Swap'd

by Tamara Ireland Stone

  Allie came up on one elbow. “You did?”

  “Yeah. He told the principal and she made me shut it down. They didn’t make me give everything back, but I had to give all the money to charity. And then, let’s see, number two . . .” She thought about it. “It was harder to say good-bye to my mom than I expected. I miss her. And three, there was a lot of turbulence. How about you?”

  “I’ll start with good day . . . that’s easy. One, you’re here. Two, our Swap’d presentation is going to blow everyone away. And three . . .” Allie trailed off, thinking. And then she remembered what happened in the lab that day. She felt her whole face light up in the dark.

  “There was this . . . thing that happened . . . with Nathan.” As soon as she said the words, her heart started racing.

  Courtney sat straight up. “I knew it!”

  “Knew what?”

  “You like him.”

  “No, I don’t!” Allie sat up, too. “I mean . . . I don’t know. I’m not sure. He’s been my archenemy since third grade. We are constantly competing against each other. We’re barely even friends!”

  “Now I know that’s not true.”

  “How?” Allie asked.

  “You talk about Zoe, Maddie, and Emma all the time. You talk about Nathan just as often. But until last week, you never even mentioned Marcus to me.”

  “I’m sure I had.”

  Courtney ignored her and kept talking. “Think about it this way. How did you feel when Marcus told you he liked Zoe?”

  Allie shrugged. “A little sad. Embarrassed. Lame for thinking he liked me that whole time.”

  Courtney nodded. “Now, how would you feel if Nathan told you he liked someone else?”

  The thought alone made Allie feel like her heart had just shattered into a million pieces. She couldn’t even imagine it. She would have been more than sad. She would have been hurt. And jealous. And kind of devastated.

  “Oh my God,” Allie whispered.

  “See?” Courtney said. “Told ya.”

  “Next up, is Swap’d,” Ms. Slade said as the giant screen at the front of the class lit up with the Swap’d logo. She stepped off to the side and Allie took her spot.

  “Today, I’m going to tell you about Swap’d,” Allie began. “I created it for this reuse assignment using code from three different developers, all friends I made during CodeGirls Camp last summer.”

  She clicked the remote and the slide advanced to a picture of Shonna next to an avatar that looked a lot like her.

  “Shonna created an avatar builder for a game she made at camp. We took that and snapped it together with this auction game Kaiya made.” She advanced the slide to a photo of Kaiya and a screenshot of her game, Going Once. “And then we added the calculation engine Jayne built. But most of the code came from this.”

  She advanced the slide again. “This was an app created by my friend Courtney called share|wear, which kept track of all the clothes we borrowed from one another during camp.”

  Allie gestured toward the back of the room. “Why don’t you come up and join me, Courtney?”

  Everyone in the class turned to look at her. Courtney covered her face and shook her head.

  “Come on,” Allie said. “I can’t do this without you.”

  Courtney finally stood and joined her, and Allie advanced the slide again. “Here’s where it all started.”

  On screen, Zoe appeared holding a pair of blue-and-gray earbuds out in front of her and wearing a dramatic pout on her face. Everyone in the class laughed. “My friend Zoe didn’t get the wireless Beats she wanted for Christmas, so she bought these instead. And she was sad.” Allie mimicked her pout, and everyone cracked up again.

  Next slide.

  “Zoe couldn’t return them, so I had the idea to auction them off to the highest bidder during the bus ride home.” In the picture, Zoe and Julia Sanders had their arms around each other. This time, Julia was holding the earbuds in her hands. They were both beaming.

  Next slide.

  Allie went on to explain how she and Courtney worked to pull everything together that night, reaching out to their fellow CodeGirls. “We couldn’t believe how quickly it all happened. We tested it a few times over the next day, and cleaned things up a bit, and that was it. Swap’d was born.”

  Next slide.

  “We held our first auction,” Courtney said, pointing at the picture of the Swap’d interface on the screen. “And we made money.”

  “And then we held the second,” Allie added, “and made even more money.”

  “We didn’t make as much on the third one.”

  “And then we found out that selling stuff on campus is against our school rules . . .”

