My brain won't stop spinning; constantly moving like a clock on steroids. Yesterday, I found that mysterious note in my locker. That note threatened everything I've began to believe in, the small rebellion that has blossomed hope within me. Kaylee, the girl I've been 'friends' with for years, had to blow up on me. It's almost like normality is a ticking time bomb; eventually, it explodes into chaos. At the beginning of yesterday, I believed my only problem would be Eva and Jared's bickering. We had assembled a team of Chip haters, dare I say created a group of my new friends. Then, like a time bomb, normality flew out the door and danced on the way out.

"Autumn, hey!" Eva beams, joining me outside against the dull gray wall.

"Hey!" I feign enthusiasm, plastering a fake smile on my face.

Of course, Jared and Cody walk up. Instantly, Jared sparks an argument with Eva by criticizing her outfit. Enraged, Eva pokes him in the chest with her slender finger while spewing hatful words at him. Instead of observing the argument, I decide to spark a conversation with Cody.

"This is pathetic," I mutter, jerking my thumb in the direction of my bickering friends.

Cody nods, lips pursed as he observes our surroundings. "So is our world."

A smile graces my lips. "Yeah, it is. It's great that someone else gets it. Thanks for pulling me out of my shell, Cody."

He smiles, exaggerating a bow. "You're welcome, Autumn."

We both chuckle before falling into a comfortable silence. The only noise is emitted by Eva and Jared, their voices rising and tension brewing.

"Hey, Cody," I start, a thought popping into my head, "Jared's mom's name isn't June."

His eyebrows furrow. "What?"

"I mean," I elaborate, "You said your aunt June owns June's Ice Creamery. Jared's mom's name isn't June."

He rolls his eyes, a playful smile on his lips. "June is my aunt on my dad's side. Jared's family is on my mom's."

"Oh," I laugh, smacking my forehead. "I never thought of that."

His smile widens. "Yeah."

"You know, I don't really know much about you or your family."

His face instantly falls, his shoulders slumping. Quickly, he attempts to fake a smile and fix his posture before I can take notice. The thing is, I already have.

"I'm sorry," I whisper, staring into his hazel eyes as they portray his true emotions, "I'm guessing it's a sensitive subject."

Instantly, he shrugs, the motion seeming like an automatic response to the subject. "My dad's, uh, dead."

My eyes bulge as I bit my lip. "Wow. I'm so sorry."

"I'm sorry about your cousin."

I nod, acknowledging his consideration of my feelings. Well, maybe he's trying to divert attention from his own. "It's been two years. Two years and I was finally told the truth, that she was part of a rebel organization, the Anti-"

A finger is placed over my lips. "Don't say that name out loud. They're watching us."

As I slap his finger away, my breath hitches. "Then why haven't we been arrested?"

He shrugs, but his eyes hold a look of fear. "They probably don't think much of a bunch of fifteen-year-olds."

"You're scared," I whisper, taking a step closer to him. "You know the consequences. We all do. They'd kill us, especially me. I've managed to-" I purse my lips, realizing I shouldn't divulge that information out loud.

He let's out a long, breathy sigh. "Autumn, there's so much you don't know."

"Like what?"

"Like-"

"Autumn!" Jared suddenly shrieks, grabbing my arm and spinning me around to face him. His face is bright red and his dark hair is falling in his icy eyes. "Stop flirting with my cousin and tell Eva-"

"No, Autumn!" Eva whines, grabbing my other arm, "Tell Jared-"

"We weren't flirting," Cody interjects. "And doesn't anyone want my help?"

"No!" The bickering two shout in unison with the five minute warning bell.

Pulling my arms from both of their grasps, I grab my bag that I had thrown against the wall and amble towards the glass doors. "How about we get to class before we're all late?"

Eva and Jared sulk in front of me, shoving open the doors and walking towards their respective lockers. Laughing, I jog to catch up with Eva, lightly tapping her on the shoulder.

"I hate him," She whines, slowly down so we can walk at a comfortable pace.

I sigh, running a hand down my face. "He's a bit of a character, yes. But remember-"

"Anyways," she cuts me off, holding up her manicured hand, "When are we gonna do some, you know, "she leans in and whispers something in my ear.

"Wait, I couldn't hear you," I respond, coming to a stop in front of my locker. The person next to me slams their locker shut, causing me to jump.

"You know," she sighs, leaning in once again, "busting."

"Oh," I gasp in realization. She's referring to the whole Chip Busters thing.

As I open my locker, an idea runs through my brain. Our whole operation is in jeopardy, yet we haven't really found anything. Wait, there's the 'cookbook'!

"Autumn?"

"Meet me after sunset at the ice creamery," I whisper as the people around me disperse and the chatter filling the hall quiets down. "Spread the word to the others. I have something to show you."

Her eyes widen considerably before she nods and sprints off towards her locker. I slam mine shut, having gathered all necessary materials to begin the day. As the one minute warning bell rings through the nearly empty halls, I notice Kaylee approach Cody at his locker. Curious, I duck behind a locker unit and listen.

"Wow, Cody," Kaylee's voice rings through the hall, "You used to be popular, one of us. Why would you befriend someone like Autumn?"

