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  They stepped out into a deserted, carpeted hallway. A massive window awaited them at the end where they stood. Looking down, Blake had a breathtaking view of Mirallegra, a maze of concrete, glass, and headlights. “I know, right?” Quen said beside him.

  “You can gawk at the city later,” said Julio. “Let’s go.”

  “Why are we here?” Blake asked the group as they walked down the hall.

  “Our friend lives here,” Izzy answered.

  “Here?” Blake repeated.

  They stopped at the door at the other end of the hall. Julio knocked. “Hey, Jamie Tru! It’s us!”

  Blake heard footsteps coming from inside the room. A boy, his skin the lightest shade of brown, answered the door. His short curls were dirty blonde and a golden Rolex glinted on his wrist. “Finally! Where’ve ya been?”

  “We had to find Izzy,” Quen explained.

  “Blake knocked me out of a tree with his slingshot!” Izzy exclaimed. “He hit me right here.” She pointed to the bruise on her cheek. “I barely had time to react!” Blake blushed and bowed his head in shame. Izzy wrapped her arm around his neck and pulled him close. “You still feel guilty about that? I’m a gymnast. Compared to what I put my body through every day, that fall wasn’t shit!”

  Jamie Tru’s light green eyes fell on Blake; he beamed, exposing his dimples. “Congrats! Up until now, Julio’s the only person who’s ever been able to take down Izzy. It’s Blake McCracken, right?”

  Blake raised his head and nodded.

  “I’m Jamie Tru Blair. Welcome to my family’s hotel.”

  “Your family owns this place?”

  “This and the other few hundred we have worldwide.” He beckoned everyone inside. The kitchenette had granite counters, the bed was king-sized, and a massive flat screen fit for a home theater sat in front of it.

  “You live here?” Blake asked, eyeing the computer desk, on which sat what looked like a pile of mechanical parts salvaged from broken computers.

  “For now,” Jamie Tru said. He knelt and allowed Rascal to sniff his hand before he scratched him behind the ears. “We have a house in the city, but it’s being renovated, so I’m staying here for the summer.”

  “Your parents live here, too?”

  “No, they’re in Japan opening a new Hotel Blair… Or was it Thailand? India? They’re somewhere in Asia, that much I know for sure,” he concluded with a careless wave of his free hand.

  “You live here alone?”

  “I wish. The nanny sleeps right next door. Makes sure I do my homework and stuff.”

  “Wow, you’re like The Suite Life of Zack and Cody.”

  “Yeah, except my mom’s a tone-deaf CEO!”

  “What do you guys do for fun?” Blake asked as Julio sat at the edge of the bed and turned on the TV.

  “Video games, mostly,” said Julio. Izzy and Quen sat on either side of him. “Call of Duty, Far Cry, TF2—you name it, so long as we get to shoot something.”

  Blake’s stomach chose that moment to let out a loud grumble.

  “You hungry?” Jamie Tru asked.

  “Yeah, all I brought with me was an apple.”

  “Why don’t we order room service? Who wants pizza?”

  “Sure, so long as it has daiya cheese,” Julio said.

  “Peppers and onions would be great, too,” Quen added.

  “No pizza is complete without olives and pineapples!” Izzy declared, punching the air.

  Julio slugged her in the arm. “Quit ruining our pizza!” he retorted.

  Izzy returned the punch with a wicked grin. “Look who’s talkin’? You’re the one who wants to spoil it with that stupid vegan cheese!”

  Before either of them could deal another blow, Quen interrupted. “Why don’t we order two pizzas? One with daiya cheese and one without?”

  “Fine,” they answered in unison.

  Jamie Tru called room service while the other four gathered around his TV and started up his PS4. Rascal made himself comfortable at Blake’s feet. Within moments, they were on a virtual battlefield plagued with explosions and rapid gunfire.

  “Bull’s eye!” Julio exclaimed as he killed Blake, his eleventh headshot in a row.

  Blake, having never played Call of Duty, let alone a PlayStation, was trailing behind. The only kill he’d managed was that of himself. Shortly after he discovered how to use a grenade, he died in the subsequent blast. The other four exploded in a fit of giggles.

  “I’m no good at this,” Blake said, his face burning, as he handed his controller to Jamie Tru.

