Ellie Sandberg would love to reinvent herself. When she earns a spot at an elite boarding school for young inventors, it seems like the perfect opportunity: A summer away from home, away from her overprotective parents, and away from the hopeless cr...
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E L L I E
Negative 1...
Someone reset a parameter...
Reese's accusation swims inside my head as I stare at the heavy wooden door of Dr. Carlyle's office. It's quiet here in the waiting room. Three chairs sit propped against the wall, but mine is the only one occupied. Ms. Cleary came to fetch me and escorted me from Fenmore for my interview, but she left me here to wait alone.
Alone. Too quiet. I can hear the faint rumble of voices on the other side of the door, but I can't make out the words. I can't tell if the person speaking is male or female. Old or young. Student or faculty. It may as well be silence. There's nothing to drown out the thoughts spinning in my head.
You did it on purpose. Didn't you?...
You wanted her out of the way? Well, you got your wish...
It should've been set to ten. Ten feet. I know it was, the last time I looked at the code. There's no way I could have overwritten it without realizing, is there? A typo? A misplaced elbow leaning on the laptop keyboard?
Maybe.
Or maybe it was changed by someone else.
I don't want to believe that, but what else can I think? Only one other person had edit privileges on that piece of code. Not Reese. Not Eleanor. Not anyone else in this program. There's no way anyone hacked in. It was housed on a remote server at InstaLove HQ. Fully secure and encrypted. Only two people had access. Me... and my partner.
Maddox's face last night in my room—that haunted expression in his eyes—I can't get it out of my mind. Is that what he meant? "The less you know the better." Did he reset it to -1? Did he sabotage it on purpose?
I don't want to believe that he did something to Eleanor, but I can't rule it out. I've never completely trusted him. The fact is, I like Maddox. A lot. But I don't know him very well at all.
I feel queasy. I hug my arms around my stomach and lean forward. My gaze returns to the closed door of Dr. Carlyle's office and then slides sideways over the wallpaper toward the open vestibule outside the waiting area. A camera hovers in the hallway, pointing in the direction of my chair. I wonder if security is watching me right now. The thought makes my mouth go dry. Beyond the camera, I can see a little way down the corridor. A red neon exit sign points the way outside.
Exit.
How I long to Exit.
Not to return to my dorm room in Fenmore. Home. My parents' car. My own bedroom. I want to go home. I want this nightmare to be over.
My parents should be here to pick me up tomorrow. That's the one useful piece of information Ms. Cleary was able to provide. Everyone's parents have been notified of the incident. We'll all be dismissed as soon as the interviews are complete... as soon as the medical examiner officially rules on the cause of death... and as soon as the Berkshire County sheriff's office signs off on our dismissal.
And if the cause of death wasn't an accident? Then what?
The heavy wooden door creaks open. For a moment only shadows emerge. Then the two of them come out. Maddox, hands shoved in his pockets, looking down at the tassels on his shoes. Dr. Carlyle just behind him, with a fatherly hand patting Maddox on the shoulder.
I stare at the pair of them. I can't read the expression on Maddox's face. He looks up from the floor and meets my eyes, but he doesn't speak. He only gives his head a tiny shake. Not here.
"Go straight back to your room and wait there," Dr. Carlyle instructs him. "We're still trying to get hold of your grandmother."
Maddox nods, and Dr. Carlyle shifts his eyes to me. "Ellie. Come in. We're ready for you." He slips back into his office, beckoning with his head for me to follow.
I walk past Maddox. Neither of us speak, but we pass close enough to brush shoulders. For the briefest instant, his hand reaches for mine. Our fingers clasp. I feel his gentle squeeze. Reassuring me? Offering support? Or asking for my silence?
I can't tell.
Then he's gone, and I make my way into the director's office.
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