A Quiet Key

Chapter 8

" Muna, come sit down." August stood up ushered her toward the couch he was sitting on.

Still confused she nodded and sat down next to him. "What's happening?" She repeated before quickly adding, "I mean it's nice to see you and all but..." She trailed off.

I quickly nodded and explained the gist of what had happened. I knew these were people we could trust. Muna hugged me when she heard about my families death and gasped at the surprising parts while August leaned his arm on the armrest and bent his heads toward me seeming very interested. They were great listeners but as I talked I felt like I was reading a mystery story aloud. It seemed fake when I reminded myself that this was, in fact, my life, like none of this was really true.

"And so we need you to hack into Auralia's parent's file." Jake finished for me. 

I sipped my now cold tea and waited for a response. Then Muna asked with a sly smile," We'll do it, but how much are you planning to pay?"  

My eyes widened but I guess I should've expected that they would need money. I opened my mouth to ask how much I should pay but before I could start Muna waved her hands around in a disapproving manner, " I'm kidding! Seriously, what type of friends would we be if we charged money to help. Of course, we'll hack for you!" She finished with a bright smile. 

I looked at August for confirmation and he smiled, nodded and told us to show them the computer. Jake took it out and gave it to them so I had time to think. I hadn't objected to Muna when she said we're friends. Now I realized that being a friend felt nice: like a warm fuzzy blanket wrapped around me.

The sounds of the brother and sister typing interrupted the silence. They worked in perfect harmony, not accidentally touching the same key or talking about who would type what.   I looked at Jake and saw that he was affixed with their typing. I turned to stare at them too and noticed how they had changed. Muna's old long hair was now cut just below her ears. Her eyes looked different too now, though they still held the same child-like curiosity they now seemed more guarded.  August still had his same scarf but he seemed like he understood more now, like he had seen the world in just a few years. I suppose time will change everyone someday.

Muna then patted her brother's shoulder and he nodded. He sighed and came to sit next to me. He smiled at me tiredly. Hacking seemed to have taken a lot out of him but Muna didn't slow down. He squeezed my hands and I noticed that my knuckles were white. August silently tried to comfort me even though he looked exhausted. I tried to smile at him in a way to show him I noticed.

Around 10 minutes later Muna jumped up and punched her fist into the air with a huge grin on her face, "We got into their files!"