All Chapters of No More Free Fixes: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

“What’s the meaning of this, Axis? You’ve been ripping us off for years, and now you’re quitting the group chat without a word? Guilty conscience much?” “Axis, I thought we were best buds. I always had your back, but you’re not even as decent to me as the new kid.” “Axis…” … My phone was bombarded with messages. Without exception, all my former regulars, riled up by Mickey Todbury, got on my case. I had just lain down to catch some z’s. So much for my afternoon nap. Unlocking my phone, I scrolled through the screen. I barely had the chance to go through the messages when my roommate called me out. “That’s just messed up, Axis.” It was Shane Bost, my roommate, taking the bunk across from mine. Invading my personal space, Shane shoved his phone screen right in my face. “Take a look. Mickey pointed out that a tube of thermal paste doesn’t cost more than a few bucks, but you had the nerve to grab at least two cans of energy drinks from us each time. How could you li

“So when the guys passed me a couple of cans, I should’ve just said no?” “Exactly. You should’ve turned them down. It’s not exactly a favor once there’s an exchange.” I stood there, a heavy tightness squeezing in my chest.It never occurred to me that even Troy had that opinion of me. I guessed my three years of hard work were nothing more than transactions paid for in energy drinks. It served me right. …As I stood there in a daze, the professor tapped me on the shoulder. “Class is about to start. Why are you still standing here?” I was grounded back to reality. It hit me that Troy was long gone. The fact that he left me there to be lost in my thoughts was hurtful. Troy, of all people, had the wrong idea about me. I stepped into the classroom, only for the bustling chatter to halt. Shane, who always sat with me, took a seat in the back row next to Conrad and Rafe. The trio joked around and fell silent the moment I entered the room. I walked around to si

Shane opened his mouth, but no sound came out. The ones behind him quieted down as well.I managed to make my way out of there. That night, I couldn’t sleep. I lay in bed, replaying the last three years in my head. Back when we were freshmen, no one in the dorm had a clue how to fix Shane’s blue screen of death. I took a quick look and told him it was a driver conflict. I even reinstalled his operating system. Feeling grateful beyond words, Shane insisted on buying me dinner. I declined, so he shoved a can of Coke into my hands. That was how it started. Soon enough, I became the go-to guy when it came to computer issues. The requests came from the dorm, the class, sophomores, juniors, and seniors. I wasn’t one to turn them away. I figured we went to the same school, so I should lend a hand whenever possible. To be honest, I was always completely absorbed whenever I worked on a computer. It was one of the few times I truly felt confident. Growing up, I’d alwa

“That’s enough.” I cut Shane off.Shane snapped his head up, his eyes reflecting hope. “So you’re going to help us?” I shook my head. Giving him a look, I gestured for Shane to turn to the supervising instructor standing by the door. “It’s my turn to present. You’re in my way.” The anticipation on his face shattered. “You can’t do this, Axis!” “Axis, we’re all in the same class!” “Don’t go, Axis…”The students behind me wailed in despair. With my laptop in hand, I walked toward the presentation room in confidence. They got what was coming. …The presentation went well. From pitching the project to the mid-semester checkpoint and the final presentation, every part of my capstone was my own work. I wrote every line of code, every page of documentation, and ran every experiment myself until the data was solid. The panel of faculty flipped through my papers, nodding in approval. “Axis, the technical depth of this project is what I'd expect from a master’s

More and more people gathered to watch, but no one stepped in to break up the fight. After all, the group wasn’t the only victim. “Mickey worked on my laptop, and since then, I haven’t been able to turn it on!” “The heatsink he gave me was a fake! It overheated my CPU!” “He’s a scammer! I paid him a few hundred to swap out my motherboard, but he slapped in a used capacitor that blew up within a couple of days!” “I bought three brand-new PCs from him under the promise that they were authentic. All he gave me was refurbished junk. He ripped me off for over two grand.” The crowd was whipped into a frenzy, their screams echoing through the air.Bruised and battered, Mickey recoiled on the floor, still trying to defend himself. “I-I didn’t mean to. I thought those parts would work fine…” “Work fine, my foot!” Shane yanked him off his feet and pinned him against the wall. “Be straight with us. Do you have any idea how to fix computers?” Mickey shook violently, his lip