Silence - eARC by Mercedes Lackey, Cody Martin Page A

definitely an item. The boy had short blond hair; not a crew cut, just a little messy. The blue eyes and a good jawline completed the picture; he was kind of cute, actually. The girl had red hair done up in a French braid; from the amount of hair she had, it was probably down to the middle of her back when it was undone. She had what Dad used to call “classic Irish colleen” looks: pale skin, freckles, green eyes.
    As she hovered a moment, hesitant about how she should try to break into the group and introduce herself, Tim solved the problem for her.
    “Jedi Seth!” he called from the front, just loud enough for his voice to carry to the rear. “Got young Padawan Staci Kerry that needs your ubergeek Force Knowledge to get her something approximating interwebs.”
    The entire group turned to look at her as one, and she felt like she was turning a lovely shade of purple.

Chapter Four
    Seth looked up at the sound of his own name, then switched his gaze to Staci. “Oh hey,” he said, with a trace of a smile. “Welcome to the place where the ‘old school’ is the ‘only school.’ I actually had to write physical letters to ‘Captain Crunch’ to get his arcane dialup secrets.”
    Staci looked at him, bewildered. “What does cereal have to do with computers?” she asked, feeling as if Seth had just left out the entire first half of a series and launched her straight into the middle.
    “Oh, you will learn, young Padawan,” he intoned, making a mystical pass with his left hand. “You will learn.…”
    “Don’t mind him,” said the Goth chick, with a shake of her head. “He likes to pretend he’s the reincarnation of Clifford Stoll, even though Clifford Stoll isn’t dead yet.”
    “Who?” Staci asked, now completely lost.
    Seth smacked the back of his hand into his forehead, theatrically. “There, now, you see? That is how completely the rest of the world has passed us by!”
    The Goth girl snorted. “Like going to Crossroads Mall doesn’t tell us that. Come sit down. We aren’t all completely crazy. I’m Wanda. I’m only slightly insane.”
    The blond kid unwound himself from the girl he was sitting with, standing up with his arms wide. “Don’t mind them; they’ll be at this for hours if we let them.” He held out his hand. “My name’s Jake.”
    Staci shook it, gingerly. “I guess you guys already know who I am…” she said tentatively. It felt…weird. But then everything about this town felt weird.
    “Like Tim said, you’re Staci, right?” He let go of her hand, turning partially towards the rest of the group. “The odd couple is Seth and Wanda. Red over there is my girlfriend, Riley.” Riley waved from the loveseat, smiling warmly. “If you want, you can sit with us, grab some coffee. You might need it once Seth builds up some steam talking about modems. Or Star Trek . Or Star Wars . Or Doctor Who , or—”
    “Oh, like I’m the only one that carries on!” Seth was blushing slightly. Staci smiled sheepishly, moving towards the coffee bar while the group continued talking with each other. Once she had her cup of joe, she noticed that they had pulled another of the comfy chairs up, making space in their circle. She sat down, folding her legs under her in the chair, while she blew on her coffee to cool it.
    “So, you’re new to town, from New York right?” That was Riley; she was holding a truly gigantic cup in her lap; it looked like some sort of tea to Staci. “I’m guessing you didn’t move here for the scenic ocean view.”
    “It’s kind of a long, depressing story.” Staci stared into her coffee, feeling her face flush. The others seemed to get the hint; Seth was the first to speak, breaking the silence before it could get uncomfortable.
    “Tim said that you need some help getting hooked up to the net, right?” He cocked his head to one side. “In that cable doesn’t exist, there’s no possibility of cell-net, dialup is all you get. Are you on a laptop or a