by LJ Byrne
I throw a pillow at Liam, but Ryder’s eyes narrow on the other guy. “You don’t care that I’m with Mira.” A statement, not a question.
“What is it you want to know, Cabot?”
“Your actions towards her looked real.” There’s a veiled threat in Ryder’s words. I know he’s trying to get a handle on his jealousy, but he doesn’t have to interrogate every boy I know.
“Ryder, just because you’re attracted to me doesn’t mean other guys are,” I protest, rolling my eyes.
Liam’s jaw tightens faintly. “I find her attractive, but she’s still in high school. I was a complete gentleman when she showed up at my doorstep in tears. Acting on that would’ve been morally reprehensible.” That’s Liam for you. Noble dork at heart. “I value her friendship far more than her potential as girlfriend material.”
Ryder averts his eyes for a moment. “I’m still trying to accept that,” he says reluctantly.
“Oh, I found what’s wrong!” I squeal, startling them. When they look at me, I smile sheepishly. “Sorry, I’ll just fix it. It’s easier than explaining.”
Liam lies down on my floor, closing his eyes. “You know, Mira, when this is over, I’ll be glad. Being a high school kid sucks.”
I push the laptop away, and Ryder reaches over to pull me onto his lap. “Do you think the old guy will notice if we make out on your bed?” Ryder asks.
Liam groans. “Oh, for God’s sake. I heard that.”
As the Halloween party approaches, I run through the plan with everyone. I’ve adapted USB keys to connect to the phones. It’ll take a few minutes to download the application, so we need to keep our targets distracted.
Our targets are the three Royal girls and Daniel Jameson. All three girls use Apple phones. The program will do a complete wipe. The process is no different from what happens when a phone is refurbished. Once that’s done, I can proceed with unleashing the viruses. Daniel gets a special program since his phone is Android-based. Liam and I tinker with a ransomware program. These programs often work by using a simple popup so you can’t see your apps. We’re going to use that lovely popup to hide what is happening behind the scenes. We alter a few things so that his screen will be blocked, his files will be encrypted, and it will sync it as-is to the cloud. As for the Discord site? That’s been shut down for a while.
Remember how I made copies of Ingrid’s photos of my mom? I set the pictures aside for now. One problem at a time.
011100
It’s agreed the Royal boys will show up at the party together. Liam will go solo, while I’ll show up with Connor and Celeste. Last year, my mask was white. This year, my mask is of black lace. My hands tremble a little as I slip the gown on. If all goes well, there will be one less thing to deal with.
I haven’t forgotten that I came back to RBA to help Liam with his mission. Yes, even as I think it, the absurdity of the word strikes me. But I have no other way to describe it. And I’m still trying to find out if I can learn anything about my father. And what made Mom leave?
My floor-length gown is made of lace-embroidered tulle with a tulle overlay in soft gray. It has a bateau neckline with a plunging V illusion, so it’s a bit sexy without being overly revealing.
Connor helps Celeste with her mask. “I feel like I’m in a Mission Impossible movie,” he remarks, glancing at me with a smile. “You with your secretive computer talents and all that.”
Celeste winks at me. “Maybe we should have undercover names like Boris and Doris.”
Connor groans, shaking his head, but then he gives me a serious look. “I never thanked you for coming over that day. For giving Ryder that chance.”
I bite my lip. I haven’t talked to Ryder about his father yet. I plan to, but I want Ingrid neutralized before I cover that with him.
“Remember when Ryder and I fought over you last year?” Connor glances warily at Celeste as he brings the topic up.
Cautiously, I nod as Celeste grows quiet.
“I knew then that he was crazy about you. Around Thanksgiving, I found his sketches of you, and I realized that anything I might have felt for you paled in comparison to what he was feeling for you. The strangest thing is that it didn’t bother me. The only reason why I got upset at Halloween was because I felt like girls always preferred Ryder over me.” He gives me a sheepish smile before looking at Celeste. “Except for one.” He links their hands together. “I found the one girl who always put me first.”
I let them have their lovey-dovey moment.
“Alright,” I say, “let’s get this party started.”
