"It was worth a shot, I guess," Jason said after placing his hands in his face.

"Dad, what's wrong?" Lexi asked from across the dining table.

He sat up straighter in his chair, set his hands down, and shook his head. "We're getting some pressure from Hasan to solve the case quicker. Another one of his businesses got hit yesterday and he's not too happy about it."

"We're doing all that we can, though! Does he know how much we're working on this?" Lexi stood up and crossed her arms.

"Yes, hun. He's well aware. He's just getting a little impatient, and understandably so," said Scarlett who was seated right next to her.

"I have to go to class. I'll regroup again with you guys later in the week." Lexi waved her parents goodbye and made her way out of the house and back to campus.

The thought that they were now back at square one with no leads was weighing down heavily on her as she drove back to her dorm. Her mind worked through every possibility of where they could go from here. Finding Dash seemed as difficult as finding a needle in a haystack.

Their school was so big, what could have possibly possessed them to think they could take a big case like this on? Identifying someone's long-lost grandfather, or proving a partner was cheating on you - those were cases they were used to doing and excelled in. Not combing through a mid-sized university for a hacker.

With how much money they'd already sunk in, calling in favors to buying the bulk of the party supplies and alcohol, Lexi knew there was no turning back now. They'd gone too far, to the point that if they couldn't solve the case, they would lose their home and livelihood.

She parked her car in front of the dorm and sighed. Her thoughts flickered to Tom and she opened his email back up. He was right. We shouldn't be talking outside of class. I need to focus on my job and my family right now. She hovered over the screen for a moment before deleting his contact information and email.

***

The rest of the day flew by, and the next morning, Lexi and Mindy were up and getting ready for their class with Tom. As much as Lexi tried to stop thinking about him, he kept inching his way back into the forefront of her thoughts. For a moment, she'd considered emailing him but kept telling herself to keep things as professional as possible.

After grabbing a quick bite from a new coffee shop, the girls made their way with Charlotte to class. Lexi wondered if she'd be able to sit through the full class without her thoughts circling Tom and the 'what ifs' that plagued her. When they made their way in, Tom was already at the front of the room, prepping for the session. He glanced up and held his gaze on Lexi as if trying to decipher what she was thinking. She furrowed her brows and quickly averted her eyes downward.

Charlotte led the way through the sparsely populated class to the front row. "Charlotte, shouldn't we sit back here?" Lexi whispered and jerked her head towards the seats next to her in the middle.

"We always sit there. Plus, some studies show the front row can help students focus better," Charlotte said as Mindy followed in right behind her.

Lexi could have not sat with them, but she reasoned that would have looked unnecessarily passive-aggressive. Reluctantly, she walked to the chair beside Mindy and set her bag down in front of her.

As she was taking out her things and trying to ignore Tom's glances seen through her peripherals, a throat clearing in the aisle near her forced her to look up. "Is this seat taken?" Wes asked, nodding towards the empty seat right next to her.

"Hey, Wes!" She smiled back at him, yet it quickly faltered when she remembered how she had accidentally left him at the party. "Yeah, all good, I mean, no, it's not taken." She moved her things to allow him space to situate himself next to her. "Wes, this is my best friend and roommate M-Windy."

"Nice to meet you Mwindy," Wes said and held out a hand for Mindy to shake.

"Sorry, I misspoke. Her name is Windy." Lexi let out a breath through her nostrils. Oh gosh, we have not been careful with our aliases.

Wes chuckled. "I figured."

"And this is our friend Charlotte who lives in our dorm," Lexi continued with the introductions. Charlotte gave a small wave before attending back to organizing her things. "Listen, Wes, I'm so sorry about Saturday. I had an emergency come up that I had to leave the party for. I should've given you a heads up before I left, I'm so sorry."

Wes smirked and shrugged. "I guess it's fine that I was left wandering around trying to find you. What are you going to do to make it up to me?"

"I-uh, what?" Lexi raised a brow, unsure if she heard Wes correctly. She could tell he was trying to be flirty but admittedly, she just wasn't in the mood.

"I guess I'll forgive you on one condition." He paused and Lexi hoped it wasn't what she was thinking it was going to be. "What do you say I take you out tonight? Want to go for din-"

"Alright class let's get started," Tom's voice bellowed throughout the space. Lexi glanced at her laptop's clock and saw that there were still two minutes left until the class' actual start time.

She gave Wes a forced smile, which prompted Wes to lean in and whisper, "We're not done with this conversation." She leaned back very slightly when his hot breath hit her cheek and turned her attention back to Tom at the front.

