Cherry and the Cyber Chase

chapter 1

There was nothing really going on today for Cherry and Atticus, but the telephone called.

"Sure, hang on a moment," Emily said on the phone before calling out. "Atticus, telephone! It's Jessica, she's calling from her college!"

"Coming!" Atticus called out and ran to get the phone.

Emily handed the phone to her son as soon as he came to claim it. She then went to get herself a glass of lemonade.

"Jessica, hey, how's college?" Atticus asked.

"It's great, I really miss you all, but I'm meeting a lot of interesting people," Jessica smiled. "Also, if you want, you can come visit us sometime. The Professor of my computer program is letting people come see us with our computer games. I have one that might interest you guys."

"Ooh, really? Tell me." Atticus said.

"You know those video games you like so much at Litwak's?" Jessica asked. "I decided to combine from Fix-it-Felix Jr., Hero's Duty, and Sugar Rush Speedway. It's dedicated to you and Cherry, you can play a sample of it before the Professor sends it to a marketing company."

"Cool, wait, what about any of the students there, have any of them created a game as well?" Atticus asked.

"Like I said, it's my computer programming course," Jessica replied. "I asked Professor Kaufman if you could visit and he said it would be just fine. That Billy McLemore kid's made a baseball game and Eric Staufer's made a game for the Scooby Doo gang."

"Cool, anyways, when's a good time for me to visit?" Atticus asked.

"Probably next week," Jessica tried to think of a good time. "We also have to present our games to the Professor. I hope I get an A..."

"I know that you'll get an A." Atticus said.

"At least a B or a C, I just don't wanna fail..." Jessica sighed, but then smiled. "Hope to see you soon."

"Hope to see you soon too." Atticus said.

"Miss Fudo!" a voice called.

"Aw, I gotta go..." Jessica sighed. "I'll see ya soon, little brother!" she said before hanging up.

"I can't wait to visit Jessica." Atticus said.

"You kids are growing up so fast..." Patrick sighed with a smile. "Jessica's in college, Atticus, you'll be ending high school soon, and who knows what I'll do once Darla gets there?"

Darla was pretty much a young teenager these days, she was often on the phone and already talking about boys, especially with an upcoming dance at school. Atticus was a smart and very strong teenage boy. Patch was the same as a teenage dog, only one thing though he didn't  have yet, a girlfriend.

Darla was talking on the phone, then saw the boys coming. "I'll talk to you later, bye!" she said quickly before hanging up.

"Who was it this time?" Maisy asked.

Darla sighed, flopping backward on her couch. "That weird frog kid who plays in the creek all day..."

"Again? Sheesh! How many is that now, ten?" Maisy asked.

"More like 10,000... Ugh..." Darla rubbed her eyes, looking exhausted. "I wanna go to the dance... But no one;s right enough for me in school..."