"Because," Cody laughs, actually laughs, "She didn't do anything to you that you didn't have coming. In fact, she did nothing wrong. You're what's wrong with your life. Not Autumn, nor Eva, nor whoever else you choose to selfishly blame. You're fishing for popularity, for appraisal. Autumn was definitely accurate in her statement yesterday. So just stop."

There is a long stretch of silence broken by Kaylee and the tardy bell simultaneously. The bell makes it difficult to hear my ex friend, but I can barely make out the statement, "Everyone's turning against me, and she started it all."

I hear her flats clacking against the filthy floor, listening until the steps fade into silence. Wow, what a brat she's become. Kaylee didn't used to be this shallow, didn't use to pin her problems on other people. She used to be so bubbly and carefree. The call of popularity corrupted her, the illusion of perfection ruined the young girl I used to know. It's all the government's fault. We have no individuality left in this world!

As I step out from behind the lockers, my gaze lock's with Cody's. Right, I forgot he was there.

"How much of that did you hear?" He queries, taking a step closer to me.

I shrug. "Enough to realize a few things. Thanks for standing up for me."

He smiles. "What are friends for?"

I return his smile with an even larger one; I can't restrain myself. "Yeah."

"Well, we should probably get to class. Tardiness will land us a nice hour of detention."

I scoff. "Yeah, because the perfect are never late."

He casts me a warning glance before departing. It's almost as if he was trying to remind me I'm in a public building and that regardless of the lack of tangible people around, I'm still being watched.

*****

*****

I anxiously sprint towards the ice creamery. The fading sun paints the sky lovely shades of pinks and oranges as my feet pound against the pavement. I pass by huge mansions as a few cats are returning to their posh homes. Gasping for breath, I pause in front of one of the mansions. My asthma causes me to cough erratically, my chest heaving.

Jared surprises me by sauntering out of a mansion that I realize belongs to him. As soon as he notices me, he bounds to my side with a stupid grin on his face.

"Hey, Jared," I greet, still gulping in deep breaths of air.

He waves before grabbing my arm and dragging me behind him. "Hey Autumn. This is totally surreal!"

I roll my eyes, failing to worm my arm out of his grasp. A guard walks to the end of the street, his dark eyes boring into ours like he's Eva telling Jared where to go.

"Hey, you kids!" He barks, causing us to jump to a halt.

Jared, cocky as ever, places a hand on his hip. "Hey, it's not past curfew yet. Curfew is at twelve mister!"

The guard rolls his eyes, seeming like he wishes to rip him to shreds. "I'm required to halt you in your steps. A very rich personnel has requested that no uninvited guests shall venture past this point!"

"What? They can't-"

"Um," Jared tisks, "I am invited to that party."

The guard doesn't seem placated. "Let me scan your Chip."

Jared holds out his wrist. The guard sighs then scans it. His watch beeps once then turns green, signaling that Jared is indeed invited to the party.

"She's my guest," Jared is quick to add before grabbing my arm once again and dragging me out of the guard's sight.

"What was that?" I gape at him.

He smiles. "My parents and I were invited, but I decided not to attend."

"Who can block off the streets like that?"

"Someone who works for the government," He whispers, yanking me into the ice creamery.

In the near darkness, I spot Eva sitting in a chair and Cody leaning against the wall. Cody smiles when I enter while Eva scowls at Jared. Rolling my eyes, I plop down next to Eva while Jared leans on the wall next to his cousin, mimicking him by folding his arms across his chest.

"We need to get into that party!" I exclaim before my eyebrows furrow. "Wait, how did you two get it?"

Cody raises in eyebrow. "Get into here? I know the code?"

"They must have just started blocking it off for the party," Jared explains.

"Wait, wha-"

"Okay," I cut Eva off, "first of all, I found a book of government secrets."

Cody gapes at me. "When?"

I grin, transferring the files to his computer lying on the table. "When we broke into Jared's second house. A supposed cookbook was lying around."

Everyone crowds around the silver laptop, watching as files appear on the screen. All of our eyes widen before returning to normal.

"These are just random blueprints, Autumn," Jared scoffs. "We came here for this?"

"Hey, leave her alone!" Eva protests.

I sigh, scrolling down the page. The book was pretty thin so I know their isn't much information. It's just basics of how Chips work and more useless information. There's nothing incriminating the public doesn't already know.

"Hey, look at this!" Cody suddenly exclaims, pointing to a paragraph of text. "The government workers don't even have Chips!"

A collective gasp spreads though the room.

"That's impossible!" Eva exclaims.

I hop up from my chair. "Let's go find out some secrets."

"Autumn-"

"Shut up, Cody! We're going to that party!"

"If Jared was invited surely they won't reveal secrets," Eva laughs. "I bet it's just a party for the rich."

I shrug. "It's worth a shot." A thought strikes me. "What if this is just a cover up for something bigger? Jared, have you been to these types of parties before?"

He nods. "They had both a teen and an adult section."

I jump out of my seat grinning like a Cheshire Cat. "So, what do you think the adults talk about?"

"Autumn, really-"

I hold up my hand to silence Cody. "I've set my mind to it. It's too late!"

"But-"

The rest of us ignore him, jogging out the door towards the flashing lights.