Chapter 3

Liam's hands were shaking so badly that he couldn't pull out the flash drive, even after three tries.

Sweat ran down from his temples and dripped onto the college admissions guide spread out before him, leaving small wet spots on the page.

When he saw me coming, he quickly clenched the flash drive in his hand.

Liam hurriedly shut off the screen and forced a smile. "Everything is fine. Your computer is just a little slow. I was just checking out the colleges you chose, then the system crashed."

I said nothing. I set the glass beside him and turned the screen back on.

A red lockout message covered most of the screen. The small print underneath clearly said, "Unrecognized device detected. Your account has been locked for your protection."

"A recording of this login attempt has been sent to the email address on file and your guidance counselor. To unlock your account, contact your counselor for assistance."

I looked up at him, keeping my voice calm. "How did it detect an unrecognized device? It was working fine when I logged in earlier. Did you try to access my account?"

His eyes darted away. The veins on the back of his hand stood out as he gripped the flash drive.

Liam stubbornly denied it. "I didn't touch your account. I was just looking up Creston University's program options for you. Who knew your system was this sensitive? It probably just flagged me by mistake."

"Oh? You needed a flash drive to look up a college's program?" I held out my hand to him with the palm up. "What are you holding? Let me see."

His face went pale in an instant, and he hid the flash drive behind his back without thinking. "It's nothing. It's just a flash drive I use for my own files and has nothing to do with you."

I stared at the hand behind him and suddenly smiled. "That's the matching flash drive Summer gave you last week, isn't it? The one with the little sun on the case that matches her username?"

Liam tried to speak, but no words came out.

The comments were exploding across my vision so fast that I could barely see anything else.

"Holy shit! He's still trying to hide it. He was lightning-fast when he entered the password earlier."

"The recording was already sent to Aster's counselor. I just saw the security alert. The account is flagged, and the college he tried to switch her to is still on the activity log!"

"Aster's guidance counselor just messaged her, asking if someone tried to access her account. He already forwarded the recording to the school administration and said they're going to investigate."

Liam suddenly stepped forward and reached for my arm.

I stepped aside, leaving his hand hanging in the air.

"Aster, I know I should've told you first," he said. "You must be angry, but I really did it for your own good. The capital is more than 600 miles from home, and you've never even left our state.

"You hate the cold in winter and the heat in summer. You can't even change a lightbulb. If something goes wrong, who's going to help you?

"Wouldn't it be better to stay here? I applied to Creston University too. We could go to class together every day and come home on weekends for your mom's cooking.

"I already told my mom. We'll get engaged in our sophomore year and get married after graduation. I've already planned everything."

He sounded so sincere that his eyes even grew red-rimmed. If this had been before, I would have fallen for it and nodded along without a second thought.

"Is that so? What program did you apply there?" I folded my arms and looked at him. "Didn't you say last time that you were going to apply to a business program with me?"

Liam froze for a moment, then quickly answered, "I changed it to computer science at the last minute. There are more jobs in that field, and I'll spend all the money I make on you. I can even fix your computer for you. How great is that?"

I laughed and opened the picture my cousin had just sent me. Then I held it up in front of him.