Back in Merrin's house,
Luna Merrin sat on the couch, eyes flicking between the TV drama and the clock. She was waiting for Lucian. The show's audio filled the room — dramatic music, crying actresses — but her attention was split.
Bang.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
Luna gasped as she jolted to see what had happened seeing the shoe marks going up...
Shouts.
Luna: LUCI! What the hell are you doing?
Lucian: Sorry Mom... A dog was following me.
Luna(muttered): This kid lets his father come, I would take care of him then.
Lucian didn't argue. He was already at his desk, powering on his computer.
A grin spread slowly across his face —
not because of the dog, or the yelling, but because of what awaited him on that screening.
Lucian: Come on start, Dammit!
As soon as the PC starts, Lucian opens the browser and goes to the school website. He adds something to the URL.
Ashgrove.edu => Ashgrove.edu/Teachers panel
Taking the crumpled paper out of his pocket, Lucian enters the User ID and password. It takes a mere 2 seconds for the site to load, but for Lucian, it was the longest 2 seconds.
Lucian saw it —
The same page he had glimpsed on Mrs. Gardner's PC.
But this time, it was on his screen.
His fingers hovered over the mouse as a quiet rush of excitement filled his chest.
The page seemed simple or maybe outdated with the school name in the centre and the teacher's name cultured on the right.
Hovering the mouse over the name, it seems they act as gateways to their respective folders. Skimming through the list Lucian found the name.
M. Gardner
Click.
A new page loaded —
Rows of files were stacked one after another.
PDFs, Word docs, some oddly named archives.
All waiting to be downloaded.
_____________________________________________
1. Midterms and Exams
Midterm_QP_10A_Feb2010.docx
Answer_Key_10A.docx
Freshers_Midterm_QP_March.docx
Freshers_AnswerSheet_March.docx
2. Lecture Notes
Ch5_CellularRespiration_10A.docx
Freshers_IntroToBio_Week1.docx
Freshers_Week2_Notes_Evolution.docx
3. Grading Sheets
Grading_Sem1_10A.xlsx
Freshers_AssessmentTracker.xlsx
4. Assignment Instructions
Project_10A_CellModel.docx
Freshers_Assignment_ObservationSkills.docx
5. Administrative
Class_SeatingChart_10A.pdf
Freshers_StudentList.pdf
AttendanceSheet_Freshers_March.xlsx
_____________________________________________
Chuckle! Sigh!
Lucian: Holy Sht– (leans back) I am going to ace the exams.
At the time, Lucian, or rather nobody, knew that a small fire lit in the back of Lucian's mind.
At night–
Sitting at the dinner table, the family was eating. Suddenly, Lucian noticed his mom staring at him.
Luna(gaze shifts): Do you know, what Lucian did today?
Julian looks at Luna–
Julian: ...
Luna: He first came home late, then shut the door so hard it felt like a bomb... Not only did he not take off his shoes, but he also stained the carpet running upstairs.
Julian: Uhh... Lucian say sorry to your mom.
Lucian: Sorry(smiles)
Luna(dumbfounded): huh? What do you mean by 'say sorry'? Are you not going to scold him?
Julian: Did you— not do that?
Luna: How can you say that? You guys just... I can't believe it, Julian–
She stands.
Luna: I can't be with you guys.
Julian: Huh! Wait what... Luna... Ehh?
Luna rushed off to the kitchen... As Julian sat confused–
Julian goes back to eating...
Luna(shouts): Just keep eating like a horse, and I will do all the work!
Julian: Why am I getting yelled at?
Julian kept looking back and forth between the kitchen and Lucian.
Julian: Did you say Sorry?
Lucian: (nods)
Lucian stood up, taking his plate to the kitchen, and immediately stopped by Julian.
Julian: Give it to me, She will kill you. (Takes the plate) Right! Your exams are coming...
Lucian: Yeah, in 3 weeks.
Julian: Just get into a decent college, Lucian, that's all we want... Now go.
Lucian leaves for upstairs...
Julian sighs–
My Sugar!
He says as he skips towards the kitchen holding the plate like offerings.
Lucian, who was skimming through the downloaded papers, realised that the paper didn't just have the questions but also the answer key. He seemed even more sure now.
The following day,
Walking along Adam, Lucian kept his gaze on Adam since he wanted to tell him... But an old memory kept bugging him.
Lucian: (Tsk... Sorry Adam I can't tell you)
Lucian reminisces about middle school, where he told one of his friends about his crush, and within a week, the whole class found out, along with his parents being called–With something this sensitive, even if Adam doesn't tell anyone, He can't take risks.
Lucian:(I can't help directly but that doesn't mean I can't help at all.)
Though this joy soon turned into paranoia every time Lucian sees a teacher his heart beat races to maximum even when walking or sitting alongside his classmates–
Everyone made him uneasy now — bullies, overachievers, even classmates he barely knew. As if each of them might somehow guess what he'd done.
A day passed. Then two. Then three. And before Lucian knew it, a week had gone by — and no one had found out.
Saturday night, Merrin's Home
Going through the grade list Lucian was smiling as he skimmed the grades..
Lucian: My grades are decent, with me acing the exams, all these B's and B-minuses would convert to A+'s.
Suddenly, going back to the home page, Lucian was about to log off when something caught his eye.
Lucian: Huh? Active Users!
Click.
What Lucian saw was just one section that contained the device name and IP address of his Computer.
_____________________________________________
Device name: Luci$
IP Address: 192.168.**.***
_____________________________________________
Lucian's heart skipped a beat as he hastily moved his mouse, logging out and closing the browser altogether...
Lucian: Fck...! (Leans back) It's right there, why didn't I notice it —
Sht!
Lucian: Lucian: No one else was listed... but they could still know. Damn it!— I logged in every day right after school... They must be monitoring, but why would they monitor? The evidence is right there.
Silence.
Lucian: If Sir Jones(Computer teacher) finds out then I am done, he handles the whole school network... But he is never online why would he? He may be a teacher, but there are no tests regarding IT.
Lucian, still hopeful, sat back in his chair, hand covering his nose and mouth — the way he always did when he was thinking hard.
Suddenly Lucian's eyes lit up–
As he starts the browsing, clicking, searching...
Lucian(muttered): Vpn Download
As the page loaded, it showed many links, but all were paid. Scrolling more, he found it.
_____________________________________________
Booster Vpn
Be anywhere, anytime for free...
_____________________________________________
Downloads and opens it—
Lucian: With this, I can...(Realises) No, the device name. Tsk... Even if I change it to the default, it would still be risky.
Lucian went back to thinking but—
Knock. Knock.
Luna: Luci! I'm coming in...
Immediately turning the Pc off Lucia takes out a notebook.
(Door opens)
Luna: When will you sleep? Hmm... Are you studying?
Lucian: I was just about to.
Luna: Go to bed now, it doesn't matter if it's Sunday you can't play games all night.
Lucian nods as he goes to bed, shutting the door. Luna also leaves, but Lucian couldn't stop thinking...
To be continued~