Removed

25

 The ice creamery is dark when I arrive. I can make out the outlines of my friends at a table near the door. Cody's laptop illuminates his face, which is full of worry. As they all turn their heads towards me, I pull out a chair and plop into it. My hands clasp in front of me while nerves attack my stomach.

"Alright," Cody breaths, swiping his hair out of his face. "I filled them in on the situation."

My heart migrates to my stomach. This is real; this is inevitable. "So, what's the plan?"

"Yeah," Eva pipes up from beside me. "You're gonna save Autumn, right?"

Cody stares straight into my eyes, his hazel ones a sea of indescribable emotion. "Yeah. I have some ideas."

Slowly, he turns his computer around to face us. I nearly gasp, my mouth hanging open. It's part of the 'cookbook' I downloaded to his computer. However, this page is full of statistics and information of Chips. I can make out a bold headline proclaiming 'How to install Chips'.

Jared jerks the computer in his direction. "Whoa. This information must be highly classified."

"It is," Cody sighs. "If we're caught, we're all good as dead.'

My head bobs up and down. "I know, but it's worth the risk." Nerves cause my fingers to shake as I pull the laptop in my direction. "How is this information supposed to help me?"

"Patience," Cody teases, gently pulling the laptop back towards himself.

A bit of moonlight enters the shop. It illuminates slivers of wooden tables and even reflects off Jared's inky hair. The streetlights have already been shut off, the moon our only light. Sweet smells of varied ice cream flavors linger in the air. I deeply inhale, smiling to myself. This has become the normal; meeting in an ice cream shop late at night. Oddly, I love this practice. I love hanging out with these three individuals.

"I have no patience," Jared jokes. A moment later, I hear him groan in pain while Eva sniffles a laugh.

"Who invited the crybaby?" Eva sighs, leaning her head on my shoulder. Her chocolate hair brushes against my cheek. "Autumn, be my pillow. I'm tired."

Jared sharply exhales. "Geez, take a joke. Who invited you?"

I roll my eyes, laughter bubbling within me.

"I wish you'd drown in your pool!" Eva suddenly exclaims, jerking her head from my shoulder.

Silence follows her outburst. The sounds of our breathing mixes together into one magnified noise. Someone sucks in air as I loudly blow some out, disturbing a piece of my hair. The tension in the air is almost palpable as Eva goes rigid beside me.

"Anyways," Cody quickly exclaims, his eyes shining under the light of his laptop, "I need to tell you guys my idea."

Jared coughs. "Alright. Let's hear it."

"What if I reinsert the Chip into Autumn's wrist?"

Gasps follow his suggestion. My heart hammers in my chest. If he did, no one would be after me anymore. Yet, I wouldn't be special, either.

"You can't be serious," Eva nervously laughs. Her hand bumps into my shoulder as she runs it through her hair. "The whole point of the Chip Busters is to get rid of Chips! But yeah, no, that totally makes sense."

"Did you drink some of that juice from the party?" Jared groans, prompting a light laugh from me. "No, really, Autumn. He sounds as delirious as Eva was after she drank it."