Allie was just about to tell them how Courtney was dying to escape the sun and the desert heat, when her mom reached over and patted her dad’s hand. And Allie didn’t say a word, because it wouldn’t have mattered.
That hand-patting thing was a show of solidarity.
It was their silent way of saying they agreed with each other.
And it meant one important thing: This conversation was over.
Allie pushed her plate away. “May I be excused?”
Her mom raised an eyebrow, first at the half-eaten pizza, and then at Allie. “Don’t be mad at us.”
She wasn’t mad. She was disappointed. And she was having a hard time hiding it.
As she was leaving the kitchen, she heard her mom’s voice behind her. “If you want Courtney to visit so badly, figure out a way to get her here.”
They couldn’t see her roll her eyes as she left with Bo right on her heels, like he always was.
Inside her room, she flopped down on her bed and FaceTimed Courtney. When she answered, the look on her face said it all.
“No?” Allie guessed.
“Yep. You?”
“Same.” Allie sucked in a breath. “My mom said you’re welcome to come, but we have to figure out a way to get you here ourselves. So, I don’t know, maybe you’ll sprout wings in your sleep tonight.”
“Yeah, I’m sure that’ll happen. Hey, and if not, maybe I’ll stumble on a secret teleportation device or something. There’s this suspicious-looking shack behind the cafeteria that I’ve been meaning to check out. Could be a portal.”
“Who knows? It’s possible.”
“As possible as me sprouting wings in my sleep.”
Then Allie’s phone chirped. She read the screen.
Maddie
Did you finish math?
I’m stumped on #12
“I’ve gotta go,” Allie said to Courtney. “Maddie has a homework question.”
“Okay. Tell her I said hi,” Courtney said.
“I will. And I’ll ask her if she has any ideas for us.”
But Maddie didn’t. And after they started a group chat to discuss it, neither did Emma or Zoe. Her best friends promised to think about it, but it seemed impossible, and by the time Allie crawled into bed that night, she felt frustrated beyond belief.
Allie was about to drift off to sleep, when her phone buzzed. She groaned as she rolled to one side, reached for it on the nightstand, and peeled one eye open.
Courtney
We didn’t finish good day/bad day!
Allie blinked fast, trying to force herself to wake up. She had to reply. She couldn’t break their streak.
Courtney
I got to level 26 in Destination Earth My room is only 80 degrees right now Thinking of visiting you made me SO happy
You live too far away Summer is too far away I can’t wait to be your roommate again!
Allie felt a pang of guilt, but she pushed it down. The hackathon wasn’t going to happen anyway. Chances were, she’d be spending the summer with Courtney. What was the point of telling her about the application?
She had already recapped her good day, so she went straight to her bad day list:
Allie
Being far away from your best friend sucks I’m all out of gummy worms I’m not going to Game On without you!
Allie wanted that last one to be true. But she was totally out of ideas.
Allie rested her lunch tray against her hip and scanned the quad. She took a deep inhale. The rain had left everything feeling clean and new, but she was glad the sun was out again.
She walked toward her friends, all gathered around their table underneath the big oak tree. Maddie and Chris were sitting next to each other on one side, and Zoe and Emma were across from them. Zoe scooted over to make room next to her, and Allie squeezed in.
“Missed you on the bus this morning,” Zoe said as she popped a chip in her mouth. “Where were you?”
“My dad had a meeting downtown, so he dropped me off on the way.” Allie ripped into her sandwich wrapper. She’d started to take a bite, when she realized Zoe was staring at her.
“What?” Allie asked.
Zoe leaned in closer. “I don’t think I was the only one who missed you.”
Marcus? she mouthed, feeling the blood rush to her chest and her cheeks and the tips of her ears.
Zoe nodded.
“Why? Did he say something?”
“Not exactly,” Zoe whispered. “But when you didn’t get on the bus at your stop, he kept turning around and looking in my direction, like he was trying to figure out where you were. Apparently, that boy can’t start his day without your daily, Hey-six, hey-three routine.” Zoe said it using a high-pitched voice for Allie and a lower one for Marcus.
“We do not sound like that.”
“Oh, you totally do.”
Just when Allie thought they might go back and forth like that for the entire lunch period, Emma leaned forward to get their attention. “Did you show Allie the video from the soccer game yesterday?”
Zoe immediately seemed to forget the Marcus thing. “You have to see this. I was going to show you on the bus. It is hil-ar-i-ous!” Zoe looked to be sure Mr. Mohr wasn’t walking around with his orange bucket, confiscating devices, then she pulled her phone from her back pocket. “Remember that kick I took in the ribs? Check it out. Emma’s mom caught the whole thing on video.”
The rest of the group crowded around, and Zoe pressed PLAY.
On the screen, a girl wearing a #22 Raptors jersey kicked the ball loose from Emma and took off, dribbling it straight for their goal. Zoe crouched down low, ready to block it.
Raptor #22 took a few steps, planted her left foot, and swung her right leg back, preparing to kick it with everything she had. But then Zoe lurched forward, throwing her whole body on top of the ball, and #22’s foot landed right in her ribs instead.
Everyone around the table winced.
“No, wait,” Zoe said, holding up her finger. “You’ve gotta hear it, too. The best part is the noise I make. I swear, it’s not even human!”
Emma pressed PLAY again. Everyone tried to move closer to the phone, but it was impossible to hear with all the noise in the quad.
“Hold on.” Zoe reached into her backpack and pulled out a pair of blue-and-gray earbuds, shaking them out to untangle the cord. She handed one side to Maddie and the other to Allie.
“When did you get these?” Maddie asked. “I thought you were saving for those wireless Beats?”
“I was,” Zoe said. “But these were on sale after Christmas, so I caved. I can’t stand that cord, though.”
“Return them,” Emma said.
“Tried. Can’t. Sale items are final.” She pressed PLAY. “Okay, listen.”
Maddie and Allie watched and listened. This time, they could hear the dive. The kick. And the low, guttural, inhuman-sounding groan that came out of Zoe’s mouth.
“Yikes,” Maddie said.
“Brutal,” Allie added.
Zoe shook her head. “Eh. Goalie life. You know what they say: ‘No grass stains, no glory. No bruises, no story.’ ”
For the next ten minutes, they chatted about their latest Netflix obsession and speculated about how long the newest celebrity couple would last. And then Allie finished her sandwich, downed her water, and tossed her unopened bag of chips to Emma.
“Want these?” she asked.
“Duh,” Emma answered, ripping the bag open.
“I’ve got to run.” Allie gathered up her trash. “We’re getting a new assignment in Advanced Computer Science today, and I want to get a head start.”
She glanced over at the basketball courts. Nathan Frederickson was there, sitting at his usual table on the blacktop with his friends, Cory and Mark. He still spent some lunches in the computer lab, but Allie couldn’t remember the last time she had to drag him out of there and into the sunlight. As she was watching, he stood, reached for a basketball, and passed it to
Cory.
Good, Allie thought. She wanted to get to the lab first.
For weeks, Ms. Slade had been hinting about this assignment. She promised it would be the biggest challenge yet, but totally unique and lots of fun. Allie couldn’t wait. She was always excited about new projects. And she was always excited about a new opportunity to beat Nathan.
“What are you building this time?” Zoe asked. “Is it a game?”
“Or an app?” Emma asked.
“What’s the theme?” Maddie asked.
“Do we get to play?” Chris asked.
“I don’t know, but I’m about to find out!” Allie threw her wrappers in the closest trash can and took off for the lab, waving over her shoulder as she called, “See you later!”
Click'd Series, Book 1 Page 19