Author's POV
Xander waited patiently, still watching her with quiet curiosity. He didn't fully understand what she was talking about until she suddenly collapsed back onto the bench and burst into uncontrollable tears.
Alexander's POV
"Whoa, whoa, whoa… it's okay," I said softly, hoping to calm her down.
She raised her head, eyes swollen and voice trembling.
"We've been on this for the past seven years, Xander! It sucks, but I'm not doing this anymore. I'm not running anymore! I'm ti—red!" she shouted, her words breaking mid-sentence.
She fell back into tears, her whole body shaking.
My instincts kicked in. With a sense of urgency, I activated my wrist AI and started hacking into her mom's phone remotely. I didn't have time to think — I had to move fast.
Lines of code flooded my lens interface as I bypassed multiple layers of security protocols. My fingers flew across the virtual keyboard projected from my wristwatch. I needed to modify her mom's GPS coordinates, creating a digital illusion — a fake trail to throw the bad guys off.
The garden fell silent except for the faint hum of Alpha processing. Sweat trickled down my neck as the system continued working. But suddenly, a warning appeared on my watch:
⚠️ "System Contaminated – Virus Detected."
My anti-virus software tried isolating it, but it forced Alpha to overheat. If it shut down now, we'd lose everything.
"Come on, come on…" I muttered, typing faster.
"Shutting down in 10 seconds… 1… 2… 3…"
"I just hope it's done before shutdown," I whispered.
Then, just before Alpha went dark, it spoke one last line:
"Location changed successfully."
I sighed in relief, letting out a shaky breath. Just as I was about to tell Holly the good news, her phone rang again — her mom.
Holly's POV
I was still crying so hard that everything around me sounded faint, like distant echoes underwater. I barely noticed Xander muttering beside me. Then, my phone vibrated in my hand.
"Hello… Mom?" I said weakly, expecting another round of bad news.
But instead —
📞 "Come on, girl! Give me that great smile," Dad said, sounding unexpectedly cheerful.
"For real? Are you kidding me?" I asked, my voice trembling between disbelief and hope.
📞 "It's real, honey," Mom replied. "I don't know how, but they missed us. Completely."
📞 "We're so sorry for putting you through this," Dad added quietly. His voice cracked slightly — he's good at hiding pain, but his words always give him away.
I smiled through my tears. "Okay… bye," I said, sniffing and wiping away a tear rolling down my chin.
"Bye," they both said together before the call ended.
Xander looked relieved. "It's okay. They missed them. Hmm… I can't be entirely sure since Alpha shut down, but I'm positive," he said quickly, almost out of breath, still looking directly into my eyes.
I didn't know what to say. I just stared back, speechless, and then chuckled softly without even realizing it. I couldn't even keep my poker face anymore.
He kept watching me, probably trying to read every emotion.
"Thank you," I finally managed to whisper, my voice trembling with both weakness and relief.
"It's nothing," he replied gently. Then, after a pause, "But… why are they after your family?"
I took a deep breath. "That's the saddest part of the story, Xander."
He nodded and sat beside me as I motioned for him to sit. I shifted slightly to the right on the bench.
"My dad keeps repeating the same thing over and over again," I began, my voice breaking slightly. "And each time I try to ask my mom, she just says she's getting the same answers too."
"Which is?" he interrupted gently, looking serious.
"My dad doesn't know why. All I know is… we've never waited long enough to find out," I said, trying to hold back more tears.
He frowned slightly, disbelief flickering in his expression.
"So how did you find out they were after you guys?" he asked, leaning forward.
"My dad's best friend died in his arms," I replied quietly. "Before dying, he told Dad, 'You're next.' That's how we knew. Mom confirmed it too. I've asked these same questions countless times, Xander."
He nodded slowly, taking it all in.
After a long silence, he glanced at his watch.
"Lunch time's over," he said quietly.
Alexander's POV
We stood up and walked back to class in silence. The rest of the lessons passed quietly between us.
I couldn't stop thinking about her story. I thought I was the only one with a messed-up childhood. But hearing hers… it hit differently. I actually felt for her — deeply.
And that's strange because I've never let anyone open up to me before.
I kept stealing glances at her through the lesson. She looked lost in thought, staring blankly at something I couldn't see. Maybe she was seeing her memories instead of the board.