Chapter 30 Chapter Thirty

Chapter 30 Chapter Thirty
“So.” Ryan teased, bumping my shoulder as we crossed the lot. “How did the tutoring gig go?”
“Good, actually.” I shifted my bag strap. “Class was two hours and it was easier than I thought it’d be.”
“That must be nice.”
“What were you trying to say last night? I was half asleep and didn’t catch it.”
“The hacker’s smart,” he muttered, rubbing the back of his neck. “I’ll show you when we get to class. Better if you see it yourself.”
We split up for our morning lectures, and the day blurred by until tech class. The moment we sat down at our station, we pulled up the site.
Mr. Patterson’s shadow fell over our station before either of us heard him coming.
“What are you two working on?”
Ryan’s hand shot for the mouse, but it was too late, Patterson had already seen the nomination portal glowing on the screen.
“Just a school project.” Ryan clicked fast, swapping the screen to his half-finished game before Patterson could look closer.
“That doesn’t look like a school project.” Patterson sighed and crossed his arms, his eyes moving between the two of us.
“It’s for civics.” Ryan flashed a quick smile, tilting his head. “Extra credit.”
He folded his arms over his stomach. I could see the way his eyes narrowed, calculating exactly how much trouble to make out of it. The entire lab had gone tomb-silent, everyone pretending to be glued to their own screens.
“You know the rules about accessing systems you’re not cleared for.” Patterson’s voice dropped, quieter now, aimed only at us. “I’ve had this conversation with you before, Ryan.”
“I know.” His smile slipped a little.
“I also know someone’s been poking around the nomination system that isn’t supposed to have access at all.” His eyes flicked to me, then back to Ryan. “That someone isn’t you two, is it?”
“No, sir.” Ryan’s voice came out steady, but his hand tightened on the edge of the desk.
Patterson held his gaze a second longer than felt comfortable, then straightened up.
“Neither of you turned in Tuesday’s assignment either.” He tapped the desk once. “Both of you would stay after school and finish it in the lab where I can see you.”
“Both of us?” 
“Yes.” He walked back to his desk without waiting for a response.
Ryan groaned and dropped his head onto the desk.
“Great,” he muttered into his arms. “Just great.”
“This is your fault.” I hissed, low enough that Patterson wouldn’t hear. I glanced at his back to make sure he wasn’t listening.
“How is this my fault?”
“You’re the one who pulled the log up in the middle of class.”
He sighed and rubbed his face with both hands, then peeked sideways at me.
“You’re not gonna let this go, are you.”
“Nope.”
“For what it’s worth,” he added, lowering his voice even more, “I never got caught, that was a total fluke.”
The bell rang before he could answer, cutting the room into a scramble of chairs. Everyone filed out fast, and we stayed in our seats, watching the room empty until it was just us and Patterson gathering his things at the front.
“You could’ve just closed the tab,” I muttered once the last student left.
“And explain why I minimized a game instead? That would’ve looked worse.” Ryan leaned back, arms crossed. “Trust me. This was the better cover.”
“We’re stuck here till who knows when because of your cover.”
“You’re welcome,” he said, deadpan, and I almost laughed despite myself.
We sat in the computer lab with the blinds half open, sunlight slicing long golden stripes across the keyboards while Mr. Patterson graded papers at his desk, glancing up every few minutes to make sure we were actually working.
“Did you find anything else?” I kept my voice low, typing with one hand while I talked.
“Nothing new.” Ryan frowned at his screen. “Whoever it is knows to cover their tracks.”
“That’s not comforting.”
“Wasn’t trying to comfort you.”
I shot him a look. He shrugged, unbothered, and went back to typing.
“You think it’s someone in our year?” I asked, mostly to myself.
“Could be anyone.” He didn’t look up. “Whoever it is, they know the system better than we do.”
I chewed on that for a minute, watching the cursor blink on my own half-finished assignment.
“Amber, maybe.”
