imperfect by Tina Chan Page B

to break into jail. Breaking in shouldn’t be any harder than
breaking out though.”
    “ What should we do first?
Visit the jail so we know what the security is like?”
    “ Exactly what I was
thinking.”

chapter eight
     
    [ Troop ]
     
     
    Troop’s mom arrived home
later than usual; it was well past dinner
and Troop was putting the dishes into the wash when his mom entered
the kitchen.
    “ There’s leftover chicken
salad.” He jerked his head to fridge humming beside the
stove.
    “ Thanks, T.” His mom used
a nickname Troop’s dad had come up with.
    It had been a while since Troop talked to
his dad; his parents divorced fourteen years ago.
    “ Hard day at work?” he
asked.
    “ Yeah. I’ve been assigned
a new project which I don’t have enough time to do.”
    “ We can always move again,
to a place further away from the…”
    “ No.”
Her voice was firm. “We are not moving again unless we absolutely
have to. Not unless something like that happens again.”
    Troop swallowed down a
lump of guilt. If they hadn’t moved from Marbleton to the city,
then his mom wouldn’t be so overburdened with work. However, that had happened and
the company Troop’s mom worked for offered them to start a new life
here in the city. The catch was his mom had to increase her
workload by a third. She had begun working for the Company a few
months after her divorce.
    His mom was proud Troop had transitioned to
his new school without any difficulties—but that was because she
didn’t know the extremes Troop went to ensure he would no longer
face any problems from anyone or anything at Ludus High. She didn’t
know he was a thorn in disguise as a rose.
    “ How was school today?”
his mom asked, massaging her temples with her index
fingers.
    “ Oh, you know, the usual.
Classes, tests, exams, lunch, more exams, etcetera.”
    “ No troubles with
kids?”
    “ Mom. That’s the past. That part of
my life is over. I’m doing just fine at school.”
    “ Just making
sure.”
    Troop softened his tone, knowing his mom
hadn’t meant to sound overbearing. “Everything’s good. Why don’t
you take a shower and I’ll fix up some minestrone soup to go with
the chicken salad?”
    “ You’re an angel. I think
I’m going to take you up on that offer.”
    If you only knew, Troop thought. I highly
doubt you’ll look at me the same.
    She kicked off her heels and floated out of
the room. Troop heated up a small saucepan. While he waited for the
soup to simmer, he flicked through the world studies notes Darrel
had sent him. Most of the material he already knew, thanks to
private tutoring sessions provided by the Company.
    His electro-slate vibrated. The caller ID
informed Troop it was Bruno calling him.
    “ Hello,” said
Troop.
    “ Hey. Listen, you’ve got
to hear this. Are you listening?”
    “ Yeah.”
    “ Jack’s planning a
coordinated hack on the school system tomorrow after school, but he
wanted to get an okay from you first.”
    “ Why doesn’t Jack ask me
himself? And anyways, he knows he doesn’t need my permission to
hack the school system—he knows the rules we play by.”
    “ Jack doesn’t have your ID
number, so he asked me to call you for approval,” said
Bruno.
    Troop nodded, even though
Bruno couldn’t see him do so. That makes
sense. I don’t remember giving Jack my number and even his hacking
skills are still one step behind the Company’s. The Company had encrypted all of Troop’s personal
information; things could become disastrous if they leaked into the
wrong hands.
    “ He’s planning on breaking
the system tomorrow but wanted to make sure you were okay with it
ever since, you know, the Harold incident,” said Bruno
    “ Got it. Do you know what
Jack is planning to do after he breaks through the
system?”
    “ Mason offered him three
hundred points if Jack raised his grade in Physics.”
    “ Tell Jack to raise
Tompkins’ grade in World Studies while he’s at it.”
    “ Alright. Are