Totally Opposites

Chapter 12: Passwords

Wren's POV:

I finally found what the bracelet said. 'Room'. I don't know what it's talking about. What room does it mean?

Did Mom write this? If so, she might mean her scrapbooking room. The one nobody's allowed to go in.

I don't know why Mom is so protective of that room. It's not like she's hiding something.

Unless she is.

I am lying on my bed, pretending to be sick so I don't have to go to school today. And it has to be today cause everyone is busy and Dad has an important meeting so since everyone else will be out I can search through her room and find out what she means by that.

Dad has already checked in on me and offered to stay home but I insisted he go to work when I reminded him of that important meeting.

Evelyn, Charlotte, and I are still not sure Dad's being truthful so Evelyn's gonna spy on Dad while Charlotte and I look through Mom's room.

Dad knocks on the door. "Are you sure I can't stay? I'm sure I can resche-"

"Dad, it's fine. I can take care of myself. Plus Charlotte is staying home to take care of me so it's fine. We've got this." I add for good measure.

"If you say so." I can hear his footsteps on the stairs, meaning he's going upstairs. Once Dad leaves Evelyn will follow suit and Charlotte will text me so we can check out the room and start on our investigation.

I don't know how I'm working side-by-side with Evelyn. We never get along but it's not concerning to the point that we fight all the time like Jude and I.

Never in a million years did I think we'd ever work together.

I get a buzz from my phone: Dad's gone. We can go!

Perfect. Operation: Check Out The Room is a go.

I am not perfect at naming things but I try my best and I like to name everything to make it easier. Even if it is a hard name...

I put my hand on Mom's secret room door and debated on opening it with Charlotte or without her.

I decided against it and went in.

The room is small. Rectangular-shaped. When you enter there's 1 desk and a twin bed. The bed is to the left side and the desk is to the back wall.

I'm guessing Mom sometimes slept here if they got in a fight otherwise the bed is totally useless.

I walk to the desk and wriggle the mouse to bring the computer to life. It chimes on. A soothing sound that's music to my ears.

I press one of the keys and — I need a password. Great! Of course, it needs a password.

What could it be though? Mom was always a secretive person but not all the time.

I'm sure she has it stashed here in one of her books. I grab multiple books from the shelf and flip through the pages looking for a word that could be her password.

I grab her favorite book. Her scrapbooking one. She's always recorded memories here of us. I flip through the pages and land on page 105 of her book. There's a scrap piece of paper with some letters and numbers all jumbled around.

I think this could be her password. But the letters don't even make a word. How am I supposed to find it?

The letters that are jumbled are: C, W, E, J, and A. The numbers that are jumbled are: 2, 7, 4, and 5.

I take the paper to the computer and type in the letters and numbers I see.

CWEJA2745

Wrong password

WEJAC5427

Wrong password

I write out the passwords on paper and cross them out so I don't try them again.

What could the password be?

I look over the numbers and letters many times wondering if I've missed something — anything. But then it dawns on me.

The letters all represent her kids' names!

E for Evelyn, A for Asher, C for Charlotte, W for Wren, and J for Jude.

Of course but the numbers?

I write it out

EACWJ.

What order do the numbers go?

7524. No.

5274. No.

7254. Of course.

7 people in the family, 2 parents, 5 kids, and from our point of view, 4 siblings!

How did I not realize this before? I put the password in quickly and enter it into her computer. Perfect!

Now what did Mom hide? I check her browser history first.

Her searches are normal for a mother.

Easy dinner recipes.

Desserts that my kids will love

DIY scrapbooking tutorials

That's all there is. But I read so many mystery and thriller books that I know better than to let it all go so I click on her settings and click search history.

There are hundreds of pages.

The first few were that of cooking and scrapbooking. I can tell she loved to scrapbook.

I scroll down a few pages and see something that catches my eye.

How to deal with stalkers?

Was Mom being stalked? By who? Oh my god, I never realized.

Stalking statistics

Stalking laws

Self-defense classes nearby

Personal safety tips

Mom was definitely being stalked. Her history proves it!

I hear a voice from upstairs and listen closely.

"Wren, are you done yet?"

Oh, it's only Evelyn.

"What are you doing here?" I ask her, closing the tabs quickly. "Aren't you supposed to be keeping an eye on Dad?"

"I was, but my car ran out of gas and I couldn't follow him anymore cause by the time I was done, he was nowhere to be seen," Evelyn answers.

"It's all cause of Asher right? He probably used up your gas yesterday when he went driving around." I say. " Anyways, it doesn't matter. Where's Charlotte, she needs to look at this."

"She's coming down. What have you found?"

"Apparently Mom had a stalker."

"What. How do you know that?" She rushes to Mom's computer. "Holy macaroni. She does — did!"

"Yeah. She had this big password so I couldn't get in right away."

"What's the password?"

"EACWJ7254. The letters stand for our name and the numbers stand for something different. 7-people in our family. 2-parents, 5-kids, and from our point of view, 4-siblings."

"Wow, that's... complicated."

"Yeah, I know. But it makes sense, doesn't it? Mom always valued us kids above everything."