The Secret Society of Wattpad

SHUT DOWN

[chapter ten]

It took five minutes for her computer to boot up. It was like everything froze, moving at slow speed. In reality, it wasn't a big deal. But there was a chance (a big one at that) where if the website knew who participated, Ava's account could never be seen again.

Which to anyone, would seem like an overreaction as she could make another account. And maybe she was overreacting. But she still wanted to find out what was happening, whether or not she would have to start from the bottom again.

Ava sat on her bed. She couldn't handle the anxiety that coursed through her veins, pounding against the walls of her flesh. Her sister would give her an answer when she had one.

Not long after, Ariella said, "You're right, they know." Well of course they knew! It's all over the website!

"And . . ."

"And they're getting rid of it." Ariella heaved a sigh that sounded like she held it in for quite some time. "Or, let me rephrase that: they got rid of it." Ariella turned the laptop around; the screen was blank and the link clearly didn't work.

"Ugh, are you serious?" It was a rhetorical question, so her sister didn't reply. "Do you know if they're 'punishing' anyone that was a part of it?"

Silence took over until her sister said, "No. Apparently not. They say that about 25% of the community was in it, and that's just too big of a number to track down everyone and close accounts and whatnot. So . . . we're in the clear."

"We?" Ava had completely forgot: Ariella was undercover; she was in it, too. "So you're in the clear as well?"

Her sister nodded, a slight smile spreading across her face. Ava relaxed and hugged her sister to congratulate her for not getting kicked out of the Ambassador program or of Wattpad.