A Family Affair (Hunter Street)

Chapter Three -- A New Adventure

THE RACE WAS on. Everything was silent in the library, probably because everyone was busy reading books or doing research on their topics of choice. People were lounging in comfy chairs while falling into other worlds; others were hunched over computers, tapping away at the keyboards as they learned about random topics. But in the corner farthest away from everyone were two people hurriedly beating their laptops with their fingers, trying to win the hack-off.

Josh glanced over at Jennie, who sat in the green chair leisurely, with her legs draped across the opposite arm as her laptop balanced precariously on her knees. There was a wide smile on her face, though it didn't distract from the look of determination in her eyes. Josh knew that she thought she was the better hacker, but that wasn't the truth. He had gone to the Lucas Academy for much longer than she had, so he knew more than she did. Hopefully. 

Tearing his gaze away from her, he focused back on his own computer that was sitting on his lap. He was stuck at a spot, trying to use a special code he made to crack the four-number code. He swore that his code would work, but so far, it wasn't, and that made him angry. He made it while at the Academy, and Miss Lucas said that it was the best coding she had seen in a while. Maybe she had lied to him because that was all that she had done. Maybe she brainwashed him to believe that he was the best when in reality he wasn't. 

"I did it!" Jennie said triumphantly. A few people shushed her from her outburst, so she grinned sheepishly and whispered, "I did it!"

"No way," Josh said. He stood up and walked behind her chair, looking at her computer. She had made it through the firewalls and codes on the library database. They had decided to try to hack into the database because Jennie wanted to know what books they had without perusing the aisles. "I was just going easy on you."

"Sure, you were." Jennie packed her computer away with a grin on her face. She stood up from her seat, slinging her backpack on her shoulder, and said, "I won, Josh."

He busied himself with packing his own computer away in his backpack before slinging it across his own shoulder. Jennie appeared by his side, and the two of them began walking through the library to leave. This was what they usually did when they hung out together, messing around on their laptops and having fun like that.

"I let you win," Josh concluded with a nod. Jennie rolled her eyes toward the ceiling before bumping his shoulder with her own. He looked at her and grinned. "Fine. You won fair and square. Are you happy now?"

"Yes, I am," she said brightly. They slowed their pace as they neared the front doors of the library until they were stopped off to the side, away from the flow of traffic coming to and from the front desk. "I am pretty smart, you know."

He wanted to agree that she was pretty, but that wasn't what she was saying at that moment. He didn't want to make things awkward between the two of them, especially after being brainwashed and not knowing if Jennie would trust him again. Instead, he nodded and said, "I know that."

It got very quiet between the two of them. If Josh had a knife on him, he probably wouldn't have been able to cut through the awkward cloud that was spreading around them like a dust storm. He didn't know why things always seemed to get awkward between them, but it seemed to be happening more and more lately. Maybe it was because he thought she was pretty. Maybe it was because they had been hanging out a lot more. Maybe it was a mix of the two. Either way, Josh didn't want things to be awkward with Jennie.

"Someone's calling me," Jennie said, breaking through the awkward cloud. She glanced at her phone and the smile returned to her face. "It's Anika," Jennie said, flipping her phone to face Josh for a split second. In that small amount of time, he could see Anika's profile picture, which consisted of her wearing a bright-colored onesie and the biggest grin he had ever seen. This must have been before the summer that he had met her because he hadn't seen that smile on her since. "Should I answer it?"