DYNAMITE ► DUSTIN HENDERSON [2]

SIX

hi. yes it's me haha. i know i've been gone for some time and i'm very sorry. hope you're all staying safe and healthy<3

"SOMEBODY PLEASE EXPLAIN WHAT'S GOING ON," Jasper exclaimed, leaping off the table and tossing her gaze back and forth between a Dustin and Robin. "Why are we translating Russian?"

The exasperated teenage girl let out a heavy sigh, pushing her bangs back with frustrated hands. "You didn't fill your girlfriend in on what's going on? What have you two been doing back here? Making out?"

"Making up," Jasper corrected, not skipping a beat despite the intense new burning in her cheeks. "Thought the movie-like tension earlier gave it away, but, we've just had our first fight."

"Right," Robin sucked on her bottom lip with folded arms. "Well, should I tell her or are you?"

"Tell me what?" Jasper inquired impatiently, crossing her arms over her chest. Her blue eyes blazed with urgency, one that neither could ignore, and Dustin rushed to answer her question.

"Remember last night?" Dustin began, caressing a finger or two over her elbow to hold her steady, even though Jasper was completely still. "And how I was trying to get into contact with Suzie?"

Jasper noticed another wave of jealousy wash over her at the mention of the name, though it was much smaller now, more tame. It belonged to the irrational parts of her mind now, and she had full control over those racing thoughts. "Yeah."

"Well," Dustin drew away from her, waggling his finger back and forth and licking his lips like a mad doctor who had just discovered the cure for cancer. "I tapped into something else. A Russian signal."

A radio was suddenly in his hands, and he held it with great care, a sense of importance painted on his face. He began playing the message, a series of foreign Russian words relaying back to them. Jasper immediately moved closer to Dustin, her fingers lightly tracing the smooth material of the speaker.

"Wait, this is serious," her chest tightened with  anxiety once the message finished. Dustin clicked it off and looked at her curiously, his eyebrows almost touching in confusion. "If this is real Russian code, this could mean something huge. We should take this to my dad."

"Seriously? And let him claim all the glory?" Dustin cried, and for once, he was disagreeing with the redhead. "Robin has the ears of a mastermind. She can translate this thing in no time. We've already got the first sentence," he lifted a finger to gesture at the white board, which had the first sentence transcribed on it.

The week is long.

"Okay sure, but, don't you think this might mean a national crisis? A Russian attack? We can't keep this to ourselves!"

"We can for now while we try to figure out what it means," Robin whipped around the counter, her hands running along the top of it confidently. "What's the use in bringing a Russian code to your dad with no translation? Does he specialize in Russian riddles?"

Jasper rolled her eyes incredulously, pinching the bridge of her nose with the tips of her nails. It left two crescent lines in her skin as she mumbled out a sigh. "No, but I seriously doubt keeping this a secret just because we might get some 'glory' out of it is a good idea."