  Jamie Tru shook his head. “Keep playing and you’ll get better. I can’t play right now, anyway. I have to put my computer back together.” He pointed to the pile of computer parts on his desk. “My nanny’ll get mad if she finds out I took it apart again.”

  When Blake returned to the game, he saw Izzy staring at him out of the corner of his eye. And when he turned his head, she winked, just before shoving her hand in Julio’s face, blocking his view.

  “Now’s your chance! Go for it, Blake!”

  Looking back at the TV, Blake saw that Julio was left wide open. Without hesitation, Blake gunned him down.

  “Cheating bitch!” Julio aimed a punch at her face, but she caught it and threw him to the ground. Izzy jumped on top of him, guffawing with unrestrained malice. As they wrestled on the carpet, Blake and Quen lifted their feet onto the bed to keep from being dragged into the struggle. Rascal ran out of the way and took refuge in a comfy leather chair.

  “Don’t you think we should break them up?” Blake asked the other two as Izzy put Julio in a headlock.

  “I’m not ready to meet Jesus yet,” Quen replied, his eyes glued to the screen.

  “And I can’t accept my inheritance if I’m dead,” said Jamie Tru from his desk, hunched over his work.

  Julio now had Izzy pinned to the ground; one hand pushed her head into the carpet while the other pinned her arm down. Izzy was shoving her free hand into his face, pushing it to the side.

  “It’s gonna take a lot more than that to make me cry ‘uncle’!” she crackled.

  “Watch me!” Julio shot back.

  There was a sudden knock at the door. Izzy and Julio froze. Everyone looked up. Jamie Tru stood, his laptop now in one piece. The wrestling pair disentangled themselves, straightened out their hair, fixed their clothes, and sat next to Quen and Blake, grabbing their controllers and resuming their gameplay, all in the length of time it took their host to walk to the door.

  “Yes?” he said when he opened the door.

  There in the doorway stood a hefty, stern-looking woman who couldn’t have been less than fifty. She wore her graying hair in a tight bun. “What are you doing in here, Jamison? I heard raucous.”

  “Nothing. Just playing video games.” He gestured behind him to the four friends on the edge of his bed; they waved.

  “Whose dog is that?” she demanded, pointing to Rascal.

  Blake stood. “He’s mine, ma’am. I promise he’s well-behaved.”

  “And who is he, Jamison?”

  “Blake McCracken,” Jamie Tru answered. “He’s new to the city and he goes to our school.”

  The nanny’s eyes narrowed, unimpressed. “Have you broken anymore of your electronics?”

  Jamie Tru’s face twitched. “Nope.”

  Her eyes remained slits. “I’m watching you.” She walked away, the door slamming behind her.

  “Hag,” said Jamie Tru. “I don’t break my things. That’s what fucking toddlers do!”

  “So, what do you do?” Blake asked when Jamie Tru collapsed into the leather chair with Rascal, who climbed into his lap.

  “I take them apart to see how they tick, and then put them back together,” he answered. “But whenever that old hag shows up, she never stays long enough to hear me out!”

  “Maybe you should give it a rest for now,” Quen offered. “If you take a break from dismantling your things, it’ll give your nanny time to cool off
and she won’t bother you as much.”

  “I can’t!” Jamie Tru protested, scratching Rascal behind the ears. “It’s too much fun! And it’s not like I’m damaging my stuff. While I was waiting for you guys to get here, I took my PS4 apart and had it back together by the time you knocked on my door.”

  “Seriously?” said Julio.

  Izzy slid from the bed’s edge and crouched down to examine the console at the base of the TV stand. “It looks the same as when you bought it last year,” she confirmed.

  “And it works just as well,” Julio added.

  “That’s incredible,” Blake admitted.

  “See?” said Jamie Tru to Quen. “I’m not doing anything wrong and I refuse to stop.”

  “If you say so,” Quen replied with a shrug.

  There was another knock at the door and everyone looked up.

  “Finally, I’m starving,” Jamie Tru said as Rascal leapt from his lap. When he answered the door, however, he said, “What’re you doing here?”

  Under the host’s arm, Blake saw a kid, maybe ten or eleven, with black hair and eager light blue eyes. “Finn?”