“Amber wants Chloe exposed, not protected.” Ryan shook his head. “Doesn’t add up. Whoever’s doing this is covering something, not uncovering it.”
I didn’t have an answer for that, so I went back to typing.
My phone buzzed once in my bag. I glanced down under the desk. Elma.
You alive? Haven’t heard from you today.
I typed back a quick alive, just stuck in detention with my thumb, then shoved the phone away before Patterson noticed.
I finished the last line of my assignment right as the clock hit four thirty.
“Done.” I hit submit before Patterson could find another reason to keep us.
Ryan cracked his knuckles and shut his laptop. “Finally.”
“Don’t let it happen again.” Patterson waved us off without looking up from his papers.
We grabbed our bags and headed out. The parking lot sat mostly empty except for a row of buses idling near the field, exhaust curling up into the cooling evening air.
“There’s a game today.” Ryan slung his bag over one shoulder, nodding toward the stadium.
“I didn’t know that.” I adjusted my own bag, catching the noise carrying over from the field.
“Come watch it with me.” He said it easy, like it wasn’t even a question.
I hesitated, chewing the inside of my cheek. “I should probably just go home.”
“To do what? ” He raised an eyebrow. “One hour, then I’ll walk you to the bus stop myself.”
“Fine.” I sighed. “One hour.”
We cut across the lot toward the field.
“Wait, I need food.” Ryan veered toward the concession stand. “You want anything?”
“I’m okay.”
“Your loss.” He came back a minute later with a hot dog and a soda, already halfway through the bun before we’d even reached the fence. “Best part of these games, honestly. Forget the football.”
A group near the top was already chanting something I couldn’t make out, their voices swallowed by the announcer calling out a play.
Ryan found us a spot near the fence, close enough to see the players warming up on the field.
“There’s Marcus.” He pointed toward a cluster of players stretching near the sideline, then toward the far end of the field. “And Tyler. God, he’s already showing off.”
The whistle blew and the teams jogged into position. The crowd rose as one for the first snap. Someone broke through the line and the whole stadium roared. Ryan jumped up beside me, fist pumping the air.
“That’s a first down right there.” He dropped back against the fence, grinning wide. “This is gonna be a good one.”
Two plays later, one of our guys broke free down the sideline. The entire crowd surged up off the bleachers, screaming. Ryan grabbed my arm without thinking, shaking it excitedly.
“Touchdown! That’s a touchdown, let’s go!”
I laughed, swept up in the energy despite myself. For one bright, easy minute the noise of the crowd swallowed everything else.
But the feeling didn’t last.
I suddenly realized where I was and my eyes started checking the area. Kem was three rows up, phone raised, filming. 
I looked away before she could catch me watching her, and that’s when I spotted Amber near the cheerleading side near the mascot, arms crossed, watching the game with the kind of attention that had nothing to do with football. She caught my eye for half a second, and turned back to the field like she hadn’t seen me at all.
My gaze drifted back to the field, drawn to a familiar jersey number before I could stop myself.
Nat wasn’t in the play. He stood near the bench, and even from here I could tell something was wrong, his shoulders too stiff, his head turning like he was searching for something. Or someone.
Then he found me.
He was walking straight toward the fence. Toward us.
My stomach flipped. I straightened up, watching him close the distance.
Then I saw his expression.
His jaw was clenched tight, hands curled into fists at his sides. He strode toward us fast, eyes locked on me and ignoring Ryan completely.
My smile died before it finished forming.
The roar of the crowd seemed to fade into the background.
“Ryan,” I whispered, voice thin and shaky. “Something’s wrong.”
Ryan followed my gaze, his easy grin vanishing. “Yeah… that doesn’t look good.”
I gripped the fence with both hands, the cold metal biting into my palms.
Nat reached us, close enough now that I could see his chest rising and falling too fast for someone who hadn’t even started the game yet. 
“What the hell is wrong with you?”