Standing in front of me at the Hacking Dome is Domain and Unix. They're both wide-eyed. I guess anyone would be surprised to see someone with Cyber and making him laugh.
"Didn't know you guys came here to flirt," Domain said.
Cyber glances at me with a smirk that is very Cyber. "I wouldn't call that flirting. I can kick it up a notch-"
"Why are you guys here?" I ask quickly. Luckily Unix rescues me.
"I haven't seen you since you got drunk at the bar, so I used my necklace to find you."
Damn. She used the tracking necklace she gave me on Christmas. I need to remind myself to take it off when Unix isn't looking. Domain takes a seat beside me and calls out to Perl.
"Yo, four drinks will you? And make it sweet... something for like a double date."
"I'm telling you, it's not a date."
"Shush, sweetheart. Don't you think it's more fun this way?" Cyber smiles, his eyes twinkling with amusement.
Heat fills me, but only because I'm miffed at the way Cyber's treating me. Right after I told him about how Perl felt about him. If he were to keep this up, Perl will kill me.
"Knock it off. I mean it, Cyber."
Perl glances my way, and I can feel her gaze bore into me. Reluctantly, she turns around to make our drinks.
"So," Domain speaks. "Mind if I ask what Hacker Academy's best pupils are doing here in the Hacking Dome together?"
I steal a nervous glance at Cyber, hoping he'll get us out of this one.
"I can't visit a fellow hacker here? Or am I stealing your girl?"
Domain lets out a noise of disgust and Unix laughs nervously from behind. "You can have her."
"Don't mind if I do."
"Gross."
I clutch my chest as I feel my skin is heating up and my heart pounding faster with every deep chuckle from Cyber. Just when I think I can't take this anymore, Cyber speaks.
"You know," his voice turns into a quiet mumble that's an octave lower and tugs me towards him. I can feel my heart pound and senses burning as he rubs his thumbs soothingly on my palm. He leans close and brushes my ear as he says, "You're cute when you're mad."
With a flushed face, I lean back like his touch has scorched me. In a way it has, and it's different than the glaring look that Perl just gave me. The intensity of Cyber's eyes terrify me, but the slight upwards twitch of his lips thrill me.
I lean away just in time as Perl turns around. I flinch at the way she placed our drinks on the counter with a little more force than necessary. Domain and Unix don't seem to notice.
"Cyber," I seethe out.
He looks at me with half-lidded eyes and a lopsided smile.
"One of the tables are broken, can you come and take a look?" I quickly walk over to a competing table at the side.
The back of the Dome is simply a wall of glass, but I'm captivated by the view outside. The Dome is on the top floor of the mall, so I can see countless neon buildings stretched across the horizon. Below the glamour of the skyscrapers sit rows of run-down houses that still line up neatly side by side, no matter how slanted they are.
They're probably filled with hackers that prefer to live here than in New York City. To them, freedom is more precious than all the luxurious homes in New York. Hacking is their freedom. The houses are all stripped bare of any signs of life. No lawn, no plants, no life. I shudder as I am taken back to the memories of living in a home like that. I hope mom and sister are living a better life. They deserve a happier one. Which means I must stay here. But the longer I live here, the more realities and bare truths are uncovered to me, and I don't think I want to know them.
"The sky is just an illusion," Cyber speaks.
I turn around and watch his blue eyes gaze into mine. He joins me as we stare at the outside world.
"There are screen panels above which change depending on the weather assigned by the Officer of Weather. They calculate the necessary temperature and weather condition based on the season," he continues to explain. "There are screen-pores on the screen panels that emit water, snow, mist, and heat. So the sky is just an illusion."
I raise my eyebrows. "Thanks for the science report."
"You seemed curious," he says simply.
I look at him dumbly before letting out a laugh. "Yeah, I was actually curious about that since I came to HackCity."
"Everyone does. The city seems like paradise, but once you get to know the ins and outs and the people, it's not so great."
He looks out as if he was recalling a distant memory. I want to ask if this applies to Cyber's secrets, but I hold it back.
"I'll be sure to keep that in mind," I say.
Cyber smiles at me and my heart skips a beat. "You should smile more."
Now's the time to interrogate.
"Alright, just what is with you today-"
A melodic voice suddenly calls out his name. I watch as Perl invades Cyber's personal space. She purrs out his name and wraps a hand around his neck. She's acting as if I'm not here. But she takes one glance at me, and I realize she's taking matters into her own hands.
"You're usually looking forward to playing when you're here. You're not yourself today."
She's paying complete attention to him by stroking his neck and ignoring me. Seeing her do this makes me boil in rage. I almost said the exact words, yet when she says it, the whole aura is completely different. Perl has a feminine charm that I will never have.
"I know," says Cyber. That's when he looks at me, and my heart is caught again. My breath noticeably hitches before he speaks again.
"I'm not myself when I'm around her."
Perl slowly lets go of Cyber and backs away. She takes a long time looking at Cyber and me. Her face is scrunched in confusion, eyebrows furrowed and lips apart. It doesn't take a mind reader to know that she's thinking I never stood a chance between her and Cyber. Yet here I am with Cyber, and my heart is stolen one way or another.
"She was always a weird girl."
With that, she walks away. I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding and turn towards Cyber.
"What did you just say?" I'm still in shock from his words.
"Shh," he whispers as he draws near.
"W-what are you doing?" I demand as he holds my wrists and stares into my eyes. We're breaths away from each other, and I can't feel anything except the warmth coming from Cyber. I cannot resist but let my heavy eyelids flutter shut as I wait.
"Is Perl looking?"
My eyes snap open.
"N-no."
"Good." He drops his hands and goes back to gazing at the view as if nothing had happened. I stare at his retreating figure.
I want to ask him so many things. I want to ask him about the mysterious woman, Perl, and how he feels about me. But all I can manage to say is, "What are you doing to me?"
YOU ARE READING
Hacker Academy
Science FictionI am a hacker. It's the only way to help my mother and sister survive. At Hacker Academy, I make money, friends with dark secrets, and love. But if there's one thing I've learned at Hacker Academy, some secrets should not be hacked. Highest Rankings...