She Hates, But She Also Loves

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Mia and Cedar argued. That's what they did in most their meetings. Instead of trying to make some progress together, they would always oppose each other, trying to prove the other wrong. It was obvious Cedar wished it was Ariana who was helping him. She was one of the best hackers that were ever trained by Jackson. He also suspected that she was the cause behind the first time the government's systems were shut down for a good ten minutes. Now he and Mia were having trouble getting that to happen for just two minutes, during which the gang's deed will be done, one which they didn't know of. Cedar had been forced and threatened into doing this, as he wouldn't have agreed otherwise. One because these always led to horrible destruction occurring in the city, and two because if a gang made you do something, and you failed, then they would most likely hunt you down.

The man that had threatened him to agree had a special dislike for Ariana. How he knew her, Cedar had no idea, but he knew that if he didn't cooperate, not only he, but Ariana would also be getting hurt. He knew that Ariana lied that day when she said that she hated her mother. Perhaps killing her mom's murderer would help her soothe her own soul, but he didn't know how. All he had been told by her was that she had been killed, and Ariana emotionally scarred. No details. Perhaps he should be glad that he wasn't provided any. Perhaps he could've been emotionally scarred too, just by hearing it. But he knew.

He couldn't let Ariana know of this though. He was doing this to protect her. It was the least he could do after what she had done. He knew Ariana was a good person, but one of the unfortunate who were ruined by their past.
"Cedar! Stop zoning out every few seconds!"
Cedar ignored her, but grabbed the computer's mouse and continued working. He knew it would be difficult to do this without Ariana. He pretended to be the best, but he knew he wasn't even near. Mia was talking nonstop, a talkative brat she was. He didn't have any specific dislike for Mia, but she could be annoying, and she was willingly doing this for J. They didn't know his name. He didn't tell them. Everyone called him "J". Most gang leaders hid their identities.

A month passed and they barely made any progress. Finally, Cedar decided to take help from Ariana, without spilling anything. Just that, winter break had begun two weeks ago, and she had once again gone off the radar. He had discovered that the girl he had been texting was Mia herself, and felt incredibly frustrated at how they crossed paths every time. However, as much as he found her annoying, they did grow closer. They would sometimes text each other for no reason at all, have long late-night text conversations, and we all know that those only ever lead to secrets being spilled, but Cedar ensured that he was extra careful. Mia however, accidentally told him some embarrassing childhood stories and regretted it afterwards.

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