  Finn ducked under Jamie Tru’s arm. “Blake!”

  Blake met his cousin halfway across the room, pulling him into a hug. “I haven’t seen you in a year! How’ve ya been?” He ruffled Finn’s hair, Finn being no taller than Julio.

  Behind them, Jamie Tru was arguing with someone else, though Blake couldn’t tell who. She was much shorter than the host, so it was easy for him to block her from view.

  “You’re not allowed in my room,” said Jamie Tru.

  “Oh please, just this once…?” implored a high-pitched, doll-like voice.

  Blake, curious, went to the door. Before Jamie Tru stood a young girl, whose skin was the lightest shade of brown, two braids of dirty blonde snaking down either side of her head and reaching her waist. She wore a sundress of baby blue with white ballet flats that matched the dress’s trim. There was a look of pleading in her light green eyes.

  Blake’s face broke into a grin. He bent over, his hands on his knees. “You’re adorable, like a living doll!” His excitement couldn’t be helped. Second to Cleo and tied with Luno, what must be Jamie Tru’s little sister was the cutest thing he’d ever seen.

  She looked up at him, blushing. She twirled one of her braids around her finger and beamed. “Thank you. My name is Tess Blair, but you can call me Peaches.”

  “Peaches,” he repeated. “I’m Blake McCracken. Nice to meet you. May I?” he asked, reaching for her head with an outstretched hand. She nodded, and he petted her head. It was as soft as a cloud and smooth as silk. He looked up at Jamie Tru. “Can we let her in? Please?”

  Before he could answer, Izzy appeared next to him.

  “Peaches, what’s up?”

  “Hello, Izzy,” Peaches said in her doll-like voice.

  “Hey there, Peaches,” Quen said next to Izzy.

  Julio stood behind Quen. “TB,” he spat.

  “Hi, everyone! How’s your summer?”

  “Don’t let her in,” Julio said before anyone could answer. “Nothing good comes from TB.”

  “Go away, Tess,” Jamie Tru repeated.

  “No, let her stay,” Blake pled. He knelt beside her and squeezed her shoulders. “How can you say ‘no’ to this face?”

  “Like this: No!”

  “Come on, don’t be like that,” Izzy said, punching Jamie Tru’s shoulder. “She just wants to say, ‘hi,’ right?”

  Peaches nodded, her hands folded behind her back. “Finn told me his cousin just moved to the city. I wanted to welcome him to Mirallegra in person.”

  Julio shook his head. “Don’t do it, Jamie.”

  “It’s okay,” Peaches piped up. “I know when I’m not wanted. I’ll go.”

  Blake, Izzy, Quen, and Finn moaned their protests.

  “No really, it’s okay,” Peaches assured, turning to leave.

  “Why don’t we hang out together?” Finn offered, stepping out of the doorway. “We could watch movies if you want.”

  Peaches shook her head. “Go spend time with your family. You haven’t seen him in a year, right?”

  “But… oh, okay.” He walked back inside.

  “Bye.” Peaches waved a dainty hand.

  “Good riddance,” Julio spat.

  “Hang on!” Blake went through the door before Jamie Tru could slam it shut. “Peaches, wait!” She stopped and turned, her dress flowing around her. “I’m sorry, that was mean.”

  Peaches shrugged. “I’m used to it.” Though her green eyes shined with pain, she still managed a warm smile.

  “I’ll see you again soon,” Blake promised.

  “The way Jamie Tru is, you won’t see me again until school starts.”

  “Then I’ll be waiting for you.”

  “Of course, Big Br—I mean, Blake.”

  Blake petted her head. “See you in August.”

  When he returned to the room and closed the door behind him, he found Jamie Tru and Julio glaring at him, their arms folded across their chests.

  “What?”

  “Stay away from her, Blake,” said Jamie Tru.

  “Why? She’s so sweet.”

  “Yeah, ‘cause it’s easier to catch flies with honey than vinegar.”

  After a short pause, Finn stepped forward. “I’ve known Tess for years, and she’s usually really sweet. But if you cross her, she turns… sour.”