Walking into the mansion, I reflect on how different I feel from a year ago. When I see Ingrid standing with Victoria and Judy, I’m no longer intimidated. Our eyes meet: hers filled with disdain, mine filled with confidence.
As if on cue, the three Royal boys enter. Ryder’s careful not to glance my way. Ingrid saunters over to him, running her hand down his chest in that possessive way. She says something that causes him to frown right before he removes her hand and pushes her away. Before she can react properly, Xander is there to distract her, smiling. He flatters her, and she preens.
Victoria is first. Nate first borrows her phone to take a few pictures of the Royals together, then pulls her to a corner for an unsubtle make out session. (Nate told us earlier he was taking one for the team. Whatever.) Ryder walks by, snagging the phone and plugging in the key drive to run the program.
Liam arrives, glancing at me briefly before making a beeline for Ingrid. The gloating smile she flashes my way almost makes me laugh. Ryder returns to Nate, slipping the phone into his friend’s hand. He makes a show of watching Ingrid with Liam before coming towards me and leading me to the floor.
The moment that happens, Ingrid snags Liam’s hand as we predicted. Nate and Victoria join us with Xander and Judy. That’s Celeste’s and Connor’s cue to act.
Judy’s phone is an easy target – she takes a purse wherever she goes. While Connor blocks Celeste from being seen, she slips her hand into Judy’s purse to grab the phone and attaches the drive while everyone is focused on the dancers.
Ingrid’s displeasure is obvious, frowning every time Liam spins her. Ryder’s done acting, though. He holds me close enough for students to whisper, his eyes on my face, his lips curved in pleasure as we brush against each other. I should remind him that we’re supposed to wait until after I wipe the phones, but YOLO.
When the song is over, Celeste and Connor link their arms together, telling me Judy’s phone is done. Two down, two to go.
Ryder brushes his lips against my temple as Ingrid approaches us, Liam trailing observantly. “Ryder, you forget yourself,” she snaps.
Ryder’s face hardens. “I haven’t forgotten,” he sneers. “You’ve forgotten that I’m the King.”
“I’ll end you,” she hisses. “You know what I can do.”
Now it’s Liam’s turn. Whatever he whispers in Ingrid’s ear causes her to smile. She willingly lets him pull her away. Xander meets them halfway, and the three disappear together. I don’t want to know exactly how they part Ingrid from her phone, but half an hour later, Xander reappears and winks at me.
Connor, Ryder, Nate, and Xander grab Daniel Jameson roughly and carry him into a hallway. There are no niceties – at this point, they just want to be done with this charade. Minutes later, Nate leaves, holding Daniel’s phone in his hand. By the time Daniel reappears with a bruised eye and a bleeding lip, Nate’s done and hands Daniel’s phone back to him with a cold smile.
Celeste and I walk to the restroom so I can extricate my phone without anyone noticing. I execute the programs with Celeste clutching my arm.
“Free,” she whispers. “It worked, right?”
I smile at her. “Yes, I’m certain of it.”
Returning to the dance, Ryder, Xander, Nate, and Connor look at me anxiously. Oh, ye of little faith. I know I have a confident little jaunt to my steps – it’s the same walk I did when Liam and I were at the hackath
on in March. It’d be too soon for anyone to notice their non-functional devices – on the outside, it would look like the phone was having technical difficulties, rebooting several times before shutting down – or their wiped computers.
Liam winks, doing his best to hide that arrogant smile he gets when he pawns another hacker, before leaving to work on his other project. I know everything has gone as planned.
Ryder isn’t shy about kissing me possessively in front of the other students, even with Xander and Nate rolling their eyes, and Connor snickering. Ingrid is livid, but she can’t throw her usual hissy fit because she, Judy, and Victoria realize their phones are malfunctioning. As midnight approaches, Ryder runs his hands through my hair. “Thank you,” he murmurs.
My friends and I dance through the night.