  “And, also, the law.”

  The two of them talked fast, finishing each other’s sentences.

  “We can’t actually sell anything, so today, we’re going to hold a mock auction, just for the class,” Courtney said.

  They’d set it all up in advance, so with a push of a button, Allie sent Swap’d to everyone’s phones. Within minutes, the whole class had downloaded and launched the game, and most of them were already creating avatars.

  Allie and Courtney set the clock for one minute. Ms. Slade had given them six items to fake sell for fake cash. It was a fierce fight for Ms. Slade’s bucket of Legos, and an even more vicious battle for all-you-can-eat popcorn. When the auctions were complete, Ms. Slade returned to the front of the room and pretended to pass out the winnings, while Allie and Courtney wrapped up their demo.

  “Thanks for swap’n’,” they said at the same time. They high-fived each other, and the room erupted into applause.

  “Excellent,” Ms. Slade said when the cheers died down. “That is a perfect example of collaboration, code reuse, and being flexible.” She made a wave motion with her hand. “Sometimes your initial idea doesn’t work, but that doesn’t mean you should quit on it. What else did you two learn from building Swap’d?”

  Allie’s hand shot up. “Check your idea with your teacher, just in case it’s all illegal.”

  Everyone laughed.

  “Yes, that’s a solid takeaway,” Ms. Slade said. “Okay, Nathan, you’re up!”

  He walked to the front of the room and launched his game. There was no logo. No fancy start-up screen. No over-the-top graphics. Just a simple yellow race car next to a green one.

  “Forty-eight hours ago, I didn’t have a game. I didn’t even have an idea. And thanks to my friend Allie, I have this.” He looked at her and gave her the biggest smile.

  Under the desk, Courtney slapped her leg with the back of her hand.

  “I’ve been having a hard time getting new users to try Built, so Allie had the idea to create a fun viral game that will draw new players in. I created this simple two-person racing game to introduce people to the Built world. I’ll need two volunteers.” Every hand went up. “How about . . . Xander and Kaitlyn.” The two of them stood and walked to the front of the room, and Nathan handed each one of them one of Ms. Slade’s demo phones, already loaded with his game and connected to the monitor. “You two ready?”

  Xander nodded. Kaitlyn took a ready stance.

  On screen, a huge number three appeared. Then a two. Then a one. And then the word GO!

  Xander’s little yellow car took off first, but Kaitlyn was right on his tail. Eventually, she caught up, and the two of them were side by side, until Xander pulled in front and cut her off, sending her into a tailspin. She recovered quickly, hit the gas, and started gaining on Xander again.

  Everyone in the class was on their feet, screaming and clapping. Some people were cheering for Xander. Others were cheering for Kaitlyn. But Allie stayed silent. She wasn’t rooting for one car or the other.

  She was rooting for Nathan. She’d been rooting for him all along.

  The doorbell rang, and Bo went tearing off to see who it was.

  “Pizza’s here!” Allie’s mom yelled, heading for the door.

  “Finally
!” Maddie said as she paced the kitchen. “I hate going from school straight to soccer practice. I’m always starving by the time we’re done.”

  Allie’s mom returned holding two large pizza boxes in the air over her head. “Make room for the good stuff,” she said as she slid the boxes onto the counter.

  “Oh, we’ve got room,” Maddie said, rubbing her stomach.

  Emma took a deep breath in. “That smells amazing.”

  Allie reached into the cabinet for the plates, and her dad grabbed a stack of napkins.

  “Thank you, Mrs. Navarro.” Zoe said, and the rest of them echoed her as they crowded in, preparing to dive forward and grab a slice as soon as Allie’s mom was out of the way.

  But Zoe spread her arms wide and turned around to face her friends. “Slow down. Guests first.” Everyone took a step back. “After you, Courtney.”

  Courtney stepped into the newly vacant space and put two slices of pepperoni on her plate.

  “You’ll have to come back to visit in a few months, after the rain ends,” Maddie said as she reached for a slice. “Then it’s nice and sunny. Almost like the California they show you in the movies.”

