Game On: Alien Space Adventure (The Adventures of Jayden Banks and the Jameson Twins Book 1)

by R.E. Rowe

Chapter 2

  Parker launched himself through the open window into Jayden’s bedroom, jumping onto the floor with flourish, his arms in the air. “A perfect dismount!” he said, beaming.

  “Can’t you use the front door like a normal human?” Jayden asked.

  “Why, dude, when I can take the direct route?” Parker adjusted his ever-present black baseball cap over his curly, caramel-colored hair. Most of the time, Parker wore a ball cap with “Pop Star” printed on its crown, turned sideways. He told Jayden it topped off his epically cool-look of faded jeans and a black t-shirt with “WINNING” printed in bold white letters. Even when it was eighty degrees outside, he wore a flimsy black leather jacket over it. Naturally, kids at school called him, “Pop Star.”

  In Jayden’s opinion, Parker was the worst singer on planet Earth. He couldn't even rap. The same kids in class had tagged Jayden, “Surfer Boy,” but at least that made some sort of sense. After all, he lived in the Santa Cruz foothills only a short drive from the Cali beach community of Santa Cruz. His dark brown complexion made his shoulder length, sandy blonde hair appear sun-bleached. But Jayden avoided all things saltwater, especially when there was potential to become Great White shark bait.

  Together, the two friends had been labeled “The Odd Squad.” But that didn’t bother Jayden. It actually helped them because no one suspected the so-called Surfer Boy and the Pop Star duo were a game hacker team. Well, no one except for Parker’s twin sister, Nora.

  Rox jumped up to give Parker a nice, big slurp.

  “Okay, let’s see the patient,” Parker said, nuzzling Rox before crossing to the bed and grabbing the tablet. He pulled out the headset connection and moved the screen close to his face.

  “No way,” said Parker. “The tablet has gone nuts.”

  “Obviously . . . The input is locked out too. Do you think it’s totally hosed?” Jayden groaned when Rox once again jumped on him.

  “No clue,” he replied. “Here, hold up the tablet and smile. I want to take a selfie.” Parker pulled out his mobile and snapped a photo.

  “Why?” Jayden shook his head in disgust.

  “I want to record how Rox killed you before your dad does it for reals,” Parker said with a laugh.

  If the mini-tablet turned out to be burnt toast, Jayden knew his dad would restrict his online access and ruin his life forever, or at least for a couple weeks. Up until this point, Jayden had been proud that he’d avoided major drama, school conflicts, and girl problems. Although honestly, after turning thirteen, he actually wanted girl problems. Especially if it involved Nora.

  Jayden hated to disappoint his dad, aka Mr. Banks. After all, his dad ran the largest high-tech hedge fund in Cali’s Silicon Valley, and Jayden’s mom sat on the corporate board. It had taken months for Jayden to convince his parents that teen-gamers, like Parker and him, would give their investment company an edge when considering new gaming company investments. Of course, neither Jayden’s dad nor mom had a clue he and Parker were hacking their way through the games to the top of the leader boards, leaving game modification Easter eggs behind like rabbit turds.

  Jayden flinched as the mini-tablet began making a repetitive, high-pitched beep that sounded like the tones in a hearing test. With each new beep, the volume grew louder. He tossed the tablet onto his bed like a hot potato. The symbols on the screen flashed, changed to bold, and then flashed again. The red tablet acted like a ticking time bomb counting down to explode.

  “Did you press the reset button?” Parker asked.

  Jayden’s face twisted. “Seriously, Parker? What do you think?”

  “Well?” Parker persisted.

  “Of course . . . you moron.” Jayden groaned. “It didn’t work, duh.”

  Jayden grabbed the tablet and discretely tried it again just to be sure.

  The beeps continued faster and louder, each one a different tone.

  Then the beeping abruptly stopped, and the numbers and letters disappeared. The blank screen changed from black to bright-blue. After a second, a message in bold letters appeared at the center of the tablet’s screen:

  CIA - SECC

  Unauthorized Access Is a Felony

  Parker’s eyes went wide. “CIA? Felony? We’re so screwed.”

  Jayden's heart pounded against his chest as the tablet continued making the annoying, high-pitched sounds. He gazed at the tablet the same way he looked at Rox whenever his furry friend brought home a dead rodent.

  “What’s SECC?” he asked Parker.

  Parker shrugged. “No clue.”

  After one final, loud noise, the tablet went silent, and the blue screen turned back to black.

  A loud thump rattled the bedroom door.

  Jayden and Parker jumped.

  “Are you fine?” asked Rosa from the other side of the door. Rosa was born in Belize. Without asking Jayden, his parents had hired her last summer to take care of their house and watch over him when his parents traveled on business. Rosa had moved in and become part of their family soon after.

  Parker frowned. “What’d she say?”

  Jayden waved him off. “We’re good,” he called through the door to Rosa. “Just playing a game.”

  “Fine, good. No eat in the room!” she shouted, and then walked away.

  “What do you think?” Jayden whispered to Parker.

  “Looks whacked,” he replied. “Breaking news, Jayden Banks gets banned from the Internet for life and won’t be allowed to drive his father’s Porsche until it becomes a classic.” Parker snickered like a five-year-old and adjusted his black ball cap. “The babes will love going out with you, Surfer Boy. I hear public transportation is considered totally current. You’ll have the babes lining up.”

  “Would you shut up? So not helpful.”

  Parker’s face tightened. “We need to get Nora’s help.”

  Jayden’s heart thumped as though it were playing a massive metal bass riff. Annora Jameson, aka Nora, aka Zeekmo, also known as dream girl to Jayden. She was an inch taller than him with long, curly brown hair that covered a birthmark on her lower back just above her waistband. He had spotted the mark one day at school and thought it resembled a flying wasp tat.

  Jayden noticed more about Nora than he wanted to admit. Especially her killer tan, though Parker said she spent most of her time online in her room behind a closed door. Parker claimed the tan was spray on, but Jayden didn’t care if it was man-made. All he knew was her bright brown eyes pulled him in like tractor beams. She was on Jayden’s dream girl list of one. Or as Rosa would say, “Las perspectivas de la lista.”

  The other reason she was on his perspectivas lista: she might’ve been a talented hacker, a superior cracker that could break into almost any computer, and the next top game designer, but when it came to online shooter games, Jayden wanted her flag. That might happen too if he didn’t get so freaking nervous every time she was close.

  But honestly, he realized capturing her flag probably wasn’t going to happen anytime soon. She could easily out-hack Jayden and Parker without much effort. Their avatars didn’t stand a chance playing against Nora.

  “Your sister would help us?” Jayden asked.

  “Yep,” Parker replied.

  Jayden was suddenly aware of the hot air blasting from his bedroom vent. “Seriously? Why?”

  Parker stood straight and beamed. “Because we’re going to motivate her.”

  Jayden’s heart lodged firmly in his throat. “Motivate . . . how?” The massive metal bass riff paused. He steadied himself.

  “You'll see. Let’s roll,” Parker replied. “To my house.”