011101
It’s through the grapevine that we learn how successful the mission went. Daniel is completely shaken by his destroyed files. Ingrid tries to threaten Ryder, but when he dares her to show him proof, she backs off. Victoria and Judy walk around with paranoia plastered on their faces. (While my original plan had been to destroy them through social media, I settle for this gentler approach.)
The schism between the Royals widens. The Royal boys abandon the Royal girls, leaving most of the Court confused and clueless. While Ryder hasn’t decided if he plans on retaking the Royals’ table back, for now, they cluster at our table for lunch.
“I know what you said, but that doesn’t mean I have to be happy about having that bully in our house for dinner,” Uncle Robert grumps. Aunt Erika just told him Ryder and Connor are joining us for Thanksgiving again.
Aunt Erika shakes her coiffed head. “He and Mira are in a relationship. Be civil.”
Who knew Uncle Robert would be this obstinate? But Ethan steps forward, telling his father and mother how the rivalry between him and Ryder began. It’s brave to confess your mistakes. We don’t tell Uncle Robert everything – not Ingrid trying to use the pictures to get Ryder to have sex, not the pictures of Mom. We keep the details high-level. The Discord site. The reason for the bet. The collection of pictures Ingrid kept on students. The only other thing to show Uncle Robert is the hackathon I won with Liam. He’d had a suspicion already – remember the videos and other evidence I found about my supposed suicide attempt? – but this cements everything. I swear Uncle Robert wants to adopt me.
Which reminds me, now that I have one thing out of the way, I need to work on my next problem. Liam’s hardly around – the excuse given publicly is a family emergency – but he assures me that he’ll be back in a week or so to fill me in. Apparently, there’s been some “noise” in chatrooms that he’s following, and I’m curious how it’s linked to what we’re working on.
Darcy isn’t with us due to family commitments, although Ethan and I have invited her and Brittany over around Christmas, but Celeste is here because her mom is off in Rome. Instead of Aunt Erika greeting our guests, I take over the greeting duties. The way Aunt Erika and Ethan beam at me tells me how far I’ve come.
Ryder wraps his arms around me the moment he arrives. Once we put Ingrid behind us, Ryder hasn’t held back. When I enter the classroom, he only has eyes for me. His love consumes me, and I don’t mind it one bit.
I know he’s been fighting with his father over the phone. Ryder doesn’t like talking about his dad, but he’s told me enough. A father who demands perfection. A father who keeps no mementos of Ryder’s mother. A father who drags his son only to events when he needs to project an image.
Ryder doesn’t want pity. He wants – and needs – the creature comfort I provide, the solace, the promise that love exists. “You okay?” I whisper.
Ryder’s hand slides to grasp mine. “I am now. I’m perfect,” he murmurs, some of the shadows clearing from his eyes.
Leaning against a wall, arms crossed, Ethan observes us. “All hail the king,” he says, and Ryder tenses beside me. The two haven’t talked since the incident by the pool. While Ethan doesn’t know about Ryder’s father, and it isn’t my place to say anything, I believe he knows Ryder better than most. My cousin walks over cautiously and extends his hand. “Happy Thanksgiving,” he says without rancor. A peace offering. A willingness to put aside differences. This is the cousin I know and love.
A brief hesitation before Ryder accepts the hand. “I – know why you did what you did for Darcy, Ethan. I’d do the same for Mira,” Ryder says, his dark blue eyes on my face. He’s talking about the brutality which Ethan used to ensure he could be with Darcy. Someday, I want to know how he convinced Darcy to be with him.
A moment of understanding passes between Ethan and Ryder. It’s awkward and wonderful. “Good to see you brought your swim trunks, boys,” Ethan says, leading us in. With ease which I still frown at, he hands out beer and gives me a mineral water with a grin. Ryder demurs and grabs a water, nuzzling me when I look surprised.
“Well, Mira did promise hot tub, popcorn, and a round of a game called Dominion,” Connor says.
I roll my eyes at Connor. “It’s like one of the most awesome board games ever.” I put my hands on my hips.
“But it doesn’t play on a PS4 or Xbox One or anything.” Connor makes a face, and I feel like I’m talking to Gaston from Beauty and the Beast.
My phone buzzes and I check the message.