  “I liked getting drenched during your soccer practice,” Courtney said. “Trust me, I would have been disappointed if it looked like the California in the movies! I needed a weekend of rain.”

  “Who needs a weekend of rain?” Maddie asked.

  “People who live in the desert,” Courtney said matter-of-factly. Everyone laughed as they all gathered around the kitchen table.

  “Tell us more about Phoenix,” Emma said. “What are your friends like?”

  “They’re nice,” Courtney said. “There’s a big group of us. Most of us were friends in elementary school, so we’ve known each other a long time, just like the four of you. But it’s different, I guess.”

  “How?” Zoe asked.

  “My friends are great, but they don’t quite get my fascination with games and coding. Everything’s fine on the volleyball court. We’re all a team. But I’m kind of on my own with the other stuff I love. You’ve got one another’s backs on the soccer field and off of it. Like the way you all stepped up to support Allie over the last two weeks—making slime, selling candy and clothes, divvying up all the cash, stuffing envelopes, and distributing it during lunch . . . That’s pretty awesome.”

  Maddie, Emma, Zoe, and Allie exchanged glances.

  “It was pretty great,” Emma said. “We had Maddie spreading the word on KMMS.”

  “That was mostly to keep CrabbyPatty out of the scene,” Maddie admitted. “Emma, that was all you with the money. You were a rock star.” She looked at Courtney. “You should have seen her. She had a full assembly line going. She read the names, Zoe stuffed the cash in envelopes, and Chris and I delivered everything.”

  Emma looked proud. “Well, and we can’t forget Zoe, the matchmaker,” she said. “Thanks to her, Allie has an excuse to talk to Marcus for an hour a day, three times a week. No more of that Hey, Six–Hey, Three routine, right, Zoe?”

  Zoe had a weird look on her face. “Right. So annoying.”

  Emma turned to Courtney. “Wait till you see Marcus. He is a-dor-a-ble. His hair is dark and kind of long, and it’s always shiny—”

  “He does have the best hair!” Maddie said. “But don’t tell Chris I said that. He thinks he has the best hair at Mercer.”

  Everyone laughed.

  “I loved meeting Nathan today,” Courtney said. Allie looked at her wide-eyed, silently pleading with her not to say anything else. “Talk about cute! I’ve had a huge crush on his avatar alone, with those freckles across his nose and that spiky red hair.” She wiggled her fingers over her head. “And now that I’ve met him in person . . .”

  Allie felt her cheeks get hotter.

  “I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for him,” Courtney continued. “He gave up his locker as the pickup point. And then he sold all that stuff on Swap’d when he could have sold it for twice as much anywhere else. Now that’s adorable.”

  Maddie, Zoe, and Emma looked at each other. And then they looked at Allie.

  “What?” Allie asked.

  “Nothing,” Maddie said. But she didn’t look like it was nothing.

  “Tell me more about Mercer,” Courtney said, changing the subject. Maddie and Emma took turns telling her about their spot under the oak tree in the quad, and how they had to sneak their devices during the day or Mr. Mohr would confiscate them using his little orange bucket. While they talked, Zoe was unusually quiet, staring at the table and nibbling on her pizza crust.

  When everyone else was distracted, Zoe leaned in close to Allie. “I have to tell you something.”

  Allie picked a piece of sausage off the pizza and popped it in her mouth. “I already know. And it’s okay.”

  “It’s okay?” Zoe asked. “Are you sure?”

  “Positive.” And then Allie whispered, “¿Te gusta él?”

  “Do I like him?” Zoe’s face lit up. “Yeah . . . I think I do.”

  “Good.” Allie said it like she meant it. And she did.

  Allie and Courtney stood at the top of the escalator, looking down onto the show floor.

  “Here we are,” Allie said.

  “I never thought I’d be here in a million years.”

  “Well, you won’t be here in a million years. None of us will be.”

  Courtney rolled her eyes. “Cute. Come on. Let’s go.”

  They followed the crowd into the exhibit hall and flashed their VIP badges for the security guard at the entrance.

