being caught, and work on it during the winter. Good old Mr T would hold messages, hugs and her secret this year.

Thinking hard again, Sang decided to create a virus isolated to her program only. If anyone tried more than three times to hack the password they'd regret it. She smiled to herself as she shut down her "Operation Birth Certificate" program and went to work creating a virus to protect it.