Page 91 of Giving In

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Surprisingly Jake doesn’t get back at me for the car scene. At least not in English. It’s not until lunchtime that he decides to strike back.

I stayed late to discuss my missed class with my calculus teacher. When I finally get out of the class, the halls are practically empty. Everyone must be at the cafeteria.

I’m walking past the computer room when I feel a hand grab my arm and pull me into the classroom. It’s so fast that I don’t even have time to scream.

Jake pushes me deeper inside the room and closes the door behind himself. I feel relieved when I realize it has no lock on it.

“Jake!” I try to regain balance before facing him but he’s already walking to a computer.“What are you doing?” I ask as I follow him with my gaze but take a step back toward the door.

“Don’t even think about it. Not if you don’t want the mark of my hand on your cute ass.” He doesn’t even raise his eyes from the computer.

I freeze at his words. “You wouldn’t dare,” I hiss at him.

He lifts his head up and gives me an evil grin. “Please, try me. Nothing would make me happier.”

I try to swallow but my throat suddenly feels too tight. “What do you want? If it’s about the car ride–”

“You should take a seat.”

I pick the closest seat to me, but he tuts me. “Nah, front row. Face the screen.”

I huff as I slowly get up and walk to the front of the room. There’s a huge screen for teachers to show what they’re doing on their computer.

I sit down anxiously, having no idea what he’s got in mind and not enjoying the fact that he’s now a few rows behind me and I can’t see him anymore. The projector is on but there’s nothing being projected yet.

“See Angel, a few months ago, Luke’s parents told me they thought money was missing from their registers.”

At those words, my heart picks up and I can feel cold sweats rolling down my back.

“They know I’m incredible at computer shit, so they asked me to build them a software to track down their money. The one they were using was old and full of bugs. I started with that. Everything looked fine, so they asked me to dig deeper.”

I try to take a breath, but my chest is too constricted.

“So, I got Ozy on it ‘cause I had no idea what they wanted from me. And I swear...that fucking genius. She can’t code for shit, but she always comes up with great ideas. She said if someone was taking cash without registering the orders, no one could trace the money. She told me to build something that would track supplies, orders, and money. And boom, magic. What do I see? That you’ve been sloppyandgreedy. You can’t take that much cash and expect not to get caught. It can’t takethatmany supplies for such few orders. Easy math, Goody. Last March was the worst. I’d say you and your mom took about two-hundred dollars.”

The screen lights up and he opens a few documents followed by a software which I’ve never heard of. He shows his calculations and the monthly sums equal almost exactly what I took from the Bakers.

“Isn’t March when we have to pay for the East Coast lacrosse tournament? Sadly, there’s no one but you and your mom who work there thattrulyneed the money. We do live in Stoneview. There’s also no one as smart as you, that could take cash without anyone realizing.”

I turn my head away in shame and get up in a hurry. “Stop. I get it,” I say turning toward him. “I get it.”

He looks at me with a winning look on his face. Proud that he’s a computer genius and I’m a thief

“Does it match?” he asks.

“You know it does,” I reply with a dry throat. “Please turn it off before someone sees this.”

“I will. In a second.”

“Please Jake, someone could come in at any moment, just turn it off and we can talk.”

I stand in front of the projector, hoping it hides some of what’s on the screen.

“I don’t want to talk, Angel. I want to remind you why you shouldn’t play games with me.”

“I’m not! Please, I’m not. Just turn it off.”

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