  Inside, it was loud and bright and big, and Allie couldn’t figure out where to focus first. Enormous flat screens hung from the ceiling, all displaying the latest Spyglass games and trailers, and there were huge stages set up for demos and interviews with the development teams in all four corners of the room. Cosplayers walked the floor, and Allie and Courtney marveled at the fact that they could barely move five feet without someone stopping them for a picture.

  “This is awesome,” Courtney said. And then she repeated it about every ten minutes.

  It wasn’t too difficult to locate the Spyglass Games booth. It was smack in the middle and took up more space than any of the other ones. Right away, Allie spotted Jen, the one who helped her set up her kiosks during Games for Good.

  She took Courtney by the arm. “Follow me. There’s someone I want you to meet.”

  Jen was dressed like she was during G4G, in ripped jeans and black Converse, but this time, her hair was pulled back into a ponytail and she was wearing a black T-shirt with the Spyglass Games logo on the front.

  As soon as she saw Allie, she stopped what she was doing and moved toward her. “Allie! It’s so good to see you here!”

  “Thanks for the passes.”

  “It was our pleasure.”

  “This is my friend Courtney,” Allie said. “I told you about her in the e-mail I sent yesterday. We developed a new game together, so she’s going to join me for the meet-and-greet, if that’s okay.”

  “That’s fine. Everyone’s excited to see what you built,” Jen said. “Hold on.” She held one finger up and tapped the other one against her headset. “Okay, it sounds like she’s on her way. Are you ready?”

  Allie reached for Courtney’s hand and squeezed it. “We’re ready.”

  Naomi Ryan breezed into the booth and walked straight up to them. “Allie Navarro! I remember you.” Allie wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing. She hoped it was a good thing. “It’s so nice to see you again.”

  Allie stretched her arm out and gave her the firmest handshake she could. And then she introduced Courtney, and the two of them shook hands, too.

  Naomi Ryan gestured to the two people with her. “This is Olivia Brannan and Jason Pierce. They’re in charge of our summer hackathon program.” They all did another round of handshakes. “I heard you both applied, so I asked them to join me. It sounds like you have something new to demo for us today.
”

  “Yes, we do, Ms. Ryan.”

  “Please,” she said. “Call me Naomi.”

  Allie tried to ignore her racing heart. She threw her shoulders back and straightened her spine, mustering up all the courage she could find. “It’s called Swap’d. Courtney and I developed it together in about eighteen hours, using code from a bunch of our girlfriends who live all across the country.”

  “Really?” Naomi said. “I’m intrigued.” Olivia and Jason nodded along.

  Allie wasn’t sure how many people would be there, so she’d borrowed three of Ms. Slade’s demo phones and set them up in advance.

  They’d already designed Naomi Ryan’s avatar. It looked just like her, with short brown hair that flipped up a bit at the bottom, a red suit jacket that looked a lot like the one she was wearing the last time Allie had seen her, and a wizard hat, just for fun.

  Naomi laughed when she saw it. “The hat is a nice touch!”

  Allie handed Olivia and Jason two phones with generic avatars, and started explaining how the game worked.

  They had already loaded six mock items into the queue: three of Courtney’s favorite Spyglass video games, a pair of “SpyGlasses”—the new 3-D gaming goggles the company had announced the day before—a sweatshirt with the Spyglass Games logo, and a stack of Spyglass stickers.

  “These items aren’t actually for sale,” Allie said. “So you can bid as high as you want. You have two minutes. Ready?”

  Allie clicked the START button and the clock began counting down.

  The executives were slow to start, so Courtney showed them how it was done, jumping right in with a $200 bid on the SpyGlasses. And that was all it took. Naomi put a $100 bid on the sweatshirt, a $30 bid on the stickers, and $100 on each of the games. Olivia and Jason were right on her heels, raising the bids.

  “Get out of here,” Olivia said to Jason when he raised the bid on one of the stickers to $4,000.

  They all put money on the SpyGlasses, but then Courtney raised it to $5,000, outbidding everyone. “Oh, no you don’t, Courtney. Those are all mine,” Naomi said, increasing the bid on the SpyGlasses to $6,000. Courtney immediately raised it to $6,500.