The Academy In My Head

Tracker Jackers

He worked fast.

A product, if you will, of doing this for the past 5 years.

He easily slit the bottom seam of the front pocket of his sister's new backpack and slid the tracking device into place, securing it with a swift blanket stitch. She's picked out a good quality backpack this year, not like a few of the other ones that somehow ended up 'trashed' within the first week of school. He always blamed Max for it and bought her one that was a little more sturdy to replace it.

He wasn't sure why he'd started to do this but it probably was due to one of the discussions that occurred early on after meeting Mr. Blackbourne and Sean. After the situation with his dad was taken care of. As Jessica's older brother, he had to make sure she was safe and a tracking device in her backpack had seemed the best option. She took it to school, she took it to sleepovers. It was a good choice.

He didn't want to bug Victor about some sort of medallion pendant that would double as a tracker because he couldn't be certain she'd wear it all the time. Maybe a watch. She'd wear a watch if he gave it to her, wouldn't she?

He worked on stitching up the seam again, needing it to appear undamaged. He heard her footsteps on the stairs as he finished the last stitch and coated the entire area with a thin coat of superglue, praying that it wouldn't come in contact with anything in the next 30 seconds until it was dry.

"Kota... Have you seen my backpack?"

"Yeah, Jess, I have it up here. I accidentally picked it up when I got back with my supplies." He said as her head appeared above the stair rail.

"Oh, guess it's not so mine since it's not pink and sparkly this year." She smiled. "I'll make sure to keep it in my room so Max doesn't get it." She walked into his room and took it from him.

"It's a nice looking backpack." He said, leaning back in his chair to hide the thread and glue on his desk from her. "Should last you this year and next too, if you're careful with it and don't lose it or get it too wet, too often."

"I'd never let it get wet." Her eyes widened. "Do you know what'll be in here all the time? My entire electronics source..." she smiled. "A container of rice can't fix everything."

Kota chuckled. "Good point, sis. I know you'll take care of your things, you always do." He got up and went over to her, dropping an arm around her shoulders.

"Thanks." She said before shifting and hugging him around the waist. "I liked Sang. Do you think she'll be over more often?" she asked, looking up at him.

He pushed his glasses up with one finger before smiling. "I certainly hope so." He said, hugging her one more time before she took off, flying down the stairs to her room again.

Oh, yes, he certainly hoped so, he thought to himself, sitting down at his desk and putting away his supplies in the drawer. He pulled up the computer program he used for the tracking devices and created this year's entry in the log before typing in the sequence to activate the tracker. He counted the seconds before it came online and confirmed her backpack was in her room.

"Excellent. 15 seconds this year." He murmured to himself before turning his attention to the class list catalogue in trying to figure out how the family would be arranged around the school and in classes this year.

(Fade...)