"Alright, we're going to do something a little different for class today, I'm going to split you up into groups and then we'll have you discuss the topic from the last class in each of your groups and go from there." Tom proceeded to assign numbers to each student, with Lexi being in Group 3, seated toward the front of the class.

Mindy ended up in Group 2 and Charlotte and Wes in Group 1, which was at the back of the classroom. The students shuffled around to their respective areas and clamor filled the air as they began introducing themselves and discussing the homework assignment.

At first, Lexi was unsure if she should speak up. She wondered if her classmates remembered her mortifying little presentation. The bare minimum was all she'd decided she should speak. Better not to draw unwanted attention.

"I just think it doesn't really matter for everyone to get so worked up about it. Like I know we have to take this class for our major, but it seems so useless. I've never heard of a single person getting hacked as the chapter describes. It just all seems so dramatic," said a boy with thick blonde curls on his head.

Lexi furrowed her brows. Just because you haven't seen it, doesn't mean it doesn't happen.

"You might be right. I honestly have never seen it before either. I wonder if it's a government scare tactic," said another classmate.

Lexi's nostrils flared. "Are you kidding me?" she blurted out. The seven others in the group turned to her. She slid her hands beneath her thighs before continuing. "I mean, sorry, I don't think that's the case." The group remained silent, waiting for her to elaborate.

When she didn't continue, a guy next to her leaned in. "What do you mean?" he asked in a way that seemed as if he was genuinely interested in her answer.

"I-uh, I guess it's no different than things you hear on the news. I mean, how many times do we see things like fires or natural disasters being talked about? While we may not experience things ourselves it doesn't mean they don't happen. And even though you can't physically see some of these cyber attacks, they are just as real as any other thing like stealing from a bank or arson. All have dire repercussions that need to be taken seriously."

"I agree with Hannah," another classmate shared. "I don't think it's talked about enough, honestly. Losing your life savings because of a security breach is not something I'd wish on anyone."

The group continued to debate, and Lexi was surprised by how much she was enjoying the discussion. No one had called her ideas dumb or even decided to re-hash all the ways she'd messed up on her presentation. She even managed to share some more thoughts on the textbook reading.

The rest of class was spent in their groups and every so often Lexi and Tom would meet each other's glances. If he wasn't standing by a group to listen in on the discussion being had, he was at his desk, typing away. Lexi was almost able to forget he was even there, but every so often she'd feel a pull toward him. At one point when their gazes met, a warm energy shot through her. She quickly turned back to the group's discussion and took a deep breath to calm her nerves.

"Good discussions today, everyone! I listened in on some of them and I'm glad how things went!" Tom continued to share the homework assignment for the next class and then dismissed everyone for the day.

Lexi gathered her things and followed the hoard of students in the aisle moving to leave. She had hoped Tom would ask her to hang back but figured he probably didn't want to draw any suspicion. Still, a part of her wondered if maybe he was backing away from her. The thought alone sent small tremors through her gut.

She exited the classroom to find a smiling Wes waiting for her just outside the door. "So, what time should we meet for dinner tonight?" he asked as soon as she looked up.

She let out a short laugh. "Sorry, Wes, I've got a lot of schoolwork to do tonight. Maybe some other time?"

"Alright, how about this weekend then?" He bit his bottom lip while smiling down at her. Lexi had to admit he did have a boyish charm about him. When she didn't respond right away, he continued. "Friday night it is, then! We'll meet at seven. Here, take my phone and go ahead and put your number in it." He grabbed her hand and placed his phone on her palm.

Lexi smiled and took a deep breath in. While she didn't entirely want to go out on the date, she didn't know how to say no. Wes seemed like a nice guy, but she wasn't well versed in the dating sphere to know how to handle herself. But when Wes clasped his hands together and continued about how she'd have so much fun and it would be low-key, she thought maybe it really wouldn't be so bad. What was the harm of one date? It wasn't like she had very many feasible prospects anyway and she needed to get into the dating world at some point.

Wes did a dramatic fist pump in the air as soon as she began typing in her number. She giggled and when she finished, she glanced up to see Tom heading down the hallway, having just moved past her. Her heart sank. She quickly told herself she wasn't doing anything wrong, but tightness still presented itself in her chest at the thought of Tom seeing what just happened.

Wes quickly grabbed his phone back and lifted it. "You won't regret this! I'll text you the rendezvous point." He turned and left Lexi standing there, on the brink of following Tom.

***

Things might get a little spicy in the next chapter, so buckle up! Thanks for reading, voting, and commenting! 🥰♥️