  “That’s right,” Izzy crackled. “You better watch your back around that black widow. You tell the wrong joke, use the wrong word—hell, breathe the wrong air—and she’ll have a knife in your back faster than you can say ‘Tess Rachael Blair’!”

  “And from the looks of it, she likes you,” said Jamie Tru. “Looks like she’s found herself a new Big Brother. A word of advice from the original Big Brother: Break her heart and she’ll break your arm.”

  “Don’t let them scare you, Blake,” Quen reassured. “It’s just that, when it comes to revenge, Peaches is an expert. You’re fine so long as you don’t upset her.”

  “And Julio here wouldn’t know anything about that,” Izzy added with a wicked grin, her hands on her hips. “Last semester, Peaches did some silly play about nursery rhymes to raise money for an orphanage somewhere in the city. She got the part for a lamb and Julio teased her about it for a week. She got sick of it, so she made him sick by feeding him undercooked lamb! Pure genius!”

  “Blonde, baby-faced bitch,” Julio said through gritted teeth, his hands clenched into fists. “She had to have snuck it in my sandwich or my smoothie or whatever. I’ve never been on the toilet that long in my life. I practically fused with it!”

  “He just couldn’t keep his shit together,” Izzy laughed, gripping her middle. “Get it?”

  Julio shook his head, then addressed Jamie Tru. “We can’t let him in now. He’s been infected with TB!”

  “Let me into what?” Blake asked.

  “They haven’t said anything yet?” Finn said. “We want you to join Nerds, Inc.”

  9

  Nerds, Inc.

  “What’re you talking about?” Blake asked. “What’s Nerds, Inc.?”

  “That’s the name of our clique,” Jamie Tru explained. “See, Seven Hills is full of them. Ours is called Nerds, Inc.”

  “But why did you choose that name? I thought being a nerd was supposed to be a bad thing.”

  Jamie Tru’s glare melted into a dimpled smile. It was as though his sister had never made an entrance. “I’m glad you asked.”

  “Ooh, is it story time?” Izzy asked.

  “Sure is!”

  Izzy punched the air and plopped onto the carpet; everyone followed her lead. Blake formed a circle with the others, and Rascal climbed into his folded legs. Julio spoke first.

  “Quen was the first friend I made when I moved here from Rio. We didn’t meet Jamie Tru until we started Seven Hills.”

  Jamie Tru pointed to his chest with his thumb. “I
was Jamison Truman Blair back then. Totally lame. No friends. No rhythm. No charisma…”

  “We get it,” Julio interrupted with a roll of his eyes.

  “Anyway, I met those two in sixth grade and we hit it off really well!”

  “You mean, you hit it off with Quen really well,” Julio corrected.

  Jamie Tru nodded and turned to Blake. “Julio didn’t consider me a friend until he realized we both hated Tess. Since then, we’ve been best friends!

  “At school, everyone belonged to a clique, whether they were cool or not. We didn’t wanna be lame, so we formed a clique of our own. But we didn’t decide on the name Nerds, Inc. until we were cornered on Moore Street. See, we were running from bullies and—”

  “We?” Julio interjected. “‘We’ as in you and Quen, right? ‘Cause I was holding them off so you two could escape.”

  “Right,” Quen agreed. “We took a wrong turn heading home after school and ended up on Moore Street. Some high school kids from another school showed up and tried to steal Jamie Tru’s watch.” Jamie Tru held up his wrist, his golden Rolex glinting in the light. “And like Julio said, he took them on and bought us some time to run.”

  “They called us nerds, because of the school we went to,” said Jamie Tru. “And that’s where I got the idea! I didn’t think it was anything to be ashamed of, since geniuses like us created Facebook, smartphones, and YouTube. We agreed on Nerds, Inc. ‘cause we run this show.”

  “We also agreed on codenames,” said Quen. “Since Jamie Tru came up with our clique’s name, we dubbed him CEO.”

  “I always have these guys’ backs, so my codename is Watchdog,” said Julio.

  “I keep the peace, so I’m the Ref,” said Quen.

  “What about the others?” asked Blake.

  “I came in next!” said Izzy, her hand shooting into the air. “I started Seven Hills last year. One of our teachers forced us into a study group. We were headed to Quen’s place after school, but we took a wrong turn and ended up on Moore Street.”