Chapter 12

I wrote this whole thing on notebook paper during the winter retreat with the youth group!

12

"So...do anything interesting at school today?" Blake said as he picked hungrily at his dinner.
Jenn took a sip of milk.
"Jenn?"
She gulped quickly and pointedly took a bite of lasagna. Then, motioning at her outh, mumbled, "Mouf fuh..."
"Seth?" he asked, dissapointed.
Seth wiped his mouth and set his napkid down on the tablecloth. "Uh...self-portraits...in...art?"
Sasha nodded her head."Fun,fun."
Seth shrugged.
"Seth has Science with Sam," Jenn said. "She's pretty psyched."
Seth dipped an eyebrow. "She talks a lot," he mumbled.
Sahsa smiled knowingly. Jenn just looked at him.
"Don't get me wrong, she's bery nice," he added quickly.
Jenn grinned and wiped her mouth with a napkin.
The table was silent for a uncomforable minute.
"May I have more lasanga?" Blake held his plate out to his wife.
"She took it from his hands. "sure."
"So, Seth, do you have any hobbies?" Blake asked, taking a big forkful.
Seth shrugged. "Guitar."
"Oh! Okay, that's cool," Blake said, "What songs?"
Seth tapped his long, pale fingers on the table. "I figure them out as I go."
Jenn suddenly got this "epiphany" look on her face. "So you play by ear?" she asked.
Seth nodded. "You're brilliant>"
She smirked.
Sasha spoke up. "Would you be willing to play for us?"
Seth frowned. "Uh...no."
Jenn pouted and Blake busily cut his food. "Please?" Jenn begged.
Seth shook his head. "I don't feel comfortable playing in front of people."
Sasha pursed her lips. "I know how that feels. I used to play the flute and was so embarrassed playing in front of groups."
One of Seth's dark eyebrows was down. "Yeah..."
"You can play for us when you're ready," Blake added.

* * *

"Hey, Seth!" Flashman called, motioning with his hand for Seth to join him in the computer lab at school. "Let me show you how to hack a computer's hard drive."

It was access period, and they had time to finish homework and projects.

Seth, of course, had nothing to wok on, because he'd only started school the day before. So he warily walked over to Flashman and pulled up a chair from the neighboring computer monitor.

"So, okay, first I need to check my blog real quick..." Flashman started, clicking open the Internet icon.

Seth frowned. "What's a blog?" he asked.

"Random text and crap I decide to share with the world," Flashman said plainly, his eyes never leaving the screen.

The Internet window opened and Flashman typed in the address. A screen popped up and the title "FLASHMAN!!" became visible against the dark blue background. The caption read "Providing hacks at ALL hours."

A teacher walked up behind them and gripped the back of Seth's chair.

"Doing homework, boys?" she asked.

Flashman tensed. "Yeah...I'm doing a report on basic computer DNA," he said unconvincingly.

"Sure," the teacher said. "And you're getting off now."

Seth's eyebrows drew together."He's just doing a project, come on."

She looked at him like he was crazy and walked away.

"Thanks, dude," Flashman said, slapping him on the shoulder.

"No prob."

"So first, you --"

"Look, I have some makeup homework to do," a lie, "so I'll see you later."

Flashman paused and frowned. "Oh. Well, uh, okay."

"See you later," Seth muttered and walked out of the lab.

The hallway was empty and had an almost ominous feeling to it.

Seth sat next to a wall and put his face in his hands.