Get online now.
Liam is usually a lot more polite when he needs my help. My brow furrows.
“Mira?” Ryder’s voice cuts into my thoughts as I check groups in Slack and Discord.
Both groups I’m in are exploding with messages about a new worm hitting hospitals. I run for my laptop, bumping into my uncle in the foyer. “You know,” is all my uncle says as he heads to his office.
Snagging my laptop, I call Liam. “Tell me what you know.”
“Someone stole a program from Homeland Security,” Liam says, and I can hear his fingers moving rapidly in the background. “Whoever took it weaponized the program. The worm hit Europe first, but it made its way to the East Coast a few hours ago.”
The timing makes me wonder if they meant to cripple the US’s healthcare system on Thanksgiving deliberately. “I need to see the code. Can someone send me what they have?” I ask both Liam and Uncle Robert at the same time as I walk into Uncle Robert’s office. Uncle Robert is on his computer, reading messages and texting his teams.
Ethan, Ryder, Celeste, and Connor stay out of my way. I have a simulated computer environment to run such worms. “I need to go into the office,” my uncle says.
I’m still on the phone with Liam, but I stop my uncle from leaving immediately. “I can help,” I blurt. I don’t know if I’m saying it to Uncle Robert or Liam.
My uncle hesitates before nodding. “I have my teams on it, but if you’re as good as I think you are, you’ll be needed. Mira, I’ll call you from the office?” I nod as he gives Ethan an apologetic glance before running for his car.
“They’re calling the program KillRoy,” Liam tells me. “It’s targeting hospitals and emergency systems hard, Mira. People are going to die.”
I’m reading as fast as I can. Teams in Europe have done a fantastic job analyzing the code, so we have a head start.
“I have you on speaker, Liam,” I say, looking at the code online as Ryder comes over to watch. “No ransom?” Usually attacks like this come with ransom demands.
“None so far,” Liam replies. He sounds grim. “Teams in Europe have been looking for a weakness.”
“I need to see more,” I mutter to myself.
“Angel, sending you what we’ve collected in the past hour.” I hear Liam bark at someone in the background. Never pegged Liam as the bossy type.
Over the next hour, various groups pull apart the code, and I’m able to visualize how sections of code function in the worm. It’s a blend of programs pieced together like a jigsaw puzzle. I move Liam over to Discord where we begin a call with several other programmers we know.
Aunt Erika checks in, aware th
at some emergency is going on. She has food brought to us while I hunker down to work. Ethan, Connor, and Celeste eventually leave, but Ryder stays by my side, quietly watching me work.
I call Uncle Robert and his team, and we dissect what we’ve learned. He’s already working with the government, and he’s able to share with me the notes from the original program. And suddenly, the answer comes to me. Homeland Security had a line built into the code to ping a website. It was likely designed so that the worm could be triggered at will. Whoever manipulated the code either overlooked this or didn’t understand it. “Hold on, everyone,” I interrupt the rapid discussion. “Look at this part of the code. It has no obvious function.”
Liam curses and then apologizes. “Why didn’t I see that?”
“I think it’s given us a way to buy time,” I say, and everyone goes quiet. I give Uncle Robert the gist of what I’m suggesting. “It isn’t a kill switch. It’s a sinkhole,” I tell them. “The worm won’t do anything if it receives a ping. So, let’s give it a ping. It’s a way to stop the worm from proliferating and completing its program.”
Someone in the background says, “Who’s this girl?” Uncle Robert snaps something back, but I’m too busy to listen.
Liam’s the first to respond. “I’m registering the domain name, Mira. Give me a few.”
I stand up to pace, thinking. “Tell me if it works.”
“I’m tracking it, I’ll let you know,” Liam says. “It’ll take a few hours to be sure. Mr. De Vries, we’ll loop your company in on the fix and get the other companies on board. We’ll need everyone to cooperate to ensure this person doesn’t attack the servers.”
“Don’t wait for me, Mira,” Uncle Robert says. “I’ll be home as soon as I can. I’ll continue to have the teams work on this and ensure we have it stopped.”
