My Twisted Heart

Chapter Four

"So," Anthony sighed. "Is that all there is to it?"

"Yes."

Even after breaking it down for him, he didn't sound the least bit bothered. If anything, he seemed rather annoyed. Whether that concerned me or not, I had yet to decide.

The reason I contacted Anthony was because of the Rank Portal app. It played a vital role in the school's operation, providing a detailed overview of every student's performance scores.

What bothered me wasn't the fact that anyone could search for my grades. If anything my scores were average at best. There was nothing that made me stand out.

What troubled me was the inclusion of the profile pictures on the app. If those images made it onto the school's main website, accessible to anyone online, it could spell trouble for me... Big trouble.

"It hasn't even been a day and you're already calling me," Anthony snorted. "Come on, admit it... You just can't stand to be away from me, can you?"

I rolled my eyes. "Judging by the tone of your voice, it's obvious you're not taking this seriously."

"Correct!"

"Which means you've already checked things over and there's nothing to be concerned about."

"Correct, again!" Anthony exclaimed. Though I couldn't see him, I could practically sense the satisfied grin he likely wore.

"Can you explain?"

Even though I trusted Anthony's competence and judgment, I wanted a more detailed explanation. At least, it would put my mind at ease.

"As I'm sure you know, Crestwood is very particular about protecting the privacy of their staff and students. To prevent any information from being leaked, the school operates using an intranet... In other words, you need to be physically on school grounds to use the app."

"I see..."

If that was the case, then my worries had been for nothing. Unfortunately, Anthony wasn't finished speaking.

"Having said that, there's always the risk that someone might take a screenshot of your picture and share it with someone on the outside. If that occurs, it's only a matter of time before your face ends up on the internet."

Anthony brought up a very valid point. Just because the app wasn't accessible to outsiders didn't guarantee that someone wouldn't leak information to the outside.

It was inevitable that students would start using the app to scope out their competition. Thankfully, this implied that as long as I kept a low profile, there would be no reason for anyone to start digging into my background.

Or so I hoped...

"I'm guessing you have a contingency in case my picture somehow ends up on the internet?"

"Absolutely," Anthony replied confidently. "I've set up multiple programs to run facial recognition scans throughout the day. If any of your pictures end up online, these programs will detect and remove them as quickly as possible. That said, no system is perfect, so there's still some level of risk... I'm sure you understand that."

"I do."

Even with an arsenal of defenses in place, it was simply impossible to fully eliminate the risk of exposure. All we could was lower the risk as much as possible.

Anthony cleared his throat. "Now that we've settled this issue, I have a question. A very important one... How's your first day of school going?"